I've had Ancestor since February this year and thought I'd share him with you. He's a bit old in car years but still has some good stories and we've bonded over our mutual enjoyment of country roads. Despite his age Ancestor likes his modern upgrades as well as traditional additions that remind him of the good old days...

Awesome work - not too modified ;-0

Looks good! Like how the modern stereo illumination fits in well with the green/orange of the factory dashboard illumination

You know you can get plastic wheelnut caps that were fitted to cars originally fitted with them wheels?

SteveP wrote:Looks good! Like how the modern stereo illumination fits in well with the green/orange of the factory dashboard illumination

You know you can get plastic wheelnut caps that were fitted to cars originally fitted with them wheels?

Yeah I was super happy to discover that. Can't stand it when the colour doesn't match! Pioneer DEH-X8700DAB. Only just starting to add the speakers to test the sound but love the functions so far. Sprayed the big chrome dial black for an OEM look. Can't believe I went for so long in my life without DAB in my car!

Since those pictures I've got new wheel nuts. I like the chrome/silver/grey look. Ditched the old ones because they went a strange shade of super rusty.

Hi mate .
Car looks realy clean.
Cheers Mark.

I really like your 340, some banded steels would suit this.

360beast wrote:I really like your 340, some banded steels would suit this.

I'm going for the clean look that Mark likes for now but if I get hold of my mum's old car later this year I can have this off road for longer to do some bigger mods. About time I did my first engine swap I think.

I supposed this was going to happen sooner than later with a 27 year old car...

Hope nothing major....

It's back on the road! Just got to fix my phone next and I can post updated pictures with attempts and wood effect vinyl wrap on some interior parts and hopefully a new gearstick gaiter being made by a friend who knows how to use a sewing machine. After this is little mechanical bits and bobs but pretty happy with the condition of Ancestor now.

What had you broken?

... The throttle cable broke. Took a long time to get a replacement from Speedy Cables and I go distracted with a little trip to 'Merica... wondering if 'Salvation Mountain' will be the new rat mod style?
Was so happy when I got it running again after months of sitting on the drive! Since then I've replaced the engine side fuel hoses as they were all cracked (wondering if that'll boost my mpg), the dizzy cap, rotor and rocker cover gasket. I've got a full oil change on the way, new temp sensors ready to fit and then will be a thermostat change and coolant flush.

In amongst all of that I found what looks like a bodge job on some kind of oil seal/plug at the back of the engine block under the dizzy cap, right next to the hole for the lower of the 3 dizzy cap bolts. The weird pink sealant was actually used like polly filler to plug the hole but it fell out.
It's probably more the cause of the oil leak mentioned on the last MOT than the rocker gasket which wasn't in bad condition when removed. Might even have just have been running along the gasket. Alternatively could just be a red herring and some oil formed in a hole in the side to look like a leak when it's coming from somewhere else (wondering as I haven't lost a lot of oil as far as I can tell)? Would be grateful if anyone knows or has the part that should go here instead of weird pink sealant?

In other news, someone in my family gifted me an air compressor so that's a whole new world of fun waiting to be unlocked! I've thinking soda/sand blasting the wheels for a proper refurb as well as some air tools in my wood workshop.

Couldn't resist uploading a photo of Ancestor showing off those bulging wind deflectors. Hoping to deal with the overheating issue http://www.volvo300mania.com/uk/forum/v ... =6&t=16741soon so I can ditch the Mini (in the background) and get this back as my daily.