After some exhaustive work I finally managed to pull the instrument panel out of the dashboard without removing the dashboard itself. This wasn’t easy but the good folks at brickboards.com assured me it was possible and they were right. First I unscrewed the speedo cable and then pulled the wires out of the jacks on the back. Once I’d done this I wish I’d labelled the jacks but they look individualized enough that maybe it won’t be such a pain in the ass reconnecting them when I’m done? We’ll see.

I started by setting the whole thing on my desk:

I snapped some photos of the back before I started removing screws:

The little can on the bottom center with the 3 wires going into it is the voltage stabilizer.

This is where the speedo cable screws in:

Here’s some other photos of the front with the gauges portion separated from the speedometer cylinder. Separating these parts is a series of screws and it is very easy so I won’t bother going into the details. If you managed to get the instrument panel this far you can figure out how to disassemble it Just make sure not to lose any of those tiny screws!

OK. Now taking the voltage stabilizer off is a matter of carefully disconnecting the 3 wires that attach to it, which is easy – they are all secured by male/female crimp connectors. The voltage stabilizer is attached to the instrument panel by two metal tongs on the stabilizer that clip around a little rubber nub that is secured to the back of the instrument panel. Pictured here:

Next was the toughest part – I had to pry the lip back from the backplate of the stabilizer so that I could open it up. This I did with some careful work using a pair of needlenose pliers. I didn’t want to destroy the stabilizer housing. When I was done and opened it up it looks like this:

This is as far as I’ve gotten with the voltage stabilizer. I purchased a 5V regulator and a 0.01uF capacitor from Radio Shack for $3 and I will soon solder it to the proper points and begin testing. Hopefully this fixes my gauge problem and will provide a more reliable stabilizer for my nearly 40 year old instrument panel!

Click the photo for a larger version.  As you can see the cable itself hooks around a little post and about 3 inches to the right of that is the clip that secures the sheath to the assembly.  This clip comes off with a phillips head screwdriver and aside from the rather uncomfortable angle you have to reach up under the dash it’s not a big deal to remove.  You’ll probably also notice on mine that the black plastic surrounding the sheath has broken and separated.  See how there’s no black plastic where the phillips head clip is?  That’s why my choke cable was moving all over the place.

I went to Napa and bought a new choke cable for $10.  I got a 6′ cable because I wasn’t sure how long I’d need and figured I would be safe.   I pulled the choke cable out of the new one since I just needed the sheath itself.  The new cable had a sheath that wasn’t covered in plastic but it was the same size and my Volvo cable fit just fine inside it.  I did have to trim the new sheath to get it to be the right length and this took some trial and error.  I didn’t measure it when I finished (sorry!) but I’m guessing it was probably about 5′.

Unfortunately (like an idiot) I dropped the clip that holds the choke cable sheath to the carb.  It fell to the ground and I couldn’t find it.  So right now it’s being held on with a set of vice grips until I can stop by the hardware store and pick up a screw clamp or something.  Nice and shiny!

The other end (under the dash) clipped on nicely and after adding some silicon spray to the inside of the sheath it’s really smooth and doesn’t move around!  In the end I found it was a lot easier to just replace the choke cable sheath and not the whole cable.  If your cable is in good shape and you have issues with it moving around like I did just go for this $10 fix.  Hopefully it lasts another 40 years!

Here’s what the frayed end of my old cable looked like:

Now I can control the choke without having to open the damn hood and hold the sheath with my hand while I adjust it.  That was such a pain in the ass (as well as embarrassing).  It’s never cool to have to routinely open the hood of your car in order to get it started.

In the meantime I picked up a parts car – this one a 1972 164 with MT and electronic overdrive.  It’s in a bit of rough shape but it’s fuel injected which is a whole new set of problems challenges that my gullible friend Jim has agreed to help me get running this spring.  Here are some photos of the parts car (the seats aren’t in bad shape!):

http://flickr.com/photos/colten/sets/72157610912941316/

I grabbed a whole bunch of trim off the parts car and some incidentals like the original vinyl glovebox folder with ‘Volvo 164′ in silver lettering on it.  The parts car was apparently an extra in the film ‘Swedish Auto’ that was filmed right here in Charlottesville a few years ago.

How to replace the instrument panel voltage regulator in the 164 with cheap, modern parts

Parts familiarization workbook

Building an in-dash air/fuel mixture monitor

And finally… The Volvo 164 club of Sweden Link Page (aka GOLD)

Compression tests on cylinders read OK (thanks Jim for letting me borrow your gauge).  They read from about 125-140.  The book says that they should be 142-170 but this car is nearly 40 years old and I am not terribly interested in high performance.  I will check the valves this week and maybe that will help a little.

I got the alternator and power steering belts off and with about 30min of work managed to loosen the pivot bolt on the alternator enough to move it and eventually get it off.  I took the alternator in to Advance to have them test it but they said it was too old to be tested on their machine.  I suspect it needs to be replaced anyway and it’s not really expensive, I was just trying to avoid it.  The belt they sold me ended up being too small, so I have to go back AGAIN for the right one.  Power steering pivot bolts didn’t budge so that belt will either be tricky to put on or it will be a pain in the ass working those bolts loose.

Replaced the horn and moved it under the hood so that it’s not getting kicked up gravel and water all over it.  The old one was so rusted I had to pry it off the frame.  Climbing around under the car today I noticed there was another horn on the other side that looked newer.

My IPD stuff I ordered should be in this week: carb synchro, Haynes manual on the Zenith Stromberg carburetor, oil pressure switch, and coolant temperature sensor.  If the gauges for coolant temp and oil still don’t work then I found a site where you can replace the OEM Volvo instrument panel voltage regulator with a 5.1V relay and a capacitor.  I’ll have to dig up that link.  If it works hopefully it will save some other poor 164 owner with a faulty instrument panel from having to scrounge Ebay for an overpriced one.  I scrounge Ebay for everything else for this car.  If I had a nickel for every time I searched for ‘Volvo 164′ or ‘Zenith Stromberg’ or ‘Volvo 160′….

In between looking for the timing marks I noticed the same spider that was there earlier in the week.  It had made a home just over cylinder 5.  I thought it might be a Black Widow but I couldnt get a good look at it the last time I was working on the car.  This time it was clear.  It definitely was a Black Widow.  I admired it for a while and watched it hiding in the dark corner of its web.  I admired it but seeing how I was going to have to reach down there to unplug stuff – I wasn’t too interested in getting bitten and spending my evening in the hospital.  I sprayed about a shotglass full of WD40 at it and figured it was dead.  Just as I was reaching down to unscrew the sparkplug I saw something move.  I poked around the hole with the nozzle of the WD40 can and the spider climbed out up on top of the block!  With a sigh I squished it with a screwdriver.  It was about the size of a dime.

That excitement over with, we found the timing marks.  There is a raised bump on the bottom of the water pump and there ARE notches and numbers on the gear!  My engine is just so dirty I couldn’t see them until the flashlight was at a particular angle.  Hallelujah!  We were a bit off but actually not bad.  Just by feel I think we got within 15degrees of top dead center.  Way to go dad.  I got underneath the car again and turned the crankshaft until it lined up with zero and called it a night.

I have come up with a name for my car I think, though… svart änka (which means Black Widow in Swedish).

It’s looking pretty good!  Photos after the break…

Got out to the car today for the first time, went to change the oil and found that I had the wrong size sockets.  Getting under the car was a squeeze and I’m a skinny guy.  This sort of thing will be easier once we can actually drive it up on ramps.  Largest socket I had in the box was 15/16 and anyway I think the oilpan nut is metric.  Not wanting to waste a drive out there, Dad and I put the charged battery in and tried to start her up.  Starter worked, fan worked, and it tried like hell to turn over.  We even smelled gas so the fuel pump seemed to be working too.  Didn’t turn over though, so we spent some time examining the engine, took out the filthy air filter, and checked the sparkplugs and wires (which need to be replaced anyway).

Then we looked at the vaccuum hoses and this was a mess.  Hoses weren’t connected to the carbs, the choke was rusted closed, and a slew of other vacuum connections were either broken or going off into nowhere.  Clearly I’ll have to wait for the Chilton book to sort this out.

All electrical stuff worked – headlights, dash, hazards, brake lights, even the radio.  Locks also worked although the drivers lock needs to be replaced but I think it’s actually in the glovebox with some trim and fuses.  I will praise the guy who sold it to me for hording so many spare parts in the trunk!  4 extra original Volvo hubcaps, trim pieces (including the missing ‘Volvo’ and ‘164′ badges from the back – which I was gritting my teeth about having to search Ebay for).