Lulas' Diary...

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** Please feel free to visit http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o100 ... My%20Cars/ to look at a random selection of my 480 pics! **

I think perhaps i will post up my write up on how i got into the 480. I started writing up one a while ago now, when this first started, but felt a bit shy sharing all the ups and downs with everyone, especially as i cant think why anyone would want to read about my car, but i read other peoples diaries and enjoyed what they had to say and feel about life around their 480, so i think i will brave it and share my 480 life with everyone.

I am currently at work so will post what i have written so far later on (as it is saved to my laptop) i think it will be a good way of keeping in touch with the forum as well while my GT is of the road.

Hope you enjoy

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My 480 history…

Back in September 2006 I bought myself a Rover 416i (named Junior as he was the baby British car of the family) in beautiful condition; I am a fan of British cars, and this Rover with its British engineering and veneer interior was like the mini-Jaguar I am planning one day to own, (some day I hope to own an XJR-S, 6litre V12). It was a car I was planning to use to get between Devon and Coventry to start my engineering apprenticeship-with Jaguar and Land Rover. However, only a week after induction, I was heading up the M5 back to Coventry after picking up some other items of mine, and just as I approached junction 8 I lost all acceleration-worst part was I was in the outside lane…I made it to the hard shoulder and opened the bonnet…oil was spraying out everywhere. The break down guy came along and had no idea what was wrong with my car, but palmed me off with a Skoda and he took Junior to a garage in Coventry, where I was later informed that the head gasket had blown (a common fault with the K-series engine), unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately) for me the oil had mixed with the water and would need flushing out-I was quoted £500 for this! Being a student this was out of the question, as it happened, I still hadn’t cleared an insurance claim (some guy with one eye ran into the side of Junior) and I phoned them up, told them the car was being scrapped, and they sent me the money instead of having the dents etc fixed. I was also lucky enough to get £150 for Junior as the guy at the garage was planning to do it up for his wife, so that left me with £550 to buy (and if necessary, tax) another car.

When I next went down to see my parents they took me to a reputable car auction in Exeter, where I had a look around and lo behold, saw my first ever 480. It was a bright red ES, lovely condition in general, with the usual bumps and scratches on the bumpers. For some reason I had an urge to bid on this unusual car with its pop ups and retro yet quirky shape, never expecting at all to win it (I had done no research, it was an impulse buy!). I crossed my fingers and ended up walking away with a red ES for £400.

Insurance was, I thought, going to be expensive, I was just 19 with 1 year’s no claims, and I had not realised at first that this ES was a 2.0l (my parents had assumed it was a 1.7l, and told me to go for it as it was only 100cc more than my Rover). As it turned out, insurance was exactly the same price, and I was able to transfer my tax, so I ended up driving my new 480 up to Coventry.



The 480 caused a stir among my colleagues. Being on an apprenticeship where the majority of the people are young men, there were a lot of the usual young lads Corsa’s and Fiesta’s knocking about, so my 480 really was an eye catcher and conversation starter. I think the most impressive thing was, that without any modification, the ES flew, and being a competitive gal, there is nothing like seeing two overly modified hatchbacks being left for dust at the traffic lights in your rear view mirror! The shape was very controversial, and most of the lads were not too keen (although the pop-ups caused interest), preferring to stick to conventional bubble shaped cars. It was fantastic driving a head turner.

My ES was a 2.0l little stunner, in 235 bright red with 7 spoke Volvo Avior alloys (my first car with REAL alloys!!) and I was amazed to see she had discs all round (something I enjoyed bragging about ) She had the half leather Jacquard interior, her info centre worked, as did her heated seats, and all her other new and exciting gadgets. I was so surprised by the amount of “toysâ€

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As it turned out, it was meant to be, and I walked away with the loan I required. It was now all planned, that weekend I was off to pick up the car, and I would part exchange my ES (which bought the price of the GT down-phew!), all I had to sort out was my insurance. My insurance had been with Tesco since I first passed my driving test, and having 2 years claim free driving under my belt, I phoned them up ready to get a quote and to buy. However, I ended up putting the phone down and bursting into tears. The man on the end of the phone told me first, that I had to send in proof that that car was alarmed and had an immobiliser (which in my opinion-and I told him so-was completely daft, as it came as standard on a 480!), after a few more questions he told me I was not eligible to be insured on the car under Tesco insurance, as I was under 21. I asked him why (it was still the 2.0l after all!) and he told me that as an under the age of 21, it was the equivalent of group 18 insurance! The fact that I had been with them for 2 years made no difference, and he said I may be considered next week when I turned 20! Which was obviously no good for me, I had to pick up the car in just a couple of days!

I pulled myself together, posted a plea on the 480 club, got in a good nights sleep, and the next day spent the morning on all the different internet sites fellow 480 owners had recommended. Eventually a company related to HSBC phoned me and offered me a very competitive quote. It was £100 more than my ES, but it was the best I could get, and a small price to pay for such a rare 480.

The weekend came and I drove back down to Devon. My parents had bought the GT as the garage couldn’t insure they would keep her. It was nice as I had two beautiful 480’s in the drive, and they were both mine! My mum had already named her Lula (Lulu’s younger sister).





The GT was stunning. I was not overly fond of the colour at first (although I absolutely adore it now!). I loved the bright vivacious red of Lulu and how it stood out, she was in a way, an automotive tart, and I just loved that about her with her teasing winks; but the darker GT red was more subtle, and more sophisticated-she really looked the business. She had a perfect number plate plinth, both pop ups worked, her interior was stunning, she had no leaks (I noticed that the sunroof-less interior had a different style of roof lining and this meant it did not sag). She still had a slightly cracked rear light, but not half so bad as my ES, and the previous owner had obviously tried to look after her, she had an extra boot mat to protect the original, and a boot cover, lovely 15â€

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At the beginning of the month i had my MOT. The only thing i thought i would really fail on was emissions (and i did wonder if my headlight alignment might fail as the lense was in upside down!)

I took her in, and the emissions were first-she passed with flying colours! Sadly though, she failed on...

"Anti Lock Braking system warning lamp does not illuminate This is a problem cos the light does not illuminate when only the ignition is on-and nor do the others on the panel...tho it oes when the engine is running. My speedo does not work either-could this be related??


Offside head lamp aim too low Apparently this can be dealt with when the following is sorted...

nearside parking brake recording little or no affect what?? apparently the calipers could be stuck but im sure they arent...any ideas????

Parking brake efficiency below requirements *DANGEROUS* Grrr, it was working OK on slopes what's the problem??? Lol, its what first gear is for!!

These i can probably do myself, but have really narked me, and if i list them, it may adversely help someone else out, as they may look to check and save themselves a red piece of paper...

Nearside headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam range some idiot before me put the lense in upside down

nearside rear tyre not fitted in accordance with side wall instruction again, a complete retard must have worked on this car before i had it!!!! "

Most of the things i could do myself-i took her to get her wheel changed around, the light lense was put the right way up by myself, the brakes would probably just need changing and i could fiddle with the parking brake...the biggest problem was going to be the ABS light. The whole of the info centre was not lighting up upon ignition, so i got my electrical friend to have a look.

"my electrical friend has had a look at the info centre and nothing...

He is concerned as:
1. None of the lights connected to sensors are very bright-very dim in comparison to those lights that indicate your lights or indicators etc are on

2. I did some emergency braking and no lights came up (ABS or otherwise)

3. My friend looked at the wiring loom, it is covered in blue elctrical tape (so obviously fiddled with previously) and when he was moving the wiring loom about, the oil pressure went from 0-full-AND THE KEYS WERE NOT IN THE IGNITION!!!!! "

As i was working on this problem (my friend was considering some sort of timing circuit to just get it through the MOT) a community support officer came and had a word with me-apaprently my tax was out of date!!! I was compeltely shocked, i had not had a reminder or anything! It was due at the end of Sept-it was now a week into Nov!! I can only assume it must have got lost during all the postal strikes. As it was, it was the final straw, and after much deliberation, it was decided i should lay her up and a get a cheap (and easy to fix) run around with a years MOT and as much tax as i could get ona budget of just a couple hundred quid. And that was it, i got myself an XR3i (i had to have another retro 80s car-i wanted a Volvo 360, 3 door with a body kit [and i believe it is rear wheel drive ]) but the XR3i was the cheapest.

Lula is now laid up and awaiting to be put away for the winter properly.

Maybe it is a good thing as now i can give her a respray without worrying about how i will get too and from work. I have a whole list of things i want to do...will make a list in the near future...

Missing her loads

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Lula spent Christmas with my boyfriend this year due to her being ill. While i was seeing my parents i came over with the unexpected urge to buy a 480 Turbo...after some delliberation tho, i think i will just keep Lula..."Better the Devil you know". So i have a lot of work to do to her over 2008...

To Do

*Get her through her MOT-new wiring loom-ABS sensor fixed
*Re Spray-full body-(original colour?)
*New brakes-and fix hand brake prob!
*New windscreen
*New/fixed rear passenger side cluster
*Lowering Springs
*Fit in new dash-and install another form of DVD player
*Fit in the replacement front passenger side light cluster
*Clean all the lights/lenses
*Underseal/Waxoyle
*Fix the hinges on the drivers side headlight
*Powder coat/clean up all wheels
*Custom backbox
*Make both rear fog lights work
*Make a rear spoiler
*Strip down/clean interior
*To be continued...
Those completed shown in red

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http://volvo480.dragons.org.uk/forum/vi ... 491#139491

Installation of her sound system and custom made parcel shelf...just a couple of piccies...

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Well it is taking time to get Lula back on the road, but sadly money isn't an object with me, and the cost of living up here is WAY more expensive than what it used to cost me in Devon!!

Anyways, today i started to get her back into tip top condition, with a simple undercoating. She was brushed down with the wire brushed...





And i think that some welding will be in order ...



After a couple of hours in the freezing cold dressed in the cheapest clothes and covering as much of my skin as i could (this stuff is HARDCORE-it doesnt come off without a fight!!! ) i had painted the underside of Lula in a Hammerite Underseal with WaxOyle and this si how it looks now!!





these pics aren't such good quality, i was shaking loads lol

And i only really painted around the exhaust, so when i am back on the road and i can take her to a proper ramp or something then i will do it properly, but i am not too worried at the mo as these parts are higher off of the ground and are protected by the exhaust anyway!!

Next...The brakes!!!
(And paint the rear axle)

http://volvo480.dragons.org.uk/forum/vi ... hp?t=15615

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Just bought some new rear pads and discs, came to £31 summit in Halfords with my trade card. Discs are on order, so wont be fitted til next weekend. Weather depending, may clean up the wheels whilst they are off (well, rear ones anyway)!

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Sadly between work and bad weather my little gal hasnt had the love and attention she needed to get back on the road, but with the promise of having my XR once the Volvo is completed, my boyfriend has made room for her in the garage...so I am hoping to do as much as possible this weekend.

Getting her started was the first issue. The battery had died, she wouldnt allow herself to be jump started by any of the donor cars, and bump starting was a tough with no power steering and a damn heavy lil beast! Her engine had also locked up, so it needed loosening...but perhaps wrongly we didnt do it the proper way, and just did a huge rocking forward and back session until we heard the clunk! The we pushed her down the road backwards, with a spare battery attache to hers, and bumped her in reverse! God i had completly forgotten what a dream she was to drive, everything was sooo effortless!! We took the spare battery off and drove her to the garage, where i am hoping to do her brakes tomorrow, and the ABS sorted by Sunday...better get cracking!



Donor battery gave her a quick start



First drive this year...

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Well yesterday the brake discs and pads on the back were changed. These went fairly smoothly-and i didnt have to take the calipers off which was nice!!

Today i went and baught handbrake cables (the whole set)-just a note-Halfords dont do handbrake cables!!! Spent all afternoon doing these, bit hard in such a tight garage-but it was a warm garage nontheless which meant i wasnt in the hellish hail which i could hear coming down on the roof!! Seems to be working OK (*touch wood*), when its stopped raining i will take it back on the slope and then we will find out for certain whether it works or not for real!!

Pah, whatever, I'm shattered lol

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Fault codes:

4-4-4=No power supply to valves in hydroulic unit

3-1-3=Left side rear wheel sensor open circuit or short circuit

Soooo...

Checked the relays: The one that relates to this is missing, and the other one is dead...great!!

Would never have got this far without the fab documentation on this actual website!! So cheers

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Just dropped a new relay in, all the lights came on...but fried the fuse and relay! So unplugged the hydroulic unit, tried again with a new fuse, and everything worked perfectly. So must be a problem with the hydroulic unit. After unplugging everything engine started misfiring, so i'm hoping that if we replace the 3 wires that dont go to the relay then it'll be OK...?

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Currently sitting on the slope...has been for last couple of hours...*crossing fingers*

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Sat on slope all night now without moving! Assuming handbrake is now eliegable for passing!! *crossing fingers*

Anti Lock Braking system warning lamp does not illuminate - OK, with help of fuse and removing a wire off of the hydroulic pump, ABS light comes on as supposed too, and ABS is working fine. Should pass MOT, will need a new pump tho...currently in talks with Jamselwood

Offside head lamp aim too low Just request alignment...

nearside parking brake recording little or no affect new brakes and pads and handbrake cables...currently has been sitting on a slope for over 24 hours! You go gal!!

Parking brake efficiency below requirements *DANGEROUS* As above-should see no reason to fail, maybe try and bed the pads in a little bit...?

Nearside headlamp not in good working order adversely affecting beam Upside down lens now the right way up!! Morons!!

nearside rear tyre not fitted in accordance with side wall instruction As above really, has been sorted, and lets hope no more idiots are left to work on her!!

However....The windscreen wipers are now not functioning...nor the washer jets. Fuses OK, some confusion over the relays tho, awaiting diagrams (mines missing!!)

***CROSSING FINGERS*** 5 Days to go!!!!

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Just 2 days and an hour to go...still cant work out whats wrong with the wipers! The wiper stalks are all OK, and so is the part of the wiring loom between the fuse and the bit that attaches to the stalk. Gotta get this sorted...

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Well, yesterday trying to check my gearbox leak out i also discovered the state of my passenger side subframe! Lets put it this way, in one area i put my thumb through it! Tho it is odd, it is only on the front bend; the passenger side on the whole is rusty, but the drivers side is excellent, and covered in underseal from the previous owner.

Anyway, in a bit of a panic i managed to weld on a plate of steel to cover it and then undersealed all that side of the sub frame.

Then, after checking the usual lights. etc, she went for her MOT...

***NERVOUS***

And she passed!!!!!

I was so happy! I had no advisories, tho the MOT guy said i should get a new subframe before next years MOT-so i am going to be kept busy lol!!

Now i can concentrate on cleaning her up, giving her her new lights, cleaning and lacquering her rear clusters...well the list goes on...see above...but i am SOOOOOOO happy!!!!!!!

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Put the sound system in (woo! )

And also the new lights...



Must get better pics!!

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Well, what can i say? I am aboslutely loving having her back. She is so light to drive after driving that XR with no power steering! And she handles beautifully, god i had forgotten how well she handles! I can take at her speeds around roundabouts and windy lanes that i would never dream of going in the XR! And after all that time, there are only two things i miss from the XR! (Yes, there IS something ) But you would probably agree...

1. Heated front windscreen
2. The tight turning circle! Been very useful in sticky situations

But between all this wonderful driving she has let me down once already...her battery was flat as a pancake when i started prepping her for her MOT, and it owuld not recharge to save its life. So we replaced it with a second hand one and once fully charged i placed it in the battery tray and have used that since. But Wednesday morning, for no apparent reason, it was completely dead, i got the clicky sound!! I had to get to work, but when i got back from work i put it on charge all night...and the charger still reckoned it was dead (two red lights...not good!) But i tried my luck, and although slow, she started! I am going to take her on a good run this evening. I dont know if it is the alternator or the battery. I suspect the battery cos that wouldnt even charge when left charging all night, and it wont be jump started at all! But i know these batteries arent cheap! I didnt leave anything on either, the car was properly locked, no lights were on, the sub and amp were disconnected from the stereo, and the stereo disconnected from the car...the only thing attached to the live is the wiper cable (for some reason the wipers stopped working, so i connected them to the live to get thro the MOT...going to connect them to the ignition soon...)

Mad as I get, i wont give in, one day she will be mint!!

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Last week I got hold of an air filter...but didnt want to fit it so close to the engine.

So this afternoon I ran to the local scrappy, and raided a 440. I got the air box top and the hose (thought i would need the air box top for strength around the end of the hose, but i didnt!!) Anyway, the 440 hose is twice the length of the 480 hose, and Voila!



O, and because i am the worst variety of sad you can get, i took a pic of the date on the dashboard which originally came in Lula, and me being a numpty cut it up for a DVD player...anyway, its been replaced and i have taken a pic of the date sticker before i threw it out

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Well i kinda got peoples opinions earlier on in the week on how much i should pay for a stainless steel exhaust...the sugestion really was not spend any more than £100 on a second hand one.

My parents said in the end that they wanted £100...and this is what i got...(roughly...its all just in the back of my car and i cant remember it all!!)

*window motors
*window wiper motors
*spare quarter panel glass
*boot lid
*a couple of pop up light covers
*CEM (Yes!!)
*ECU-green
*starter motor
*various bits of plastic trim for all around the car
*2 MINT rear clusters!!
*1 front cluster
*info centre
*loads more i cant think right now...bits n bobs like wiper switches etc etc

MOST IMPORTANTLY...

POWERFLOW stainless steel exhaust custom made to fit the 480!! You should see the size of the bore on this thing!! Someone was having a lot of fun with this ES!!



Naff pic but its kinda hidden under all the other 480 bits in Lula, and its dark and i just did a 400 mile round trip-im shattered lol

IMO this was well worth the money itself! Apparently someone was having a clearance and my parents came across the parts and snapped it up! Just so happy!!

HAPPY 14th LULA!!!