Rusty Triumphs in Scotland

[SiC]

I liked them when they were 100 quid bangers and disposable. Really not worth the money they go for now. So much better cars for what you spend for one of these.

Etc, etc, etc typical TDW response.

The same could be said for Morris Minors, though!

Sarcasm

[captain_70s]

With the rust sorted I can see the 740 being a permanent addition to the fleet.

It fills the role of "daily car" pretty much exactly as I'd like. Easy to drive, comfy, not slow, loads of space, quiet, not too many electrics.

It's not economical, and it doesn't handle like a sports car, but if it did it'd not be able to lug itself up hills at 2,000rpm or drive over speed bumps at 30mph...

Final mpg reading for the trip north was 25.5mpg. Fair given the speeds involved.

[SubPar]

drive over speed bumps at 30mph...

The only car I tried that trick in was a Xantia...

I suppose an old Volvo just flattens the speed bump at that speed. Other tired stereotypes are available.

[AutoshiteBoy]

Live axle is going to get lively hitting a speed hump at that speed - the dampers were never the strongest. Not that Volvo admitted it was a live axle. No, it was a 'constant track' suspension system.

[Guest]

I still like old rear wheel drive Volvo 240 estates, I regret that they are now seen as classics and command a higher price than I am prepared to pay. I can't think of anything similar that I would want instead though.

[DodgeRover]

With the rust sorted I can see the 740 being a permanent addition to the fleet.

It fills the role of "daily car" pretty much exactly as I'd like. Easy to drive, comfy, not slow, loads of space, quiet, not too many electrics.

It's not economical, and it doesn't handle like a sports car, but if it did it'd not be able to lug itself up hills at 2,000rpm or drive over speed bumps at 30mph...

Final mpg reading for the trip north was 25.5mpg. Fair given the speeds involved.

LPG would be a sensible addition if you have a local station

[Eddie Honda]

Fuck that. Just something else to go wrong. Buy a Swedish brick and suck up the fuel cost.

25 mpg is fine, or so Tommy tells me.

[DodgeRover]

60p litre works for me

[captain_70s]

I dare say it'll get 30-35mpg on a run if I'm not pinning the thing at not quite triple figures. The right honourable David Fowler gets 40+ at a steady 70mph out of his because it's well maintained.

I tried to get the radio working today with little success. Firstly I phoned my local Volvo dealer and got the radio code, with the head unit unlocked it powered up but did nothing. I then found the fuse for the amp was blown, so replaced that. Now I had sound from the speakers, just nothing one might want to hear.

Pulled the unit apart, tried cleaning various connections etc and managed to get some genuine reception out of it. Sporadically. Kind of. Smacking the chassis of the radio with a screwdriver handle would cause the unit to work with violent stabs of interference and wavering volumes through various speakers but never consistently. I tried twidling the pots and wiggling various boards to find no symptoms that could be replicated. Then I noticed it had gotten very hot around the back by the fuses.

So I pulled it back out and stripped it further by taking the whole cassette player out of the thing to get at the main board.

43b14652-f5b7-4b5c-a2e9-740f2a24b455.jpg (281.69 KiB) Viewed 2143 times

c4e9e8a2-c3ca-4c0d-aad5-f58be3b79dc6.jpg (290.92 KiB) Viewed 2143 times

I'm going to assume the capacitors aren't supposed to be leaking... Given the price of these units (£120+) I've ordered a soldering iron and shall attempt to repair it. I have a valve radio that needs the same work on a larger pre-circuit board scale, so I may practice with that...

[Eddie Honda]

I'm going to assume glue

https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.co ... capacitors