Hi all Im New and want to MOD my new 480

JSabrewulf · Post by **JSabrewulf** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:42 pm

G'Day ladies and gents, My dad bought me a Volvo 480 ES as my first car, its a light metallic blue and its an F reg. It needs a lot of work doing, because the last owner left it to rust, as a result, we've had to fabricate some new wheel arches from steel and weld them into place (damaging the paint work) and the steel inside the rear bumper has rusted away so we also need to rebuild that. all in all...alot of work. but luckily my dads a mechanic and is teaching me how to fix it up myself. but i need some new rear headlight covers as they've all faded a common problem occordin to the website. as all 17 year old lads do, i fancy modding it a little. any advice? my dad already has a basic black respray instore provided i sand the whole thing down

(to cover the spots we damaged with the welder) when i find the leads for my digi camera i'll post some pics of the work in progress, all advice welcome

have fun
..::John::..

clubman_dan · Post by **clubman_dan** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:00 pm

welcome, good to hear you're getting stuck in with your project!
get some pics!
DAN:)

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:44 pm

There are limited extras you can add on, there's not much off the shelf stuff.

Some things you can get are:-

Front spoiler
Rear spoiler (pattern from the Hausser bodykit)
Bonnet Snow Cover (looks a bit like an air scoop)
- PM Lazerowl or Lee who can get these made up for you

Clear Side Repeaters
- PM Williewammes

If any bodykits do come up then there is gonna be a massive scrum for them and the one with the deepest pockets will win!

Obviously there's stuff like custom exhausts & aftermarket wheels (though beware of scrubbage above 16"). Quite a lot of people have had their cars lowered by 40mm to... makes quite a difference to the overall looks.

Have a look at some of the installs in the ICE section too.

Bakke · Post by **Bakke** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:43 pm

Brasco wrote: If any bodykits do come up then there is gonna be a massive scrum for them and the one with the deepest pockets will win!

Than why do I have 10 Hausser kits for sale ???

Big Brother · Post by **Big Brother** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:53 pm

Welcome to the club. This is what we like to see, people saving an old rusty 480 from almost certain death

You'll find plenty of good tech advice on here

Ad

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:17 pm

Bakke wrote:
Brasco wrote: If any bodykits do come up then there is gonna be a massive scrum for them and the one with the deepest pockets will win!

Than why do I have 10 Hausser kits for sale ???

Wow!!!! Sorry mate, I've been skimming through your redcap project and only looking at the pictures!

Do you have a price for them? Looks like I'll be getting a loan out!

owen080808 · Post by **owen080808** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 7:00 pm

Welcome!

good choice of first car too, much better than some corsaxo or similar blob!

480's look a lot better lowered and if yours is an F it probably has 14 inch wheels. there are 15 in alternatives around, and there's plenty 440/60's in scrappys, slightly bigger wheels, nice and cheap. as mentioned a turbo lip spoiler at the front will make it look heaps better too.

glad to hear there's some major 480 restoration underway, its a great way to learn too!

JSabrewulf · Post by **JSabrewulf** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:35 pm

Cheers for the advice so far blokes, The first thing i was thinking of aside from the black respray and white viper stripes (i've seen a pic similar on here some where) was alloys, what are the largest size rims i can fit without modifying the wheel arch? as i've had to rebuild these, they're now made of solid steel and cant be changed without some serious welder work. buying a new set of lowering springs wouldnt go amiss neither.... any suggestions? thanks all

..::John::..

Brasco · Post by **Brasco** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:00 pm

Brasco wrote: beware of scrubbage above 16". Quite a lot of people have had their cars lowered by 40mm to...

If you get 16"/17" you have to put some thought into the tyre size, to avoid scrubbage on and near lock. There's some grey area about whether you can get away with 17's but I reckon 16's look good enough. I've stuck with standard, cos I think late turbo rims are classsy

The largest standard rims are 15". Most sought after are the GT rims, because they are seriously limited in number. Late turbos and the limited edition Two Tones have Taurus . Cetus, Canis and Pictor are all nice looking and you can get them off 440/460's so they're quite common... We are quite lucky with rims because it's a common configuration, PCD 4 x 100, which was also used by VW and Rover, so plenty of choice and you're bound to get a bargain off ebay if you don't want to pay top whack on new alloys.

Use the search see what shocks and spring people recommend. There's plenty of discussion on this and as I haven't lowered mine, I can't really advise you personally.

robkendall · Post by **robkendall** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:04 pm

springs - PI, volvo psorts kit (if you can get em)...depends on how long you wanna go!

wheels.....16"s about the best bet...although plenty of people are running 17"s (holmesy...you on 17"?) but i think you et a bit of scrubbage.
end of the day, you need to find the best looking wheels that match with the amount of drop you're going to do.

white viper stripes....hmmmm personally, i like em, but dont think many others do!!
im not a 'purist' and think the shape of the 480 lends itself to all sorts of body mods, but you can go too far......subtle is definitely the way to go.
nice deeper bumpers, side skirts, rear spoiler....maybe bonnet vent, as long as its functional!....wouldnt alter much else personally, but s'up to you

rgrds
rob

robin_xr4i · Post by **robin_xr4i** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 7:34 am

welcome!