A few repairs..

[robwizard]

Ok so my car now works which is awesome! Been driving it about over the weekend and aside from a rough start and a few lights playing up it's alllll good

However staying true to the species it also leaks horrendously. I have done some investigation today and removed the rear lights and they are definitely not doing it any favors. I have read a few threads on people getting them shiny again and repairing cracked edges etc. And I understand that opinions vary on what the best way to seal them is.. but I was thinking of using tiger seal? I have used this before as a seam sealer after welding etc and it seems pretty good. They do a black one as well.. has anyone use this? Also I need to repair my rear arches (amongst other things..) as they are totally screwed. Once again this seems to be varied in opinion.. is there a final word on what the best donor for rear arch repair is?

Cheers

[Ade]

Hi there,
I have used black tiger seal for similar purposes to yourself (sealing welds etc) with good results, I can't see why it wouldn't be good for the rear lights. I didn't use tiger on my lights, (I probably would have done of I had any left), I just used some old 'instant gasket' stuff that I had lying around and it worked very well.
As for your arches, I am led to believe that scandix now produce a repair panel for the 480, however these are not cheap. I looked into having some made by a classic car panel specialist which I'm sure would have been lovely but again, very expensive (£100 a side and a three month lead time). I ended up using a panel from a mk3 golf, these are cheap, readily available, and all things considered not too bad of a match. I am no bodywork specialist and my arches were the first time I had tackled a job like that and it still didn't turn out too badly. There's a definite difference in the contour of the panel towards the lip of the arch and the crease is not so sharp but on the whole I can safely say it looks a damn sight better than when it was covered in rust!
I will warn you, if you go down the golf route they do take some work to fit but it is feasible. Of course if you intend to do both sides then the slight difference may not concern you. I do sometimes look at mine and think that it doesn't look quite right but like I said they're cheap, available and they certainly do the job.

[Ade]

Another thing I meant to mention whilst on the subject of leaks is the boot seal. Mine was terribly knackered and I was if ding it quite difficult to source a decent replacement so I went to partake in one of my favourite activities......

Scrapyarding

Having looked at countless unsuitable boot seals I came across what I believe was a 2001(ish) Fiat Brava. The boot seal on these is near as damn it the right length (you will only have to trim about six inches off it), pushes on to the lip/plastic trim on the 480 really nicely and most importantly is not pre formed. Once you pull it off it goes floppy so you can fit it to the curves as required for your 480! The nice thing about it too is that it is a little fatter than the original Volvo item and as such creates a much better seal against the tailgate. Since adapting and fitting this seal I have had no issues with water ingress into the boot whatsoever.

There may well be a better suited seal out there somewhere but ill be buggered if I could find it in the couple of hours I was mooching in the scrapyard. The Fiat one works a treat for me, worth bearing in mind. Nice to know you can get something that not only fits but actually improves the sealing of the tailgate.

[robwizard]

Sealing the tailgate properly sounds like a right good shout! As for the rear arches I have just spent the best part of 2 hours looking at people repairing them. I'm torn between mk3 golf panels (from a 5 door?) or 440/460 rears. I know people say the front ones are the best but I can't seem to find any anywhere! (If anyone has a link I would be grateful?)

Cheers

[doingitsideways]

Apparently, 480 front arches do the job well.

Front left for rear right, front right for rear left.

Easy enough to pick up a pair of wings from a scrapper.

440/460 rears would do you no good, there is a door shut as they are all 5/4 door

Steve

[robwizard]

No breakers round here with 480s in Might put out a wanted for scrap wings!

Cheers

[timrosser]

Thanks for the fiat tip Rob

[Slash01]

There's a Volvo scrapyard in Bedfordshire with 10 480's in. Their called Lakes Volvo, been their myself after a fellow member pointed me there. Great guys though it was a bit of a trek for me but with visiting another member in the area for some other bits made for a great day out.

Regarding the leaking.
It's also worth checking the rear side windows. Mine were leaking like a sieve. Easy-ish fix. Just remove the windows, bathroom sealant around the seal and replace.
My rear lights and centre plate were leaking too, used a cheap black silicone sealant to fix them. (Before I had the bathroom stuff) Now the sealant is starting to shrink away at the edges. Will probably have to use my bathroom stuff on them in the near future.

[robwizard]

Carrying on with the rear lights, seals etc I have rebuilt the rear lights using fibre glass and am looking to spray them with 2k lacquer as per the guide. The one thing I am struggling to find is the clear plastic primer? Has anyone in the UK got any recommendations? Preferably something I can find in a shop and not have to order online.. would some sort of adhesion promoter work the same?

Cheers

[timrosser]

I might be missing something, but I think I just got a spray tin of platicote primer from b&q

I fixed the gap in my lights with epoxy resin

[ChrisDK]

When I did the repair on my rear lights, I bought new seals from a member of the forum (can't remember his name, but it is in my thread) that and some plain window sealer from scandix.de did the trick, no more water leaking in, atleast not there

good luck


Chris