Restoration of 1987 Volvo 480ES *The Happy End*

[DaKyy]

So, the previous thread is gone. For good. No one knows where it is and seems like it is inpossible to return it. Thus a new thread.

Most of this is just a copy-paste from the google cache.

Because there now is a diary-area, I'll just copy my project blog here. Smile

My aim is to restore my dear old 1987 Volvo 480 ES 1.7i.

Summary this far

I began my project 2005. My 480 had been pulled out of road use previous fall as it wouldn't have passed it's annual MOT.



I started to list up things to fix:


Rear shocks were busted as well as the springs


As were the brakes...


...And brake shields

I got new springs (Lesjöfors 30mm drop) and a set of shocks (Bilstein). Also new brake parts were gathered. All new brake calipers: ATE refubished cooled front calipers and refurbished rear calipers. Lucas discs and pads.

Then the bodywork. Just a little bit of rust here and there...

Behind rear bumper (have you even checked yours?)


That once was a bumper frame


Windshield edges...


...Door

[DaKyy]

She also would get these:
- New brake shields
- New bushes all around
- New wishbones
- New rear radius arms
- Several other bits I already forgot or try to forget.

I then started to dismantle the car



I painted the rear axle and changed the bushes and installed the new radius arms.


Then I got a spares car


Soon the rear started to look a bit better:


This was done during 2005.

[DaKyy]

2006 came and I bought a decent tent to do the fixing in... Last year it poured all the water inside my ES and the old seats were covered with mold.


New tent and some paint already under the old rad.


Those shocks look pretty bad as well as the brakes. I also put in new bearings to the front as the brake shields were replaced.


Because of the mold I threw the old seats away and cleaned the interior all around.


Whee, FISHEYE


a bit of sanding and new rustpaint and it looks better already


"New" seats from germany arrived



And I installed them. Torx's were a bitch


I removed the old front shocks


And started to fit back the pieces


Found out I did it the wrong way around. Notice the old rad on the ground - new rad was installed and fresh juices were put in.


MID-AIR


New shocks and springs


Rear calipers on place


Finally back on paws


It barely fits.

Current state:

Rear bumper back on place
Brakes are now working and new hand brake cables installed.

To be continued...

[DaKyy]

Gave the dear ol' car a good cleanup after 6 months of storage.(started on the first turn of the key)
Put the new rims under and its starting to look like a decent one apart from few rust spots here and there...



So there you have it, 480ES with Lenso Consept Fives(16") - the centre caps are not yet on

On the ToDo list:
- Distributor cap replacement
- Magnecor leads (the blue ones)
- New timing belt + accessories
- New sparkplugs


- New alternator
- New waterpump + a new belt for these two

- New heater matrix
- New oil + filter
- New fuel filter
- New air filter

Must have forgotten something...

[DaKyy]

Just when you think anything couldn't be worse... You start poking around yer car roof:


Well, It is a relatively small area and everything else looks quite good when I removed the headlining (Thanks for the howto, Roo)

The windshield will be replaced and that spot will be fixed also. Then the new paint on to the car and It is almost finished! ;D

I had a trip today to "nearby" paintshop that would fix the roof and respray the whole car. I decided not to replace my cambelt&bits. I'd do it after that "short" trip of 50km.

Well, It started quite well. Me and my missus had driven about 10km when suddenly the car started to slow down and eventually it stalled completely. I thought the worst and I was already pondering the costs if the cambelt had snapped. Had to tow the car back home to see what was wrong.

The belt was fine. There was gas coming to the motor. But there was no spark. I had just changed the sparkplugs&leads, distributor cover & the little thing inside it Smile They should be ok. And they were. I changed the coil from my spares car to the white blimey - it started with the first try.


We took the trip and came back. Blimey is getting a respray!

[DaKyy]

Started my cambelt change today. The new belt is now on. I still need to fit new waterpump and seal, so I didn't put it back together yet. I took out the old alternator and dig up the reconditioned, looks brand new. Old one was in pretty bad shape, almost couldn't get it out in one piece - bolts that attached the wires nearly broke off.

Still some coolant is disappearing, maybe the head gasket has gone. If the new waterpump and thermostat + seals doesn't help I'll have to open it up and change the head gasket.

Almost bought a set of roof bars on ebay but my "auction sniping" software was crap and didn't bid on the item. Now it went for 1£ Car already has the rails so it would've been easy fit.

[DaKyy]

I continued the belt change today. Took off the water pump - which looked quite good actually, but you can never be too sure. The bearings can go any time... Fitted the new pump and seal, it was quite an easy job to do really. (haven't put any new coolant yet so I can stab myself when it leaks.)

Then I placed back the crankshaft pulley and put in the new aux belt. Fitted it wrong way on first try and pondered why it wasn't even nearly long enough. Then I measured the old one which was almost the same size. With a bit of engineering I could get it to place, but then the alternator adjusting bolt snapped off so I couldn't adjust the tension of the aux belt. It started to rain also, so I just fitted all the plates and stuff back there and will continue this in couple of days when I get a new adjusting bolt.

[DaKyy]

The bumpers I bought from eBay while ago arrived today. Seems to be in quite good shape, couple of cracks and the towbar section has been cut off. Need to fix it before respray.




Too bad I don't have good condition foglights to fit in :/

[DaKyy]

Well, another hard day fixing the car is now over. Changed the heater matrix for a new one. Got the refurbished alternator on its place with the new adjusting bolt. Also new thermostat and its seal is now on place.

The heater matrix was quite a bitch to remove. First, you have to take off the two tubes that go in to it on your engine bay:



Of course, they are jammed in quite nicely. With a little help from pliers I managed to get the pipes (the metal ones on the matrix) to deform a bit so that the rubber tubes could be pulled off.

Also you have to remove some of the interior.



The heater matrix casing comes off when you remove the six screws on it and also the two "accordion" tubes under it. You don't have to remove the whole center console, I managed to do it with just pulling it back few inches. The center console is on place with about six screws.

The old matrix and the old alternator:

[DaKyy]

I also fitted new bumper frame for the front bumper. I also have new frame for the rear bumper but it is currently attached to the old, red bumper.

[DaKyy]

Oh, where do I begin
To tell the story of how great a love can be...

Nah, just fooling around tired. I'm just spent.

Changed the oil sump gasket, oil filter and put some new oil in the engine. The gasket was quite a bitch and two bolts sheared off threads. I just left them there and hope it won't leak. The old gasket was some sort of silicone rubber or sumthing. Goddam afwul to remove.

Oh well, then the good part:

Wiljens rear side markers installed:



Aha, you spotted the bumper?

Here it is:


Front:


Side:


Spooky moment, that light hasn't lit up before

[DaKyy]

I bought a set of fixed focus front fogs for my Blimey. Quite costly though but had to have them. Also Rachel was kind enough to send me new drl bulb holders so the drl's might work better. My own holders are rusted and corroded quite badly. Fitted the new LED DRL's the other day and they worked (as well as the old bulbs) but because of the holders the 5W park light didn't work on the other side... Hopefully the new holders will fix that.

Now I have to sort out some black aluminium mesh for the grille. Currently there is some sort of mesh, but as the bumper will turn white I'll take the old and battered mesh out of there and install a black mesh instead.

Well, anyways, here is a pic from 2004 I think:

[DaKyy]

Couple of days ago I received almost mint pair of front fixed focus fogs(FFFS!). Not cheap, but they were worth it. Amazing what you can find from ebay.

The car is going for its respray and windshield replacement in two weeks. Getting a bit nervous on how she'll do...

Noticed that after changing the sump gasket seal the engine is still dribling oil. I suspect the crankshaft seal (the oil level settles at the low marker on the dipstick). A seal that I should've changed when I changed the whole drive belt and stuff. Oh well, maybe next year.

One fellow 480 hobbyist contacted me through ebay asking about the bodykit I had bought. He has Hausser front bumper and Volvo bodykit rear bumper + sideskirts. He kindly asked If I would want to trade my original bodykit front bumper for his Hausser one. Actually I'm more keen on the complete Hausser bodykit(looks wise) but Volvo bodykit is always Volvo, and it's something I want to see in white Smile However, he didn't have Hausser rear bumper so thats it. I asked if he'd sell the sideskirts so I'd have a full set. But I doubt he'll sell


edit: oh, almost forgot:

Finally found couple of pins for the headrests. Now they are adjustable! When I first received the interior from germany, I didn't know where those pins went. Just couple of weeks ago found out where they went and now they work! I also put some of the interior back together after changing the heater matrix. It is definetly worse to get back together. Good tip is to use original scissor jack to lift the cover to its right position. Just have to change some interior bulbs to fit the console back.

[DaKyy]

Now getting jealous on Roo's diary - He's on page two! He just keeps writing and writing. Also those posts just keep reminding me on things I should've done to my car Very Happy Well I guess it's a neverending trip with 480 when you start to fix 'em up. Always something to do...

I've been out on the parts car today, mainly collecting parts for a fella who just bought an ES. Damn hot, 30°C seems a tad high. Global warming - bollocks. Remember to drink lots of water when working on 480 outside

I changed the old alloys back on my car as the car goes to the painter next week. Also checked out how the fixed focus fogs fit on the bumper. They fit nicely, didn't take any pics though and probably you won't see any pics of it until the paint dries Took a CEM out of the parts car so I can check if it solves the intermittent wiper problem I have with the car. The intermittent mode works on the rear wiper, and also on the windshield wipers. Windshield wipers just stop on the top position

There is also an oil leak, don't know yet if it is the crankshaft seal on the pulley end, or is it the oil sump gasket that I just changed. I broke two threads of the sump bolts, but it seems quite tight. Hard to locate the real source...

Damn it is still hot... I think I'll go to sauna to sweat it off (80°C)

Copypasters note to self - no pictures - much easier. Kill all pictures. Must Killll.

[DaKyy]

Today was rather fun. I got to drive my dear old 480 to whom I have not yet figured out a decent name to call her... Any suggestions? Smile

As it is her 20th birthday I took her to the paintshop today to get a new coat and glass.

It was a nice drive, can't describe the feeling - you know - when you haven't driven it for a while Smile All went well and the 50km trip was soon over. Motor was a tad lifeless after 4000rpm's. Don't know if it is just the mixture that is wrong. I know its running lean but there is no air intake leaks. I think I'll let someone that has the gear and experience to tune it right... Though I haven't put the injector cleaner to the tank yet... Maybe it's just not getting the gas.

Dan asked me about the bonnet light that had lit up, I took a few pictures of it for him. Sorry about the bad quality on some photos - was in a hurry

(click'em bigger)







Next time I'll be posting to this blog will probably be in two weeks if there is any progress with the car at the paintshop

Copypasters note to self: damn I must have believed everything the painter had told me

[DaKyy]

Nothing new on the car I'm afraid. It's been in the paintshop well over two weeks. I phoned them last week to check on the progress of the car and inquiring if I'd be able to come and see it. Well the answer was something like: "Yeah of course you can come and check it out! We haven't even touched it though!". They're apparently trying to get easier with the roof as they were looking for scrapped 400-series cars with that front roof. Of course it would be better with ready-part vs. custom made part (no leaking etc).

I knew the 440-460 wouldn't fit because the windshield angle is way different and also the doors are different shape. So now they're starting it from scratch. I'll check back in a few days (weeks)

copypasters note to self: Lol, I told you so.

[DaKyy]

I made a trip to the paintshop today and took some pics of the ol' Rusty. Some of you might remember the look of the car when I dug out the rust on top of the windshield. It looked something like this:


The paintshop had managed to do some work on the front roof and also began priming on the car.

Current state:



The rear arches were quite awful. The previous fixer had just welded the new arch on to the old paint and applied awful lot of putty on top. Hopefully the paintshop sorts it out well...

[DaKyy]

Whee I made it to the second page! Here I come roo&martin!

I ordered a set of rear mudflaps a while ago and they've arrived already. I'm now waiting for new front mudflaps and also the rear mudguard-plates or what ever they are called... I've lost them somewhere.

[DaKyy]

Checked the progress on my car again today. Or I just called the paintshop dude. The 480 has now been sanded down and the painting will commence some time next week. After that it will go straight to the rustproofing.

I'll get some pics of it after the painting...

[DaKyy]

I'm still waiting for the front mudflaps and rear mudguard plates to arrive. Altough they probably never will as the post office seems to have lost them. Well it is only 30e more to the endless pit of 480 restoration... If anyone has a spare set of both I'd gladly buy them, please PM!