With the summer officially in Scotland, It can be very easy to get distracted by the great weather, the long summer days, the cool nights around a fire drinking alcohol & of course all of the events and days out that this wonderful little part of the UK has to offer. Now, normally, I wouldn’t really get involved in all that but over the years, I have unfortunately dabbled in all of the things mentioned above. This year though, things have been going differently. This year I’ve started to clear my head & get away from all the temptations the Scottish Summer has to give. I bring this up because I have officially started a list of all the parts and jobs that need doing on the C70!

Even I’ll admit, It hasn’t been easy changing my mental to put myself back on track but with the car now very much on the forefront of my mind for reasons I’ll unveil in a future blog, I had no other choice but to change my ways. With that in mind, I have decided to make up a list of all the bits & pieces that the C70 needs as well as all of the jobs I need to do to it to make it roadworthy again. With some help & advice from some good friends, now is the perfect time to be focusing on the car once again. So without further ado, let’s get into all of the things I need to do to at least get it into a drivable state.

First things first, the C70 has a Coolant Leak that is caused by a Thermostat issue, I do believe that it needs the whole Thermostat assembly replaced with a brand new one. Access doesn’t seem to be too much of an issue but you can never really be too sure with a P80 Platform Volvo, what looks to be a good amount of space becomes a spider web of lies, dropped bolts & a lot of swearing. I hope I can get some new hose to go from the bottom housing to underneath the Intake Manifold as it seems to be a part that’s shared with other Volvo models of the time. If all goes well, I’ll just need a big bottle of coolant and it should fire up without any coolant issues whatsoever.

Next on the list is a full Exhaust system. I’ve never fitted an exhaust onto the car in the 8 years I’ve owned her and there’s no signs of a replacement system on any of the paperwork I have in the folder. If my suspicions are correct, the exhaust that is currently on the car is the original and unfortunately It’s starting to show. It’s lasted 23 years but now It is just Rust, high emissions and broken hangars. Whilst I’m changing the Exhaust system, I’m going to change every bolt, every heat shield, every hanger & cross brace as well as any rust that might be starting to show on the underside of the car. We have recently bought a Draper sandblaster so that will be getting put to good use when the time comes.

Once all the new Exhaust system parts have been bought and fitted, the next job on the list is a brake overhaul. This will probably be the most difficult and time consuming job that the C70 needs thus far. The plan is to fit new discs, new brake pads, new ABS sensors & potentially replace some brake pipes and lines. On top of this, I’ll need to rebuild & refurbish the Calipers and the brake pad carriers so they can be as good as they can. I haven’t done Brakes in a long time so I don’t want to rush the job at hand but at the same time, I can’t take too much time doing all the work due to time & weather restraints.

I’m also needing to buy a new set of tyres for the car too. Currently, it sits on Yokohama Bluearth Tyres that are essentially eco tyres. These were originally bought not long after the car was purchased and are starting to show their age. Originally bought to get better fuel economy, the tyres haven’t been too bad in the time they’ve been fitted, however, there’s two main reasons why they need changed out. Firstly, as already mentioned, the current tyres are starting to show their age. They’re starting to show signs of cracking as well as having fair sized chunks missing out of the sidewall which is rather dangerous. Secondly, ever since having the tyres fitted, the car has never handled as good as it should and has never really encouraged confidence whilst on a spirited drive. Now I admit that some of the suspension components could be doing with a refresh as they are pretty much original & 23 years old but considering that your wheels and tyres are the only contact patch to the road you have with a car, having a set of tyres that don’t encourage confidence when behind the wheel is never good. I am very much interested in getting some Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s for the car as these will give back the confidence that is currently lacking. Sure I’ll lose out on some MPG’s but considering that the C70 was never really built for economy in the first place, It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to trade for better overall grip on the winding, country roads that I live around.

Whilst the tyres are getting sorted out, I’d like to get the factory 17″ BBS Propus wheels refurbished as they are full of kerbing and scrapes. I have been contemplating on a new wheel colour but I think I’m going to stick to the factory silver. I’m also considering on fitting new wheel bolts that go around the perimeter of the wheels that make them a Split-Rim. Add in a set of new wheel lug nuts & Locking wheel nuts, all in the wheels should look brand spanking new. All I need to do is find a place that will do a decent job on the new wheels for a respectable price. This is easier said than done as a lot of places around the way don’t do a very good job for the price they charge.

Once the majority of mechanical jobs have been done, the plan is then to move onto the interior and get some bits & pieces refurbished, replaced and ultimately refitted. These include refurbishing the steering wheel & the centre armrest, the seats and the stereo head unit. For the steering wheel and the armrest, I’ll be using Royal Steering Wheels because I’ve heard nothing but good reviews from them by fellow Volvo owners. For the Stereo, I’ll have to find somewhere that can refurbish the laser that’s unfortunately burnt out in the CD part of my stereo. The seats will have to be removed and transported to one of the many Interior repair shops that Glasgow has to offer, this will be heavy going and quite a bit expensive but oh so worth it. As for replacement parts, some new switchgear will be needed for the likes of the doors and the dash but that’s not too much of a big nor expensive job in all honesty. Once everything is in and all the bits and pieces have been refurbished and ultimately returned, It’ll then be the mammoth task of refitting everything back where it belongs.

Once that is done, It’ll be time to sort out some paint work and a small bit of welding that while insignificant, could do with being done to futureproof the cars future. It’s no lie that the bodywork is in good order but lately, it has started to show signs of ageing and could do with a refresh in a good few places. Whilst it is true that overall it is pretty clean for what is now a 23 year old car, I do believe that a good spray job and a little bit of welding here and there will do the bodywork a whole lot of good. This is also a very expensive job but just like the rest of the jobs the car needs, this will make the world of difference once It’s all done & dusted.

There are a few more things that need doing to the car but they’re not really worth talking about because they’re small & insignificant and don’t really need mentioning. There are gonna be a lot more jobs that’ll need doing but they can wait until the car is roadworthy again. These jobs won’t be easy and they won’t be cheap but project cars are never any of those things and this is why we love them. It’d be a lie if I was to say that times like these have been well overdue but as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. These things take time and a lot of patience but are so damn worth it once finished. I’m honestly counting down the days to when I can get back to driving the car again.

There’s multiple reasons as to why I’m determined on fixing the car. The first reason is simply this, I haven’t driven the car for years now & I’ve thoroughly missed driving it. The second reason is a little more simple, see, recently we’ve bought a new daily and whilst It’s in fairly good mechanical fettle, it is a high mileage example and does need some work doing to it to get it up to scratch. Because of this, if the daily ever needs work, the C70 can be used, when needed, as a second car that should easily be capable of running us around if needs be. The third reason is a lot more personal and is actually the main reason as to why I’m adamant on fixing the car as soon as I can. I am willing on writing about it but not in this particular article. All will be revealed in the not too distant future!!

Hope You Enjoy!

Alex Jebson