Rescue Car: R5 - Black Manual SR Turbo

[dragonflyjewels]

I wonder if it sat on the boat next to my old Turbo H858 FGV?

Certainly looks like they were close cousins.

[MisterH]

Sylvia you are going to have to rename your house. Something like Wedge restholme I think!

Electrical-Faulty Towers? I mean this is the 480 we are talking about...

[MisterH]

Congratulations* Sylvia on this purchase! Glad it hasn't gone straight for crushing

*at the very least, it has given it a chance it otherwise wouldn't have...

[dragonflyjewels]

9.40 this morning:



We chatted to the driver who seemed very nice, until he told us he 'used to cut these up after taking the engines out for Renault 5s' Apparently his own Renault went to Lotus to have the suspension tweaked. He didn't appear to know that our cars already have Lotus designed suspension. I refrained from airing my view that the 480 is the better built car so the logic of putting the engine into a lesser one makes no sense to me, then forgot to make him a coffee. All I really wanted to do was strangle him....

The condition is not great but still savable - more rust in the arches than I'd hoped for but less than I'd feared if that makes sense. A picture being worth a thousand words, here they are :































The conundrum is, what wrote it off ? No apparent accident, no fire, maybe theft ?? Bearing in mind that Snazzy was £4k in 2001 and the write off was 2004, the value must still have been in the low thousands. Al thought the damage to the front splitter might have been done when going over something that also did damage underneath but he's had a look and can't see anything else. I know Volvo are pricey but I can't imagine the splitter being that much (at this point I fully expect dc to consult his brochure collection and tell us the price )

As you can see, there is a fair bit of welding needed, fingers crossed Jeff's friendly welder will help us out. According to the man from hell aka delivery driver, it's been stored in a barn parked next to a straw stack. The offside wheels are totally crusty (Jeff is not at all fazed by that) so I'm guessing the straw was damp and that side was up against it. On the other hand, the front passenger seat has a decidedly pink tinge to the grey at the top of the bolster and the lacquer peel on the roof and bonnet is worse that side as well, so I'm guessing that's sunburn. Must have been one of these open-sided straw stores rather than a proper barn - like a roof on stilts.

Al has spent most of the day on the electrics, with jump leads on the Saab - long list of things that work and things that don't. The pop-ups just growled, but then thay have been asleep for 15ish years. He used to collect old toys, and we often found that battery operated ones didn't work at first, but with repeated application of recharged batteries they eventually groaned back into life. Sun roof motor seems dead, wing mirrors intially not working, one is now. Both windows work and both seat heaters, front fogs OK, rear not. Left side of the speedo cluster has lights, not the right. Indicators all work but not the side repeaters. He checked relevant fuses but all looked ok and he could hear relays clicking on and off. He didn't bother checking bulbs as he was more intent on the pop up motors - he came to the conclusion it's an earthing problem. Interestingly, they are almost parked but not quite, the sunroof is almost down but not quite and the rear wiper was almost parked but not quite. Theories ?

The dashboard surround has the usual broken corner, and the back section it fixes to has many wrinkles. The passenger visor was down and has a burned-looking stripe along the bottom where is was below the tint on the screen. More sun damage I suppose.

Plus points : drivers seat bolster has virtually no wear despite 140k on the clock, seat belt arms are not broken, rear washer jet is intact, washers work and the ashtray pops open smoothly when pressed. Front seat releases both work, fuel flap opens grudgingly but getting better.

The tyres are splitting on the sidewalls but there are 2 Pirellis and 2 Goodyears so the owner didn't penny-pinch, but that might have been owner 1.

I dried the boot and the carpet is indoors drying, but the air inside the car still feels damp and there's no power to the parking place. I left doors and rear hatch open (propped up with a length of wood) while it was sunny and windy, but then black clouds came over so I had to close up then sat indoors watching it SNOWING !

[jamescarruthers]

This fabulous to hear about and see. Well done you two!

[MisterH]

Really well done on saving this one, it looks like it can be done, I have certainly seen worse.

That delivery driver conundrum would make an interesting Episode of Midsomer Murders...

"Wedged in the neck"

[Martin63]

It does indeed look really promising - the potential for the car is huge.

So is it now R5?

Well done to everyone!

[Norm57]

Classic car in delivery driver horror! A car transport driver was yesterday run over by a classic car he was delivering. Exact details unclear but the Volvo 480 appeared to have managed to unhook itself and flattened the driver. A curious aside the new owner said that the cars headlights popped up after running the driver over and the windscreen misted over and the word REVENGE was clearly visible!

[Jay-Kay-Em]

"Congratulations" Sylvia if that is the right word

Turbo's are a rare bird and this one has been thrown a lifeline for sure.

Just a slight reality check if I may, if I am seeing the same photos everyone else is seeing, but that needs £2k of welding, £2k of parts and £2k of paint straight off the bat. With delivery & Copart fees we are £1500 down already!

When you see rot in that tool tray, you just know the Panhard beam has to be dropped and rescued.

I know there's a lot of scoffing on here when a tidy 480 comes up for mega money 'blaming it on these evil dealers' - but if anything, we should be supporting those big numbers otherwise these cars - still - are just not worth rescuing. Unless you are insane and I include myself in this.



I follow this story with great interest. I do like a nice GV registration as it reminds me of home (Suffolk). It's also a nice Volvo registration as many of the demonstrators and press release cars were GV as the Concessionaires were Ipswich up to 1993 I believe... as was PV for the launch cars.

Best wishes for the underside assessment.

JKM

[jifflemon]

When you see rot in that tool tray, you just know the Panhard beam has to be dropped and rescued.

what is the boy scouts say?

[dragonflyjewels]

by Norm57 » Fri May 07, 2021 11:45 am
Classic car in delivery driver horror!

Love it !!

Just a slight reality check if I may

Of course you may ! And if it was one of our own cars I'd totally agree with you. However, as a prudent retired accountant, there is a plan A, a plan B and a plan C.

We started off with just an A and B - wait til it arrives then decide if it's R5 or B2. It turns out it's borderline but another option has arisen.

Plan A:
Having very determined and well-prepared Jeff on board means a lot of the costs evaporate. If his friendly welder helps out with the boot, sills and anything else underneath, we have an even bigger saving. And we just happen to have found the perfect bodyshop by sheer chance. Our Saab had rust at both ends of both rear arches - nothing like as bad as these I hasten to say, but we tried a bodyshop we'd not been to before (top secret location, can't have him swamped with work!) Knowing he was fabricating 4 new panels to weld in and then re-spraying the entire rear quarters we were expecting a bill of maybe £1k, but he charged us £275 ! I kept thinking he was mumbling and we hadn't heard the one on the front, but no, it was just £275. Naturally, he is a busy man but there is no rush so we hope he will do the arches and respray. If all goes according to plan, I suspect we will come in at a realistic sale price which will be very happy-making.

Plan B:
Scrap the car this really is last choice, we'd much rather save it. However, it remains an option on the table until Jeff has had a good look at it and gets the engine and turbo running.

Plan C:
This has arisen since Al took a shine to it. Having spent years swearing he'd never have a black car again, I forced him to test drive both of the Saab 95 Aeros up for sale when he was looking for one. He'd only contacted the owner of a silver one and ignored the black one, but after the first test drive and me being very unenthusiastic about it, I insisted we check out the black one. As soon as he drove it he realised it was by far the better car as well as much more sprightly so he caved in on the colour. (He hates cleaning cars and black shows the dirt too much) Anyway, he has started making noises about keeping R5 and selling his Paris Blue turbo. This is not a plan that greatly appeals to me, since Eva has done 50k compared to R5's 140k. It is still an option though, so if we embark on the 'save it' route and anything goes pearshaped on the costs it's something we could think about. Eva could be priced to sell and R5's overspend written off as the cost of us changing a car. On the plus side, R5 was serviced by Volvo most of its life so I would hope that means any mechanical problems were properly sorted. Our garageman is of the opinion that mileage is irrelevant on a classic as most of the mechanical parts won't be as old as the car. Rather like The Victory I suppose, there's probably not a lot of that that dates back to Nelson's time.

[Jay-Kay-Em]

Ah yes, I see its now titled "R5" and Jeff is on board. As you were, my bad!

Those paint prices are nothing short of ludicrously cheap

Excellent news all round.

[MisterH]

R5, the irony is not lost on me...

[dragonflyjewels]

Pleased to say we have managed to source a replacement front wing, so that will be two rusty areas gone once it arrives in the Sanctuary. There may be a bonnet as well which would dispose of a lot of the lacquer peel but we are awaiting a condition report on that. Its been described as having scratches but we have no idea how bad they are.

[dragonflyjewels]

dc very kindly made the long trek to the breaker's yard with the black body panels to collect the wing and have a look at the bonnet - it was gouges rather than scratches and had lacquer peel as well, so it stayed where it was.

We have a possible buyer for R1 - due to work pressures Jeff has not been able to get it finished yet but fingers crossed. If it all goes according to plan, R1 will be off to the Emerald Isle, where there is a very nice 480 enthusiast and previous owner currently looking for another one. They are apparently rare over there, and in order to import one without hefty taxes it needs to be 30 years old - ie no later than 1990.

Due to lack of space here, the arrival of R6 meant someone from the rescue queue had to leave. Bearing in mind that quite a bit of welding is likely to be needed underneath, it seemed sensible to send R5 to fill the gap on Jeff's drive before the weather turns too nasty. Another winter of rusting won't do it any favours at all so the sooner Jeff's welder friend can get started on it the better.

[jifflemon]

Just a small update.....

Having arrived on the driveway, it got a few glances from the curtain twitching neighbours.... So, rule #1 was employed and it got given a quick clean up...



Not a concours job but from 10 feet, it's much more presentable.

Obviously, whilst the cleaning kit is out....

















Again..... more a function clean than a full job.

Next?



Cleaned the crap away from those plugs, need to see if that engine will turn over. Plugs out, WD40 in, and left for 24 hours. Then gingerly turn..... we have movement!

Alrighty then....Somewhere there is a cover for the timing locking hole....



Aha!



Insert locking device....



and I won't bore you with yet another set of images of a timing belt swap.....

but following that, and a freshly charged battery, we had

this

Not for too long though! But at least there's no nasty noises coming from the engine!

[Inne712]

So glad I never won this car..I was the other bidder.ended up with F294SPX instead

[jifflemon]

wasn't that the Newport Pagnel Car? Was only 10 mins from me!

[dragonflyjewels]

On a recent trip to Sussex for a bonfire event, we went armed to track down a black bonnet advertised on ebay.
With the usual annoying difficulty in exchanging details, Ebay blocked communications with the seller trying to organise a visit to check condition before we committed to purchase it. Luckily, the seller had put collection as an option on the listing, so I was able to click on that and get the post code. A check on the postoffice revealed that there were just 5 properties, a farm, a farmhouse, a granary and two cottages all with the same name. Easy peasy I thought, bang on doors, maybe even one with a modern Volvo outside.
The satnav took us to a long country road and told us to turn right through a hedge and cross a field to the flag about half a mile off road. Just the sort of thing that lights Al's fuse After he stopped bellowing, I persuaded him to pull into a nearby holiday park to ask and luckily we found someone who'd once turned down a tiny farmtrack by mistake, about a mile further back. We managed to find it, and it angled sharply towards our flag. Two cottages appeared so we stopped and I went for a chat with very thin information along the lines of
someone round here selling Volvo parts on ebay. A penny dropped, phone call was made, and I was then talking to the seller. Whoopee! We met up an hour later and had a look at the bonnet which was much better than R5's. Kimosaaby's boot swallowed it, along with a few other bits and pieces.
The following weekend we collected 3 splitters and 2 number plate holders from Wayne and dropped the bonnet plus one splitter off at the Sanctuary. On arrival, we found Jeff fitting the replacement wing to R5 in the rain - the dedication is amazing!! He and Al then lifted the bonnet on, hinges got connected but the closing catch wasn't aligned. Jeff whipped it off and the bonnet looked a little too far back but at least it closed. We left it at that and retired inside so Jeff could dry off and get a hot drink.
The wing and bonnet between them cost £75 and no doubt saved hundreds on the coming bodyshop bill, so very worthwhile.
The other splitters are destined for the white turbo and the GT which all had them as standard and now just have broken bits. Number plate holders are needed for the white turbo and the ES auto.

[jifflemon]

I shall update with a recent picture tomorrow, as taking a picture of a black car at night is a tad challenging....

Suffice to say, the bonnet is now aligned and closing on the catch!