expensive coolant stings in wounds just like the cheap stuff

M5 fog light repair

The BMW's onboard computer was kind enough to remind me that I had a dead bulb in my parking light and also a fog light. Sick of getting these messages every time I drove the car after dark, I decided to replace the bulbs. I was quickly reminded how much fun it is to do repairs on old cars, especially when it involves ancient plastic clips. I uncovered a lot more wrong than just a bulb with the fog lights. One lens was cracked and was missing all the mounting tabs. It was just sitting in the hole in the airdam, rattling around. The plastic bracket that holds the assembly was also cracked. Brilliant. That can be repaired easily (and this little bit of plastic is forty bucks to replace), but the lens/bucket assembly is beyond recovery. If I replace one, its tattered mate would stick out like a sore thumb so I turned to FCP Groton for replacement OEM lenses.

  Cracked and sandblasted glass lenses

Proper projector lights

The worst part: broken, brittle mounting tabs. The driver's side fog light was sitting loosely in the air dam. You can also see how badly pitted the glass is: just shy of sea glass from the beach.

New glass

BMW glovebox flashlight repair

E34 BMWs came with a neat rechargable flashlight in the glovebox. It serves mostly as a light for said glovebox, but can be removed to find lost change under the seat. Mine didn't work, so I investigated.

Turns out the NiCad batteries popped at some point. I found a nice walkthrough here and ordered new batteries for just a few dollars.

 

Disassembled, with dead batteries. Lots of corrosion to clean up.

 

New batteries fitted

 

We have light! Just awaiting solder and re-gluing the case. 

 Finished!

True Swedespeed: Volvo breaks its boxy shell for a new, boxy shell

The Volvo 850 was introduced in 1993 to replace the 740-series cars. There were many differences between the models, chiefly in the drivetrain. The 740 series cars were powered by longitudinally mounted, inline, iron-block four cylinder motors, either single or dual overhead cams, some turbocharged. These motors were mated to a live rear axle, rear wheel drive layout. The newer 850 cars featured all-alloy, twin cam, inline five cylinder motors mounted horizontally. These were mated to front wheel drive transmissions. The 850 has an all-new independent suspension, front and rear, as well as the first side-impact airbags on the US market. The styling continued Volvo's boxy design, with key edges softened for the 1990's. The shape was striking against the many jelly bean shapes popping up on the landscape (the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable is my favorite example of the lozenge school of auto design).

The 850 wagon was introduced shortly thereafter, in 1994. The wagon was powered by either a 2.4 liter naturally aspirated five or powerful high-pressure 2.3 liter turbo five (T5 in Volvo-speak). Producing 222 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, the T5 powerplant easily propelled the rather heavy car to surprising speeds. At the very end of its life the 850 would receive a 2.4 liter 'light pressure' turbo. The LPT also found its way into the 850 AWD cars never sold in the States. The press was impressed by the haste that the wagon could achieve, and also commented on the competent handling.

The story of the 850 wagon gets interesting right from the start. Volvo wanted to use the new 850 platform to compete in the popular British Touring Car Championship series, which pitted (heavily) modified versions of everyday (touring) cars against each other on the track. Competition included the BMW 3-series, Alfa Romeo 155, Renault Laguna, and Ford Mondeo. Volvo decided to use the wagon version of the 850 as the basis of their touring car program. The choice was rather controversial, as every other team used 'saloon' cars as the building blocks of their racing machines. Volvo joined with Tom Walkinshaw Racing to construct the 850 touring cars. The motor was a 2 liter unit developed specifically for competition. The motor was also mounted lower and far back in the engine bay to create a more favorable center of gravity. The 850 'estate' racecars did reasonably well, competing in the 1994 BTCC season but never securing any points for Volvo Racing. The next season, race officials changed the rules governing aerodynamics, rendering the wagons noncompetitive. Using the sedan version of the 850, the Volvo Racing team went to to finish third in the manufacturers points standings in 1995 and third again in 1996.

The success of the 850 touring cars helped create a new 850 in 1995, dubbed the 850 T5-R. Painted in 'T-Gul,' a pale yellow, the T5-R sported motorsports badging, special 17 inch wheels, a deeper chin spoiler, a more aggressive rear wing on the sedan, two-tone black leather and suede seats, stiffer springs, and larger swaybars. The 'rest-of-world' models got a full 247 horsepower put down through a five-speed manual with a viscous limited slip differential; the North American market got only automatics and no rise in power (some sources claim that the US-spec R computer allowed an overboost, yielding 240 horsepower). The 'R' model continued until the 850's demise in 1997, relabeled the 850R. The famous yellow was gone, replaced with black, white, red, and dark green. The two-tone seats reversed there arrangement on the 850 R, with the suede now on the inner seating surface.

The early R cars have attained a bit of a cult status, especially so within Volvo communities. However, it is the 'base' 850 Turbo that really made an impact on the market. The original Volvo turbo wagons were quite popular and complete with the Countach-comparison ads, a little controversial. The 850 Turbo was a genuinely fast car when it debuted. In 1994, the Volvo's 222 bhp compared favorably to other European competition: BMW's M3 only mustered 240 bhp and the king-of-the-luxosedan-hill 540i made 262. Today, Volvo 850 owners can turn to firms like IPD to quickly increase their 222 bhp to closer to 300 with simple upgrades.

What I remember most about my '97 was the overall feel of the car. It had a solid, vault-like quality to it. The overall structure was stiff, the doors closed with a satisfying thud, and the steering had an agreeable heft to it. Sure, the stock suspension was too stiff on the little stuff and wallowy when the pace quickened but the overall composure was good for a wagon of that size.

The motor was a great one too. It had tons of pull, and a satisfying rush when the boost came on. The original Volvo setup was more than ample for everyday enthusiastic driving, never feeling out of breath. On the racetrack, the system was quickly overwhelmed and the heatsoak sapped power. The Swedes who put the car together never really intended it for hard-core abuse; even the later S/V70R cars are unhappy when really flogged at the track. These are supremely livable, practical road cars with just enough performance to satisfy drivers who might be used piloting 2-seat sportscars.

The 850 wagon really was a practical car. The cargo area on those traditional Volvo wagons truly maximized space. Compared to the newer V70's or my current Passat, the overtly square opening and flat load floor swallowed 10 bicycles at once.

MM-MM good

 I've gone off the deep end, and bought my first M car.

It's a 1991, late 1990 build. It lost all its M5 badges at some point in time, which I don't mind at all. It's also shod with rare 17x8, 17x9 Style 10's, with nice M centercaps. I didn't much care for the wheels in photos, but in person they're attractive and understated. The lips are nice touch. It also has a neat, 4-seat, leather/cloth euro interior called "Webstruktur" offered on some late, euro-LE models. The front seats are heated and manually adjusted. I'll work on getting some photos of the interior, it's pretty cool and very period. The self-opening rear console is great party trick, even if the mouse-fur dividers seem sized for defunct cassette tapes.
 

 

 

 

 

 

It has a lot of miles. A LOT. I had a compression and leakdown test done and saw good numbers. The valve clearances were checked. On top of that, the owner claimed it recently trapped 98 mph at the drag strip. Not bad for an old gal. She definitely feels like 315 bhp.

It's a blast to drive, that S38 motor howls and just begs for revs. I always read about how M5s tend to shrink with speed and feel better that harder they're driven. It's true. I can't wait to take it to the track to responsibly access that speed. It's very solid and full of character. It's a far cry from the WRX I sold to buy it. It feels like a well-engineered, complete execution instead of a very fast appliance.

Hopefully I won't live out any of the horror stories that can go along with low-production cars. It'll be interesting, for sure.

no more scooby snacks for me

After an emotional struggle to get the darn thing working right, a bunch of things changed in my life. I spent some time in Europe and North Carolina and the WRX sat in the cold for two months. After much deliberation (with myself) I decided to sell the Subaru.

Yes, I admitted defeat. I bit off more than I could chew, I took on too big of a project with too little time and money. I might (might!) do another motor build, but decades from now. How about after retirement? Oh wait, people don't retire anymore. Scratch that.

In typical fashion, I've been hunting for something to fill the void. Always torn: do I go for something new and reliable-ish or something old and oozing character? How about a Saab Viggen? They're fast, weird, and full of flaws character. Maybe an old Volvo wagon with a mid-nineties Ford Cobra drivetrain? I could find parts anywhere (even down South). Maybe even an Audi ur-S4. Sure, it's a porker, but it has that blitzkreig 20 valve five complete with that wonderful, terrifying warble.

No, I think I'll go for something more ridiculous. Details to follow.

How about a few farewell photos of the Subaru? She was fun for the 2.1 months I actually drove her.

Subaru running

one struggle after another

The Subaru is finally running, but not running well. It's been one issue after another since I 'finished' the build and started it for the first time.

Somehow the thermostat got bent (??) and was leaking pretty badly. I was able to remedy this before cranking it over, but it cost me a new thermostat and a refreshing propylene glycol shower. Next, once the motor built oil pressure, I had a massive oil leak from the turbo oil supply line. My first thought was a lousy crush washer. No luck. Then I suspected the threaded fitting on the braided SS line I got from Pegasus Racing. No, that was sealing nice and tight. After reinstalling the line about four times (which is fun, laying on the intercooler is the best way to get the fitting into the head) I discovered that the threaded fitting on the new banjo couldn't sit flush against the head. It would always leak.

I had no choice but to use the old hard line, which looks like it will break at any moment. It sealed though, and allowed me to actually run the motor. It ran. But it smoked like hell, and there is another, smaller oil leak on the oil drain from the turbo.

Turns out I botched the lines for the crankcase/head breather system and was building well above 110psi of oil pressure. This lead to awesome smoke and oil spatter all over my bumper. The muffler was literally coated in oil. Gross.

 

That's oil and soot. All over the place. I dropped the exhaust and cleaned it very well. After addressing the breather system and reinstalling the exhaust I have eliminated the smoke and the oil blow-by.

However, I may still have the breather system wrong as the computer is detecting a load at idle. Mike at Benchmark has been very helpful in getting this thing working right. Hopefully this weekend I can get it running smoothly. A buddy asked me what my dollars per mile are on the car right now. I have put 20 miles on it. That's a scary calculation.

scoop there it is

With the breather system nearly done, I fitted an STi hood scoop. Hard to notice, but it's taller than the stock one for 'better cooling.'

Crisis averted

After a big scare involving the clutch, I'm nearly reading to fill the WRX with fluids and give her a crank!

I dropped the motor in and suddenly had issues getting the throwout bearing to engage the pressure plate. The clutch fork just flopped back and forth as the bearing slid freely on the input shaft. Not good. I feared I would have to pull the motor/drop the tranny to reassemble the clutch properly. After some discussions on NASIOC, I realized the parts were assembled correctly, yet the spring clip for the throwout bearing wasn't doing its job.

I was able to separate the clip and bearing, force the clip into the pressure plate, then press the bearing into the assembly. After bleeding the clutch (damn Subaru, putting the bleeder nipple at the LOWEST point in the system) I had a working clutch!

I dropped in the radiator, a bunch of other BS, buttoned up most of the engine harness, and took a deep breath. The only remaining items are wiring the new gauges and creating a new crankcase/head breather system. The two liter EJ205 block has one breather while the STi EJ257 has two. I am ditching the whole OEM setup for a custom, balancing system using air/oil separators but I will retain the Subaru PCV valve.