Hi guys. Thanks again for the help last weekend. Well, the 700+ drive back to TX went fine. The ‘94 with 91k averaged about 23.5-24 mpg (89 octane) - running about 72-4 mph most of the way (I tried to keep under 3000 or so RPMs.) Thankfully the #4 spark plug didn’t come flying out...I was very anxious for the first couple hours of the drive.

The purchase: The 945 was in most respects better than I expected, in one case, worse. Straight, clean body. Interior/leather not as bad as described. Ran very well - tight suspension, no brake pulsation. Need to install a cat-back exhaust system to have inspected, but really that’s it. One thing that worried me though - looks like the engine was overheated at some point (discoloration on the engine block - flaky paint, burnt black deposits, discolored fuel rail) - the head definitely looks newer/in better shape then the block. I’m sure the PO overheated it - and I think it was done during the warranty period - as it had a volvo timing belt and plugs when I changed them.

Overall, I felt the one-owner car was definitely worth the $5k - despite the overheating question. The interior/leather can be cleaned/repaired, and I’ve already done most of the preventative stuff.

I do have a couple questions though:

1) this 94 945T does not have front fog lamps or any ‘turbo’ badging on the rear lid. I thought all Ts had the turbo badging? (this car is pretty loaded - only does not have the 3rd-row seating, winter package or roof rack.)

2) A/C - blows very cold - except every 15 minutes (set on recycle, it worked better longer) I am getting steam/fog out of the vents and decreased performance. By simply turning off the compressor for a mile or so, it begins to work flawlessly again. Do I simply need a freon charge? Also, I get slight condensation dripping in the passenger compartment floor (and lots of condensation runoff under the car in the normal place). Is this also a low charge sign? The faq had some good information about cleaning the drain vents, which I'll tackle soon.

3) cross threaded spark plug hole (#4) - I need to tackle this one soon. My question - should I try to chase the threads first? Logic says I’d be chasing bad threads into good ones - ideally there would be a thread chaser that would allow me to chase from the inside out - but I don’t think there’s such an animal. But at least I should try....do you guys know what size thread chaser do I need? Regarding the inevitable helicoil repair, I contacted my local volvo dealership - they wanted $225 to do the helicoil repair, and $1200+ if they had to pull the head (“which we’ll probably have to do...heilicoils don’t always work...”). Er...... The faq has instructions on this procedure, but I’m wondering what size helicoil do I need? Has anyone had success with this repair?

Thanks again!