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Tinkerbell - A Sonic Blue VR Story

40K views 234 replies 47 participants last post by  V70r59 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Pages 1-3 - Julien's VR is getting a spaceball
Pages >=4 - bigern79 buys the car - Jump to bigern79

[HR][/HR]
After a brief hiatus, I'm back to the P2r world! I've had a couple distractions since my s60r, and may have even sworn to myself that I would never buy another... but as they say "never say never"

I had spotted this 2006 v70r during a boredom-driven craigslist marathon. Since my last "R" I have kept a loose eye on all p2r cars in the bay area. Ad read "mechanic's special" needs transmission. On a rainy Sunday afternoon I setup a time to check out the car about an hour north of San Francisco. The car looked pretty but had some battle scars. I took it for a drive in the wet and noticed pretty quickly the AWD system didn't work, there was a "4C" Suspension error message, a rear clunk over bumps, paint peeling on the hood and some large dents. The seller was a lady who'd bough the car when it was a year-ish old and had her son (a Subaru tech) maintain the car for most of it's life. Seemed like the motor was in reasonable shape as it pulled well during our test drive. Parked her in a dry garage and made a deal with the seller.


The seller and I kept in contact as we worked out logistics and I went to go pick up the car a few days later.


At this point her son had warned me the car had left his mom stranded and to take precautions. I decided to ask a buddy to come up with me with his truck and trailer (although trailer had an e30 parked on it.. we banked that one of the two cars could make it back - lol) Low and behold the car drove great! Even the 4c error was gone. O.M.G. what deal I thought to myself as I drove across the golden gate bridge during sunset.

I spoke (thought?) too soon.

As I hit traffic entering SF the car starts to shift hard and eventually stalls. DOH! I pull out the code reader and see the transmission is having trouble unlocking itself. I manage to limp the car a little further by manually shifting the TF-80sc and end up at my friend's house in Half Moon Bay.


Once there I show the car to my buddy Frank, who I had met a year prior as he commented on my street parked s60r as he was walking by (Ie true car nerds). I let him drive it for a while and really enjoy the beauty of the scenery. Car is shifting reasonably well in manual shift mode but 4c error came back.


(he's got a manual Volvo 245, can't you tell?)

Anyways, I get the car home and think of a name. I mainly bought this car out of boredom. I wanted something to tinker with. "She is quite the looker" I thought to myself.

Meet Tinker Belle!


First thing when I get home is to check the mail for my DICE and get the VIDA image loaded back up onto my mac. Looks like 4c is caused by front left shock, now trans codes(!) and no engine codes (!!).
 
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#2 ·
First night of wrenching was replace the front left shock and also install two front bumpstops. Seller had actually replaced the 4c about 80k miles prior and had kept the shocks. With the car having 170k, the old shocks had roughly the same mileage as the ones on the car. I played with both shafts :rolleyes: and installed the best one.



Here she is in her natural environment:


Next was to fix the A-pillars with some double sided tape;


(I asked the neighbor for help, I'm not good at these things)


What happened next was a some great news mixed with some worry! Early Saturday morning I got a text from craigslist to buy my lovely little Abarth. I had kicked around the idea of selling this bugger after owning it for 1 year (and clocking over 22k miles!) As happy as I was that the car was going to a new enthusiast owner, I now had to rely on a P2R with questionable transmission to get me to work every day (30 miles each way)

(good bye pic, yes I teared up)

Luckily for me, I had placed a deposit on a complete m66 swap from a guy down in San Diego. He even got it all delivered to me in a beautiful Flash-cama R!!


No time to swap though, I had to move first!

(that week was also my birthday, busy busy!)

Here it is! I had just two days :facepalm: to install this since we have a shared lift where I wrench and there are time restrictions.


I had the lift booked for two days but snuck in the night before to get started on pedals:

(ultra-rare three pedal auto)
Pedals are easy, just disconnect steering linkage below dash and remove cluster. Having a friend pull forward on the brake booster as you swap pedals gives you more clearance.

Next day I started pulling her old guts out:


Get the two support bars to ready the subframe to be lowered:


And.. out she comes:
 
#3 ·
The great thing about this swap "kit" is that it came from a car that was rear ended shortly after getting a clutch, flywheel and (hardened) sleeve.

(clutch on - already reset)

Started the accession of the m66 (cue music)


Couldn't quite get the trans to mate and I was broken. Problem for mañana.

The next morning I figure the trans wasn't quite clocked right and needed to be tilted over a bit or the CPS to fit into it's little slot:

(the p2r is a "well supported platform") #dadjoke

Installing the clutch pedal hydraulics and shifter cables


A couple hours later (including new motor mounts, a pressure washed subframe and some serious :mad:, she fired up! )

(not sure this video works, try this worse case -> )

To get my car to start, we pulled the TCM off the trans, turned the keyway to neutral and plugged it in. 1k miles later, I'm still driving like this lol)

SPACEBALL!


That night I drove tinker belle home!


and bought a sticker


I don't remember going to bed. I made it through my door and sleep walked into bed - 20 hours of labor over 2 1/2 days, swap was (mostly) done:cool:

Scored some 18 pegs as present to myself:


Flashcama R now rocking my 17s:


And on the way home :mad::mad::mad::

(linky )

Axle bolt got loose. When I tried to tighten in on the side of the road, it snapped.

Selfie :D


Passed another broken p2 :rolleyes:


That night I got the car towed to the shop, yanked out the axle, easy-out the bolt, reinstalled it and shoved some Gold Rush Hazy IPA down my throat to make it all better.
:beer::beer::beer:
 
#4 · (Edited)
Now that the car is reliable (well.. P2 reliable) I wanted to address creature comforts like the radio. It would work... sometimes.

After reflowing the board it worked none of the times ;)

I fixed that by buying a carplay unit that I really like, the Sony Ax200. I chose this model for it's 4volt RCAs. Also installed a boost gauge.


Continuing on my "spend my money like it belongs to someone else" trend, I bought a do88 intercooler off Viva. Unfortunately it showed up repackaged and dinged. A few emails to Viva and we got it all sorted :thumbup: :thumbup: I went do88 (for the second time!) because it looks stock enough for smog and works very well.


After work I quickly headed to the shop, got some time on the lift and stuck the intercooler in.


That brings us to now-ish. I listed the tired tf-80sc on FB and a local volvo tech wanted it. We ended up working a deal out that really really made me happy.

He got this:


I got this (after adding some $):

No more valet key for me!!

Last night, I got the clutch pedal sensor wired in to the ECM:


and today I wired in the center channel of the radio and the backlight for the boost gauge:


and a wonderful cat I fed tonight:


Now I'm waiting on a box from FCP with plugs, filters and fluids before calling on Gustav (Contrast) to tune her. :thumbup::thumbup:
 
#5 · (Edited)
Siiiiick, who are you getting to do the tune for the manual swap?

Seeing this makes me regret putting another AW55 in my lowered XC70 instead of the M66 I have sitting in my garage. I just didn't have the funds to get the ECM remapped at the time. I might just have to take that back apart to do this.

I've got that same head unit!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Siiiiick, who are you getting to do the tune for the manual swap?

Seeing this makes me regret putting another AW55 in my lowered XC70 instead of the M66 I have sitting in my garage. I just didn't have the funds to get the ECM remapped at the time. I might just have to take that back apart to do this.

I've got that same head unit!
Going with Contrast
 
#8 ·
You can just make the CEM think it's a manual car with V-Dash...https://d5t5.com/
That's what Ben at Rolling Motors does for manual swaps, makes the car a stock manual essentially
 
#14 ·
I’ve just read this and I’m incredibly jealous of a few things:
Your smile as your car is behind you on a flat bed (would not be my immediate reaction or thought- hey I’ll do a selfie!)
Your 18s (but hey- Cali)
Your friends who can help and have interest (my local buddies are office dudes, as am I)
Your knowledge and ability to make this happen (I’m oil change and brakes and simple maint guy)
Your access to a lift (I was getting there and my Indy who was moving and getting a new multi bay/lift shop that I’d be able to use got sick and may have died- he’s not been to his original shop for two years now). I think about all the parts and tools he has that are Volvo specific. ☹
This thread is inspiring and keeps me hopeful that I could one day make my VR a manual (but pay someone)
 
#15 ·
I've just read this and I'm incredibly jealous of a few things:
Your smile as your car is behind you on a flat bed (would not be my immediate reaction or thought- hey I'll do a selfie!)
Your 18s (but hey- Cali)
Your friends who can help and have interest (my local buddies are office dudes, as am I)
Your knowledge and ability to make this happen (I'm oil change and brakes and simple maint guy)
Your access to a lift (I was getting there and my Indy who was moving and getting a new multi bay/lift shop that I'd be able to use got sick and may have died- he's not been to his original shop for two years now). I think about all the parts and tools he has that are Volvo specific. [emoji3525]
This thread is inspiring and keeps me hopeful that I could one day make my VR a manual (but pay someone)
That's the dream [emoji2956]

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
 
#22 ·
Excellent read. I’m very happy for you and your m66.

On my search to R ownership, the amount of very nice cars I had to pass up was ridiculous. Some of them had a service history record that made me second guess my decision to pass on it. In the end, I took a gamble on a m66 and could not be happier. These cars are not the same in auto
 
#23 ·
No car is. I'd have preferred manual but my automatic is ok. No complaints yet.
Excellent read. I'm very happy for you and your m66.

On my search to R ownership, the amount of very nice cars I had to pass up was ridiculous. Some of them had a service history record that made me second guess my decision to pass on it. In the end, I took a gamble on a m66 and could not be happier. These cars are not the same in auto
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#25 ·
That was a great read. I was really hoping you'd straighten out those headlight wipers - that was really bothering me.

What tape did you use for the A-pillar covers? Mine are peeling and 3M upholstery adhesive didn't work, so I need to try something else.
 
#28 ·
That 575M though.
 
#40 ·
Hello 2009 :D

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Volvo xc70
 
#42 ·
Oh snap.. I saw this one on CL and was like Nope... hard pass.. too much work..i wish I had the time you did to bring this thing back to life. Not sure if you saw the other silver 04 that was listed the same time as this one, the owner started to ghost me as I asked about taking it to get a PI done.. he flaked on me when I was coming down to test drive it.
It's cool I found a 06 VR in Sunnyvale that day that was a better fit for me and ended up picking that one up.
Man I have to say I'm glad to see you saved this VR.. I really wanted that color and I probably should have went to check it out but the CL pics really turned me off.
Well I know who to come two in the bay when I need my auto swapped 😛
 
#44 ·
Naw
That Gray atacama one for 8K was way overpriced and needed about 3-4K on top of the 8K he wanted. I passed. I got one that wasnt advertised publicly and was a word of mouth sale. I dont know who bought the silver 04 with the gunmetal 18 pegs, the seller wasnt very receptive to selling to me.after i.wanted to get it inspected before I bought it... probably a sign...
 
#45 ·
Guys, not sure what 3M spray you were using, but FWIW I use a lot of this stuff in my shop and it's the mutt's nuts...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002BBV2S?tag=duckduckgo-exp-b-20&linkCode=osi&th=1

Spray evenly in a cross hatch pattern on both surfaces (not too heavy or it will soak thru the fabric,) let it sit for about a minute or so to get really tacky, and put 'em together. Great for upholstery work and even convertible tops. The 77 was OK, but stuff would come loose sooner or later. Haven't had this problem with the 90.

Really enjoyed the read on your MT conversion, have done lots of them on another make and interesting to see what it takes to get it done on a Volvo :)
 
#46 · (Edited)
Time for an update! The manual swap was now behind me so I started going after the list of defered maintenance on the car:

Rear brakes and brake fluid flush:


New Battery (I went for the big boy) and starter



Then I got to replacing the driver side CV axle seal and balljoint, which went smoothly. The passenger side balljoint turned into a bit of a nightmare. I pulled a little too hard to the spindle assembly to get the balljoint in, which caused the CV axle to separate internally :mad:

"Not a huge deal" I thought... I've done CV axles before.



Problem was the circlip that allows you to separate the outer cv from the shaft... SNAPPED :angryfire:


At this point I could not rotate the inner assembly to get the CV and all it's balls back together. I started weighing my options (and some light cursing myself for selling bianca)

I took the CV out of the vise, sat on the floor and held the assembly in my hands. With much finesse/patience I massaged the balls up and into the cv and got it back together (mind you this is 10 PM and I'm about 45 mins from home). I yeet'd that axle back in the car and went home.

New balljoints meant I could finally get the car aligned, no more crooked steering wheel :D


The next time I went to play with cars I fulfilled a promise to two friends and swapped Gaz Coils, Brembo brakes and ACS wheels from one clownshoe to another:



ugh

Now that the mechanicals were getting closer to being sorted it was time to make my car pretty. Time for PDR!!

First and foremost the big giant dent on the backside of the car:



That took the most time as the dent was not only complex, it had also warped the metal around wheel well in some areas. Alex also took care of pulling the lower section of my door to get my lower trim to fit properly again. More time will be spent on the door down the road.



Since the car was running fairly well and I had some free time I decided it was time to go see some snow (and ski) at Kirkwood in California:



Car performed flawlessly. I want to say this video was my motivation. Sadly snow was nowhere near that deep.

And back to SF


More to come...
 
#47 · (Edited)
One thing that bugs me about a car once it starts to drive well is the interior. Small details can make or break an older car. Fun tip, since these cars are built in belgium there is some flemish writing under the cluster cover!


Date/Installer/Badge Number/Inspector. I guess one of these never got checked! :p

Next up was pull the driver seat because:


and



other side was nasty too, so I pulled them out and got them shampoo'd by my buddy.

And clean! Thanks Eric!


Seat out and apart:


New (used) Foam and leather:

This will get dyed at some point...

Last large eyesore was the paint on the hood and rood, so she got dropped off at a paint shop. I've tried painting a car before and no thanks!


Dropped off in Berkeley.

Here are the issues:




And now I was going to be carless for a week! Time to play with other people's projects :beer:

Like this e30


or this e30


Or this golf



How do I take my coffee? With a big brake kit:


Meantime I got progress pics from the body shop:



And.... FINALLY she's back!

I'm mostly happy with the quality of the work, paint match was tricky as the fender had been painted before.

Picked up my friend and let him drive her around that evening.


At his house:


Guess what happened next? I did something other than car work!?!! :confused::confused::confused:

Hike:


Post Hike noms:
 
#48 · (Edited)
Back to regularly scheduled programming.

PCV (Turns out the PO didn't replace the long coolant hose when he did the PCV a few years prior. I got around to doing a glove test and it failed..womp womp)


I also Installed my IPD turbo intlet that I bought back from my s60r (three owners later - LOL!)


IPD DP Because I wanted shiny things and more braps:




I finally got around to also installing the 11 blade compressor wheel from ARD.

(it got cleaned)



Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. A little heater gun thing got old wheel off and new wheel on.


And another DOH moment. WHy do these always happen at 10 PM when I'm far from home.. :rolleyes:


Got the threads cleaned up and drove her home. The car feels absolutely EPIC! I've already contacted Contrast for stage 2 tune :D

 
#53 ·
Thanks!
Awesome work!

Thanks!
I'm ramping up to the PCV, intake, downpipe install in the next few weeks. I've gotta find a place to paint my sport kit and fix up some spots just like you did too. Fresh, clean Sonic can't be beat!
Sonic <3
PCV isn't bad, just take your time.

What a killer update, car looks awesome, and you get to play with a lot of fun cars!

How did you deal w/ balancing the new compressor wheel?
I did not. Since my ultimate plan involves rebulding the turbo, i decided to run it as is, as other's have had success doing.

That's some quality v70r porn right there

Me: 2007 VR gt Slicktop Titanium Grey/Nordkap Wife: 2015 XC60 T6 AWD Ocean Race Past: 2006 V70 2.5T Willow Green/Oak, 2005 S60 2.5T AWD Silver/Black
Heh, thanks!
 
#50 ·
Awesome work!

I'm ramping up to the PCV, intake, downpipe install in the next few weeks. I've gotta find a place to paint my sport kit and fix up some spots just like you did too. Fresh, clean Sonic can't be beat!
 
#52 ·
That's some quality v70r porn right there

Me: 2007 VR gt Slicktop Titanium Grey/Nordkap Wife: 2015 XC60 T6 AWD Ocean Race Past: 2006 V70 2.5T Willow Green/Oak, 2005 S60 2.5T AWD Silver/Black
 
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