i am thinking about refurbishing my 850 96 Turbo Wagon. @$140/hr. my local Volvo dealer is probably cost prohibitive & i'm wondering how to proceed. no problems i know of, but would like to keep on top of it. body work would be refurbishing of paint chips & hood bad paint/doesn't match original. (from deer jumping on it!), bumper DULL black/doesn't get better with any of the Meguiar products or Mr. Clean pad, among others. initially i'd like to have a complete engine check-up, along with other mechanical potential problems, about 240K miles. running well now, but not as smooth as brand new. where do i go? what do i ask for?

 

There is a great sticky thread at the top of this forum on the subject of specific work to do to an 850. The "new owners" thread. Even if you're not a new owner, it's still the info you're looking for.

As far as the body goes, and paint, all cars are about alike.

 

I have owned and restored several 850's. When I purchase a new one and start the process of refurb I usually know what preventative maintenance has been done. If not then I start with the items that can kill an engine. Timing belt for example. I change all the fluids except the transmission if it's automatic. If it looks and smells good I leave it in. It is too expensive to change for no reason and it is easy to tell if it is old and needs to be replaced. You could say that about other fluids but for me I enjoy knowing that they're all fresh. When I change the oil I add dye to help track any known and unknown issues as well.

I would take a look at the turbo too. Make sure you can't detect any movement in the impeller. It's not the easiest item to check but removing a few hoses and laying in the engine bay never hurt anyone.

I personally also fix all the interior components. 850's are easy to find at the junk yard and therefore all the interior parts are readily available. When I tear down the door panels I always check that all the retainers and screws are tight to stop rattles or future issues. I check and replace my speakers too. Tip, one way to know if a car has been sitting outside and therefore the speakers are probably in good shape is to pop off the cover on the dash speakers. If the black foam is completely deteriorated then most likely the cones on the speakers are brittle and will not last. If I find a car with a clean interior that looks like it has been garaged most of its life I take the speakers. If you don't have the premium sound system in your car picking up the head unit and the amplifier out of a junk car is a cheap way to improve the sound system. The amplifier is mounted behind the ash tray in front of the heater core. Speaking of heater core. Not a bad idea to look at that too. It's a pain to replace due to having to lay on your side under the steering wheel but it is a cheap part and does fail. If you do opt to upgrade the head unit you can buy an adapter that runs off the CD changer input that allows you to plug in a 3.5MM headphone jack and use your MP3 player (smart phone). I also wire in a switch to control the power antenna. You can get a switch out of a 960 that matches the 850's dash mounted switches. They're not the easiest to find but a cool mod in my opinion. I don't like the antenna going up and down all the time when I'm just listening to my MP3's.

I pull the dash on my 850's too. I replace the gear in the odometer and make sure all the lights work on my instrument cluster. If you don't have the information screen this is a good time to add that. It's a plug and play upgrade. You just need the info screen and switch out of a junk car.

I've wired in USB charging ports for the kids in the back seat before as well. It's a pain to run the wires but cool nonetheless.

I like to add fog lights to my cars if they don't have them. You need the relay, switch, etc from a junk car but its a fun modification.

I change all the switch bulbs too. New bulbs are brighter and it gives me a chance to clean around all the switches and replace any damaged one. The automatic gear selector lights are expensive and you can just use an LED with long leads after ripping out the stock bulb. If you're pulling the center console to do this then make sure you look at everything while you've got it pulled. I have taken the opportunity to wire in a female 3.5mm headphone jack for my MP3 mod a few times. It's convenient to have it out in the open rather than the glove box.

I really enjoy the tear down of the interior. It gives me a chance to look at all the hidden parts of the car and make sure they're all running well and anything loose if fixed.