Well. No extraordinary news yet. Post office hasn't come up with my mudflaps nor rear mudguards. Also it could be the eBay dude(the one that used to sell those heater knobs with ridiculous prices) that hasn't really sent them. Too late for paypal resolution center... Well not a big loss.
edit: he mailed me today and said he got the package back, he'll be sending it again to me.
Paintshop dude said they haven't done ~anything to the car, still unpainted. Originally the paint should've been applied in september.
Restoration of 1987 Volvo 480ES *The Happy End*
Moderators: jifflemon, coyote1980, Rachel
Yeah, thats about it. The painting has taken way too long and I was starting to get a bit suspicious about the whole thing. Today the painter called and told me the bad news, the car is beyound repair, it is so badly rusted underneath its not worth getting done.
Nah, I'm a bad liar, here it is
I'll add some more pics later
Little sum up and few more pics for those that demanded them!
The rear arches were remade because of the job the last shop had done on them.
The doors were fixed and rustproofed and some of the basework is coming up nicely.
Basepaint applied
And the final coating
Started to put the car back to one piece
And the final look. Still missing the foglights and the correct wheels...
As someone asked for future plans there really isn't any major things ahead. The interior need a bit of a tidy up and the wheels have to be aligned properly. Maybe spacers to get the rims a bit further out from the arches. Then there is the MOT next year that the car has to pass. It'll need a new exhaust front pipe which is already in my possession. And that's probably it - altough it is missing the sideskirts!
The car has now been driven to the winter storage place next to my pug 607. Car has now been rustproofed with Tectyl stuff, the bottom and all wheel arches. Mechanic said the bottom looked quite good, no need for welding yet.
It is still leaking somewhere at rear. Either it is the boot rubber or the rear lights. Probably the rear lights as they aren't sealed at all.
But the main thing is I need a name for my 480. Something in the lines of KARR being the evil brother of KITT. Suggestions?
I did couple of quick things today for the ES. I put another heater on the floor because the rear footwells got soaked when I washed the car. There has been one heater and it has been on for about 2 hours every day, so now there are two and they are on for 4 hours. Hopefully I'll get the carpet dry.
I also took out the rear clusters and I'll be sending them to a professional painter for refurbishing. They'll look like new again!
Also called Volvo dealer today for the door window seals (or those things that corrode easily, and look ugly) I ordered them 25e/each. I also wanted to order the rear hatch seal but it isn't offered any more. Probably could get one from somewhere else. Also couple of gas struts for the pop-ups! about ~25e/each too.
Ok running out of breath here... Also had a visit to the painter that did the car and asked for that little cover plate to the rear next to foglight. I wan't that towing eyelet hidden.
Here's couple of pics that some of you might have already seen in another threads..
Did some little bits today...
I removed the old weatherstrips which looked quite horrible:
You can still get these new from Volvo. Don't even try to restore them - when the surface starts to bubble - it is impossible. Here they cost 25e each.
I sealed the ends of the new strips so that humidity won't enter the metal core of the strip. Now the door looks ten times better:
More fiddling with the little bits:
The clear sidemarkers I bought from Wiljen are finally ending up to the car. Wife to be will paint the Volvo logos again with some silver paint and properly seal those markers.
I gave the sidemarker-project to the lady of the house. She got some silver paint and painted the Volvo logos back and also did the "reflectors" with the same paint so it wouldn't appear too dark with the clear indicators. After the paint had dried ten she glued the clear indicators to the plastic.
They came up really well I think. As Ettore Bugatti suggested I think I'll cover the clear sidemarkers with a spray lacquer layer to prevent fading or turning to yellow.
I also want to thank people who have sent me pm's about my diary. It's been lovely reading them so thanks to Aibast, Ettore Bugatti, Dan, Roo, Anton K, Martin and esta.
Thanks, good to hear.marksch wrote: DaKyy,
this project is beyond...wow..respect to u and the mss.
And those rear light clusters look better like new
(and i know, cause i had them new!)
great job ( have had) done!
Q: costs against value ?
I know love hurts; in money spend that is.
Greetz, MarkVBB will delete your post when he notices this but lets not tell him!
It's not allowed to post to these diary threads.
If you ment what I paid for the cluster restoration, it was 40 euros.
Last edited by DaKyy on Fri May 02, 2008 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
You guys just know how to respect the authorityguitarcarfanatic wrote: 40 Euros? What a bargain!!!!!!!! Do these ppl offer services to those abroad? If so everyone on this forum should have this done!
Well he is quite busy with things as you'd expect. He is a fellow enthusiast so that explains the low price. But I can send your regards to him :]
Ok had a bit of a frenzy yesterday and did some things on my car.
I changed the new coil under the hood and found out the rev counter had gone dead. Well I haven't found out why it did that but either it is the coil or the rev counters connections behind the dash. As I also installed the new headunit, Kenwood KDC-W4537UG:
Sorry about the bad picture...
I also re-sealed the long range lights with silicone after I had washed them and I also washed the front clusters because they were sprayed with rustproof from underneath -> dirty.
WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU DAN NOR YER TOOTHBRUSH!
The toothbrush really came handy, I also had to use toothpicks to get the dirt out...
ALSO I installed the headlamps gas struts though I have no piccies of them. Let me just say the old ones didn't even push out neither I could pull the gas strut out... New ones are nice and bouncy!
Well that is not all. I also installed the side repeaters with chrome bulbs and I also put chrome bulbs to the front indicators to get that orange glow out of them. Now they look white!
Well, not all, but almost! I also finally put in bulb holders that Rachel kindly sold to me with very reasonable price :]
I put in the led bulbs which I already had ( They were installed earlier but didn't work so well with the old holders) http://volvo480.dragons.org.uk/forum/vi ... hp?t=14118 They were narrow enough to fit in to the container. This is how they look:
The last one is a bit off, it isn't that blue at all... But I'm happy with the look, always hated the yellowish glow the normal bulbs have.
Hi there Dan!Dan the 480 Man wrote: Check me out too! I know it'll be removed, but gonna say it again-brilliant thread! Toothbrushes rule-done the missus's Clio the other day-shiney door hinges are the way forward! Don't forget to do round the sunroof gutter either, it gets disgusting in there
DRL bulbs look good too-though new DRL bulbs when the pop-ups are down look nice. What do they look like with the headlights up? And i'm, glad you got the chrome bulbs-my mates took the piss out of me when i bought some for mine, but it's worth it-especially on a white car.
Keep up the good work-def. one of my favourite 'Diarys'
Toothbrush! Toothbrush! Toothbrush!
The DRL's look now so white that the headlights are quite yellow-looking. I'll prolly get new bulbs for the headlights too. Though halogens tend to look yellow even if I buy the super white ones. Should be getting a HID set if I want them to look the same. And then it won't pass the MOT.
LOL, heads are gonna roll when he gets back ->JohnTurbo wrote: I have it on good authority that he is indeed hibernating. so:-
LA La la!!!
hehe.
Seriously, very interesting thread. Say it while i can.
martinholmesuk wrote: Top marks on your restore. Takes balls having seen the rust on your roof.
I think I'll get some LED bulbs having seen yours.
I used BAY15D LED bulbs for mine, so the pins are a bit off. BAY15D has them 180 degrees apart. so it doesn't fit to the bulb socket without force. The socket has the pins aligned about 150-160 degrees apart. It is possible to get the bulb in to the socket wrong way around so don't put it back together until you know it works
I bought mine from ebay (search with words "bay15d led 1157") but none of the same type seems to be around (size wise). My bulbs have 18 leds in them of which about 12 are positioned to the sides, 6 forward. It also has a plastic cover that goes over them, it protects the circuitry a bit and spreads the light.martinholmesuk wrote: Cheers,
Where did you get them ?
Oh and almost forgot, the broken bulb warning light has lit up on my car. Don't know if it because the tail lights are not currently working or because of the led bulbs.
Before VBB loses it I brought the old thread back for feedback so you don't have to leave it here.
--->>> http://volvo480.dragons.org.uk/forum/vi ... hp?t=11342