Volvo 480 Club Europe

I have been promised details weeks ago, so I still cannot tell where and when. My best guess is the week-end of July 1st/2nd somewhere in the "Achterhoek" (mid-eastern part of the country near the German border)

Whilst I'm waiting for my dashboard to return from it's holiday in the netherlands, I removed the rear part of the dashboard holder, to see if I can add some strength back into the many, many broken fasteners. There's a bit of delay, I am extremely busy these days with work, and was away to a small...

http://i1043.photobucket.com/albums/b432/asummerfield222/IMG_1477_zpsadvngxr9.jpg clocks connected, engine running, all working! :hopping: not sure about the blue infocentre, better than no info centre :lol: and look how much fuel's in it :) Looks like someone swapped the LCD colour filter inside t...

The "red dipstick" B20F-116 (manual) or -118 (auto) engine used in MY 1993 has cylinder cooling using oil sprayers in the piston. There was a modification done by Volvo dealers to address the high oil consumption, but they still kept the red dipstick (which was standard anyway, the 1.7 litre engines...

I know of at least two examples of Turbo-Two-Tones. They weren't even available in The Netherlands, where also the Two Tone was introduced to get rid of the stock of 1.7 litre engines before the introduction of the 2 litre engine. About the 2 litre with red dipstick, the early production had a fault...

Only the B18F (1.7 litre 95 bhp low octane) and B18FT (1.7 litre Turbo) engines have Mass Air Flow sensors. The others use a different, much less error-prone, set of sensors. What you probably mean is the Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) sensor, a little black box with a vacuum tube connected to the inta...

I always thought the two-tones were equipped with 1.7 litre engines, with some rare exceptions having a Turbo engine. Could be a custom paint job. Those Vesa wheels definitely look good, I have the same on my car now, after looking for them for 2 years! As it is a 1993 2 litre model, chances are the...

Skandix to the rescue :) https://www.skandix.de/en/vehicle-selection/?fin=xlbex185emc563832&x=75&y=12 It's a 1990 B18FP with auto box. It does NOT have a B18F-engine, that is a very rare engine (same setup as the turbo engine, but without the turbo) producing only 95 PS and runs on low-octane fuel (...

I've got the injector wiring harness and the door pockets John! Many thanks!

Well that's annoying! I have just bought one of those clips and it is being delivered along with handbrake cables! Bummer, I could have thrown a handful into the envelope with the temperature sensors I've sent you... As for the 3120183 clips, I got them from a Volvo dealer last year, but more impor...

Those cheap track rod ends, bearings, etcetera, they are usually Chinese rubbish. They might be just 99p each, but almost every MOT they will fail, so unless you can change them yourself, I would recommend something of higher quality. Though I suspect that Skandix' source of components (Scantech and...

My oh my... that car looks scruffy from the outside, and so clean on the inside! Never seen a contrast like that. About the unobtainium, someone here in NL has managed to reproduce the DRL lenses (just the square part in front that always fades & breaks, not the curvey part on the edges) for € 80 a ...

How about a good service, i.e. changing oil & oil and air filters, adjusting the valve clearances, cleaning the injectors, maybe moving the cranshaft sensor a bit so the timing will be earlier. That will usually restore the power almost up to the level it had when it left the factory, unless your en...

There is someone in Germany who rebuilds them in GRP, but they are € 400 each.
Can't find them here as well.

That calls for some good 3D printing designer! Well, yes, and no! These gears are probably some industrial standard. I have sent my scrap motors to a guy who has more knowledge of mechanical engineering than I have. He will try and find a way to make the motors new again. It is quite some work to t...

Estate Services in The Netherlands sells them new for € 24,85 each. http://www.estateservices.nl/gasveer-koplamp-480.html However, what causes the popups to wink is excessive wear of the internal gears of the popup motor. Replacing the gas struts will temporarily solve the problem as the headlight w...

Electrical power to the speedometer us the same as the rev counter, so my next question is: does the rev counter work? If not, the problem is in the power supply. You can also measure the resistance of the speedometer sensor in the gearbox. Pin 6 (signal) and 12 (ground) of the grey connector lead t...

I am not familiar with the UK regulations about catalysts, but in The Netherlands you can safely replace the catalyst with a pipe if your car is from 1988.
Also: are you sure it is the catalytic converter? White smoke usually points to head gasket failure...

And next to the 480 the rejected Volvo Tundra a.k.a. Citroën BX stands out, too, it's late model with colour coded bumpers and smoked rear light lenses. They have long been a very unbeloved car (which applied also to the Volvo 300-series), but have become very sought after now there are so few good ...