Early morning commuter car hunting..Volvo S60 D5?
Discussion
Roger Woods said:
cannondale said:
Try a little bit of Cif on the headlights before buying expensive headlight restoration kits. It worked incredibly well for me.
Interested to know a bit more about the CIF product you mention, mine are tired again........twoblacklines said:
croakey said:
I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.
Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)
Any opinions?
HID's aren't illegal are they?Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)
Any opinions?
And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.
croakey said:
twoblacklines said:
croakey said:
I've got a 3m kit, and some uv protectant.
Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)
Any opinions?
HID's aren't illegal are they?Then need to source either... New incandescent bulbs (shorter life span).. HID's (illegal and poor light scatter)... Or LED (unknown entity)
Any opinions?
And they definetly don't scatter if you have projectors in your headlights, which you do.
Well... Today has been an experience.
After fitting the blinds in our renovation project (see homes and gardens for that enthralling tale) I looked outside to see the filthy dirty Volvo looking sorry for itself.
So out came the headlight restoration id spoken about:
Before
Dirtier and hazier than an 18-30's holiday to MAGALUFFFFFFF
Stage 1 - mask up.
Stage 2 - laugh at how much like a dame Edna Saab your car now looks.
Stage 3 - power tool time
Stage 4 - eBay how much new headlights cost as you've totally ruined the ones you had.
Stage 5 - keep working through the various layers of sanding paper in the kit. Begin to feel that maybe you'll be ok.
Stage 6 - explain to neighbour you're not mad just polishing headlights. They leave unconvinced.
Stage 7 - remove tape and buff headlights, then apply the special uv protector. Ignore safety advise to wear gloves because well... Uv protected hands might come in handy.
Stage 8 - admire how much better they look , and how grubby the rest of the car is. Consider getting the bucket out.
Stage 9 - sit down have a talk with ones self and remember dirt doesn't slow it down so leave it for another day.
Fin.
After fitting the blinds in our renovation project (see homes and gardens for that enthralling tale) I looked outside to see the filthy dirty Volvo looking sorry for itself.
So out came the headlight restoration id spoken about:
Before
Dirtier and hazier than an 18-30's holiday to MAGALUFFFFFFF
Stage 1 - mask up.
Stage 2 - laugh at how much like a dame Edna Saab your car now looks.
Stage 3 - power tool time
Stage 4 - eBay how much new headlights cost as you've totally ruined the ones you had.
Stage 5 - keep working through the various layers of sanding paper in the kit. Begin to feel that maybe you'll be ok.
Stage 6 - explain to neighbour you're not mad just polishing headlights. They leave unconvinced.
Stage 7 - remove tape and buff headlights, then apply the special uv protector. Ignore safety advise to wear gloves because well... Uv protected hands might come in handy.
Stage 8 - admire how much better they look , and how grubby the rest of the car is. Consider getting the bucket out.
Stage 9 - sit down have a talk with ones self and remember dirt doesn't slow it down so leave it for another day.
Fin.
Another boring update on let's face it a boring car!
After the debacle of ordering the wrong size winter tyres and the subsequent hunt for 16" wheels for it we have made progress.
Admittedly they are absolutely not needed at this moment in time baring in mind it is 16• here - but the tyres that were on it were very close to illegal.
So here it is...
Even got it cleaned ready for the winter.
It looks pure grandad chic right but is so darn comfy!
After the debacle of ordering the wrong size winter tyres and the subsequent hunt for 16" wheels for it we have made progress.
Admittedly they are absolutely not needed at this moment in time baring in mind it is 16• here - but the tyres that were on it were very close to illegal.
So here it is...
Even got it cleaned ready for the winter.
It looks pure grandad chic right but is so darn comfy!
The old girl received a major service last week including a wheel bearing, cost me a tad under £400 which I didn't think was too shabby.
Did a monster drive the other night and it coped admirably
Looked a bit grotty the day after mind!
The OBC got all excited when I filled it up after it's long run.
Still stand by the fact these are unbeatable for a cheap motorway muncher
Did a monster drive the other night and it coped admirably
Looked a bit grotty the day after mind!
The OBC got all excited when I filled it up after it's long run.
Still stand by the fact these are unbeatable for a cheap motorway muncher
I'm also intrigued in regards to the mileage achievable.
I had the chance to move this on last week as the wife was struggling with our a4 so one of them had to go.
Reality was the d5 is better for its purpose (as the a4 was immaculate)... and worth a lot less.
Picked up a rattle last night that sounds like a loose drop link or something
I had the chance to move this on last week as the wife was struggling with our a4 so one of them had to go.
Reality was the d5 is better for its purpose (as the a4 was immaculate)... and worth a lot less.
Picked up a rattle last night that sounds like a loose drop link or something
Big day today for the old girl...
So that's the value of it gone in the eyes of the general public (not that it actually had any to begin).
Fortunately Volvo beards know this is barely run in.
So how does she look?
In the dark not so bad (and yes I needed a taxi to the pavement!)
In the light of day ... dirty... very very dirty! She's not seen the clean side of a polish car washes sponge since from memory probably October. Which was something like 5000 very salty/grubby/cold miles ago!
The rattle continues and I imagine will be droplinks as that's very common, the aircon sounds like an escaped budgie beat boxing, and I , in trying to park too close, managed to do some bumper kissing with my 940. (Two immovable objects cause no damage to each other it seems!)
I still stand by it being an absolutely immense bit of kit for the money. An equivalent crossover model v70 would be probably 4-5k and whilst offering a bigger load space and possibly a more acceptable version of the car in my eyes would be a waste of money!
Realistically I could afford to replace it now with something a lot newer, a lot flasher, and a lot less boring... but why when it does what it needs to do so bloody well. It laps up my daily 100mile round commute; regardless of weather, in absolute comfort , with a great stereo, at a decent lick whilst returning a good mpg.
The wife doesn't get my obsession with wanting to stick a cheeky map on, but then again she doesn't have to!
So that's the value of it gone in the eyes of the general public (not that it actually had any to begin).
Fortunately Volvo beards know this is barely run in.
So how does she look?
In the dark not so bad (and yes I needed a taxi to the pavement!)
In the light of day ... dirty... very very dirty! She's not seen the clean side of a polish car washes sponge since from memory probably October. Which was something like 5000 very salty/grubby/cold miles ago!
The rattle continues and I imagine will be droplinks as that's very common, the aircon sounds like an escaped budgie beat boxing, and I , in trying to park too close, managed to do some bumper kissing with my 940. (Two immovable objects cause no damage to each other it seems!)
I still stand by it being an absolutely immense bit of kit for the money. An equivalent crossover model v70 would be probably 4-5k and whilst offering a bigger load space and possibly a more acceptable version of the car in my eyes would be a waste of money!
Realistically I could afford to replace it now with something a lot newer, a lot flasher, and a lot less boring... but why when it does what it needs to do so bloody well. It laps up my daily 100mile round commute; regardless of weather, in absolute comfort , with a great stereo, at a decent lick whilst returning a good mpg.
The wife doesn't get my obsession with wanting to stick a cheeky map on, but then again she doesn't have to!
whilst I'm happy to have a crack at most things mechanics ,despite being something id love to be able to do, escapes me massively!
I'm hoping with minimal input from my friendly mechanic and seeing onto of minor issues she'll keep plodding along indefinitely.
Sadly with a 92 mile round trip commute every day that i have to fund anything more fun would be detrimental to by outgoings!
Long live the Volvo!
I'm hoping with minimal input from my friendly mechanic and seeing onto of minor issues she'll keep plodding along indefinitely.
Sadly with a 92 mile round trip commute every day that i have to fund anything more fun would be detrimental to by outgoings!
Long live the Volvo!
Update time!
It's rapidly approaching MOT day for the old bus so I've now had to start looking for solutions to the knocking and clunking I'm currently suffering.
I've ordered some powerflex inserts for the wishbones, HD drop links front and rear and some new springs.
The springs are a two part solution.
1) they're over 100k and I always tend to look at a refresh, dampers were replaced at some point in the past 4 years.
2) I've got some new wheels so a cheeky 35mm drop should make it all the better.
So the wheels are these
They're a rare option that came on the xc90 executive models and are an 18" two piece split rim made by BBS.
I've bought them cheap but they need a refurb as they all seem to corrode on the outer dish.
I've ordered the necessary hardware to bolt them up and found a picture online showing they will fit...
I fully intend to avoid the leaning forward look.
Still tempted by a cheeky remap
We shall see how this progresses!
It's rapidly approaching MOT day for the old bus so I've now had to start looking for solutions to the knocking and clunking I'm currently suffering.
I've ordered some powerflex inserts for the wishbones, HD drop links front and rear and some new springs.
The springs are a two part solution.
1) they're over 100k and I always tend to look at a refresh, dampers were replaced at some point in the past 4 years.
2) I've got some new wheels so a cheeky 35mm drop should make it all the better.
So the wheels are these
They're a rare option that came on the xc90 executive models and are an 18" two piece split rim made by BBS.
I've bought them cheap but they need a refurb as they all seem to corrode on the outer dish.
I've ordered the necessary hardware to bolt them up and found a picture online showing they will fit...
I fully intend to avoid the leaning forward look.
Still tempted by a cheeky remap
We shall see how this progresses!
Edited by croakey on Thursday 16th March 16:20
The budget refurb of the wheels is well under way..
Sprayed in Halfords finest ford starburst silver paint.. I had no idea what the right colour was so chose one by name.
Need a last wet and dry and polish but looking a lot better
They won't win awards but should look decent enough.
... and today I bought some s60r xenons, they might work, they might not. I'm not at all sure but figure it was worth a punt as they're quite sought after
Sprayed in Halfords finest ford starburst silver paint.. I had no idea what the right colour was so chose one by name.
Need a last wet and dry and polish but looking a lot better
They won't win awards but should look decent enough.
... and today I bought some s60r xenons, they might work, they might not. I'm not at all sure but figure it was worth a punt as they're quite sought after
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