I think it’s Time for a Wagon 1988 740 Turbo

[Coupid]

So excited!!

I played with the JY stereo more and either the amplifier pinout is different or the radio is broken. I pulled it out and put the original back in.

Then since I figured I had nothing to lose, I popped the JY unit open and looked at the cassette deck mounting. Turns out it was only four little screws and four electrical connectors on the pcb. It also helped to pull the face plate so I could remove the Forward and Reverse buttons.

Then I did the same on the original radio and voila working cassette

[Coupid]

I know it’s not as exciting as the cassette deck or clock swap but this morning I finally replaced all the crusty old vacuum lines I could find.

[Coupid]

Im still waiting for ipd to get more crank holder tools so I can do the timing belt and water pump. In the mean time I’ve just been enjoying driving the car around town. Here are a few photos of my daughter and I doing wagon things today

[240keith]

If you haven't paid for it yet, you can borrow mine, or even if you already have, and want to crank it out now - let me know

Keith

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by Coupid

I know it’s not as exciting as the cassette deck or clock swap but this morning I finally replaced all the crusty old vacuum lines I could find.

This is one of my favorite new-to-me car peace of mind things to do.

This car is coming out really nicely!

[ZVOLV]

Did you install metric vacuum hoses?

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by 240keith

If you haven't paid for it yet, you can borrow mine, or even if you already have, and want to crank it out now - let me know

Keith

Thanks Keith! I told them to hold off on shipping the parts until they had the tool in stock. Last I heard that would be 1/18. At this point I think I’ll just wait since I won’t have much time to work on it anyway. I might check in again this week to confirm that is still the receipt date cause if it has been pushed back again ... Hope you’re doing okay during all this craziness man.

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

This is one of my favorite new-to-me car peace of mind things to do.

This car is coming out really nicely!

Originally Posted by ZVOLV

Did you install metric vacuum hoses?

Thanks guys, it took a few tries to get a solid fit for the various sizes

[240keith]

Originally Posted by Coupid

Thanks Keith! I told them to hold off on shipping the parts until they had the tool in stock. Last I heard that would be 1/18. At this point I think I’ll just wait since I won’t have much time to work on it anyway. I might check in again this week to confirm that is still the receipt date cause if it has been pushed back again ... Hope you’re doing okay during all this craziness man.

The wagon is looking good, looks like the kiddo is enjoying it!

I'm just been trying to keep my head down, I've been working from home, so its been quiet.

Just let me know, its just sitting int my toolbox, I can drop off or leave in on the porch for you.

Keith

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by 240keith

The wagon is looking good, looks like the kiddo is enjoying it!

I'm just been trying to keep my head down, I've been working from home, so its been quiet.

Just let me know, its just sitting int my toolbox, I can drop off or leave in on the porch for you.

Keith

Keith came through with the tool today so now I don’t have an excuse to get this job done! I swapped the mustang and the Volvo In The garage spaces so the volvo is right by the tools (and any spilled coolant is far away from our cats). My plan is to possibly drive it around tomorrow morning and then have it go under the knife during nap time tomorrow. It’s been a while so I’m excited to get back to work on the car.

[Coupid]

Alright just started the wagon up after the timing belt and water pump replacement. I used a Volvo water pump, tensioner spring and belt from ipd. I had to use some aftermarket tensioner since that was all that had in stock. I will keep an eye on it. Somehow I had never done a belt on a red block before. It really wasn’t that bad but it took me two tries to get it installed correctly. I had done a water pump before but that also took me two tries since I forgot to clear where the rubber ring mates to the head and had a massive leak.

When I pulled the number one spark plug to confirm tdc I noticed it was pretty tired. Next up is plugs, air filter, oil cap seal and it’s due for an oil change. Here are some photos in progress:





I signed up for a big drive next month so I want to make sure all maintenance is complete so it is ready to rock

[Coupid]

So this thread has basically just switched to maintenance lol.

As I said above, the #1 spark plug looked horrible

Here it is next to a fresh one.

While I was replacing the plugs I noticed the wires and distributor looked horrible. The fun will continue this weekend when my next ipd shipment arrives

[PCH]

That spark plug is not too bad. Def it's time to replace it but just normal wear. Good luck with the drive!

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by PCH

That spark plug is not too bad. Def it's time to replace it but just normal wear. Good luck with the drive!

Okay good, I felt bad it took me so long to get to some of this maintenance but it just ran so well so I didn’t feel especially compelled. The other three looked better than that one.

[Coupid]

Installed the new cap, rotor and plug wires today. Old stuff looked fine but worn. I bought a new preheat hose but when I took the old one off I noticed that the heat shield on the Downpipe was totally loose. Not sure if the hose is what keeps tension on the shield of if I’m missing some hardware. I think I’m going to pull the shield off to investigate at least until I have to smog the thing.
Old stuff on its way out



*edit:All done. Getting that heat shield off was pretty horrible. I’m definitely not missing hardware, maybe the shield needs to be bent into a shape that keeps it in constant contact with the downpipe?



Giving Keith his tool back

[Coupid]

The downpipe heat shield was definitely causing a major rattle. With that off and the sound gone I noticed a few exhaust leaks. The rear muffler looked like a disaster and the rest of the exhaust pipes and hardware was really yucky. The main exhaust leak was at the junction between the cat and mid muffler. All of that added up to needing a new cat back exhaust...




The car would have been the perfect candidate for an IPD sport exhaust but apparently that is no longer a thing. Sad day so I ordered the starla system from FCP. I wish I could have gone for something a little louder but it’s kinda pointless since I can’t install a larger diameter downpipe because California. Can’t wait to fire it up without any mufflers tomorrow so I can relive my river youth!!

[Coupid]

Still waiting on the fcp exhaust system to make it out of Georgia due to that storm.

My Kaplhenke QSRCs arrived a few days ago so I got right to work disassembling the front suspension. Here is as far as I got last night

Tonight I fully installed the passenger side. Mercifully before I jumped over to the other side I tried turning the rotor. The new parts were jammed right up against the dust shields. I vaguely remember reading something about that issue maybe in DET17’s build thread. Is that common?

I pull the passenger side back to stock and put the car back on the ground so I can still drive the car around assuming the exhaust arrives soon.

[Coupid]

Okay I reread the thread and confirmed I will need to trim the dust shields.

My new exhaust is still showing as stuck in Georgia so I decided to reinstall the resonator (since it wasn’t totally shot like the muffler) and put a turn down on it so I could still drive the car this week. I’d like to get a straight piece of tube to extend the temporary exhaust to the rear bumper depending on how long it takes for the permanent system to show up

[redblockpowered]

Seems like the weather is getting to all the cross country packages. My heater hose I ordered last week is still in Washington, I think. Just checked FedEx and got an error message, so not exactly encouraging.

It really is a bummer there's no IPD turbo sport exhaust. I'd be really into 2.5" with two mufflers, paired with 3" downpipe and cat.

I think there's an off the shelf Simons option but you'd have to import it and that seems hardly worth the trouble.

[Dan]

We had a similar wagon with a manual. many trips and miles on it. Was wife's car and it never let her down except for the time the coolant overflow bottle neck broke off and overheated at 80 mph and warped the head. Check it... Ours ended up couple of owners later gaining internet fame on Hoovies garage. It was a great car, many camping trips and several cross country jaunts. I miss it, but it needed to go .

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

Seems like the weather is getting to all the cross country packages. My heater hose I ordered last week is still in Washington, I think. Just checked FedEx and got an error message, so not exactly encouraging.

It really is a bummer there's no IPD turbo sport exhaust. I'd be really into 2.5" with two mufflers, paired with 3" downpipe and cat.

I think there's an off the shelf Simons option but you'd have to import it and that seems hardly worth the trouble.

I got the same error message, it bet it will be another two weeks before it’s resolved.

Yeah at that point might as well find a local exhaust shop that will just make a nice 2.5 or 3 inch mandrel bent system

Originally Posted by Dan

We had a similar wagon with a manual. many trips and miles on it. Was wife's car and it never let her down except for the time the coolant overflow bottle neck broke off and overheated at 80 mph and warped the head. Check it... Ours ended up couple of owners later gaining internet fame on Hoovies garage. It was a great car, many camping trips and several cross country jaunts. I miss it, but it needed to go .

That’s awesome, I remember those episodes! I’ll take a look at the overflow tank. Mine is likely original and very yucky looking.

[redblockpowered]

My heater hose actually got here today, which shocked me.

Doing all the rubber coolant hoses, along with the heater control valve, is probably a good idea. I didn't and paid the price, and paid the price again.

I've heard you can clean overflow tanks pretty well with 3:1 water and bleach along with something to agitate the surface of the tank (have seen rice as well as metal BBs mentioned)

[swedishiron.com]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

I've heard you can clean overflow tanks pretty well with 3:1 water and bleach along with something to agitate the surface of the tank (have seen rice as well as metal BBs mentioned)

This guy used sulphamic acid - which you can get a gallon of crystals at Homer Depot pretty cheaply:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqCN7VHMtfQ

[John242Ti]

^Home Despot, but, yeah...

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by swedishiron.com

This guy used sulphamic acid - which you can get a gallon of crystals at Homer Depot pretty cheaply:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqCN7VHMtfQ

Is cleaning the original the preferred solution when compared to buying a new aftermarket one from IPD?

[Dan]

Originally Posted by Coupid

Is cleaning the original the preferred solution when compared to buying a new aftermarket one from IPD?

They get brittle and crack at drain neck from flexing, replace don't clean