Delores - the Volvo that came with a name + Shed Barn Shop building details.

[DanStokes]

Got me scratching the ol' noggin. The Volvo is using a Ford (Powermaster) alternator with internal regulator so that's no help. Mutt runs a Bosch - I had the alternator (and starter too, BTW) rebuilt at our local rebuilder and both are working well so far. Mine is internally regulated but the exciter wire runs to the dash with an indicator bulb to put the load on that circuit. The rebuilder sketched out the charging circuit diagram for me and it works fine other than I have to rev the engine to turn off the light whenever I start the engine which is no big deal. BTW - the charging circuit diagram is available online if you need that. The Ford 1 wire Powermaster works great so a retrofit might be one way to solve this.

Dan

[STINEY]

Today I learned that a MegaSquirt will still run on 10ish volts.

A Volvo starter however, will not.


And sending + current to the D+ terminal with a jumper wire from the battery with the engine running has no effect on the alternator - still no charging.

Likewise grounding D+ with the engine off and key on - dash light still off.

[STINEY]

Heater core fun!

And I thought Fox Mustangs were bad. Wow.

And just for added bonus - apparently 264's are somewhat worse than 244's. The 244 upper dash will lift off straight up from the steering column....the 264 dash has an added bracing portion that captures the column, plus captures part of the harness to boot.

[Deaf Bob]

Whee! NOT! Hope you get charging issues straightened out. Does the alt show charge while running with a hand held?

[STINEY]

Don't know yet Bob. I tried manually exciting the alternator with a wire from battery+ to D+. No change. I have several good GM alternators collecting dust and will probably just adapt one of those on.

I bought the car knowing it needed a heater core, and since the ALT exciter bulb is buried in the dash as well, I decided to jump ahead to replacing the core and will check on the bulb and plastic circuit gauge display thingy at the same time.

3 hours last night and we just barely got to the point of removing the heater core hoses from the core itself. Next up, CHEATING. We are doing what's affectionately referred to as "The Chainsaw Method", where more hours are saved by cutting the HVAC box open on the top - removing the core and slipping the new one in - and sealing it back up with furnace tape.

[milner351]

work smarter not harder.... Design for serviceability it seems has been completely removed from the modern design process, with no signs of improvement over the last many decades!

[STINEY]

With manufacturing efficiency in mind - - things on this car just make me go HUH? There is no way Volvo achieved any kind of assembly speed with some of what I see.

For instance. The instrument cluster speedometer gauge panel has a plastic printed circuit that the little bulb holders pop into. Just like lots of domestic oems did. Okay, big deal right?

The odd part is that the illumination for the cluster COMES FROM BULBS MOUNTED INDIVIDUALLY TO THE DASH ABOVE THE CLUSTER. Yep, daisy chained and their light shines through 3 tinted panels ON TOP OF THE CLUSTER, letting the light shine down into our field of vision.

Its fun and weird learning the quirks that are Volvo. VW beetles are a bastion of logic by comparison.

[Deaf Bob]

Milner, my 77 flatbed has the heater box simplified! Few bolts not reused.

[DanStokes]

Dick's Volvo is the next older generation but similar. Had that dash apart many times though not as far down as you are (so far the heater core is OK). Fortunately, we have an independent shop here in town where the guy has TONS of Volvo experience so if that goes bad we'll sub that job out to him. When the core went bad on my 'Stang I literally couldn't find a shop to take it on (in Ann Arbor) so I spent a weekend and evenings the following week taking it apart and doing the deed. I've done many in my Buick dealership days but they seem to be getting worse and worse - guess they want you to buy a new car instead?

Dan

[STINEY]

There is a little controversy in the Volvo 200 series world on heater core replacement methods. The purists don't think 9 hours is excessive for heater core replacement, and call the shortcut "The ChainSaw Method" or "The Hacksaw Method".

Well, not being a purists about much of anything, taking a shortcut that saves 4 hours sounds great to me. The internet is rather sparse on actual pictures of this - perhaps due to the marketing genius that is photobucket.

So here is my take on the shortcut.

Disassemble dash until the top of the heater box is accessible. (this is a job itself, and is covered decently already, except for the differences in the 264 dash over the 244)

It is fairly obvious where the heater core is. The original has a weird copper manifold setup while most replacements feature a simple IN-OUT arrangement.



In order to make more room for my Dremel I cut the weird manifold off.



Making cuts to enable removal of the top part of the heater box. Its a fiberglass of some kind, so expect and prepare for the smell and dust. Breathing filter and eyewear is highly suggested.




And of course my Dremel brand dremel - which I have used twice - lost its smoke charge and welded its brushes to the armature. Took a brief interlude while replacing it with a Harbor Freight unit.

Some of the cuts simply cannot be done with the dremel due to positioning and proximity of the firewall and windshield. The two corners near the vent tubes I had to cut with a handheld hacksaw blade.



And the top is off.



Gently pull the heater core upwards. It gets close to the windshield but there is enough room to carefully remove it from the top.



Now is a great time to grab the shop vac and get most of the fiberglass dust. Better now than to deal with it the first time you fire up the heater blower motor.



Using some 3M spray adhesive the seals were added to the new heater core. Going slow and using care you can get the old ones off in one piece, then its a simple matter to stick them on the replacement core.



Slowly slide the new core with the old seals installed into the heater box. Its a nice snug fit with the seals in place, just like it should be. Put the top piece that was cut off earlier back in place, and I chose to secure it with Gorilla Tape (because it was handy and sticks quite well to just about everything)

Added a little bit to the vent manifold piece where I knicked it with the dremel - don't want to waste any heat or heat up the wrong stuff behind the dash.






Hook up the flexible hoses and call it done. I had the bonus fun of undoing the heater bypass installed by the PO under the hood, but he did a nice job of it with a 90* plastic barb fitting so replacing the connections underhood was simple enough.


Then the joy of putting the jigsaw puzzle of a dashboard back together. Again I refrain from documenting that nightmare.

Next up - Alternator and Turbo flange studs!

[Deaf Bob]

Man! Whatta mess! I love old simple trucks/cars!

[DanStokes]

Good of Stiney to document this. I'm guilty of charging into this type of project and getting so wrapped up in it that I don't take pics so the knowledge stops with me. Now forever and ever those who need to know CAN know. I'm hoping I never need to know any of this but if I do I know where to look.


Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

Man! Whatta mess! I love old simple trucks/cars!

simple? except for the bolt between the fender and the inner fender..

[Deaf Bob]

Left mine out once I got it out... ;).

[DanStokes]

I think I've mentioned this before but GM had a template to tell you where to drill the inner wheelwell to get that bolt out w/o pulling the fender. We offered the customer the option and I can't remember any that chose the "remove the fender" option once they saw the price difference. Add a body plug once done and you could barely tell anything had been done down there. Back when these were still in salvage yards I'd sometimes see one that had the hole.

Dan