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Well, this is coming from someone that was in your situation a month ago but has since done the same thing you are looking forward to. I had a bunch of leaks in my exhaust manifold (85 244 GLTi) and I had to take off the heads and have them drill out 4 studs, remove 3 and then replace all 8 (one came out with the nut).
A couple of things though -
1. Are you mechanically inclined? Very?
2. Do you understand how your engine works?
3. Is there a library near? (You'll need several different manuals to study cause they all have different pictures)
4. Do you have plenty of tools? Metric between 10mm and 17mm is your primary tools used, mostly sockets except for a few occasional open-ends used for the fan, etc. A few are actually SAE but don't worry, those are standards like 1/2".
Suggestion Section :
- Fully read your manuals before doing anything.
- The engine isn't too bad to work on, but if you have a turbo you're in for a pain here and there. Its rather hard getting the exhaust manifold out of the way of the studs for them that come out of the head.
- The intake can normally be just unbolted and disconnected from the fuel system (and maybe one or two other places) and just moved aside.
- TAKE OFF THE SPLASH PAN!! It is a pain every time you drop something and it falls into a bunch of muck you have to search through.
- Make absolutely sure you line up the timing marks (yes, they can be a BIG pain to find, too) and mark them before removing the timing belt. It is very hard to set the timing by yourself when you don't know what you're doing. (took me 2 days to get it running enough to get it to the mechanic).
Oh, and just remember something : if all else fails, put the parts in boxes and put them in the trunk and have a mechanic reassemble the car. Just use your intelligence, take your time (mechanic's estimate:7 hrs, final time for me:14hrs), and beyond all - never get mad, thats when you screw up the most.
That mechanic I just mentioned... make sure he knows his stuff. Someone that knows Volvos very well is the best to go with (mine has worked on volvos for a loooooooooong time and are very good, can usually tell me whats wrong as I just describe it). If you're in the Chicagoland area, check out Swedish Car Specialists in Schaumburg - Randy and Lester really know their stuff.
Nick
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