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Volvo V50 , 2.4i SE "refresh"

29K views 77 replies 21 participants last post by  andy__d 
#1 · (Edited)
June/july of this year saw me needing to replace my Volvo S40 , Xreg,
lovely Small volvo , 1.8vvt engine with a 5speed adaptive autobox
id had that S40 for 9 years, spent far too much on it over the time and it was looking like i was going to need to spend 4x the re-sale value of the car JUST getting the rust on the body sorted.
Unlike Volvo's to rust, but close inspection had revealed it had both front wings replaced with pattern parts, the bonnet replaced , the boot lid replaced and a re-spray with blending in on the front doors and rear 1/4's
the clear coat was failing on the bonnet, the wings passenger front door, boot lid and the A pillars,,

So armed with,, next to zero funds, and a "needs" list
A/ Newer without rust
B/ volvo
C/ petrol
D/ auto
and a "would be nice if possible"
a/ A/c
b/leather
c/ estate
off i went on the replacement hunt

saw a couple of "that might be ok" cars and went off to view
Volvo S80 2.4 petrol, auto, full climate/leather SE lux spec (all the toys + then some) Snags being
it hadnt been moved for a year, since the last mot, Dire need of a full service, 4 new tyres , about 3months worth of cleaning on the outside and inside due to mould/green growing things, lichen algae and 12months of whatever landed on the car, £400 for the car,, about £950 in parts to get it to a point that it Could go for a mot to find out how much more £,,, "PASS"
Volvo S60 2.0t
stunning car, seller very helpful, even phoned me while i was on the way to view it, after agreeing the time with him to say "someone's just bought it, they phoned after you did but got here first"...

Then This pops up on autotrader,
[/URL][/IMG]

Volvo V50 2.4i SE , geartronic 04 reg 120k miles
a check of the paperwork, the receipts for its service's (partial Volvo main dealer + indy the rest)
general check of the car
test drive,, "mine"

[/URL][/IMG]

2.4i engine, geartronic box, full climate control, cruise full leather, load space cover, boot liner (lifted to reveal manky boot carpeting), MANKY car mats shocking paintwork auto dimming mirror, High performance radio/6 cd player

mechanically the car was 100% , MOT advisorys for the last few years were "bulb out" type ones or other simple consumables (wipers/etc)

the above pics give you some idea of the state of it
"project mank removal" starts

sadly i dont have many photos of the True state of the horrors i have found so far mainly due to "erk i dont want to look Too close"

When lifting the rear drivers foot mat to be greeted by sight of "crusty creamy spikey carpet" pausing to get a camera and document the " really dont want to look THAT close " or grab the Vax carpet washer and get stuck in removing "IT" , while telling myself it "has" to be just a spilt milkshake ,, not toddler chuck, the BAD two car mats go in the bin, This being the 2 cleanest of the mats , kept to use as kneeling/etc tools while dealing with the car,


and the cars carpeting gets wash #1


looking a lot better with brand new car mats on Clean carpeting

while doing the carpets i notice the cup holders between the front seats look in need of a clean, so lifting the rubber mat and noticing some marks around the trim edges and the holes in the base of the rounds i unclip and remove the cup holder insert



the cup holder insert itself was As bad that went in the utility sink while i delt with the car,
mopping up with tissue, (glad i was wearing latex gloves) and applying Gtechnic I2 "tri-clean" Liberally, and scrubbing away with tissue paper,

"phew"

i Still have not started on
The leather seats, the carpet under the rear seats, or the boot, never mind the paintwork/glass and trim

80grit sand paper would be smoother than the paintwork at this point

(more updates to follow, still playing catchup with the work done/ongoing and sadly not That many "before photos")
 
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#2 ·
Discovery of manky part 2

GRR forum logged me out while typing this the First time and ate it when i pressed submit new post.

Round 2

With the summer , progress had slowed a Lot, my drive is in direct full sunlight from dawn to nearly dusk,

While baking away this summer the car gets to august and decides it is going to show
"12v power service Urgent" on the DIM
illuminate the nice big red warning triangle with a I in it on the dash and the battery light for good measure.

bonnet up, a quick and dirty check of the battery 12.4v engine off, and less when the engine is running - alternators goosed .

double check time so out with the laptop and dice/vida setup, yups its fubar



it is in there,, somewhere honest !

but the engine bay itself while not pristine is not that bad, certainly better overall than the passenger cabin was !

1 of 150A alternator later from volvo main dealer as it was Cheaper to get a genuine one than an after market one,
and half an afternoon fitting it , quick check with the laptop/software and its normal service again,

i have at this point made a start on the paint work and Glass





this being after a couple or 5 rounds of
pressure rinse, snow foam , noodles + bucket washes, with detailing brushes for the edges/nooks etc, no wax and no polishing,
the clay came out and there is a Lot of volvo v50 to clay when you have to do All of it ,,
helped by the roof replacement going on over the road (roof #1) and the cutters they are using making impressive billowing clouds of dust meant the car needed a rinse/snowfoam/rinse before Anything was done, and sometimes a noodle +buckets wash as well,


Time for the black trim to go black, pass the Gtechnic W2 and a nail brush add some masking tape when dry and



And the roof bars, side trims and door lowers


slowly starting to get there, and then i find , thanks to claying the car that i have rust , (not a happy bunneh at this as i had Missed it when buying the car)

if you zoom in on the passenger front door
the leading edge , along the top of the black trim and the rear edge of the door there is also a bubble farm going on just by the body colour rub trim

,, Much mutterings and a mug of coffee later im off to the paint shops for a rough quote to get it fixed, thinking "reskin the door, paint it"
 
#4 · (Edited)
"changing rooms ? no changing door"

Following the discovery of the rust (swear jar +102323)







off with the door lower trim to find,,


and


the drain hole has been spot welded up ?

checking the edges of the panel and





this has been reskined already
there is noticeable overspray on the door shuts and two tiny dots on the door mirror,,

a replacment door in the same Ruby red metallic , from a 04 car if possible for the chance of best match seemed the best bet financially



its a Very close match .
 
#7 ·
changing door pt2

sorry got interrupted by a very insistent fluffy cat, (she is called fluffy)


With the door now replaced and a very close match, clay'd and cleaned, glass clayed/cleaned G4+G5 applied,



we are here with the outsides

the alloys NEED a refurb,



being the worst one



the best one

and the wheels Need a balance Properly



Knock on wheel weights, Really? on an alloy rim? really ?,,
the tyres 6mm / 5.5mm of tread on the lowest ! so they will be staying

The car is booked in friday for all 4 wheels to be done
full refurbishment , so all day deal,
£45 a corner , for taking them off, tyres off, dip/blast/powder coat, tyres on balanced and refit to car bit of a Owch for me,

updates as and when they get the wheels done,
 
#8 ·
Interiour "all that glitters, probably is Glitter"

With the outsides looking like

and the wheels booked in for a Much needed refurbishment , the insides

Now the last owner had 3 kids
2 girls and a boy (the toddler,, see under drivers side rear mat, or dont!)
upon lifting the rear seats to clean i found Glitter,, and glitter stars, and glitter
seat cracks, seat seams, under the seats, under the carpeting + sound deadening and in the seatbelt clips, i have a Very posh dyson with a "glitter encrusted" dust collection container,,

is mostly "getting there" for the rears



the edges of the seat bolsters however are still showing discolouration , (that was the state of most of the seating ), despite the best attentions of autoglym leather cleaner and Gtecnic I2 -Tri clean, further work needed,



Drivers seat



Passenger seat

Both cleaner than before, but needing a Lot more work
there is cracking and a couple of scuff marks on both bases and bolster sides,
i was going to go for the glyptonite kit to refurbish them, but they sadly are out of buis (i hope im wrong) , the hunt shall start for a suitable alternative soon,

The boot

Aggh no that darn stain is Still there
the boot has been vac'd out and autoglym interior cleaner And tri-clean applied and worked in, but that is still there,, next up is remove the boot floor, wet vax it with a strong carpet cleaner "home brew" mix

while it is out the wheel well , wheel, and all the bits and things in there will be seen to, i have already removed the 4-5 half licked lollypops half a packet of cherrio ? type breakfast cereals (and the gooey mess they made) as well as Some ,but im convinced i havent got ALL the glitter out yet.

Boot plastics + plastics in the rest of the car are in on the "next" list, they have all been cleaned , just not Deep cleaned or protected.

Thankfully roof #1 has been finished ,, so getting the car washed to work on it is still needed as next door (roof #2 and over the road roof #3 next to roof #1 are being done , with a pause for the wind/rain of today)

i Doubt i will get much done before it goes in friday for the wheels, but now the weather isnt baking and the roof works are nearing completion, work can carry on

headlights have Slight hazing ,front fog lights and door mirror indicator repeaters have yellowing, so they are all up for a refinish
i Will get before/during/after photos of those
 
#9 ·
Yey another v50 owner[emoji3][emoji3].
Great thread buddy.
Loving the posts so far.
When i purchased mine it was mucky inside too. Family car i guess.
Good fun when you get it nice and clean and so satisfying.
Cheeky pic of mine


Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
D5 geartronic. I have the aux input. Wish mine had leather.
I have new rims on mine now. Also added a rhino lip splitter on the front bumper. Made a massive improvement on the look of the front end.
I am now a volvo fan. Would love a v60 as my next volvo[emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
#15 · (Edited)
wheelie happy

these are how the wheels were





After a days stay at a refurbishment company






to say i am impressed would be an understatment, £45 a corner which included wheels off, tyres off, acid dip, bead blasting,defect rectification the powder coating of primer/colour then clearcoat, re fitting the tyres, rebalancing and fitting to the car and all done in 1 day,,

are we allowed to say who did the refurb and where they are, ? , dont want to if its against the rules
 
#16 ·
Lights

These are "next" on the list that doesnt seem to be getting much smaller,,,

Drivers side door mirror repeater, its a Bit more yellow than the photo shows,





Drivers side headlight, not The worse i have seen but in need of TLC as is the fog lights



the left being Much worse than the right,



left side headlight, "tlc needed"


passenger door mirror repeater, it honesty is that yellow ,
i forsee blue masking tape and a headlight restoration kit for the weekend, IF the rain holds off

C5 is planned to be added to the wheels, as soon as funds allow, but for now they can collect brake dust :p till the next wash, (sunday) and will not be that long before the C5 gets bought/applied,
 
#18 ·
These are "next" on the list that doesnt seem to be getting much smaller,,,

Drivers side door mirror repeater, its a Bit more yellow than the photo shows,





Drivers side headlight, not The worse i have seen but in need of TLC as is the fog lights



the left being Much worse than the right,



left side headlight, "tlc needed"


passenger door mirror repeater, it honesty is that yellow ,
i forsee blue masking tape and a headlight restoration kit for the weekend, IF the rain holds off

C5 is planned to be added to the wheels, as soon as funds allow, but for now they can collect brake dust :p till the next wash, (sunday) and will not be that long before the C5 gets bought/applied,
On my cousins 55 plate Honda, I just used some compound and a green hex logic pad. No wetsanding, just finished with BH-DSW.

Cracking thread so far. Wheels look mint, at a very decent price as well.

[/URL]WhatsApp Image 2018-09-21 at 22.47.38 (2) by saul, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/URL]WhatsApp Image 2018-09-21 at 22.47.38 (3) by saul, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/URL]WhatsApp Image 2018-09-21 at 22.47.38 by saul, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
#29 ·
just a small update, health and time and weather have slowed progress slightly, and im at a point where the paint work is "ok" for now

got to love uHD by autoglym, and the black trims, need a nail brush clean as uHD is a ,, ahem cough cofff to get off them,, but thats the plus point to being lazy and Not masking them first,,,



that mark on the boot carpet has been bugging me, yes i know its a boot and theres a loadspace cover And boot protector (for dirty jobs) but its been bugging me

i had used autoglym interior shampoo on it 3 or 4 times to get it to that point, Gtechnic I3ab as well, and it was Not shifting . lightening Slightly but
i was in aldi and spotted



under £3 if i remember rightly, and "stuff it ill try that"



one happy me And it has taken out the other stubborn stains in the boot carpeting, and im currently hunting for any other marks on the carpeting
 
#32 ·
Headlights,, nearly !

Been a bit of a "oh ,,right then" for me so getting time to carry on with the V50 refresh and the health do it with,,
Finally got the pair of those to agree , and set about the headlights













being the state they were in not the worse, my dads 19 year old astra was far and away worse and came up as good as new

i used a Autoglym headlight restoration kit , on both dads and mine
and about 3 mugs of coffee,

the plan was get them polished, give the car a wash and dry it, then put a coating on the lenses, rain stopped play as i was looking at two headlights that were restored, still with the masking on and before i got to wash the car,





i dont think blue eye makeup suits the v50, so the masking was taken off in the rain and the rest will have to be "next"

i "may" look at replacing the projectors in the lights for "e46 type" with a H7 fitting, but thats for another day after a few paydays.

The wheels, still need to get the G5 applied to them, and ive treated the V50 to a bottle of C2v3 to try ontop of the Uhd wax, and as a top up for the coating thats going on the headlights, rain permitting,
slowly slowly polishy volvo , ,
 
#33 ·


car got a wash and it is starting to get there,
couple of deeper bird etches on the roof,,but i will have to live with those until i feel like hand polishing the car, which might be after seeing to the 120K miles worth of "measles" on the bonnet,,
 
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