Project story

2004 Volvo V70R

All of the things I've done to my current car.

Build timeline

Initial Repairs
I purchased this car knowing it needed a new clutch. I replaced it myself in the driveway at my student house, along with many other maintenance items, within two weeks. During the first week, I also installed new parking brake shoes and cables, a new rear main seal, all transmission seals, a new transmission reverse sensor switch, a clutch slave cylinder, four of the five engine and transmission mounts, ball joints, CV boots, sway bar links, and a washer fluid pump. To replace the clutch, I had to remove the subframe and all engine mounts, which meant suspending the engine in the air. I got creative and made an engine holder out of 2x4s and eye bolts. When reinstalling the transmission, I made a system of pulleys and rope to lift it into place using the wooden hoist. This made installation easy and saved me from needing an expensive engine hoist.
Bad news in week 2
Shortly after all the work I did during the first week of owning the car, I accelerated hard a few times and heard the engine start knocking. I ended up spinning a rod bearing. Some of the ignition coils and the alternator's voltage regulator also failed. Fortunately, the crankshaft wasn't damaged, so I was able to replace the rod bearings, install new ignition coils, and replace the alternator's voltage regulator. While working on the engine, I also decided to install a new timing belt, water pump, idler, and spark plugs as a precaution.
Everything works now!
Aside from a few small issues, such as a rusting floor pan and leaking windshield cowl, the car has been reliable, which means it's time to do some fun things! The first thing I decided to do was add Bluetooth, a phone charger, and a phone mount. I didn't want to install a new head unit with these features because I like the original stereo. The dashboard has an open slot for an optional cup holder, which my car didn't come with. I decided to use this space to house my electronics and fit a 3D-printed phone holder. Using SolidWorks, I designed the insert based on my measurements. I also made some other small 3D prints, such as rocker trim clips, which are often broken or missing.
Custom valved exhaust
I welded in a high-flow catalytic converter and an electronically actuated exhaust dump valve that lets me bypass the muffler on command. The valve controller is a custom circuit I made using a half-bridge motor driver IC. It's enclosed in a resin 3D-printed case tucked neatly into the cup holder area.
DIY bodywork
Due to the age of this car, it had some rusty spots and holes in certain areas of the body. The first area I worked on was the floor. An HVAC leak lead me to discover water had been pooling in the driver and passenger side floor wells leading to major rusting and holes. I repaired the floor pan by removing all rust, painting the whole floor pan with rust encapsulator, then patching the holes with fiberglass and epoxy resin. The next area was the rockers. The passenger side rocker had been completely rotted throug. I repaired this are by cutting out the entire rusted section and welding in over 3ft of 18 gauge sheet steel, which I bent and drilled to replicate the factory appearance. The third rusted area was on the quarter pannel above and in front of the rear right wheel. A large hole developed in front of the wheel and rust was appearing above the wheel. I fixed the hole by cutting out the rusted section, painting the area with rust encapsulator, making a template with cardboard and cutting it out of sheet steel and beding it accordingly. I welded in the patch and ground down the edges. To fix the rust above the wheel, I followed the same process as before however, I cut out a patch from a donor vehicle at a scrapyard instead of making the part myself. After all the patches were installed, I used body filler to restore the original spare of the body, used direct-to-metal high-build primer on all unpainted surfaces, applied 3-5 coats of paint matched base coat, then 2 coats of 2 part clear coat. This restoration is still in progress. I've spent at least 50 hours on rust work, welding and painting so far and learned a lot about automotive refinishing and bodywork. The repairs I've performed would've cost me many thousands to be done at a body shop however my cost has only been around $350.
Methanol Injector
I designed an inline methanol injector that introduces a water-methanol mixture into the intake tubing. This lowers the intake air temperature and increases the fuel's resistance to knocking, allowing for increased power.
CANbus data viewer
I programmed an ESP32 to receive and decode engine data from the car's high-speed (250 kbps) CAN bus and output values such as boost pressure and intake air temperature to the integrated dashboard display over the low-speed (125 kbps) CAN bus. I used SavvyCAN to decode the addresses and data bits for interior switch commands, which control the device, as well as the engine data values and scaling factors.
Other stuff
1: Custom shift knob I made out of aluminum on my lathe after the original one started coming loose. 2: Slick tires for racing. I purchased the rims and tires separately, removed the old tires from the rims, then mounted and balanced the slicks.

Initial Repairs

Bad news in week 2

Everything works now!

Custom valved exhaust

DIY bodywork

Methanol Injector

CANbus data viewer

Other stuff