As we learned from Raphael Orlove, Japanese car makers were so flush with cash at the height of the ‘80s-’90s bubble-era they just had to find new and elaborate ways to spend it whether it was new brands (Mazda’s Amati & M2) or wicked-fast sports cars with bleeding-edge technology like AWD and twin-turbos.

Had a bit of a nasty run-in with the Miata last weekend. I got talked into taking my roommate hiking and that was the only road-worthy car in my fleet: he drives a Prius and I was midway through something on the Volvo.

I’ve been craving some old F1 lately so I decided to fire up the old PS1 emulator and take Psygnosis’ Formula 1 out for a quick spin.

I did some more housekeeping under the Volvo this previous weekend, scraping off the finest dirt, grime, and oil from LA’s freeways caked an inch deep on the K-member’s front-side. This is what thirty-five years of grime looks like folks.

In the weeks since I last spoke of the white whale sitting on my driveway, I’ve patched the failed brake booster hose so it idles reasonably well and I’ve shined up the glass and more of the engine bay (this is an old photo).

The Volvo’s temp registration is running out fast and I need to get it running so I’ve been hauling ass trying to find a replacement battery.

A wise man would move the Volvo before taking it apart, so of course I decided to disassemble it while street-parked since it’s going to be another week before I can replace the Jan ‘09 battery. Disconnected enough of the hoses to get at the valve cover gasket only to run out of time (had to meet up with a friend).…

...“rotary Miata”

I left work early on Thursday to take the Miata down for a new top. I asked for a loaner and the dealer let me pick between a 3 or a brand-new CX-5 with all the trimmings.

Since we’re all doing it. No, this isn’t as long & glorious as the rest of yours, but it’s pretty interesting.

it really do be like that sometimes

Me: This old car should be a fun restoration project, I can’t wait to learn new mechanical skills!

I managed to patch the Volvo together until I could get it to a rent-a-lifts where I work and that was where the easy part ended.

I dressed the Miata up for Halloween a few days ago. Yes, I’ll be ordering black number plates once I stop shoveling money at the Volvo. But I kinda want to leave the little fang on. It’s a silly car anyway.

I was too tired after the Hornet move to really tear into the Volvo, so I decided to just remove the floor and really go to town on the clean-up. Gave it a detergent & water scrub followed by a hose down and the final product is way cleaner than it was when I bought the car.

If you thought moving a project car was hard, try moving a non-functioning airframe through town.