Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hello, my names Jeff, I've got a problem.

I decided I wasn't going to bid on the Auction; I've already got my 480 turbo to restore, plus another 480 turbo that will have to be regretably sold.
What I absolutely don't need, is any more 480 Turbos. So with that in mind, I decided I wouldn't bid on the recent auto turbo that came up. I'd had conversations with the seller, who was keen to see it saved after it had been vandalised. I pointed out that most people would simply break it, as there's more money in them that way. She wasn't happy about that.

Anyway, the auction finished, and that was that...

Then 2 days later, I got a text. The buyer was asking if she could just strip the lights and post them, and she could scrap/resell the car and keep the profit. She wasn't happy about that, so If I'd match the price, it was mine.

*sigh*

So, we're £400 (£300 purchase, £100 transporter fees) in and what have we got?

Well, actually, a bit of a pleasant surprise.



We'll do the bad bits first:

Windscreen and NS door mirror were smashed in the vandalism.


As were both the indicator and wiper switches.

Little bit of grot starting on the rear arches.


Starter motor dead.
Roof lining sagged.

Postive bits:
Steel grey, turbo automatic - Apparently thats a bit of a rarity!
all lights are good - Sadly the "new rear lights" are actually "new to the car", but still in very good condition.
Half leather interior - in great condition.

An unmolested dashboard!

Seat belt poppers are both present and undamaged.
Rear wiring loom undamaged

Original Volvo radio (with code) and some uprated speakers front and rear

Nice set of floor mats.
One oddity - the side repeaters don't say Volvo!


And here's where the problem kicks in. There are many, many things that scream "Saveable!" on the car. The file of history shows local owners, all spending good money on the car. The last owner loved the car (it was her 3rd 480) and took it off the road to save for a replacement starter motor (she was quoted engine removal to fit - 2 days labour plus overpriced starter - Anyone else think they just didn't want to do the job?). The heart says save it; the logical side of me sees that selling the rear lights puts me cash neutral, then the leather, front lights etc all start adding to profit.

Sadly, whilst I'm king of logic 99% of the time, cars get me right in the emotional spot.

So, starter motor (there's another £50) ordered, stalks I have in stock, probably the mirror glass too.

Surely I can't be the ONLY person in the UK who wants to own 480 turbos?

Well done for saving it, at the end of the day its yours now and you can decide on its future rather than someone who does not care for a wedge!

two's company , three's a crowd?

at least you will be well practised in keeping them running, always a spare to circulate to front of the queue

I'd be happy if i could have space to easily work around the car, but a bit limited to one side only at a time and fighting with the bunper bolts on the newest arrival so that I can get tow bar fitted . . . . (and need to replace the hangers for the front edges of rear bumper as they have seen better days)

Well done, you nutter!

What colour is the auto box fluid?

jamescarruthers wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 02, 2019 10:14 am

Well done, you nutter!

What colour is the auto box fluid?

you mean is it red? = OK
is it brown? = shagged

bit odd really having a 'turbo' with an auto? I'd have thought you'd buy a TURBO for the fun of driving etc, auto takes away the fun, but I guess you could then keep the revs 'in zone' ?

I'm sure Jeff knows all this sort of stuff but here goes!‎

Yes, I'd certainly be checking the auto fluid. I've had Turbo and N/A autos. IMHO, the ES auto was just too slow, the Turbo auto wasn't too bad but mine went pop so I swore never again to have one. It is a nice leisurely drive but of course there are trade offs to not having to change gears yourself. ‎
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The manual was better in most respects but there was a sweet spot where the turbo would spool up, kickdown would drop down and punch you in the back which I felt the manual could never match (torque convertor doing its thing!). It was pleasant around town once you learnt to speed up to get it in to 4th then slow down again. On the motorway it is lacking in 5th gear to quieten things down.‎ Looking back, it was quite a nice drive even with the shortcomings of early auto box technology.

To get the best out of it, you do have to be prepared to use at least the "3" position to pre-empt an overtaking or lane change type manoeuvre and also the other low-positions when doing steep inclines, or else you're on and off the brakes all of the time. 

I think the trick is to do 3-4 oil changes on the same day then cross your fingers that the previous owner's neglect hasn't done too much damage. Dextron II only and nothing else, no matter what you are told.‎
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No idea on Fluid colour; Spent the Saturday on a roller coaster of "what the hell have I done" and "ooo! Look! That's totally not buggered!"

The plan will be to swap the starter (cos it's utterly simple right?), then coax the beast back to life, whilst all the time desperately hunting for someone (anyone!) who wants a nice original 480 turbo auto.

Have done Auto-fluid swaps on the V70 (yeah, volvo, "sealed for life autoboxes????") and its quite a simple task, can only pray it's as easy on the early ones. Who knows, we may even get another "how to" completed.

had a couple of hours on Britney (as she's been temporarily called) today:

Thought about starting the starter:



That's peering in from the airbox side; that's the Blowoff valve to the right, at the bottom of the curved pipe, you can just make out a starter bolt in the distance...



This is underneath the car, that bottom right thing is the engine mounting bracket. And a starter bolt...



Also underneath the car, with the driveshaft shield off, that is the starter, covered in it's heatshield.

Now, given how hard it is to actually take a picture of the starter and it's mountings, there was no way I'd be getting it off in the couple of hours I had spare today.

However, rather than get too down, I got productive.

Out with the old:



And in with the "new to the car" replacements:



Now looking much nicer....



I mean seriously people, when was the last time you bought a 480 with heater buttons like this?



Also swapped out the smashed wing mirror:



really do like the half leather....



And that, pretty much took up my work on her for the day.

Heater buttons look great but the top one is upside down...

David

So, another Saturday on Brittney, and got the most important job done.



Got to keep Dave appeased you know...

Seriously though, real work took place!

The starter is officially done! 3 hours it took. It is an awful job to do, but simply because pretty much everything you need to undo is a bolt you can only feel, not see, and getting them out typically is an 8th of a turn before you've run out of access.

Process is:

Battery off
Airbox off
Driveshaft shield off
Rear bracket off
starter heatshield off
Electrical connections off
Undo starter and slide out

and so some images for you all...













link to startup

She starts drives and stops now! Not much room to drive about, but she's lovely and quiet and the gearbox certainly allows forwards and backwards movement (so its a start!)

Next things planned:

Windscreen (most cost!)
Service and MOT
Sell!

"
Windscreen (most cost!)
Service and MOT
Sell! 2


aye we'll belive that when it happens . . . .

can you not claim he screen on insurance, but I guess you need it 'on the road' for insurance etc

Excellent work. It must be very satisfying to have it start and move a bit. 

FYI I paid £215+VAT (=£258) for my windscreen to be supplied and fitted. 

Mine was removed for the obvious rust I had around the frame. Might be worth taking your own out too, treating the rust (fingers crossed there's none!) and just having them come and fit it. ‎‎

jamescarruthers wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 7:11 pm

Excellent work. It must be very satisfying to have it start and move a bit. 

FYI I paid £215+VAT (=£258) for my windscreen to be supplied and fitted. 

Mine was removed for the obvious rust I had around the frame. Might be worth taking your own out too, treating the rust (fingers crossed there's none!) and just having them come and fit it. ‎‎

The screen surround looks very good, but as it's at my mates bodyshop, if they do find anything, it'll be dealt with!

Alan 480 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 5:10 pm

"aye we'll belive that when it happens . . . .

Seriously, they're both for sale, I'm just very particular who they get sold to!

Oh and advertising them may be an idea too...

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:21 pm

Alan 480 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 5:10 pm

"aye we'll belive that when it happens . . . .

Seriously, they're both for sale, I'm just very particular who they get sold to!

So, same point then!!

Very, very pleased to see that you prioritised what was clearly the most important job, though - those heater knobs look sooo much better matching; they were really bothering my OCD element

Good work!

David

jamescarruthers wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 7:11 pm

Excellent work. It must be very satisfying to have it start and move a bit. 

FYI I paid £215+VAT (=£258) for my windscreen to be supplied and fitted. 

Mine was removed for the obvious rust I had around the frame. Might be worth taking your own out too, treating the rust (fingers crossed there's none!) and just having them come and fit it. ‎‎

Just has the first quote of £250 fitted..... but they can't get the mouldings. They're going to have a look to see if they'll be able to salvage the existing ones.

Apparently there's a single screen in stock in the whole of the UK!

I've just had my screen done £100 excess on the insurance worked out far cheaper than the £450!!!!! I'd been quoted. The side moldings are reusable unless they've rotted through and just pop rivet in ( Ford Granada ones are black and the right ones to use apparently ) and the top rubber should be reusable as it's mostly aesthetic and doesn't really do anything. If yours is knackered I did find one in Holland through Marriane Kells And was about £45 inc postage I think. If i can work it out I'll post some pictures of it getting done.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3QGRaULgNgo7rLR86
Knowing me that won't work

dekkb wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 23, 2019 7:51 am

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3QGRaULgNgo7rLR86
Knowing me that won't work

Followed the link to the album! Most useful.

I agree, you've got a good chance of being able to easily re-use the rubber and side strips. Its good to know the Granada ‎alternative too. 

I wouldn't put much stock in there being one in stock in the country. I suspect that some of these companies like to turn up the drama dial when they have to do anything out of the ordinary. I was told the same by one of the big companies who were also quite expensive. The smaller company I used were much cheaper and said that they weren't difficult to get hold of and that if there was any trouble that stock from abroad wouldn't be too difficult to get. ‎
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My backup was to get a screen from Yorkshire Trade Windscreens who have an advert on eBay for a £150 screen. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173937579718

I spoke to them on the phone at the time and they were nice enough and said they had the screen. Maybe you could collect in your V70 and save a couple of quid? Unfortunately, they'd want £100 to deliver to MK!

Don't forget for full 480 bonus points that you can drive to the MOT in goggles, without the screen, should you want to get a pass under its belt sooner rather than later. Only absolute legends do this!‎
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