850 T5 Project - Ivy
Discussion
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Bielawski's Sheffield Trimming Co, or Autotrim Leicester. Say Rob at Leather Better (me!) sent you.
Thank you. I did message yourselves at one point but there is no harm in getting addition quotes!Update!
First things first, pic of my working stereo. Yes, its grey and not black so looks a bit out of place when looking at centre console directly, but when considering the interior as a whole it fits well as matches the grey on the trim. Very trivial thing I know, but makes such a difference having some music back (the first thing I do when I wake up is put music on, and I always have something playing...!), especially on those long trips.
Today was the day that Ivy was booked in at the bodyshop to get the A-pillar amended. Got there for opening at 0830, by 0930 there was still no sign of Dean the welder (he's contracted by the bodyshop). Steve at Karmagik was incredibly accommodating about this, plenty of caffeine and banter supplied! Whilst waiting for him I decided to take the door off. Very easy, and thankfully can be done without needing to re-align the door afterwards. For those that care, its as simple as removing the electrical conduit (undo the T10 screw, rotate counter-clockwise until the collar is loose, then pull straight back), undoing the T40 bolt in the door check strap, and undoing the two E8 grub screws in the door pins. You can then just lift the door straight off the pins. It weighs about 40kgs and that weight is not balanced evenly, so be aware of that. So here is Ivy sitting in the waiting area door-less.
Also decided to get a picture of the cracked A-pillar to show you what we were dealing with. This turned out to be far worse than expected by both myself and Dean as most of this damage was invisible without the door off.
You can see in the second image where the welds failed. From factory this check-strap anchor is only spot-welded in two places - top and bottom right of the captive nut. When, not if, these fail they allow the A-pillar to flex when the door is opened eventually leading to metal fatigue and the cracking you see here. When Dean had sufficiently recovered from his hangover (slight mix-up in dates and communications, no-one really to blame), we decided the best course of action would be to cut out both skins of the A-pillar and put fresh metal in. Instead of replacing the two spot welds the whole anchor was fully welded into the A-pillar, which should make this repair much more structurally sound and longer-lasting. Quick snap to highlight the inner repair. I didn't want to be in the chaps way taking pictures, so they aren't the best.
The outer skin was then replaced and welded in very neatly. Unfortunately after being at the shop for four hours and feeling very conscientious about that fact I was too eager to put the door back on to get a picture of the finished product at the time, and now I don't want to take the door off for the sake of it - so here is the best my lazy self can do...Very observant chaps amongst you may notice the colour isn't correct - its actually Jaguar's British Racing Green as the shop didn't have any left-overs of my Dark Olive Pearl and we wanted to get something on to protect. Very hard to notice in the shadow though. Big thanks again to the guys at Karmagik for their impeccable work, fantastic attitude and hospitality putting up with me for hours!
Whilst waiting for Dean to turn up I decided to try and figure out why my heated seats weren't working. Again the pic will be atrocious as its in the dark, with some significant contortion going on to try and see beneath the seat base. As you can see the wires from the thermostat have snapped and come loose. Can't really fix that without removing the seats, so that has been placed on the backburner until I see what happens on the seat front. If I get new T5 seats then this obviously wont be an issue.
Edited by Cookeh on Friday 20th July 20:58
Spent another colossal amount on parts recently (£35...) which got me these:
A replacement air induction hose for my ECUs and colour coded door handles off the P80 V70. The induction hose was bought to replace this piece which was definitely looking rather worse for wear. Not quite sure what caused it to go - almost looks like friction damage but there is nothing anywhere near it!
In any case, the 'new' piece was cleaned up, dressed and fitted as follows. I am also aware how atrocious both the alternator/PAS pump bracket and radiator jubilee clip are too. Got some Hammerite for the former and will replace the latter, they will both get sorted!
Moving on the door handles they are a straight bolt-on mod (or screw-on!). The only real issue to note is that the P80 850 and P80 V70 have different door lock cylinder barrels and are not compatible. This means you will lose the key openings on the doors. I don't personally think this is an issue as I have remote central locking and if the fob dies the key lock on the boot also triggers the central locking. To remove the handles, there is a irregular hexagonal shaped bit of plastic on the side of the door panel that you'll need to pop out. Once that is removed it will reveal two T30 torx screws that you'll need to remove. Once that has been done you'll need to pull the back of the handle straight out and then using a screwdriver lever the hook (see pictures) off the catch to release it. Tricky on first attempt but once you get one off and can see how the latch and hook interact its easy enough to do the others. Swapping the handles took me a total of 30 mins, its really not a consuming process and not worth worrying about! When it comes to doors with lock cylinders you have one additional step which is to remove the stem attached to the rear of the latch. This will just pull straight out.
As it stands there are only three handles on my car, the o/s/f drivers door hasn't been swapped yet as I did not learn about the lock cylinder incompatibility until I tried to swap them. This means I'm currently hunting down a cover for the handle without a keyhole cut-out. Should have one soon!
Anyway, pictures. Me being me I couldn't just fit the handles so they got washed, clayed, compounded and polished by hand then sealed - leaving me with the following. Hand polishing was never going to remove some of the scratches, but it did bring back a lot of the colour and gloss.
I also took the time to do the same process on the doors - the recesses were washed, clayed, compounded and polished by hand then sealed. Again, far from perfect correction but some of the smaller scratches went and got some gloss back too.
Here's a comparison of the handles. The V70 handle is slightly thicker and taller which makes it nicer to hold - feels more substantial and the fact that it isn't essentially unfinished plastic makes it feel like a more luxury item befitting a top spec car!
Lastly a comparison on the car. I have to say I feel this makes a huge improvement and takes years off the car. Plus its one less thing to faff around trying to dress to stop fading!
I also bought some genuine Volvo centre caps for very cheap on eBay, took a risk as their size wasn't mentioned and lost the gamble - but I found some more this morning that are the right size and only fractionally more expensive (okay, 50% more expensive but the first pair were so cheap it's still less than a pint) which should hopefully arrive soon.
Car is also booked in for timing belt kit, water pump and coolant change on the 3rd, and then Im away for most of August so there wont be too many updates till September. It's also a good thing I bought an estate, will need it for carting this mammoth of a creature around:
A replacement air induction hose for my ECUs and colour coded door handles off the P80 V70. The induction hose was bought to replace this piece which was definitely looking rather worse for wear. Not quite sure what caused it to go - almost looks like friction damage but there is nothing anywhere near it!
In any case, the 'new' piece was cleaned up, dressed and fitted as follows. I am also aware how atrocious both the alternator/PAS pump bracket and radiator jubilee clip are too. Got some Hammerite for the former and will replace the latter, they will both get sorted!
Moving on the door handles they are a straight bolt-on mod (or screw-on!). The only real issue to note is that the P80 850 and P80 V70 have different door lock cylinder barrels and are not compatible. This means you will lose the key openings on the doors. I don't personally think this is an issue as I have remote central locking and if the fob dies the key lock on the boot also triggers the central locking. To remove the handles, there is a irregular hexagonal shaped bit of plastic on the side of the door panel that you'll need to pop out. Once that is removed it will reveal two T30 torx screws that you'll need to remove. Once that has been done you'll need to pull the back of the handle straight out and then using a screwdriver lever the hook (see pictures) off the catch to release it. Tricky on first attempt but once you get one off and can see how the latch and hook interact its easy enough to do the others. Swapping the handles took me a total of 30 mins, its really not a consuming process and not worth worrying about! When it comes to doors with lock cylinders you have one additional step which is to remove the stem attached to the rear of the latch. This will just pull straight out.
As it stands there are only three handles on my car, the o/s/f drivers door hasn't been swapped yet as I did not learn about the lock cylinder incompatibility until I tried to swap them. This means I'm currently hunting down a cover for the handle without a keyhole cut-out. Should have one soon!
Anyway, pictures. Me being me I couldn't just fit the handles so they got washed, clayed, compounded and polished by hand then sealed - leaving me with the following. Hand polishing was never going to remove some of the scratches, but it did bring back a lot of the colour and gloss.
I also took the time to do the same process on the doors - the recesses were washed, clayed, compounded and polished by hand then sealed. Again, far from perfect correction but some of the smaller scratches went and got some gloss back too.
Here's a comparison of the handles. The V70 handle is slightly thicker and taller which makes it nicer to hold - feels more substantial and the fact that it isn't essentially unfinished plastic makes it feel like a more luxury item befitting a top spec car!
Lastly a comparison on the car. I have to say I feel this makes a huge improvement and takes years off the car. Plus its one less thing to faff around trying to dress to stop fading!
I also bought some genuine Volvo centre caps for very cheap on eBay, took a risk as their size wasn't mentioned and lost the gamble - but I found some more this morning that are the right size and only fractionally more expensive (okay, 50% more expensive but the first pair were so cheap it's still less than a pint) which should hopefully arrive soon.
Car is also booked in for timing belt kit, water pump and coolant change on the 3rd, and then Im away for most of August so there wont be too many updates till September. It's also a good thing I bought an estate, will need it for carting this mammoth of a creature around:
Expensive day, my wallet is definitely in mourning. Timing belt kit, water pump and an oil change - slightly overdue at 6k miles, naughty me was mistaken what the mileage she was on when last serviced.
Strip down to access timing belt was going well, airbox, inlet pipes, expansion tank, washer filler pipe and end cover all came off with no issues. Then we stumbled into a seized bolt holding the ECU box, didn't want to risk shearing it so left it in place as it doesn't need to be removed the do the timing belt, just gives a fraction more access to drive belts. It then went downhill rapidly, with a bolt shearing on the camshaft pullet cover. No biggy, we'll drill it out...nope, don't have the right size drill bit or a replacement bolt for it
. Blast, that's something for me to do later on then... Odd that this is the only bolt on the engine that put up any resistance, also odd its the only one corroded.
When removing the washer filler pipe I noticed the filter was rather gummed up - might go some way to explaining why it always takes so long for fluid to drain down the pipe. Gave this a clean with the only thing on hand at the time, a slow running tap. Seemed to do an okay job, but could probably do with a more thorough clean at some point.
Before.
After.
With the coolant drained, I was able to get a good look at the expansion tank. Definitely needs replacing (yay!) with a crack in one of the plastic pipes and a broken cap. Incidentally that cap is more than likely original as the design changed a year or two after this car was manufactured. It was also rather slime-d and had a fair bit of sediment build up. I also tried to clean this up a bit but with my only aide being a tap it is far from perfect. Need a new one anyway, so
Before. Can just about see the out of focus crack in the top left pipe
After. Better, but not perfect.
Cracks, cracks, and more cracks. This was replaced with the newer design from a car being broken just down the road, it's the newer design and has no cracks but with no way of knowing its actual condition I think the best bet will still be replacement.
Next up we got the belt and accessories off. Old belt looked to be in fairly good condition, despite being a few months over its 8 year recommended interval (but about 50k under the mileage interval). We also found it was the original water pump, again looking to be in good condition with no play or noise. Still, at 180k and 23 years old its safer to get it changed, especially when I'm doing 15k a year or so. There was some noise in one of the pulleys though definitely felt a bit rough too. Design of said pulley also seems to have changed since the last cambelt change, with the pulley now being 'enclosed' instead of 'hollow' - sorry for the lack of pics highlighting this!
Thankfully, being genuine the gasket came off easily and didn't require feverish scraping and cleaning up.
Lastly was installing the new parts, packing it all back together, topping up the coolant and bleeding it. Here's a (badly focused)picture of the new accessories in place, all shiny and gleaming. No pics of oil change, because well, oil change.
After the drive back home the coolant level was spot on - I will of course be double checking this in the am when its cold. Weirdly the car seems to pull better after the timing belt service - though this could be down to the ECU being unplugged for the service and hence 're-learning'.
Aside from sorting out the expansion tank I'm really hoping that the next few months of motoring will be very quiet as between these major jobs (brakes, servicing, timing belt, suspension) and the recent works on the house my bank balance definitely needs a break. Sadly knowledge of this resulted in me passing on a great deal (£50) on 5x Columbas in decent condition. Oh well. I'm hopeful I'll find a similar deal somewhere down the line.
Strip down to access timing belt was going well, airbox, inlet pipes, expansion tank, washer filler pipe and end cover all came off with no issues. Then we stumbled into a seized bolt holding the ECU box, didn't want to risk shearing it so left it in place as it doesn't need to be removed the do the timing belt, just gives a fraction more access to drive belts. It then went downhill rapidly, with a bolt shearing on the camshaft pullet cover. No biggy, we'll drill it out...nope, don't have the right size drill bit or a replacement bolt for it
. Blast, that's something for me to do later on then... Odd that this is the only bolt on the engine that put up any resistance, also odd its the only one corroded.When removing the washer filler pipe I noticed the filter was rather gummed up - might go some way to explaining why it always takes so long for fluid to drain down the pipe. Gave this a clean with the only thing on hand at the time, a slow running tap. Seemed to do an okay job, but could probably do with a more thorough clean at some point.
Before.
After.
With the coolant drained, I was able to get a good look at the expansion tank. Definitely needs replacing (yay!) with a crack in one of the plastic pipes and a broken cap. Incidentally that cap is more than likely original as the design changed a year or two after this car was manufactured. It was also rather slime-d and had a fair bit of sediment build up. I also tried to clean this up a bit but with my only aide being a tap it is far from perfect. Need a new one anyway, so
Before. Can just about see the out of focus crack in the top left pipe
After. Better, but not perfect.
Cracks, cracks, and more cracks. This was replaced with the newer design from a car being broken just down the road, it's the newer design and has no cracks but with no way of knowing its actual condition I think the best bet will still be replacement.
Next up we got the belt and accessories off. Old belt looked to be in fairly good condition, despite being a few months over its 8 year recommended interval (but about 50k under the mileage interval). We also found it was the original water pump, again looking to be in good condition with no play or noise. Still, at 180k and 23 years old its safer to get it changed, especially when I'm doing 15k a year or so. There was some noise in one of the pulleys though definitely felt a bit rough too. Design of said pulley also seems to have changed since the last cambelt change, with the pulley now being 'enclosed' instead of 'hollow' - sorry for the lack of pics highlighting this!
Thankfully, being genuine the gasket came off easily and didn't require feverish scraping and cleaning up.
Lastly was installing the new parts, packing it all back together, topping up the coolant and bleeding it. Here's a (badly focused)picture of the new accessories in place, all shiny and gleaming. No pics of oil change, because well, oil change.
After the drive back home the coolant level was spot on - I will of course be double checking this in the am when its cold. Weirdly the car seems to pull better after the timing belt service - though this could be down to the ECU being unplugged for the service and hence 're-learning'.
Aside from sorting out the expansion tank I'm really hoping that the next few months of motoring will be very quiet as between these major jobs (brakes, servicing, timing belt, suspension) and the recent works on the house my bank balance definitely needs a break. Sadly knowledge of this resulted in me passing on a great deal (£50) on 5x Columbas in decent condition. Oh well. I'm hopeful I'll find a similar deal somewhere down the line.
So I'm back from holiday, so I thought I'd do a quick end-of-six month review to remind myself of my progress made with getting her back into a respectable condition. She also behaved herself during her 3 week sleep-over at Heathrow, which was nice to see and continued to behave herself on the 550 mile trip home via West Wales to collect my puppy.
I'll start this by saying just how much I love this car. Everything seems effortless, from nose-to-tail traffic in rush hour to six hour cross country trips. Car is great for pushing on, handles far better than I'd ever expect and has a decent turn of pace when you keep it on the boost. Peak torque from 2000-5500rpm certainly helps too! On a more boring note I am averaging 31.3mpg though this can drop significantly depending on how much of the aforementioned nose-to-tail traffic I end up in!
Anyway, lets look back at the first post and what we started with.
- Central locking not working *Fixed*
- FM radio not working *Replaced*
- Missing front bumper trim *Replaced*
- Missing rear brake light cover *Replaced*
- Broken gear shift gaiter *Fixed*
- Slow draining washer fluid (far from a significant issue, but a bit tedious spending 15 minutes topping up your washer fluid!!) *Fixed*
- ABS ECU fault *Fixed*
Of that list, the majority were either free or very cheap fixes. In fact, the most costly was the door check strap - which ended up actually being a cracked A-pillar. £50 to address that one. Everything else was off a breaker. The only item left there is the alloys and the seat, more on those to come.
If we then look at the list of things I had planned (minus repeats from above) we'll see how much progress has been made there. As I'm writing this paragraph it feels like I've done very little, but hey ho.
Onto modifications: I have found some Columbas, just need to free up some funds post-holiday, puppy purchase and garden renovation. The HU got replaced, with an SC-805. SC-901 plans never happened due to cost and scarcity. It would also really have needed the factory amp, sub, and upgraded Dynaudio speakers to get the best from it and I was not in a place to drop £300 on the audio alone... Badges are still eluding me, the only one I can find is the T5 badge and that costs £45. On the touch up front she did get a full decon in and out and a glaze/sealant combo. Here's a beading shot and a reflection/gloss shot:
There have also been some other modifications that weren't planned on purchase, namely the door handles, and the addition of the cupholders... Also retrofitted dog-guard mounts and replaced multiple broken interior trim pieces, as well as adding a pollen filter. Oh, and I've tidied up a few cosmetic bits, like wipers in silly positions, flaking grills and poorly installed bumpers!
So 6 months in and I realising I bought more of a shed than I ever thought, what's next?
Well, the EML just came on, looks like I have a faulty coolant temperature sensor so that will be addressed (£40 for a genuine part). I'm also going to get a genuine expansion tank cap and a new expansion tank as there is a slight leak there. Beyond that I'm hoping for a cheap few months motoring as I've had an awful lot of big expenses recently but I'm still looking to sort out the seat and grab some different alloys. Definitely more to come though!
This evening, during a spare hour whilst the puppy was napping I decided to tidy up a few little cosmetic niggles in the engine bay. Apologies for image quality, camera is pretty poor in low light! Firstly the very rusted jubilee clip on the upper radiator hose - I just unwound the old and new fully to avoid having to drop the coolant:
Next up was the massive eye-sore (one of!) that is the power steering reservoir bracket:
Whipped the bolt out of that which had what looks like dried out coolant or some similar corrosion on and tidied that with a wire brush:
Onto the bracket. Wire brushed that down, cleaned it off and was left with this:
Coated it with Hammerite Kurust that I found in the shed the other day. First coat didn't take well at all, ended up with three coats to get a decent coverage. First and third shown:
Then it was time for a spot of Hammerite Direct-To-Rust that I also found laying in the shed. Managed to get two coats on before the light went on me. Might add another tomorrow after its dried and had two heat cycles, we'll see. Again, crap pic in low light.
Whilst I had the Kurust and paint out I thought I'd tidy up another little eye sore that caught my eye every time I cleaned the car or opened the bonnet:
I also investigated the coolant temp sensor, hoping to find that it was just corrosion on the plug. Sadly not, it looked pristine. I do have a genuine replacement already, I'm just waiting on the expansion tank to arrive so I can do them both at the same time and only drop the coolant once.
I'll start this by saying just how much I love this car. Everything seems effortless, from nose-to-tail traffic in rush hour to six hour cross country trips. Car is great for pushing on, handles far better than I'd ever expect and has a decent turn of pace when you keep it on the boost. Peak torque from 2000-5500rpm certainly helps too! On a more boring note I am averaging 31.3mpg though this can drop significantly depending on how much of the aforementioned nose-to-tail traffic I end up in!
Anyway, lets look back at the first post and what we started with.
'Cookeh' said:
So, I recently - and very sensibly - decided to sell my ultra-reliable, cheap to run Toyota Corolla and buy a 180,000 mile 1995 Volvo 850 T5 for shed money.
She's not without her faults, by any means. So far, the list of things not working and needing replacement includes:
- Saggy headliner *Replaced*
- Rip in bolster
- Rear exhaust mount has rusted away (only rust I could find, actually) *Replaced*
- Heated seats don't seem to work
- Cruise control doesn't work *Fixed*
- All speakers on the N/S of the car don't work *Fixed*
- Both front indicator lamps are cracked *Replaced*
- Alloys are in dire need of a refurb
- O/S/F door check strap needs adjustment *Fixed*
Turns out a few more items needed to be added, including:She's not without her faults, by any means. So far, the list of things not working and needing replacement includes:
- Saggy headliner *Replaced*
- Rip in bolster
- Rear exhaust mount has rusted away (only rust I could find, actually) *Replaced*
- Heated seats don't seem to work
- Cruise control doesn't work *Fixed*
- All speakers on the N/S of the car don't work *Fixed*
- Both front indicator lamps are cracked *Replaced*
- Alloys are in dire need of a refurb
- O/S/F door check strap needs adjustment *Fixed*
- Central locking not working *Fixed*
- FM radio not working *Replaced*
- Missing front bumper trim *Replaced*
- Missing rear brake light cover *Replaced*
- Broken gear shift gaiter *Fixed*
- Slow draining washer fluid (far from a significant issue, but a bit tedious spending 15 minutes topping up your washer fluid!!) *Fixed*
- ABS ECU fault *Fixed*
Of that list, the majority were either free or very cheap fixes. In fact, the most costly was the door check strap - which ended up actually being a cracked A-pillar. £50 to address that one. Everything else was off a breaker. The only item left there is the alloys and the seat, more on those to come.
If we then look at the list of things I had planned (minus repeats from above) we'll see how much progress has been made there. As I'm writing this paragraph it feels like I've done very little, but hey ho.
'Cookeh' said:
In terms of my plans for her....well, the list is ever growing but looks something like this atm:
Fixes:
- Fix the rip in the drivers seat
- Auxiliaries *Cruise control fixed*
- Stage 0 *Completed*
Modifications/Other:
- Alloys
- Badges
- Suspension *Replaced*
- Touch-Up *Ish..*
Fixes first: Also completed an unplanned timing belt + water. I've also ended up replacing discs and pads all round and three of the brake calipers. So again the only thing left here is the seat. More on that shortly.Fixes:
- Fix the rip in the drivers seat
- Auxiliaries *Cruise control fixed*
- Stage 0 *Completed*
Modifications/Other:
- Alloys
- Badges
- Suspension *Replaced*
- Touch-Up *Ish..*
Onto modifications: I have found some Columbas, just need to free up some funds post-holiday, puppy purchase and garden renovation. The HU got replaced, with an SC-805. SC-901 plans never happened due to cost and scarcity. It would also really have needed the factory amp, sub, and upgraded Dynaudio speakers to get the best from it and I was not in a place to drop £300 on the audio alone... Badges are still eluding me, the only one I can find is the T5 badge and that costs £45. On the touch up front she did get a full decon in and out and a glaze/sealant combo. Here's a beading shot and a reflection/gloss shot:
There have also been some other modifications that weren't planned on purchase, namely the door handles, and the addition of the cupholders... Also retrofitted dog-guard mounts and replaced multiple broken interior trim pieces, as well as adding a pollen filter. Oh, and I've tidied up a few cosmetic bits, like wipers in silly positions, flaking grills and poorly installed bumpers!
So 6 months in and I realising I bought more of a shed than I ever thought, what's next?
Well, the EML just came on, looks like I have a faulty coolant temperature sensor so that will be addressed (£40 for a genuine part). I'm also going to get a genuine expansion tank cap and a new expansion tank as there is a slight leak there. Beyond that I'm hoping for a cheap few months motoring as I've had an awful lot of big expenses recently but I'm still looking to sort out the seat and grab some different alloys. Definitely more to come though!
This evening, during a spare hour whilst the puppy was napping I decided to tidy up a few little cosmetic niggles in the engine bay. Apologies for image quality, camera is pretty poor in low light! Firstly the very rusted jubilee clip on the upper radiator hose - I just unwound the old and new fully to avoid having to drop the coolant:
Next up was the massive eye-sore (one of!) that is the power steering reservoir bracket:
Whipped the bolt out of that which had what looks like dried out coolant or some similar corrosion on and tidied that with a wire brush:
Onto the bracket. Wire brushed that down, cleaned it off and was left with this:
Coated it with Hammerite Kurust that I found in the shed the other day. First coat didn't take well at all, ended up with three coats to get a decent coverage. First and third shown:
Then it was time for a spot of Hammerite Direct-To-Rust that I also found laying in the shed. Managed to get two coats on before the light went on me. Might add another tomorrow after its dried and had two heat cycles, we'll see. Again, crap pic in low light.
Whilst I had the Kurust and paint out I thought I'd tidy up another little eye sore that caught my eye every time I cleaned the car or opened the bonnet:
I also investigated the coolant temp sensor, hoping to find that it was just corrosion on the plug. Sadly not, it looked pristine. I do have a genuine replacement already, I'm just waiting on the expansion tank to arrive so I can do them both at the same time and only drop the coolant once.
So, visited Bielawski's Sheffield Trimming Company this morning on the way to work and was duly informed that my seat could be turned around in one day for £70. That was for replacement panels where they were ripped and rebuild foam for the bolster which had collapsed. No way was I going to turn that down! Picked it up at 1630 today, and I am very impressed by the colour match and how much more comfortable the seat is with fully supported bolster.
Quick reminder of the before:
The afters:
Thanks for the recommendation, Rob!
I also painted another coat on the bracket and then wiped the engine bay down with a quick detailer to get some of the dust off it.
Quick reminder of the before:
The afters:
Thanks for the recommendation, Rob!
I also painted another coat on the bracket and then wiped the engine bay down with a quick detailer to get some of the dust off it.
Cookeh said:
So, visited Bielawski's Sheffield Trimming Company this morning on the way to work and was duly informed that my seat could be turned around in one day for £70. That was for replacement panels where they were ripped and rebuild foam for the bolster which had collapsed. No way was I going to turn that down! Picked it up at 1630 today, and I am very impressed by the colour match and how much more comfortable the seat is with fully supported bolster.
Quick reminder of the before:
The afters:
Thanks for the recommendation, Rob!
No bother, and a nice Job Mick's done you there. Quick reminder of the before:
The afters:
Thanks for the recommendation, Rob!
Yes, I was thoroughly impressed - especially for the price and time frame. EML light extinguished itself today...weird. Shame it chose to do that the day after everything I needed to fix it arrived. Oh well, will still change it all as I have the parts anyway and there must have been a fault in the first place.
I always enjoy reading your thread, so great to see you're still tinkering away with this. I have to say, I completely echo your thoughts on just how capable these cars are. They definitely don't drive like a nearly 30 year old design, even after driving brand new cars at work and jumping into my 850R it doesn't feel old or outdated. Sure, it doesn't look or feel modern but in terms of refinement, they are on par if not better than many modern machines!
Keep up the good work with yours, its often the smallest details than can make the most difference to the driving experience.
It will look very smart indeed when you get some Columbia's on it!
P.s you still got that spare pollen filter housing?
Keep up the good work with yours, its often the smallest details than can make the most difference to the driving experience.
It will look very smart indeed when you get some Columbia's on it!
P.s you still got that spare pollen filter housing?
SnazzyJake, I sure do, drop me a pm. Yeah, looking forward to sorting the wheels, and as you say they really are sublime refinement wise - perfect for long distance trips.
Fermit, I am absolutely with you and its certainly something I want to do (and will do!). Want to sort out a lot of the bolts and fitti gs actually as they're all a bit mediocre.
Fermit, I am absolutely with you and its certainly something I want to do (and will do!). Want to sort out a lot of the bolts and fitti gs actually as they're all a bit mediocre.
Edited by Cookeh on Thursday 13th September 21:11
Small little update today, managed to grab and fit a couple of items off a breaker... The most significant was addressing the broken trim on the horn. This was rather damaged indeed and an utter eyesore anytime the bonnet was up. Here's a reminder of the state it was in, followed by the replacement part.
Now, I know these horns are hideous snail-like looking things and I am tempted to replace them with something less hideous at some point but its really not high up the list. I could also simply relocate them into the wheel arch area. Many other more important things to address first, though.
Next up was the expansion tank hose clip. Horrible screw thing in there at first, which really bugged me - more so than it should to be honest! That got replaced by a much shinier (and less-ugly) jubilee clip.
Before:
After:
I am aware of the dire sticker situation, but with the tank to be replaced that won't be a problem for long. I am trying to find a place that will print vinyl stickers for a reasonable price but I am struggling. Any suggestions welcome! I would just buy it but cant see it anywhere online and Volvo don't stock it.
More to come shortly!
Now, I know these horns are hideous snail-like looking things and I am tempted to replace them with something less hideous at some point but its really not high up the list. I could also simply relocate them into the wheel arch area. Many other more important things to address first, though.
Next up was the expansion tank hose clip. Horrible screw thing in there at first, which really bugged me - more so than it should to be honest! That got replaced by a much shinier (and less-ugly) jubilee clip.
Before:
After:
I am aware of the dire sticker situation, but with the tank to be replaced that won't be a problem for long. I am trying to find a place that will print vinyl stickers for a reasonable price but I am struggling. Any suggestions welcome! I would just buy it but cant see it anywhere online and Volvo don't stock it.
More to come shortly!
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