I forgot to get pics with the bronze rims since the windows have been tinted.

Those rims are now off, back to the Toyota Silver Aluminum's with Gislaved Nordfrost 5 studded tires on them.


I wanted Nokian tires, but apparently they signed an exclusive contract with KalTire and that rubs me the wrong way, because I absolutely hate Kal Tire (except maybe for semi trucks when you're in a pinch). So, I got some Gislaved's. They were only available through Volvo dealerships until recently, which rubbed me the RIGHT way. hahah Hopefully they rub the road with a good firm grip!

Update on this Carib, which is not so new anymore I guess. I've had it for a year and 3 months now.

Took it in for a routine water pump/timing belt replacement, it was coming due on the clock. They do it, but they can't seem to get the rad to burp properly, it wasn't taking more than 3L of fluid and constantly spitting bubbles out. So they get it the best they can, I pull out of there and make it 90% of the way home, it over heats and steams on the side of the road. I take it back, they burp it, it takes another 2L of fluid and its running good on test drives. I take it again, 90% of the way home, over heating.

My head gasket was finally blown. It was running poorly since last August when it overheated in the mountains. Coquihalla Highway is a real b**** on vehicles when its a 36 degree C day. I ended up getting a new hose and driving it home that day, but ever since then I was noticing oil in the coolant, and moisture in my exhaust.... SO I knew it was a count down. The new water pump finally dislodged the tiny fraction of gasket that was left (probably more like crusted oil at that point). SOOOOO rebuild head, plane and pressure test, repair spark plug holes... BAM go time. She runs pretty good but same thing, doesn't want to burp. The radiator is full of crap! So, new radiator. NOW, shes really running good.... but the first cold morning its putting a massive amount of condensation in the cabin with the heat on. OF COURSE, THE HEATER CORE TOO. hahah So, I got a heater core, and honestly I didn't think it was going to be that bad... but it was worse than any of the other jobs. It took the guy 10+ hours of labor, and at one point I came in and looked... I almost shat myself. My poor car was completely taken apart inside, steering wheel off, column hanging, wires and conduits everywhere. =(

Anyway, its out of the shop, RUNNING EFFIN AMMMMMAZING. I can climb up steep hills in low revs now, the fuel consumption is back to normal, the idle is solid. It doesn't stutter on acceleration, everything is smooth and its got a lot more get up and go. I noticed a particular jump when I switched the oil to AMS 5w40 2 days ago. This car is a fun dream to drive right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

TL;DR
Car got all new engine cooling parts, head gasket, radiator, hoses, heater core. RUNS SUPER TIGHT, and TIGHT IS RIGHT. =)

Stereo is still a work in progress, getting some custom door panels made by a friend for $200 each but .... hes had my door panels for 3 months now, so you can't rush cheap. =(

Sounds good!  Glad to hear you got the engine sorted out.  I was thinking when reading your coolant problems, make sure to have a thermostat with a jiggle valve.  I believe the jiggle valve has to be oriented a certain way (usually at the top).

Putting 6½" speakers in the doors?  Regardless of size, I'm jealous... those 4" dash speakers are just too small!

6.5's in the doors, components! Tweets will be located on the door where the rear view mirror plastic cover is. =)

The back will also have 6.5's but not components just 2-way's. AAAAAAAAnnnnnnd this beautiful JL 10 w 7 but the guy is slooooooow moving. I'm hoping he gets his a** in gear soon before summer is over... again.

Yeah the 4's are too small. Even really good 4's (which are a drastic improvement like I said) are just not good enough for an old loud car like this one. If you cruise with the windows down, doesn't come close to drowning out the road noise!

Well done man. sounds great.

PICS PICS PICS PLEASE!!

It's a lot of money but you've gotta spend a bit of money on the things you love...  

I will when its done! Right now I'm just driving around with the 2 front door panels off. Metal handles, lots of vibrations. =\

i used to drive an old nissan pintara wagon around like that - Can't say it was for an upgraded stereo system though!  

Bahahhah Yeah now that you mention it my old Nissan Sentra was missing some interior panels, and it didn't get much in terms of upgrades. I ran that thing for LONG distances with the oil fill cap off.... I was super smart back then. It however, still runs to this day... my friend owns it outside of town, its pushing 350,000km now and I was abusing it in the 170,000km range.

Quoted from dylangumby

Bahahhah Yeah now that you mention it my old Nissan Sentra was missing some interior panels, and it didn't get much in terms of upgrades. I ran that thing for LONG distances with the oil fill cap off.... I was super smart back then. It however, still runs to this day... my friend owns it outside of town, its pushing 350,000km now and I was abusing it in the 170,000km range.

I had a Mazda B22 like that. 3 brakes worked (still that way), the rear driver brake line, the OO, instead of replacing the leaking brake cylinder, he broke the brake line, crimped it (bent it in half, and hammered it flat), and taped it to the axle. I towed a 2700lb sailboat with it from Chilliwack to Maple ridge in 2005

My cousins best friend drives it daily from Parksville to Campbell River (120 km (75m) each way) 5 days a week. He's owned the truck since 2008. its now got 880,000km (550K miles) on her

Quoted from Rogue

Yeah, I haven't tried to use that tool yet, but I saw some pics on another message board of what happens to a finger if it gets caught in there when working on the suspension

Ooh!  Make sure to snap some pics of how that bush bar attaches to the wagon!    I'm hoping to talk to some guys who work at my job, to see if it's possible to have an aluminum brush guard fabbed up for me.  Might be kind of pricey, but damn, I'd love it... something like this:



Or I could buy a brush guard like that (for a Toyota Tacoma, if you see the image name) and modify it for my wagon.  I'd probably do this instead of having a new one... but... hmm...

There's some second hand one's over here in Australia that pop up from time to time. From memory I think they waeight around 25 - 35kg... I'm just wondering what the cost difference would be between getting a new one fabbed up and shipping over a ready made one..

Surely there must be somewhere in Canada that made them???