My 480s so far!

[Alan 480]

Deffo order a pair of cables, no need to ever replace the single short one.

I'm nae sure about that, I'd agree it is nearly impossible to do, but I always suspected that the one on previous 480 was a bit worn and stopping the handbrake from 'easily' releasing, I added a spring return at the spreader to help return the short cables as even when the long were new it was 'dour'

[Themasteryeti]

After a bit of delay bcoz of shipping (bloody Hermes) I finally got all the rear breaks redone yesterday, new disks, calipers, pads, hand break cables and break lines! Just in time for the mot today!

Found out the break imbalancing was due to the bolt that's on the caliper you take out to be able to adjust the break was rounded off so much it was a perfect circle so one side couldn't be adjusted had to chuckle

Also Wasn't gonna do break lines but in trying to remove them from the old caliper using a bit of fire one of them exploded

Also wasn't going to do disk at first but they did look a bit past it too

But all's done now and passed it's MOT

Cleaned it out after two weeks of being derelict and it seems the passenger side foot well is wet, so I'm thinking coolant leak, which would explain why the coolant keeps going down overtime, admittedly not as bad as it was before I changed clips and thermostat but ive never noticed it before so I'm thinking with it sitting around for weeks it's finally started seeping through, so this'll be the next thing to investigate, just happy to be ragging the car around again

[Themasteryeti]

New rear light seels from jifflemon turned up at my parents today so car seats went back in the car to go for a drive to "nanny's in the racecar" as my eldest says


Onto changing the seels, cut out the silicone I originally put in and went about pulling the cluster out and honestly why anyone thought it was a good idea to stick the bloody thing in with some black tar crud is beyond me
Eventually got it cleaned up tho and new seels in! Just gotta wait for some rain to see how well they work



Apart from that nothing else new to update apart from the LH blinker went on a mad one on the way to the shop earlier but decided to calm down and go at normal speed on the way back, thinking maybe bad connection on the relay maybe?
I'll investigate if it happens again
And where the carpet was wet earlier in the week after not driving it for a few weeks it now seems fine, not been wet since but still might pull the carpet up at some point to check the heater matrix ‍♂️

Also my spring have the most horrendous creek to them now, I normally have my music blaring out so I haven't noticed it before but it was from all four spring so I'm thinking all shocks need replacing as springs are still quite new, but then got me thinking about getting the car lower, I put the 40mm springs in and it does look better but I'm still young and like my cars inconveniently low and awkward to drive and look cool doing it
I know you can get coilovers from classic swede but 1200quid it very outta budget with currently planning a wedding for next year so I was thinking about getting some coilovers shocks made for the rear as I can get them for like £90 a piece and then cutting the front springs on some new struts, but I'm also unsure if that'd make a problem of the spring falling out it's perch? & possibly some lower profile tires, but then again idk how smaller tires will effect speed and rpm, I know if you're good at maths you could work out all the specs of it but I didn't fail maths for 16 years to start learning now
But I'd be interested to know if anyone else has done this sorta thing!

[WillC9303]

Great that you decided to undo your previous bathroom sealant job on the rear lights. Wouldn’t matter so much if rear lenses were ten a penny, but they’re far too valuable for that nowadays!

Interesting you mention the creaky springs. I have to say my front struts have started to creak quite loudly recently. I was told it could be down to the salt on the springs, but that sounds like a myth to me. I plan to replace them this year anyway. If you haven’t replaced your rear shocks I suggest you do - mine was like a bouncy castle until I replaced them and now car car is much firmer and handles better.

As for the wheels, you’d be in for a rather bone shaking ride if you went for skinny tires, especially with lowered springs. I think your car would look quite good with a set of five spoke Taurus’s. Volvo were thoughtful enough to give the 400s a normal bolt pattern, so there are plenty of aftermarket alloy options available should you want to go down that route.

[Themasteryeti]

Great that you decided to undo your previous bathroom sealant job on the rear lights. Wouldn’t matter so much if rear lenses were ten a penny, but they’re far too valuable for that nowadays!

Interesting you mention the creaky springs. I have to say my front struts have started to creak quite loudly recently. I was told it could be down to the salt on the springs, but that sounds like a myth to me. I plan to replace them this year anyway. If you haven’t replaced your rear shocks I suggest you do - mine was like a bouncy castle until I replaced them and now car car is much firmer and handles better.

As for the wheels, you’d be in for a rather bone shaking ride if you went for skinny tires, especially with lowered springs. I think your car would look quite good with a set of five spoke Taurus’s. Volvo were thoughtful enough to give the 400s a normal bolt pattern, so there are plenty of aftermarket alloy options available should you want to go down that route.

Shamefull I know, but it did temporarily sorta fix the problem to a degree, but I'd 100% always go for the right way over a bodge fix if the options there

&& Never heard of salty springs causing a creek before o.o
But as roads haven't been salted in a while I'd be doubtful of that too , definitely think shocks will need replacing then, the car does bob up and down like I'm in a bouncy castle on wheels

&& I'm not gonna lie I've never been a big fan of any of the wheels made for the 400 series, not the biggest fan of the 440 wheels that are currently on the car but they get me from A to B so I can't complain really i have had my eye on a set of Autostar Sutorro wheels tho, a bit of a jdm look to them but I like the kinda retro look to them, but idk how well 15x8, 25et would fit under the arches tho, like I liked the tucked lowered look but I don't want to be ones of those guys with daft camber trying to fit wheels in that are clearly to big for the car
Either that or a set of ronal turbos, which I know will fit as I've seen a few people online with them
Everything's currently not in budget atm anyway so it's all wishful thinking fornow

[Themasteryeti]

Well yet another disappointing update today!

Cars been lovely for quite a while now, no problems or nothing, even put some new shocks on at the weekend to finish the rear of the car up
But after work I drove over to the inlaws to pick up the kids, drove there fine, parked up was literally out like a minute, came back and the car didn't start, all that was happening was the electrics turned on but no starter
So whipped out my trusty screwdriver and bridged the starter and sure enough it made some whizzing noises but refused to engage so looks like I'm going to be ordering a new starter for the weekend

[jifflemon]

The tiny consolation is that it's about 15 minutes to change a starter

or the same job is 5 hours if it's a turbo!

[Themasteryeti]

The tiny consolation is that it's about 15 minutes to change a starter

or the same job is 5 hours if it's a turbo!

Ayy finally a perk of having a non turbo!!

[Themasteryeti]

Well the new starter turned up today so went about putting that on but out of curiosity I thought I'd try start the car up again and obviously it started up first time
So not actually sure why it decided to play dead before ‍♂️
Still put the new one in though just in case it was the problem and coz I've bought it now
So one more nice shiny part installed

[WillC9303]

Well the new starter turned up today so went about putting that on but out of curiosity I thought I'd try start the car up again and obviously it started up first time

Aha! It's a shame I didn't see your post before you bought a new starter as I'd have suggested giving the starter motor wires a wiggle before starting the car...

I've had the exact same problem as you when starting it up after sitting for a few minutes ---> to a couple hours. Ignition on, car doesn't turn over, pop the bonnet, pull the wires, turn the key and the car starts!

The annoying thing is that it's very inconsistent and only happens very occasionally when I least expect it. Then again that's 480 electrics for ya
At least you won't have any more trouble with a new starter (one hopes)

[Themasteryeti]

Well the new starter turned up today so went about putting that on but out of curiosity I thought I'd try start the car up again and obviously it started up first time

Aha! It's a shame I didn't see your post before you bought a new starter as I'd have suggested giving the starter motor wires a wiggle before starting the car...

I've had the exact same problem as you when starting it up after sitting for a few minutes ---> to a couple hours. Ignition on, car doesn't turn over, pop the bonnet, pull the wires, turn the key and the car starts!

The annoying thing is that it's very inconsistent and only happens very occasionally when I least expect it. Then again that's 480 electrics for ya
At least you won't have any more trouble with a new starter (one hopes)

I did actually give them a wiggle the other day just in case and nothing happened then either! :O

Ah well, as long as it works now I suppose

Altho always irritates me a bit when a problem sorts itself out without actually finding out why it happened in the first place