HELP!!!!!!

[Ade]

Hi all,

I had a wee accident in the turbo earlier and my front end is not looking too pretty......




I haven''t yet fully assessed the damage but to get me started I will be needing:

both pop ups (complete units)
a pair of indicator/DRL units
aux lights would be nice but they've just about survived with some chips to the edge of the lenses
a nosecone
a bonnet catch and maybe a bonnet
the plastic air ducting that lives around the intercooler
a number plate back board thing (not essential)
a drivers side front wing (be interested in multiple as rear arch repair pieces for a later date)

I have cash for anyone that can help get me on the road again and am willing to come and collect stuff depending how far you are.

Thanks in advance, dont leave me hangin'

[brinkie]

Bummer!
What colour and model year is your 480 Turbo? I know a guy in The Netherlands who is more or less clearing out his 480 parts business (being bugged too much by the authorities and the tax collector) and he has got virtually everything, chances are he has the correct colour nose cone, bonnet and right wing.
But then again, many 480's are resting in UK breaker's yards and the parts you've mentioned aren't hard to find. Just buy a complete 480 with expired MOT, rotten wheel arches and broken rear lights and you're done for, say, 200 quid ex transport.
Good luck!

[Ade]

It's a 1990 in 218, light blue. I have been looking at the possibility of buying a complete car that has issues but an intact front. Anyone have a problem 480 they want rid of?! Who's this guy in the Netherlands then and how does one get hold of him?

[Ade]

Bummer alright..... My choice of language was rather more colourful! Still, could have been worse, I think I'm structurally sound and remarkably I think my bumper survived, just needs a paint job. As does the whole car. Tempted to buy one though, I won't even have to pay for transport, just fuel, I have a trailer and can borrow a pickup to tow with.

[Ade]

What's even worse is that literally not 2 hours before I had fitted a new exhaust and still have another £200 worth of shiny new bits for it that I collected only earlier on today. I am GUTTED.

[glasgowjim]

Ade I have a complete (catch and all) bonnet that I was about to throw out lying at the back of the house ready to be halfed in 2 and taken to the dump , I have a spare nosecone as well I think in the shed.

I have a spare front wing but cant remember what side its from need to check out tomoz . I have a complete intercooler wih the black plastic bit/pipe at the top. I also have the plastic air ducting that I think you are talking about .

A pair of fairly ropey but intact front clusters

and I should have a pair of front popups but again would need to check at the weekend.

Only problem you know where I live but can do a mates rates for you !

[Ade]

If you've got the bits then I wouldn't mind not investing in a parts car at this stage! I'm having the day off work today so I can strip it down and see where I stand. If you could let me know what you've got I'd be willing to come and collect as long as its most, if not all of what I need. I shall look forward to the results of your 'stock take' with baited breath! Would this weekend be ok to collect? Cheers Jim

[Ade]

You'll no longer have the shed of maximum density if I carry on like this! It'll be the shed of 'slightly less than maximum density'. I can only apologise for the fact that you might lose some if the garden gnomes and small mammals that are in orbit around it as its gravitational field becomes weaker

[Norm57]

Hi Ade hope you are getting the parts you need off Jim,if you are stuck I have a nose cone and complete pop ups with motors also lenses for spotlights,I am in Leeds if it's any good to you pm me

Cheers Norm

[Ade]

Hi all. I managed to get what I needed from Lakes Volvo in Bedford. Worth a look if you need anything although I've bought his stock of lights! He's expensive but I thought "sod it" as I was able to get everything I needed in one hit.

Jim- if the wing is o/s then I might be tempted but I'll just pay you for the postage as I've managed to bend mine back I to shape for now. Just wanna get it back on the road. It was a nasty smash though and it bent my front bulkhead and tore some of the metal away from where it meets the rails at the side. I've bent and hammered it back again but must weld it before I rebuild

I might take the opportunity to reinforce it anyway as it seems a little flimsy.

[Ade]

Oh, by the way, just in the interests of providing useful info......

I took some measurements off a non crashed one at lakes and if anyone ever does the same and bends the bulkhead and needs to repair it, the distance between the front face of the bulkhead where the headlights mount and the centre of the forward most strut mounting bolt is 475mm. Get your tape, big hammers and bits of wood out!

[brinkie]

It's a 1990 in 218, light blue. I have been looking at the possibility of buying a complete car that has issues but an intact front. Anyone have a problem 480 they want rid of?! Who's this guy in the Netherlands then and how does one get hold of him?

The Dutch 480 guy is Orlando Stap. His place is where the Volvo 480 goes when it is time to die: https://goo.gl/maps/LNau7NAipgN2 (though most has been cleared now)
Worth a visit. I can give his contact details through private message (don't like to post e-mail addresses and phone numbers here)
I also know a guy who has a scrap 480 for sale, still driveable and with two months of valid APK (MOT). But I'd reckon you'll be cheaper off when you source your parts on your side of the North Sea

[Ade]

Well....... I spent all of yesterday and well into the night (around 1am, that's what you call love for the 480!) welding, tweaking and rebuilding my poor car but my efforts seem to be paying off. It's not looking too bad now and you'd never know that the slam panel was once about 3" further back than it should have been! It's amazing what you can accomplish with a selection of hammers, punches and various shape bits of wood!

Now that it's back together, the bonnet opens and closes well, the nose come screws line up well enough, the headlights look fairly well aligned with the bonnet and nose cone, but there's a bit of a gap between the bumper and the nose cone.

I'm hoping that this is the bumper and not the chassis rails...... It's only about 5mm low but it's annoying me. I'm going to try another bumper and if that doesn't work I'll have to think of a way of tweaking the chassis rails. They're not crumpled and there's no sign of damage (no creases etc) but I guess they could have curves down ever so slightly. I'm thinking of making two big beams with plates on the ends that will bolt on in place of the bumper, set them on stands about six foot in front of the car and have a jump up and down on them near the rails. I think this should give the mechanical advantage required for a tweak whilst being reasonably controllable.

Wish me luck