My 480 :)

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cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:02 am

Well, I'm new to the forum having picked up what I concidered to be an absolute steal on a car I have never heard of, she was a trade in to macrae & dick honda dealer in Aberdeen after the same guy had owned her since 1992, with just under 40k on the clock at the time (end of November) and insurance promising to be cheaper than my 1.2 corsa (I'm 18) I decided I would go for a look, however before I went to look I kinda decided against it, after all I'm 18 and I didn't think it would be the most popular thing amongst my friends, a few days went past and another advert popped up on my news feed, after never having heard of the 480 in my life and then seeing 2 for sale within a few days of eachother I took this as some kinda sign, especially since this second one had another 100k on it and was only £200 cheaper...I messaged the seller and went and licked it up 2 days later, havnt looked back since, I LOVE her! And surprisingly my friends think it's the best car in the world, keeps up with most new hatches and it's not that bad on fuel, according to my info centre I'm getting around 35mpgs on average so I can't complain :) by far the best £800 I hae ever spent and it gets a look wherever I go!

I'm in the Aberdeen area, no idea if there are any more up here but give me a shout if you are here!

I'll try and upload pictures tonight, on my phone currently, she's a 1991 1.7 manual ES in white :)
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

timrosser
Advanced 480 rookie
Posts: 546
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2010 2:22 pm

Re: My 480 :)

Post by timrosser » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:34 am

White 480s are the best ;-) Its great that you have foundthis forum as its a treasure trove of info, help and parts!

ChrisDK
Knows where Volvo is from
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 2:40 pm

Re: My 480 :)

Post by ChrisDK » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:30 pm

Congrats on the car :) like timrosser says White 480's are the best :hopping:

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Captain Slow
480 Expert
Posts: 686
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:13 pm
Location: St Andrews

Re: My 480 :)

Post by Captain Slow » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:42 pm

cranna21 wrote:..... and went and licked it up 2 days later......
:rofl: :rofl:

Seriosly though, many greetings and might see you in the area of NE Scotland though I never go to Aberdeen.
Previously....
Whitney - 95 N White celebration No.449/480 now with Ladyforatey
Lula - 94 M Volvo 480GT Sold on...
Daphne - 95 M volvo 440si 1.8 73,000K (sold :()

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doingitsideways
480 Expert
Posts: 659
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 8:55 pm
Location: Manchester

Re: My 480 :)

Post by doingitsideways » Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:26 pm

Seriously, another Aberdeen 480??

Bit of a standing joke among a few of us! ;)

There arw a few 480s round your way, a seemingly abnormal concentration, I even bought mine from there.

The only other place on earth with a greater concentration of 480s is outside Jim's house in Glasgow, and in his shed in many peices! :rofl:

Good to see a young-un converted, welcome to the mad house and underseal your rear arches.

Get some pics up :)

Steve :hopping:

Oh, I'm always licking up mine, glad I'm not alone!!
"If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's an electrical fault!"
Hammers can't fix a 480!!!

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:09 pm

I got the whole underside undersealed as soon as I got her :) just done an oil change and oil filter change along with new HT leads and have a fuel filter new distributor cap and rotor arm ordered for next weeks jobs! Her last recorded service was only 4000 miles ago, but that was in 2006... So we figured we'd get it done haha, noticed mine has a wet patch in the very far back drivers corner of the boot, I originally thought it was a leaking bottle of screen wash but apparently they are prone to leaking at the back, where should I attach first with silicone or what Ribera would be best to replace soon?

Thanks, Fraser
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:11 pm

Should say it seems to have dried up a bit at that corner so maybe it was just a leaking bottle?
When I bought the car I got a boot full of original volvo stuff, like 2 bottles of volvo screen wash a bottle of volvo (think it's gearbox) oil and a bottle of volvo conserver car polish! Safe to say I don't think ill use any of them...
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

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doingitsideways
480 Expert
Posts: 659
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 8:55 pm
Location: Manchester

Re: My 480 :)

Post by doingitsideways » Fri Jan 17, 2014 3:59 pm

They are most prone to leaking around the rear lights as the seals dry out, it may have stopped because the car is leaning the wrong way. Sounds daft but it can be true as the rain water dripping from the bottom of the tailgate glass would tend to drip on the other side.

As for sealing them, it only ever seems to work if you take the clusters out, but BE CAREFUL as they get incredibly brittle with age and are almost impossible to replace with new. Volvo stopped selling them ages ago, but Skandix made a run of reproductions but they are mega money!!

The little orange reflectors can and do leak.

Another favourite is where the cable from the tailgate goes through the boot rubber. A terrible design means that there are also all sorts of electrical problems to be had there too, although I doubt this is your problem here as it's on the other side.

The boot seal itself is also prone to leaking...

Best bet is to have a mate sprinkle water on the areas with a garden hose while you sit in the boot and see what you can find ;)

Fill ya boots!! :D

Steve :hopping:
"If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's an electrical fault!"
Hammers can't fix a 480!!!

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:04 pm

Awesome! Thanks! I put a universal come filter on it today, mesh covered cotton, is it worth it for the noise or will I do any damage?
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

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doingitsideways
480 Expert
Posts: 659
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 8:55 pm
Location: Manchester

Re: My 480 :)

Post by doingitsideways » Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:23 pm

The Renault engines in these are pretty much bullet proof, ironically they're probably one of the strongest parts of the car... And they're bloody French!!

The only thing that you'll damage is your wallet from having your foot down all the time, I drive mine like I stole it because of the induction noise (I'm really still 15 inside) and my MPG has suffered as a result! :(

Steve :hopping:
"If you can't fix it with a hammer, it's an electrical fault!"
Hammers can't fix a 480!!!

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:05 pm

Hello all!

Heres some pics of my 480! the later ones are from today.

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Last edited by cranna21 on Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:34 pm

Forgot to add to the last post;

Car's now up to 44000 miles :S i need to try and cut down haha, running great at the moment! had a new Dizzy cap, Rotor arm, HT leads, oil and oil filter change recently, got a new fuel filter to go on at some point too, had a slight mis hap with the hand brake the other day, it seized on... oops new cable job by the looks of it! calipers are all fine :) hopefully sending it to a local garage pretty soon to get a tune up as its a wee bit didgy on idle and is running a wee bit rich, the guy whos doing it is big in the hill climb racing world of the UK, Ricky Guald, some folk may of heard of him, well renowned for racing Hillman Imps!
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

cranna21
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:44 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Huntly

Re: My 480 :)

Post by cranna21 » Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:55 am

well i havn't been very active here recently however as of 08/06/2014 i am not also the part owner (shared purchase with my girlfriends dad for her birthday) of celebration model 33/480 with 78k on the clock bought it in the stonehaven, scotland, needs some bits and bobs for an MOT but not too much and a little bit of TLC to the body work (rusty ish rear arch and some laquer peel) think i'm going to tackle them both myself as if i screw it up then as long as its not worse nothing's lost! i'll have to get some pics up asap of both the cars! my last ones didn't seem to work :/
'91 480 ES 2.0l 16v 'Williams' Conversion - 212bhp/230nm
'90 940 GL 2.0l Estate
'08 XC90 D5 SE Premium

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