So we put a new fuel filter on this beast... old one was probably stock/original was full of icky brown badness ... def has more pep in the pedal now.

We replaced all of the spark plugs - found that the 2nd one (from the front of the car) was a bit cross threaded (I was freaking out of a bit but) as it turns out the new one spun in just fine and nothings been strange yet...

We are putting a nice K&N Filter on it soon...

The funniest thing though:

The circuit board behind the dash has been on the fling for a while - something on it is supposed to send a 12 volt signal to the alternator to tell it to kick on... sadly it hasn't - we had this fixed twice for like 80 bucks each time... and it just died again... I called up the mechanic who suggested that I should probably just replace the whole circuit board to be safe and not have to keep paying for the labor to rip it all apart and fix it... This however would cost nearly 400 dollars....

I replied w/ the question: "Why can I not just have a wire running 12 volts right to the back of the alternator - overriding the messed up circuit board (which by the way wasn't even telling me that it was not charging the battery...)
He said that was a genius Idea but wasn't sure how I'd pull it off...

So I ended up rigging a momentary contact switch into one of the empty switch plates on my dash board ... this switch connects to the positive wire running from my cigarette lighter... just spiced it right in.... fed the wire up through the fire wall under my pedals ... right to the alternator.

So now when i turn my car on I just press this button and the alternator receives this 12 volt signal and in turn starts charging the battery.

So after like 3 hours of work + a 10 cent button + 10 cents or so worth of wire I have a working car...we can just hope that all of the gauges continue to work as I'm sure they are connected to that faulty circuit board...

Speaking of gauges - I just added a equuss ( i think thats how yah spell it...) volt meter/gauge ... right below my ignition in the panel near where your right knee sits...

This is VERY useful because I can now easily see if the alternator is on or off - when its off the gauge reads 12 volts and when its on it reads 13 to 14...

And as if I wasn't modding things enough... the gauge came with a boring white light behind it... I ripped the blue LED's out of a computer case fan I had ... and just threw them in the back of the gauge ... looks like one of those 90 dollar gauges... but only costed like 20 + it still does the job.

I also just added these sick blue LED strips along the left and right ceiling panels in between the hand bars... I wired them neatly (hidden as like everything else) through the ceiling to the center light... now when the doors open the blue lights come on which looks AWESOME + its not illegal b/c they arent on when im driving :)

(its becoming a Ricer burner 740 wagon - but my friends say thats impossible b/c you cant rice out a volvo it has to be considered "pimped" out...)

Next we will be adding a Flowmaster 60 series ... I suppose the only questions I have now are:
Is the 60 series really and better than the 50 series - it is like 30 dollars cheaper but they seem to get the same reviews...
AND
My 740 seems to have two mufflers - well obviously not two mufflers but two giant canisters in the exhuast system - the last one i would assume is the acutual muffler - what is the first one...

Looks a bit like this except made out of metal and under my car...:
Pipe -> Catalytic Conv. -> Big Canister -> Pipe/Rear Wheel -> Muffler -> Tail Pipe

THANKS!
-Brendon
PS
Any other suggestions as far as pimping goes let me know!!! Im open to performance suggestions aswell...

That reminds me I also just got a thing of fuel cleaner :)

EDIT:
Just found this while i was looking for a gasket (any good place to get volvo parts cheap online?)

http://www.vlvworld.com/photo_pieces/74exhaust.jpg

comes from here:
http://www.vlvworld.com/indexframe.html?700/toc.htm

which shows that that 1st canister is also a muffler??? So I have TWO mufflers??? boring...

lol

i would say they are both mufflers mate. just get some straight pipe and an over arch kit from jetex, they have some pretty good stuff on they're website.

Matt

+1 on syko. it's a second muffler.

Just got a Flowmaster 50 Series (delta flow ones hehe) for like 30 bucks at the carsisle truck show... also got a nice resonator tip ... all crome yo ( whats up...)


Naw but im no gangster (see i can spell!!!)


Hopefully my whole 114hp will be enough for the 50 series...

-Brendon

ps

I just told my honda civic friend that vtec actually stands for volvo-tec

LOL My volvo 740 station wagon now has a flowmaster on it... tottaly ridiculous but at the same time funny as can be.

It's a pimp mobile as my friends would put it...

Any other suggestions as far as pimping out a volvo goes???

-Brendon

PS
The flowmaster 50 series isnt nearly as loud as we expected acutally sounds quite nice... if you can find one for cheap (as I did) you can redo your whole exhast for under 70 bucks... which frankly isnt that bad considering a brand new flowmaster normally costs 100+

I was wanting to replace the exhaust on my 740 turbo as well, and was hoping to go single flowmaster, piping through the center muffler. I have been told by many people that this will not create enough backpressure for the engine however, and that it is very bad for the life of my motor - has 235000 on it now. You guys here think that this is not really a concern? I would love to 'upgrade', but I am most concerned about the proper functioning of my engine. Thanks!

IPD has sweet after market volvo parts. (ipdusa.com) I have beefier sway bars, and exhaust from them on my 740 turbo and its made a big difference.