Good evening, I would like to introduce myself and give a little backstory before I dive into my problem.</P>


I'm the proud owner of the vehicle described in my sig. I bought this car during highschool from a man who left it sitting in his yard for 2+ years and he did not know if it worked. He told me he would sell it if I could start it. I threw in an oldbattery, turned the key, and it started right up. I knew I had to have it. $250 later, I was driving home.</P>


The car had its usual wear and tear problems: the cracked dash, musty smell, spider webs. As well as some mechanical defects: cracked master brake cylinder, worn gaskets, coroded fuses, etc. Since buying that car... 7+ years ago, it has let me down repeatedly, but never to the point or cost that I got rid of it. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences. I'm a sucker for hard-luck cases I guess.</P>


I've done a number of jobs done to it - the most extreme was a gorgeous blacker-than-black paint job that tipped the scales at about $3000 (and that was a bargain compared to what I should have been charged!). It was the car's reward for being such a reliable steed. The other was putting in a "new" auto tranny from an '81 with overdrive. Because I got the tranny for free, it only cost me about $450 to have it put in.</P>


Since I aquired my lovely 1996 LT1-powered, leather-cladCaprice some years ago, the Volvo has been demoted to "winter-car" status, abused by teens with keys (with a tendancy to scratch phrases into hoods), recieved its fair share of parking lot dings, and now faces a potentially severe transmission problem. I'm not quite sure yet what this tranny problem could be as I haven't had the resources to take it toa specialist.</P>


I do know that the fluid level remains constant and a healthy pink, but the tranny takes 5-10 seconds of revving (gentle revving) to "catch". Since its initial tranny replacement, I noticed a severe drop in low-end power delivered to the wheels. Peeling out in sand is not even an option any more. What is going on? I'd like to have some idea what I'm facing before I take it somewhere so I can tell them what to look for as I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on the old gal.</P>


I would like to add that I would be more inclined to repair and hang on to the car if I could get more parts for it. My '78 seems to stir up peculiar looks from Volvo specialists. Perhaps the one I have is rare? I can't find many replacement exterior or interior parts for it - namely the lights. I'll try to get pictures, but the headlights are arranged as 4 round lights instead of the usual 2 round or 4 square. Finding replacement tail-lights, even from the dealer, have proven impossible. IPD offers nothing for me. Often times performance upgrade parts listed in catalogues will fit 1975-1977 then 1980-1993, completely missing my year. What gives? Do I have some mysterious import or something?</P><edited><editID>nick_danger</editID><editDate>37893.994224537</editDate></edited>

 

the manual transmissions are immortal....(and reputed to be an easy swap) I think the tail lights are the same up to the early 80s but I can't swear to it, my first volvo was a 79 wagon, and I didn't have too hard a time of it getting parts, the headlamps are standard small sealed beams (5 1/4" ?), but the sedan tail lamp assy.s are prone to some 'issues', and unless you are a whiz with a soldeing iron and sheet copper they are usually a replace reather than repair type problem.... scrap yards are your friend!