Unmolested Volvo 850 GLT
Discussion
47p2 said:
MOT today for the 850. It was due on 2nd January but as it was tucked up in the garage over winter I decided to delay it for a few months.
A straight pass was given and the tester said it was a delight to MOT as his father had several 850s during the 90s when they were new cars.
Might want to blank out the vin number A straight pass was given and the tester said it was a delight to MOT as his father had several 850s during the 90s when they were new cars.
Out and about today and though I would hit the 60k milestone by the time I returned home only to miss out by 1/10th of a mile...
On my return home I reset the Service Light, It's only done 800 miles in the last 12 months and the oil is like new so just a light reset was required
I gave the car its first wash since last August
Took it out for a short drive to dry off the brakes before parking it in the garage again to prevent the pads sticking to the discs and hit 60k
Best thing today was finding the source of an annoying squeak that's bugged me for over a year
I thought it was coming from somewhere around the passenger seat but could never find where
By chance today I was stilling in the car with the seatbelt on and the engine off and I heard the squeak and with some careful investigating techniques I found it was the driver side seatbelt buckle
Seatbelt squeak video here... https://youtu.be/heSCLS2uy88
On my return home I reset the Service Light, It's only done 800 miles in the last 12 months and the oil is like new so just a light reset was required
I gave the car its first wash since last August
Took it out for a short drive to dry off the brakes before parking it in the garage again to prevent the pads sticking to the discs and hit 60k
Best thing today was finding the source of an annoying squeak that's bugged me for over a year
I thought it was coming from somewhere around the passenger seat but could never find where
By chance today I was stilling in the car with the seatbelt on and the engine off and I heard the squeak and with some careful investigating techniques I found it was the driver side seatbelt buckle
Seatbelt squeak video here... https://youtu.be/heSCLS2uy88
Thanks ChrisCH86, not many this original left so worth giving it a little TLC
Today I checked my coolant level sensor was working as it should. When i bought the car the water pump was leaking and when driving the 200+ miles home the level dropped, the expansion bottle never completely emptied and no warning light came up on the dashboard but the level was low.
I never thought any more about it until today. I emptied the expansion bottle, removed the sensor and with an OHMS meter and a magnet checked the reed switch in the sensor was working properly. I refitted the sensor to the bottle and started the car and the light stayed on. I put a small amount of coolant in and the light went off so topped it up and refitted the cap.
Today I checked my coolant level sensor was working as it should. When i bought the car the water pump was leaking and when driving the 200+ miles home the level dropped, the expansion bottle never completely emptied and no warning light came up on the dashboard but the level was low.
I never thought any more about it until today. I emptied the expansion bottle, removed the sensor and with an OHMS meter and a magnet checked the reed switch in the sensor was working properly. I refitted the sensor to the bottle and started the car and the light stayed on. I put a small amount of coolant in and the light went off so topped it up and refitted the cap.
I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Yatour Bluetooth adapter. The Bluetooth Cassette adapter I bought the sound quality was dire, the wired cassette adapter I bought the cogs were so noisy I had to have the volume blasting to drown the noise out.
I ordered the Yatour on 25th August and it arrived today from China and no extra customs charges which I was delighted about. The hardest part of fitting was getting the glovebox door stays off, one was easy enough but the right hand side (next to centre of RHD car) didn't want to budge so I had to remove the front of the glovebox door to access it from beneath.
With everything connected up I turned on the radio and connected the MP3 player and it works a treat. No more noisy cassette adapter cogs and the sound is superb.
I used double sided tape to mount the Yatour on the top of the glovebox compartment
I ordered the Yatour on 25th August and it arrived today from China and no extra customs charges which I was delighted about. The hardest part of fitting was getting the glovebox door stays off, one was easy enough but the right hand side (next to centre of RHD car) didn't want to budge so I had to remove the front of the glovebox door to access it from beneath.
With everything connected up I turned on the radio and connected the MP3 player and it works a treat. No more noisy cassette adapter cogs and the sound is superb.
I used double sided tape to mount the Yatour on the top of the glovebox compartment
Great work. Rob-c33sg said:
Might check out the Yatour for my 159 - does it work well?
So far so good, it connects easily via Bluetooth and sound quality is greatA big plus for me was the fact there is no unsightly cables in the cabin and keeping the interior looking like it just left the factory whilst allowing me to connect my phone & MP3 player
It's getting close to the end of September when the 850 will once again be put on SORN until next April to save it from the ravages of our local authorities copious salting of the roads. I decided it was time to give it a second wash in the last 14 months before it gets locked up for the winter. Tuesday was a nice dry day so I washed the car and went out for a drive to get rid of all the water on the brakes etc. Then back home and left it out in the open to allow it to dry off. Last year's wax is still beading nicely but I think I'll give it a detail during the winter
My 850 will soon be 25 years old so bought it a 25th present. I'm not sure what the keyring was made to celebrate as the company Manhattan-Windsor that made it closed the doors back in 1998. Maybe made for the Silver Jubilee 240 model.
When my 850 was new it was bought through the Volvo Tourist and Diplomat Special Delivery sales scheme. These sales were offered to certain customers and as long as you fitted the criteria you could purchase a new Volvo whilst receiving a huge savings on the purchase price along with a few other perks.
The original owner of my car was a British Forces officer who was posted in Mönchengladbach which allowed the car to be bought through the Tourist & Diplomat Special Delivery scheme, it also allowed the car to be bought without paying the UK VAT.
When I spoke to the original owner's son who sold the car in 2019 to a used car dealer he told me he passed on 2x Tourist and Diplomat Special Delivery keyrings which were still unused in the original wrappers. Unfortunately these had went A.W.O.L. before the car came into my possession some 15 months later never to be seen again. The chap I bought the car from told me he never received the keyrings but he also told me he only received one key only to discover 4/5 months later he had received all 3 keys
There were several different Keyrings produced over the years and I’m unsure which is the correct one for 1997, they are also becoming hard to find so when one recently came up for sale I had to have it.
When my 850 was new it was bought through the Volvo Tourist and Diplomat Special Delivery sales scheme. These sales were offered to certain customers and as long as you fitted the criteria you could purchase a new Volvo whilst receiving a huge savings on the purchase price along with a few other perks.
The original owner of my car was a British Forces officer who was posted in Mönchengladbach which allowed the car to be bought through the Tourist & Diplomat Special Delivery scheme, it also allowed the car to be bought without paying the UK VAT.
When I spoke to the original owner's son who sold the car in 2019 to a used car dealer he told me he passed on 2x Tourist and Diplomat Special Delivery keyrings which were still unused in the original wrappers. Unfortunately these had went A.W.O.L. before the car came into my possession some 15 months later never to be seen again. The chap I bought the car from told me he never received the keyrings but he also told me he only received one key only to discover 4/5 months later he had received all 3 keys
There were several different Keyrings produced over the years and I’m unsure which is the correct one for 1997, they are also becoming hard to find so when one recently came up for sale I had to have it.
Part of the enjoyment for me of owing an older car is finding out about its journey from new to arriving into my possession. As cars get older it's nice to find and preserve the history for future custodians to enjoy and add to. My previous 1947 car which I bought in Australia came with no history except the name of the previous owner and a couple of pictures and with a lot of research I compiled an extensive folder starting with it being built in Solihull then shipped new to Sydney to being bought as a wreck in the 80s, to its body off restoration and eventually winning awards in Australia and the car now has the last 74 years of history which has been passed onto the new owner.
My 850 was originally bought by a Lt.Col in the British Army stationed in Germany. From my research the troops were know as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). I decided that a BAOR grill badge would be a fitting tribute to the car and the original owner but after searching I have found there is no such badge. There are window stickers available but I didn't want to go down that route unless I had to so I had to think outside the box this time.
eBay provided the answer in the shape of an award given to the military for recreational sporting achievements and I bought one of the awards to experiment with.
My newly purchased award arrived today and I was disappointed to find that it wasn't the brass or bronze award I expected it to be. My plan had been to solder a couple of bolts to the rear to enable it to be fixed to the grill but as it was made from aluminium I had to compromise.
Hacksaw, file, drill, sandpaper and an hour's work and I now have what I presume to be the only BAOR grill badge in the UK.
My 850 was originally bought by a Lt.Col in the British Army stationed in Germany. From my research the troops were know as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). I decided that a BAOR grill badge would be a fitting tribute to the car and the original owner but after searching I have found there is no such badge. There are window stickers available but I didn't want to go down that route unless I had to so I had to think outside the box this time.
eBay provided the answer in the shape of an award given to the military for recreational sporting achievements and I bought one of the awards to experiment with.
My newly purchased award arrived today and I was disappointed to find that it wasn't the brass or bronze award I expected it to be. My plan had been to solder a couple of bolts to the rear to enable it to be fixed to the grill but as it was made from aluminium I had to compromise.
Hacksaw, file, drill, sandpaper and an hour's work and I now have what I presume to be the only BAOR grill badge in the UK.
Please keep adding to the story, people are reading even if not often commenting (like me!)
Well done for preserving this car and not wrecking it like so many do. It pains me to still see saveable 850s advertised as "good workhorse" etc when there is a slew of forgettable and disposable modern dross capable of being so.
After many years owning a string of fast V70s (T5s, Rs, etc) I would like to go backwards to the car that started the Volvo love affair for me, and search out a nice 850 T5 to keep for best. However it seems I may have missed the bus on this one, as other people are finally recognising them for their unique qualities, and sadly the few survivors are often in the hands of jonny-come-lately classic car dealers and Ebay flippers, and even the previously steady supply of decent Japanese imports seems to have dried up. I might be in for a long wait.
All this is in contrast to when I owned one in 2001, a beautiful Turquoise T5 manual GLT. Back then the beard and sandals jibes for Volvo owners were common, or workmates asking why I bought that "big monster" (interesting how small and sporty they look nowadays...). Plenty of laddos in hot hatches got a surprise with that one.
Once again thanks for your diligence with this beautiful bit of metal if nothing else to remind the world how good Volvos looked before Peter Horbury got his mitts on them and ruined them.
Well done for preserving this car and not wrecking it like so many do. It pains me to still see saveable 850s advertised as "good workhorse" etc when there is a slew of forgettable and disposable modern dross capable of being so.
After many years owning a string of fast V70s (T5s, Rs, etc) I would like to go backwards to the car that started the Volvo love affair for me, and search out a nice 850 T5 to keep for best. However it seems I may have missed the bus on this one, as other people are finally recognising them for their unique qualities, and sadly the few survivors are often in the hands of jonny-come-lately classic car dealers and Ebay flippers, and even the previously steady supply of decent Japanese imports seems to have dried up. I might be in for a long wait.
All this is in contrast to when I owned one in 2001, a beautiful Turquoise T5 manual GLT. Back then the beard and sandals jibes for Volvo owners were common, or workmates asking why I bought that "big monster" (interesting how small and sporty they look nowadays...). Plenty of laddos in hot hatches got a surprise with that one.
Once again thanks for your diligence with this beautiful bit of metal if nothing else to remind the world how good Volvos looked before Peter Horbury got his mitts on them and ruined them.
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