Who makes a decent early bay longblock?

[Hippie]

Sold the Bus anyway DjEep, but gave him Colin's contact info.
Going to buy the buyer's Jeep Wrangler from him as our new "fun" car. I'm loving ACVWs more and more not owning one. LOL.

[bajaman72]

Hippie's don't drive Jeeps do they?

[Hippie]

Hippie's don't drive Jeeps do they?

I don't know what hippies do. I'm a pretty poor example of a Hippie, in real life.

[DjEep]

I was @ a punk show last night when a Jeep Compass rolls up and out jump 4 kids in Misfits/Bad Religion/DK/whatever shirts waving "bye" to Mom. It was super Punk Rock

[Sylvester]

I was @ a punk show last night when a Jeep Compass rolls up and out jump 4 kids in Misfits/Bad Religion/DK/whatever shirts waving "bye" to Mom. It was super Punk Rock

Now that is badass! I would have high fived them all but I am just a lamer!

[Hippie]

If there are any real hippies (by lifestyle) left, I think relatively few can afford VWs anymore. They were cheap in the '60s and '70s.

[vdubyah73]

they're driving volvo 240's now. very familiar parts you know.

[Hippie]

That makes sense. They are done with the '60s and now reliving The Big Chill in their 240s.

[SlowLane]

Nothin' wrong with Volvo 240s. Wish I could have brought mine to California when I moved. Most reliable car I've ever owned, and least expensive to maintain. By comparison, my 850 is a temperamental drama queen, always needing another shiny new part.

Unfortunately, a lot of perfectly servicable 240s met with a premature end during the cash-for-clunkers debacle a couple of years back. It was gut-wrenching to go to the junkyards and see what was being thrown away in the interests of "reviving" the auto industry.

[Hippie]

What year did Ford buy Volvo again?

[hambone]

Man that is one wacky sentence.

[Xelmon]

By comparison, my 850 is a temperamental drama queen, always needing another shiny new part.

Hm, would've thought that the Volvo 5's were solid engines. Maybe it's the age?

What year did Ford buy Volvo again?

1998, MY '99 is when everything went electric all of a sudden, including steering. =\

[Hippie]

Man that is one wacky sentence.

Cool...Thank you.

[SlowLane]

By comparison, my 850 is a temperamental drama queen, always needing another shiny new part.

Hm, would've thought that the Volvo 5's were solid engines. Maybe it's the age?

Oh, the engine is just fine. Every bit as solid as a redblock (even if it is an interference engine). It's everything else around the engine that's a bother.

In the two years I've owned this '97 850 GLT I've replaced:
Timing belt, tensioner and idler
Water pump ('cause conventional wisdom is to replace the pump while you're doing the timing belt)
ABS control unit
ABS sensors
Struts and shocks
Front Upper Strut mounts
right-side ball joint (actually the entire control arm, as the ball joint is integral to the control arm)
all four wheel bearings (close to $800 just in parts for that one)
all four tires
numerous rotted vacuum hoses
pads and rotors
windshield (twice!)
Many dashboard warning lights. Taking the instrument cluster out is a special treat.

I just spent today swapping out the SAS air pump which had filled up with water due to a faulty SAS valve. Fortunately I still had the old VW air pump that the PO had bodged onto there, so at least that's not another $300 bill.

What's worse is that there's so much crap around the engine that I can't seem to get my hands in there to do even the simplest things. I mean, you can see the thing you want to get to through the maze of lines and hoses, but worming your arm in there with the right wrench requires far more patience and dexterity that you would think.

Sorry for the rant. I actually still like Volvos, mostly for how they feel to drive, but I really wish they had stuck with the legendary simplicity and robustnesss of the 240.

[chachi]

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