Just picked up a new 850 project car. I've been fixing up a 97 854R with a rod knock and pretty much everything worn out on the car for the last year or so, prepping a RN engine to drop in it.

All the while, in the back of my head was a little voice who kept telling me.... it's not a wagon. It's not a wagon. You get the picture.

So, I'd drive my white 97 850R wagon and then move over to the sedan to work on it, and kept wishing it was a wagon, too.

Well, I decided I was spending a lot of time and money to have a regret in the back of my head. Nothing against sedans - any Volvo is a fine car - but I'm a wagon guy.

So, I started looking for another wagon. Wasn't worried about much - I have a good body guy, I can do most of the mechanics myself, and it's a Volvo. Doesn't have to be low miles.

I watched an 850R in St Louis on Craigslist for a couple months. Price wasn't great, wasn't unreasonable, either. But it's in St Louis, and I'm in Indiana. The two of those don't match up real well.

Finally, I decided I had better bite the bullet. 850R wagons are getting harder and harder to find. And I bought this one...

97 850R wagon, black interior and black exterior. Needs a front clip (fenders and hood are bent up), 1 rear door has a small rust spot, and there are 2 small surface rust spots on the tailgate around the license plate. Roof needs repainted.

I can get most of the panels off a black car at the local salvage yard that is in decent shape.

313k, 5 speed swapped.

Needs a lot of love, but has great bones. And it's mine now!

 

First maintenance project was done during my look over on Sunday after the car was delivered. I moved the new battery and coolant overflow tank out of my sedan to the wagon. The original tank was leaky and epoxied together. Since the sedan will be sold very cheaply, I decided I would get the parts I needed from it. The new wagon has platinum wheels on it, so I will be moving the volans from my project sedan to it. I will need tires soon, but the car won't be getting a lot of driving in the winter months.

I will be ordering a timing kit with water pump and cam seals today. The timing belt on the car is past due, and didn't look great when I pulled the covers off. It has some oil on top of the engine and has a newer oil cap and new gasket on it. I'm going to dry it up and see if it's recent, or if it's left over from before the gasket was changed. And I'm going to do a compression test and maybe a leakdown.

At 313k, I feel like the engine doesn't owe anybody anything, but I also think it's had some work done along the way - it runs smoother and quieter than my 150k wagon.

If anyone has seen this car before, and knows the history of it, I'm interested in hearing details.

 

Nice work sire! Ive got a sedan myself and always wanted a wagon as well. Not ONLY a wagon but... Both! :-)

 

Yeah, I think for me, it's the fact that the 850R was the first Volvo I was introduced to, and really enjoyed, and it was in wagon format.

Also, a wagon is easily mistaken for 'grandpa's car', and becomes that much more of a sleeper.

I'm looking for a home for the R sedan now, one where it'll get saved and not parted out. I could part it out, but I don't wanna. Not enough of these cars left as it is. Barely see them at the salvage yards anymore, getting a little harder to get parts!