Rainmaker

[Dueyferg]

I got the front end tore down today. Lots are parts are going to be replaced.



I replaced the engine mounts.





Check out the sweet battery hold down that came with the car.


And an equally awesome battery base. This is going to get replaced.


I started adorning the underside of the hood.

[Dueyferg]

I got a little more done after work today. First I replaced the transmission mount. I thought it was weird that it had one single mount right in the center.



I then disassembled the strut. Ghetto spring compressor. Watch your fingers when you release those straps.



Last I removed this broken housing and adjusted the park brake.


French fry anyone?

[Dueyferg]

I only had about 40 min to work on the car tonight. I stopped working on the car to spend some time with my 1.5 year old daughter so no complaints. I got the factory spring seats off the struts. I started by cutting the weld all the way around with a cut off wheel.



Then I beat the spring seat with a hammer until I had this:


Last I ground the weld down with the grinder.


It is supposed to snow again tomorrow so, I am not sure when I will get more work done.

[rice4life]

I feel like I am the only one who is following your thread D:

Are you going to replace that broken housing by making a badass custom one?

[Dueyferg]

I feel like I am the only one who is following your thread D:

Are you going to replace that broken housing by making a badass custom one?

Hey at least there is one I am not sure about the housing. First priority is to get it driveable.

[MommysLittleMonster]

Props to you for doing this in your driveway in the snow and cold weather. This should be awesome when it's on the ground!

[Belvader]

shit look great man, im looking forward to seeing some front wheels on it

[Dueyferg]

So I am doing the poor mans coil over conversion. Saab 900 strut inserts and ebay coil over kit. I had to drill out the spring tops that came with the coil over kit.


I also had to slightly enlarge the volvo cap nuts to fit the saab struts.


Here is a factory insert compared to a saab one.


In order to get the cap nuts to fully seat on the top of the strut insert I had to grind down the insert. The brown is paint maker that I was using to show me where the cap was still rubbing.


As you saw in the insert comparison picture the strut insert is considerably shorter. So I had to cut the top of the strut tube off to retain the threads. Then cut a section out of the middle and weld the top back on.



I have not welded them back together yet. I have some other issues that I do not like with the inserts, but I will talk about that once I fix them.

[Dueyferg]

So the other issues I mentioned earlier where the struts and coil over sleeves not fitting. The 97 Saab 900 KYB strut that I bought does not fit. I am sure that KYB has different "models" of strut for that car, but the ones I bought you do not want. I ended up going with a Monroe strut for now. Here are the two struts. The KYB is the grey one.


Strut tube


KYB


Monroe


I also did not have to modify the top of the Monroe strut for the cap nut. I had spent a bit of time sanding one of the struts, and honing one of the strut tubes to try to make everything work. If I would have known I could have just bought the Monroe struts first and dropped them in.

The Monroe strut drops in but I already cut the strut tubes according to the KYB's. Of course they could not be the same exact length. The Monroe strut sits 7mm taller. Which leaves me with this


Luckily I did not throw out the pieces that I cut, so I will cut spacers out of those and weld it all back together.

The ebay coil sleeves were too small. I had a friend of mine take 1mm out of the inside. I did not want to take too much because the sleeves were thin to begin with. I tried to hone them to fit, but then today said F it and ordered these: http://www.kaplhenke.com/collections...r-spring-perch

I also ordered 9" 300lb springs.

So my cheap coil over setup is taking way longer to get together and costing me more than if I would have bought the right parts in the first place.

I did manage to get my new inner/outer tie rods and dust boots on today.

[Dueyferg]

I got my new stabi links put on


My ball joints ready to go


My drive shaft support bearing pressed on and the drive shaft back in.


And the rest of my parts came in. I ended up going with a 10" 275lb spring. I did not want to overpower my cheap struts too much with heavy springs.


I plan to weld the tubes up Wednesday.

[Dueyferg]

Here is the spacer I needed to make up the difference between the strut I was going to use and the strut I am using.


Spacer in place ready to tack together.


The rest of the housing in place ready to tack weld


All welded up.


I had to grind it all down so the sleeve would slide over.


The stop ring for the sleeve in place and ready to be tack welded.


All ready to go.


I then painted them black. Here they are on the car.


I am getting close to driving. I still need to change all the fluids, bleed brakes, check the pinion angle, and adjust the toe. I am worried that the springs up front are going to be too tall to give the stance that I want. We will see.

[rice4life]

Woah. Those look great.

I had 400lb springs on my coilover sleeves on KYB excel G's(same as the GR-2 but black). Rode nicely. If those monroe struts are like the KYB's you should be able to run a much stiffer spring down the road.

But, my car had struts and they are probably stiffer than the volvo shocks.

I'm just trying to say that aftermarket factory replacement shocks are very durable.

[synth ruiner]

I love the amount of effort you're putting into this. Should be great. I have a similar Volvo so this thread feels quite educational, haha

[Dueyferg]

Woah. Those look great.

I had 400lb springs on my coilover sleeves on KYB excel G's(same as the GR-2 but black). Rode nicely. If those monroe struts are like the KYB's you should be able to run a much stiffer spring down the road.

But, my car had struts and they are probably stiffer than the volvo shocks.

I'm just trying to say that aftermarket factory replacement shocks are very durable.

I have a feeling I will end up with a shorter, stiffer spring, but I want to see how this is first.

I love the amount of effort you're putting into this. Should be great. I have a similar Volvo so this thread feels quite educational, haha

Thanks! it has been a learning experience for me.

[aLaFleur]

Pretty rad work man! I've missed this thread, but I'm in now.