Volvo 480 Club Europe

JohnO wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:37 am

What are the purpose of the rescue cars?

Possibly to drive me insane.

I like to think there’s little I can’t fix (bodywork is my exception to the rule). If I can get 480’s back on the road when others have given up, that’s my motivation.

Any money donated to the fund (and thank you for your donation) goes directly to the cars; All my hours are absolutely free and being a tight northerner, I make sure I get any parts for as little as possible to maximise that money.

Another excellent slog there Jeff, glad I could play my part. Interesting to note that my car is a September 1988 (possibly August build date I don't know what the lead time was) which is a few months later than R3 and closer to R1, especially given Arctic Blue was introduced for that model year (replacing Petrol Blue on the callout sheet). It is odd that my car has a similar set up to R3, but different to R1. Almost as if they had no idea what they were doing when they built them, or mine was built using left over parts (it has the B18E as opposed to the F)

Super Job, I look forward to seeing R3 return to the road

Good work Jiff,

Epic work around for an obsolete cable.

Were the cobwebs a sign of a dry boot?

MisterH wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:01 am

Another excellent slog there Jeff, glad I could play my part. Interesting to note that my car is a September 1988 (possibly August build date I don't know what the lead time was) which is a few months later than R3 and closer to R1, especially given Arctic Blue was introduced for that model year (replacing Petrol Blue on the callout sheet). It is odd that my car has a similar set up to R3, but different to R1. Almost as if they had no idea what they were doing when they built them, or mine was built using left over parts (it has the B18E as opposed to the F)

Super Job, I look forward to seeing R3 return to the road

R3 is 532821, R1 is 547232

Where do you fit?

arthuy wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:16 am

Were the cobwebs a sign of a dry boot?

Was a sign I should have paid more attention too!

But yes, the boot is in surprisingly good condition!

Few more "gentle" updates today.

I've mentioned it before in other threads, but everyone please go and check your petrol flaps.



The little hole at the base of the rubber should allow water (and fuel) to drain out through a pipe and dump on the floor. R3's, like many others, was blocked.

Hot soapy water, a brush for scrubbing and some compressed air in a can had it clear in minutes.

Next I raided the spares and replaced the rear seat recliner buttons, because not everything in the early cars was awesome quality....



and finally.... Remember me mentioning the two dents in the roof?

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 20, 2020 10:13 pm

One thing we did miss on initial inspection, were two tiny dents in the roof - You can make them out in the reflection of the tree



Although interestingly, they appear to be from the inside, going out (or up)...

Well, I've worked out why.

The interior light was flopping about. It's not uncommon for them to be broken where someone has overtightened the screws and it shatters the plastic spacer. Whilst that had happened to this one, it'd also been repaired (metal washers glued on). However, I'll let you guess which of these screws is the correct set, and which were the ones in use...

jifflemon wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:41 pm

MisterH wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:01 am

Another excellent slog there Jeff, glad I could play my part. Interesting to note that my car is a September 1988 (possibly August build date I don't know what the lead time was) which is a few months later than R3 and closer to R1, especially given Arctic Blue was introduced for that model year (replacing Petrol Blue on the callout sheet). It is odd that my car has a similar set up to R3, but different to R1. Almost as if they had no idea what they were doing when they built them, or mine was built using left over parts (it has the B18E as opposed to the F)

Super Job, I look forward to seeing R3 return to the road

R3 is 532821, R1 is 547232

Where do you fit?

arthuy wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:16 am

Were the cobwebs a sign of a dry boot?

Was a sign I should have paid more attention too!

But yes, the boot is in surprisingly good condition!

I am 536983, and what if I don't have rubber behind my fuel flap?

Edging ever closer to hitting the road, it was time to finish off the service items:

Added a flusher to the engine:



Before getting nice and hot and then draining. New copper squasher washer with PTFE wrapped drain plug:



As well as a Volvo oil filter for the added 15BHP.....



Then gave the undertray a good cleaning - Probably it's first!



a quick look at the brake fluid would suggest that it was long overdue a change.



and whilst the NSR caliper bled just fabulously....



The OSR produced nothing!

I spun the hose off the caliper and leapt on the brakes. Absolutely solid brake pedal. I then undid the brake pipe from the hose and was relieved to see fluid pouring out.

So one new brake hose later, we bled on! ending up with something along the lines of this from ever caliper:



and a much happier looking Reservoir



And to finish on a big high..... this arrived!

That fluid is rank.

Brakes are one thing that is worth spending time and money on.

Looking better for the fluid change, are you changing all the hoses or is this just to get it through an MOT?

Quite an achievement; you appeared to have bled used engine oil from the brake circuit!

Jealous of the undertray; it's one of those used mythical items that I know is out there somewhere.

Excellent work at the refuge centre as always.

arthuy wrote: ↑

Wed May 05, 2021 9:03 pm

That fluid is rank.

Brakes are one thing that is worth spending time and money on.

Looking better for the fluid change, are you changing all the hoses or is this just to get it through an MOT?

As we've not yet got a sponsor/buyer for R3, its just "what's needed for MOT".

Does that oil filter really give 15bhp?

Looking very nice Jeff, didn't know that the engine oil was shared with the braking system

I am torn between taking on R3 or awaiting news about the Isle of Man trio

Norm57 wrote: ↑

Thu May 06, 2021 6:39 pm

I am torn between taking on R3 or awaiting news about the Isle of Man trio

Go for it Norm! Bird in the hand, and all that...

Honestly, you'd be a great new custodian for a rescue car, and I'd of course be happy helping you out if/as needed...

David

Is this for sale or have i missed the point?

It is for sale - several people have expressed interest but no firm commitment yet, mainly waiting to see if the mot throws up anything unexpected.
The car is not quite ready, the speedo cluster was missing and it has to have a rare early one. Jeff has managed to source the parts to do a conversion but not yet received it all. Once thats done I believe it will be ready for mot.

Edging ever closer to the MOT, it was time to finally do something about the rear lights.



Not perfect obviously, but a million miles better than it's originals!



Wanted to use the original centre plate but sadly it was sealed in place and the entire top edge held together with sealer

the lights obviously benefited from some lovely new seals too - No bloody sealer going near them!



Then it was time to fill some holes in the dash - radio shaped ones! R3 came with this



Not quite sure if that's a brand or a description..... Obviously, we can't have that so in went this:



I spent an awful lot of time troubleshooting why the electric aerial wasn't working, finally concluding it must be faulty.



Turns out, early cars came with manual aerials! Learned something new (and wasted 3 hours!)

and so with lights and aerial in place it was time to fit and clean the rear





Looking very much like a car rather than a breaker now! Although it did decide to have a strop and break its drivers electric window!

Thankfully I know a man that has pretty much a complete car in spares, so I quickly swapped it over:



Not much more to do

So... lets get a wiggle on then eh?

First of all, we go for an MOT with Frankendash in place:



I mean it's cool and all that, but they need some numbers to write down on the test result!

Thankfully, our Very own Jaster headed over with a dashboard that had been liberated in the Lakes car raid (a car that has given SO much, to so many on this forum!). The dash itself was the super early version, which meant the info centre wouldn't work (Plug connector pins the wrong way around), so we have a bit of a Hybrid dash that has an early Rev/Speedo, later infocentre. The lord of dashboards is going to send me a 48 litre info centre board, as this one is running the later 60 litre board). We did however, swap a new speedo cog in, just as a matter of course. Good job really, cos oh look!



So, dashboard reassembled, it was time to make the interior whole again!



And for good measure, I raided the last of my stock for this, so we now have a matching working pair



And yes, I threaded the belt through!

So.... that's about it then.

Only one thing left to do.


The MOT.....


Oh wait....

I did that too!






Technically, it failed first, but only because he had the bonnet up whilst trying to test the headlamps! He was very apologetic when I explained (and he then remembered from the previous year!).

However, given that it is it's first MOT in nearly 8 years, I'm quite pleased!

So ready for the new owner? Hmmmmmm..... There's still some minor fettling I want to do.
Infocentre is the obvious one.
Make a handover list of recommendations is another.
A damn good wash, polish and photo session is definitely another....

Big round of applause for all Jeff's hard work Without his dedication the rescues wouldn't be possible. So, we will soon (we hope) be saying goodbye to R3, then it will be R6, the red GT, as that needs to be moved from it's current location asap. Luckily, the mot on it only ran out in January so unless it's harbouring any nasty secrets we should have a fairly quick turnaround before it goes off to the bodyshop.

Well done!

Look forward to seeing it all back together and clean. A great colour and whoever gets it really will be lucky it’s had so many jobs done properly so they can enjoy it without too many headaches along the way.

Awesome seems to be a hopelessly overused word these days.

But what the hell ...thats awesome work. So impressive.