• We've had James' beautiful P1800E (one of a brace he owns) in for suspension and brake hose replacement, plus sorted out the cold start.
    • This latter was amusingly simple in fact. Sure enough the Auxillary Air Slide was operating cleanly, so that wasn't the problem. So I removed the garden hose linking the AAS to the air bypass in the plenum, and sure enough the revs rose accordingly.
    • It transpires that the garden hose had constricted in the heat, and was restricting the airflow from the AAS, therefore the cold start idle was not rising as required: proper hose installed, everything working well!
    • I hope the photo does the car justice: ordinarily I prefer originality to whacky paint jobs, but this colour (is it Aston Martin DB4GT?) looks perfect, and is what Volvo should have given it.
  • Delivery Expectations
    • We heard from a recent customer that a competitor had said to him "Oh, they're servicing it? You won't see that again for a few months".
      This is very peculiar, since anyone who works with us knows that we set a date, we expect to see the car on (or before) that date, and we handover precisely at the date given when booked in. Usually less than 14 days.
      I suspect that the competitor quoted was thinking of another garage, and not us at all.
  • B20E engines
    • On the topic of servicing P1800E's, all owners of B20E and B30E motors must remember to lube the Auxillary Air Slide.
    • Engine warm...
    • Lift off the top hose revealing the moving slide of the AAS
    • Dribble light oil onto the unit
    • Allow it to cool overnight
    • This should keep your AAS (not cheap at all) working for years to come
  • Rally of the Tests
    • There's lots of lovely photos of all the competitors: rain, sunshine, night, flying through deep fords, tearing around Kart circuits, through private forests, on Epynt and in Caerwent - the variety is lovely.
    • In particular here's one of my little girl receiving her "Best Lady Navigator" trophy from the boss of the RAC David Hobday.
  • Lands End to John of Groats
    • Next up, Amy is back out with Roger Tushingham (MGBGT, ready to compete again after his RotT outing) setting off from Lands End on 7th December, and with a good run should arrive at John of Groats on Sunday morning.
    • Endurance: this is a tough rally on the navigator in particular, who gets very little sleep until Sunday lunchtime.
      The driver, to my certain recollection from 2008, can shut his/her eyes at several meal halts, as well as the 5 or 6h allotted at the overnights; but the navigator is plotting at the meals, checking results for errors at the overnights and submitting the queries.
    • Brilliant event though, and we'll be watching the results hourly!

Leave a comment about this article: volvo@amazoncars.co.uk

Back to News

 
Top