Fixing up a '96 850R Wagon
 

Hey guys,

Thought I would just start a thread and show you guys what I am doing. I might have a few questions along the way. I will try to take a few pics along the way too.

Just bought this 850R for $1300. It was sitting in the middle of a field, and has been there for a couple years. Broken timing belt, and dent on rear passenger door, 140k miles, otherwise in decent shape.

A good detailing should bring this car back to former glory. Paint on the roof is probably in order, but first I want to get it running.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-b...511_122437.jpg

Took about 3 hours to get the head out of the car. This is my first Volvo, and so far it is pretty intuitive and easy to work on. Some parts are tricky, but it seem to be better "planned" then others I have worked on...in particular the VW's I have fixed. Seems that stuff is just easier to get to on the Volvo, and requires less pulling of parts to get to stuff.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...511_154005.jpg

Got a bit of a bend up here, I think I can just pull it out. Doubt it will take any body work. Anyone got any ideas for patching the bumper rubber?

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...510_181557.jpg

Also a love tap on the door. Will probably just replace the door, have my local guy fix the frame when he paints the top.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...510_181606.jpg

Anyways, just got the newly rebuilt head and valves back. I will post more on this.

Alex

Very nice. Most of us just replace the bumper rubber. Those bumpers are easy to remove and they come apart. You can usually find a 850 in your local Pick In Pull. Half of the time they show up for timing belt and tranny issues. You can likely find a good finder and door within a year.

Look forward to following your thread. :)

Oh, most of us color or repaint that bumper material to freshen it up. Makes the car look a lot better when clean.

Well, my head came back from the machine shop, so I guess it is time to start putting things together.

One word of wisdom- if your car has been sitting in a field for two years, check the fans for rats nets, cause there is always a slight possibility that the electric fans will turn on when you connect the power, and you will get hay blown all over your exposed engine. Don't ask why I would mention this...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-d...517_194640.jpg

Anyways, inspected the head. Boy I love how pretty these things are when they get back. Looks brand spankin new.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...518_213010.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...518_213020.jpg

Me to. Mine had lots of metal shavings in it. Right before I put it on, I dropped it on a towel in the grass. When I went to pick it up I seen the metal that fell out. So I had to spend 1/2 hour getting that out.

So I have been thinking of the paint I will need for this. The top will def need painted, and the black is honestly kinda boring to me. Black is my least favorite vehicle color (at least on a daily driver) cause it shows dirt and scratches so bad, plus in the Boise, ID heat is a big issue. If you don't believe me, next time you have a hot day, find a black or dark car and put your hand on it, and then find a white car and feel the difference.

I do think these cars have really good lines, and I think this would love super good with a two tone.

Here is someone who did it along the same lines I would. Not a fan of the yellow/black, but a white/black (white on top) might look pretty good. Thoughts?

http://www.larrykay.com/95VolvoTW/im...5VolvoTW_0.jpg

I like two-tones on the right car. I've thought that a 2-tone with just the very top and maybe down to the door line one color, and the rest of the body another.

I know I saw an 850 done like that once.. but where did I see it?

Black is bad with scratches like you mentioned, my 97 wagon is white, and it shows dirt so horribly. Luckily, I think a cut and buff will have my paint looking really good. I have a few tiny rock chips on the front edge of the hood, but other than that, my paint is really nice. I need a new front bumper, and have a rear spoiler that needs repainted, and would like some newer door handles that are paintable instead of black..

I ordered a bottle of Showroom New this last week. Apparently it works really well and I plan to try it on my door handles. I will let you know how it works.

The door handles are the hardest to get right because of the material and wear.

Just paint it red.

I too am a noob to the 850 family :) I have a 1996 R Wagon, in red. The car is nice shape with 145k on the clock, with a grungy tan interior and the faded black plastic trim. The interior should be easy enough to rectify with a good cleaning. As to the black plastic (bumpers, mouldings, door handles), I tried Mother's Back-to-Black and it worked ok and it looks a lot better, but I think I'm likely going to take the black plastic trim off and just treat and paint it with proper plastic black paint. That's the only way it's going to look truly new, I fear.

Anyone performed this operation before? How hard was it? I'm sure it'll be a PIA to some degree but this is the only way it's going to look truly good. These cars have so much of this plastic that the whole car really looks bad when it's all grey and naggly looking.

There is a trim thread that you can read. Talks about all the options.

I think this is it...

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...er-trim-33689/

A few different schools of thought on how to fix it. Mother's Back to Black, I can tell you, won't completely bring it back. Some say dye it, some say paint it, some say leave it on the car and mask around it, others say remove it, LOL!! Personally, I'm leaning most towards removing it and painting.

Thanks! I haven't had much opportunity to work on this car but from what I'm reading in my repair manual and seeing here, the 850, at least in some ways, seems pretty easy and intuative to work on. If this were a GM car, there'd be 14 plastic clips holding each trim piece on behind the door that you'd have to break off and then find out are discontinued, LOL!

Anyway, this may be unnecessary. After applying the Back-to-Black, I saw an improvement but still not to my standards. So for you-know-whats and grins, I threw on some Vinylex. Absolutely amazing result! The black trim looks almost like new now.

Now, let's see how it looks after a couple rains and a week or two out in the sun. But if this holds up, it's a good solution to this common problem that'll save one from having to pull and paint. The side trim is obviously easy per your video but the bumper trim would be a PIA I'd imagine. I'll keep everyone posted.

If you would, please start a new thread or post on the trim thread so Alex can have his back.

Sweet, that was info I needed anyways.

I did order a bottle of Showroom New the other day, have not had a chance to use it. It arrived in the mail yesterday. It looks like it is super easy to get that trim off, I will just take off my trip to dye it. Much better then masking if you ask me. How easy is it to remove the door handles?

Got some more work done on the engine yesterday. I got the head set and torqued, as well as the exhaust manifold and that PITA hard water line that connects to the back of the block.

Snapped a quick pic so show where I am at with it. The colors are goofy cause it was very bright.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c...520_143702.jpg

Still waiting on the timing set. Tracking says it will get here tomorrow. :(

Looks like good progress!

It might make sense to do your PCV system while you've got the engine apart. Recommended every 100k, and the intake manifold has to come off to do the job anyways.. FCP has a kit for around $150. I've got mine on the garage shelf, waiting for a half day to do the job...

Good suggestion on the PCV system. I think I would take the time to just do some "cleaning up" while i was in there too. No that it looks bad under your hood or anything, but you can spend a little bit of money on paint and degreaser and have a VERY nice looking engine compartment.

I do want to spend some time prettying up the engine bay. Does anyone know what works good on oxidized aluminum? It sat for a while and is pretty corroded.

there is no really good spray product out there that you can put on aluminum and make it super clean or shiny. Quick shots of Brake cleaner and a rag would clean it.

Years ago I was into Rotary Engines which are basically all aluminum alloy. Those engines are no bigger than carry on luggage. The way I made them shine was with a good Wire brush on a hand drill and a DREMEL w/wire brush wheel attachment.

There are different coarse Wire brushes out there and even a nylon one. The Nylon brush attachment can buff aluminum to shine like chrome.