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Am I mad?

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:02 am
by heavend
I've got several cars (13), three of them are 480's awaiting restoration. I used to have a couple of running 480's but they got written off in crashes by drivers ... ahem "new to the country". I did strip the crashed cars and keep all the parts that had a possible use, which takes up a fair bit of space.
The 3 remaining 480's sat and sat for many years while I got on with other projects. Last weekend I started one and gave it a wash, making a mental list of what it needs doing. Today I spent more than three hours repairing the alternator when the penny dropped. I spent all my spare time keeping the last 480's going - I'll never fix these ones as they're decaying so fast and there's no parts anymore. Am I mad?

PS I'm in New Zealand so 480's are super rare. Thankfully the climate means slow rusting.

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:29 am
by jifflemon
If you are mad, then your right in the right place - this must be the therapy centre!

Didn’t realise 480’s made it out to NZ; lack of rust? I sense an import business starting.... hows your rear bumper bar collection?

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2019 12:30 pm
by Norm57
If the rear lights are any good you are sitting on a goldmine, do not throw or scrap them they are the preverbial rocking horse s**t.

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 7:25 am
by brinkie
Did it take three hours to swap the alternator, or three hours to fix the one you have taken out the car? Dead alternators aren't a specific Volvo 480 problem, they will die sooner or later on any car (for example I had a Ford Focus where it died after less than 100,000 miles / 8 years).
The hardest age-related problems for a 480 are rust and detoriation of the plastics in the light clusters. But living in a country where only a handful of 480's have been sold may worsen the parts supply more than it is in this part of the world. However, we are here to help.

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:57 am
by heavend
Thanks for the encouragement folks. I've had 480's continuously since I joined the 480 Club Europe, perhaps 15 years ago?
I've got no difficulty fixing any fault with them, apart from lack of time and parts availability. I went through my stash of 4 alternators over the weekend and sorted out 3 of them - can't fix an open circuit rotor. But that's when I saw the split air intake hose and felt the crusty coolant hoses, none of which are available new. And the tail lights - I have a collection of them in varying degrees of manky-ness. I suppose I got an overwhelming feeling of futility putting time into these cars.

I either need a fairy god father to take all three cars plus my stash of parts or just regain some enthusiasm and get on with restoring them as best as possible given the parts issues!

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:02 am
by heavend
I forgot to mention that I have ONE brand new tail light. Talk about the ultimate orphan!
Got spare bumpers, doors, glass, guards etc etc. Rust is not a big issue. Whereas they do rust it's very slow.

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:37 am
by Alan 480
heavend wrote:
Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:02 am
I forgot to mention that I have ONE brand new tail light. Talk about the ultimate orphan!
that's worth about the same as a complete 480 is :wink:

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 1:55 pm
by brinkie
Let's bring some sanity in this story then, shall we? :) Remember, ANY time spent to a non-exotic (exotic as in: worth tons of money) old car is futile. If you want to be completely sensible and rational, buy a Toyota Auris Hybrid.

First, make an inventory of what you have got.

Three complete cars, did you say? Which model years, engines and colours? And what is the current state of repair or despair they're in? Which parts or repairs are needed? Add to that: the Renault engines need a new cambelt every 6 years. Are they special/individual enough you want to keep all three of them?

Then, there's a lot of parts salvaged from wrecked cars. What do you have?

The discrepancies between the needed parts and your stock of scrap parts can be cobbled together in this part of the world and sent to NZ.

Re: Am I mad?

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:49 pm
by mathrock
brinkie wrote:
Wed Jun 12, 2019 1:55 pm
The discrepancies between the needed parts and your stock of scrap parts can be cobbled together in this part of the world and sent to NZ.
Thumbs up! brinkie and others here and on the FB groups have definitely been an enormous help with getting my USA Volvo 480 Turbo back in shape! The car has a great community.