My Volvo 850R - Work in progress!
Discussion
Snazzyjake said:
Diagnosis was terminal I'm afraid, will explain shortly. Also, the walnut gear knobs were only fitted on the T-5R, the 850r had one like this: 
I've tried searching for one but it would seem they don't exist anywhere! It would also appear they don't last very long, there's a manual 850r saloon on autotrader with 59k (allegedly) and the gear knob looks absolutely shagged!
That's also quite hideous!! The walnut just looks good but not £250 good....! I need to get my gaitor retrimmed at some point but that's low on the list of 'things I need to sort' currently...!I've tried searching for one but it would seem they don't exist anywhere! It would also appear they don't last very long, there's a manual 850r saloon on autotrader with 59k (allegedly) and the gear knob looks absolutely shagged!
Sad news about terminal failure however plans/resulting outcome is proper! Short shift kit sounds interesting too! I *think* the R's had a shorter throw as standard? Pretty sure my bro's Gul wagon does anyway!
I said back in November I was looking for a R or T-5R saloon to tinker with but difficult to find one. Well I bought a manual T-5R saloon last week. Great retro fun but it’s going to be spend spend spend! I’ve got a 5yr service pack on my M3 so just drive it and clean it plus tyres. Not used to this old car stuff but I tell you what this old Volvo is great fun!
Any updates on yours?
Any updates on yours?
cosworth330 said:
I said back in November I was looking for a R or T-5R saloon to tinker with but difficult to find one. Well I bought a manual T-5R saloon last week. Great retro fun but it’s going to be spend spend spend! I’ve got a 5yr service pack on my M3 so just drive it and clean it plus tyres. Not used to this old car stuff but I tell you what this old Volvo is great fun!
Any updates on yours?
Ah congrats mate, what colour is it? And yes you will spend lots on it! (If it's not on fuel then it will be on upgrades!) Yeah they're good fun too, the noise is soooo addictive. Any updates on yours?
Mine hasnt changed too much although I will post a proper update soon so you can see what has changed...
cosworth330 said:
I said back in November I was looking for a R or T-5R saloon to tinker with but difficult to find one. Well I bought a manual T-5R saloon last week. Great retro fun but it’s going to be spend spend spend! I’ve got a 5yr service pack on my M3 so just drive it and clean it plus tyres. Not used to this old car stuff but I tell you what this old Volvo is great fun!
Any updates on yours?
Top choice mate, Ive had my T5 Manual wagon for 6 years now, I can't think of anything that can replace it, They really do get under your skin.Any updates on yours?
Right, bit of an update.
I finally decided to replace the saggy worn put suspension with some BC racing coilovers in December, which as you can see, couldn't have come any sooner!
Note how the bottom two coils had actually been in contact!
Ride was much improved if a bit (a lot) stiffer and stance was much better too. The handling was now rather impressive for a big old bus too! However, the steering characteristics were still quite odd with the car pulling hard to the left and still chewing the outer edges of the front tyres. Now, I'd taken the car for a wheel alignment before and mentioned the steering pulling left but the garage said whatever they did made no difference? Rather strange I thought and made me think that the culprit was a bent steering rack/subframe/suspension strut or something quite serious. So, after replacing the old suspension I hoped this would have cured the problem but no.
Anyway, I took the car for a wheel alignment this time (after fitting the coilovers) but didn't mention the steering pulling left just that they check the toe. This is what they found....
Yeah, that would explain the issues I'd been experiencing. From that, to this...
For the first time since actually owning the Volvo, it would now drive in a straight line! To celebrate, I bought some winter tyres for the titans and bolted them on. At least now I knew it wouldn't chew them up in two months!
Put them to good use throughout January in the cold temps but minimal snow unfortunately
Continued using the car daily with no issues to report. I then read about goodwood breakfast club and that the first event theme in 2019 was estate car Sunday on 3rd march. So, I applied not expecting to be accepted but then a few weeks later a received an email saying 'congratulations, you've been accepted...'
Bloody hell, I best give the old girl a wash then!
Updates to be continued....
I finally decided to replace the saggy worn put suspension with some BC racing coilovers in December, which as you can see, couldn't have come any sooner!
Note how the bottom two coils had actually been in contact!
Ride was much improved if a bit (a lot) stiffer and stance was much better too. The handling was now rather impressive for a big old bus too! However, the steering characteristics were still quite odd with the car pulling hard to the left and still chewing the outer edges of the front tyres. Now, I'd taken the car for a wheel alignment before and mentioned the steering pulling left but the garage said whatever they did made no difference? Rather strange I thought and made me think that the culprit was a bent steering rack/subframe/suspension strut or something quite serious. So, after replacing the old suspension I hoped this would have cured the problem but no.
Anyway, I took the car for a wheel alignment this time (after fitting the coilovers) but didn't mention the steering pulling left just that they check the toe. This is what they found....
Yeah, that would explain the issues I'd been experiencing. From that, to this...
For the first time since actually owning the Volvo, it would now drive in a straight line! To celebrate, I bought some winter tyres for the titans and bolted them on. At least now I knew it wouldn't chew them up in two months!
Put them to good use throughout January in the cold temps but minimal snow unfortunately
Continued using the car daily with no issues to report. I then read about goodwood breakfast club and that the first event theme in 2019 was estate car Sunday on 3rd march. So, I applied not expecting to be accepted but then a few weeks later a received an email saying 'congratulations, you've been accepted...'
Bloody hell, I best give the old girl a wash then!
Updates to be continued....
Edited by Snazzyjake on Sunday 28th April 15:47
Yes, I still own it, very sorry for the severe lack of updates!
Car is still in daily use, looking a bit more cosmetically challenged now unfortunately, the bonnet and tailgate being the worst and desperately requiring the respray they’ve needed since I had the car!
Now on 216k miles (which included a 2 day, 1000 mile round trip up to the north east coast of Scotland to fetch the missus new car), still driving well, although the rattling noise from the m59 gearbox seems to be getting slowly louder 😬 still can’t decide whether to upgrade to an m66 6 speed box with a proper diff or keep 5 speed and go with an m56 5 speed when it eventually does give up though….
I do plan to take it off the road for a bit and do all the jobs I’ve been meaning to do for ages but the car is just too enjoyable to use and drive everyday!
I will post a proper update with pictures soon!
Car is still in daily use, looking a bit more cosmetically challenged now unfortunately, the bonnet and tailgate being the worst and desperately requiring the respray they’ve needed since I had the car!
Now on 216k miles (which included a 2 day, 1000 mile round trip up to the north east coast of Scotland to fetch the missus new car), still driving well, although the rattling noise from the m59 gearbox seems to be getting slowly louder 😬 still can’t decide whether to upgrade to an m66 6 speed box with a proper diff or keep 5 speed and go with an m56 5 speed when it eventually does give up though….
I do plan to take it off the road for a bit and do all the jobs I’ve been meaning to do for ages but the car is just too enjoyable to use and drive everyday!
I will post a proper update with pictures soon!
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