Update after 20 months of owning my 480

[WillC9303]

Bought in Croydon from the second owner back in October 2021 as my first car. Despite being pretty solid underneath, it was unfortunately in a bit of a state with a failed driver's door check strap, 20 year old tyres, no coolant, a dropped passenger door and mangled front wing and no service history bar old MOT certificates. However, the car was very solid for its age, was low mileage (had a brand new fresh engine at 70k miles fitted by Volvo) and had been garaged almost its entire life. After tracking down the original owner I learned that the car had been given the name 'Josephine'.

So much work has gone into this car that it would take me all afternoon to list, so I'll just list the changes since December:

• Sanded, resprayed & refitted the front spoiler

• Both doors fixed so now open & close without issue

• Many thanks to richard-smyth, who kindly provided me with a Philips RC348 radio as well as a 6-disc changer. Surprisingly, the hardest part was trying to find the correct cable to link the two

• New Pioneer speakers in the front (rears coming soon)

• Fit the Zebrano wood veneer insert onto the dash

• Repainted the heater knobs in ceramic white

• Sound deadened the inside of the roof

• Replacement number plates. Keeping the old ones of course, but controversial choice? (See pic)

• Managed to pick up a cheap set of plastic mats for a 440 not realising they are completely different than the 480 ones. Turned out not to be a problem though as I found they still fit without any modification

• Took the sagged headliner out to try and re-stick it. Refit and it's sagging even more now

• Fixed the dashboard mounts with JB weld and some brackets to keep the rattles at bay.

• Many thanks to Jifflemon who undid my corroded seat bolts allowing me to completely gut the interior and give a deep clean of the carpets and seats. Oh, and I shamelessly stole the idea for silver 'Volvo' valve caps after seeing how good they looked on his car

• Thanks also to Nicklee who sorted me out with a set of black leather seats. Plan to get them fixed soon.

• As I found out a few days ago never ever remove the bright orange fuse thinking it has no purpose - It actually supplies power to half the interior! Thanks again to Jeff and David for helping me with that one.

• Removed a couple of previous 'upgrades' such as the dodgy Digital clock and the cassette storage which is nice to have, but is a bit useless!

[WillC9303]

[WillC9303]

Things left to do are fairly limited - Will probably have the headliner professionally done as well as fit a new radiator. Taillights could do with a polish and I never did end up fixing those heated seats. Maybe next year then . The MOT will be due in a couple months, so will do a full service as well as any preparation to make sure it passes.

[jifflemon]

Love the number plates, although I’d have gone with double sided tape rather than fixing screws!

[MisterH]

Wow will this list of work is astonishing, definitely putting me to shame given that I still can't get mine to drive in a straight line

Contrary to the JiffleMon, I think you were right to use the fixing screws as it is a little more period correct

[jifflemon]

Contrary to the JiffleMon, I think you were right to use the fixing screws as it is a little more period correct

And have to drill into unobtainium number plate plinth?!?

[WillC9303]

And have to drill into unobtainium number plate plinth?!?

The plinth already had holes drilled into it by the original dealer. I just lined the new plate up and used the existing holes there

[MisterH]

Contrary to the JiffleMon, I think you were right to use the fixing screws as it is a little more period correct

And have to drill into unobtainium number plate plinth?!?

What else would you do with it? Frame it and hang it on the wall?

[Themasteryeti]

Can't believe you got cup holders!? Very jelly!

[WillC9303]

Can't believe you got cup holders!? Very jelly!

They’re the greatest 480 optional accessory IMO. The best part is actually the extra armrest height over standard as it’s supremely comfortable to rest your arm on over long distances.

The only thing that does annoy me about it is that almost every passenger I ferry automatically assumes they have the right to use MY armrest

The cupholders are fairly useless though as they are only really useful for coke style cans and seem relatively easy to break. I very rarely use mine.

[jifflemon]

What else would you do with it? Frame it and hang it on the wall?

Welcome to the museum of unobtainium…..

[Jay-Kay-Em]

Well done Will. Car is real credit to you and your passion.