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Volvo V50 Facelift - Make a Volvo v50 5 years younger for £300!

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140K views 104 replies 66 participants last post by  BenB  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've had a 2005 V50 for a few months, and although I did say I'd never modify it, I've started to feel it looks a bit dated, whenever I see a new model on the road. I found out that in fact the body of the 2010 model is exactly the same, the only bodywork differences were the front and rear bumper and front and rear lights. So I set about finding second-hand parts on ebay to update my 5 year-old car.

I thought I'd start a thread to show my progress and keep it updated as I go.

The idea is: From this:
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To this:
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The total cost I'll update here:
Front Bumper £40
Front O/S Headlights £40
Front Grille £45
R-Design splitter: £70
Current spend: £195 ( :) )

Firstly I found a front bumper on ebay, luckily the correct colour! Advertised as needing a respray, but I figured to keep the cost down I'd have a go at localised corrections!

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Polished up OK!

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And the paint chips that went right down to the plastic filled and painted with a brush! then wetsanded back a bit and polished. I know it's not quite as good as new, but I'm more than happy with it, I think they'll never get noticed once the bumper's fitted. TBH it's in better condition than my original bumper!

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Then I got a grille for £40 (£140 new! :doublesho)

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The grille had a broken rung, so I planned on plastic welding it up. Never tried it before, but took my soldering iron (bend the tip over in the vice to it was a more usable spreader) and the black inside tray from a CD case, and started melting away!

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I'm quite pleased with the results of 10 minutes of plastic welding! I sanded it back and thought If I were getting this 100% it really wouldn't be too hard, another layer and more sanding it would have been spot on! But as I planned on wrapping it in 3M carbon vinyl I left it as it was, I was scared of cracking it by sanding it too hard. Plus that part is hidden under the badge anyway!

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So here's my repaired grille, not bad I think!

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The grille in the 2010 V50 I pictured is the R-Design one, with a brushed finish. I did consider trying to brush the metal finish myself, but had second thoughts!!!

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Next to the foglights. Technically the new bumper needs new fogs, but I'm hoping to reuse my own. So I offered them up to the holes, and they do fit OK. Just a couple of new lug-holes and a little mod to the screw position, I think there's no reason why they wont work just fine behind the new surround.

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I'm still waiting for a set of lower grilles/ fog surrounds, I've ordered them cos they only came in at £50 for the lot, plus waiting for one more headlight to come up cheap on ebay. Also, the R-design splitter. They I'll fit the front.

The rear bumper has a few bigger scratches than this, it may need a proper bit of painting! Plus the rear bumper came with splitter fitted! But... someone hacked a section out of the middle to fit a towbar, so I'm gonna have to have a go at fibreglass moulding to make a repair section!
 
#10 · (Edited)
Here's some closeups to show the finish I got, painting the splitter, bearing in mind it's a spraycan job it's not bad at all!! It was red unfortunately, the bumpers I managed to find in the right colour which was a bonus!!
I wouldn't attempt a large panel with a spraycan, but with a panel like this it worked out fine. I learnt a long time ago that when spraying with a spraycan you don't go for a perfect bodyshop gloss straight out of the can, it simply won't work. What I learned to do instead is give it tons of coats, doesn't matter how Matte the finish, as long as the metallic speckles are sitting uniformly. Then letting it dry for an hour or so (in this heat that was plenty!) start with the lacquer. Same again, trying for a gloss finish will only cause runs. The thing to do instead is give it 6-8 thin coats of lacquer, leave it satin then the next day when it's rock hard cut it back with 2000grit, then poilish it up with a cutting compound then polish as normal. Pretty good from a sprycan I recon!

Anyway: here it is in all of it's stages:

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How it looked this morning:
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Flatened back with 2000 grit
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polished up (the bit near the camera anyway!)
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Then the exciting bit:
I got the front bumper fitted today. It's amazing how it makes the whole car seem newer, just changing the front end!

Old bumper off:

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Give that lot a clean! Plus the horn blowers' brackets looked rusty so they got a hammerite'ing
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Taking shape now! I got quite excited at this point!
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First time back on it's wheels, looking mean!
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I decided I wouldn't fit the grille until I'd washed the car and at least polished the front end of the car (kind of my 'crowning ceremony'!!!)

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The foglights are something of a bodge, as I made my '04 ones fit the '08> bumper. Doesn't matter, they're going to be covered by the lower bumper grills/surrounds, that I still need to find!

And with the original, just for comparison:
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So this is how it currently looks, was a real shame to put a numperplate on tbh!! But I'l more than happy with it, especially the cost!! The whole front end, as it currently stands is only £195!!!! (Plus a bit of paint), and that's before I sell my original bumper, grille, headlights etc! Hope to make £150+ back all being well! Still need to spend £30-£50 on the lower grilles though

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I Completely love it! Definitely like having a new car! Chuffed to bits!
 
#15 ·
I'm afraid I don't know if the headlights are the same or not. I didn't upgrade the software or anything, I just plugged it in and everything worked! My old lights where very similar though, still had the projector type light, standard H7 bulb though.

I did try the headlights on my standard bumpers before the bumper change, and these are slimmer so they left a gap underneath between them and the bumper. The white section stands out nicely against a black car IR
 
#14 ·
I walked in to a Volvo dealership recently to get a part and couldn't believe how good the new Volvos look, certainly not the dull brand it was 10 years ago or so! I thought to myself then I had to get me one of them! Problem is I don't have the budget for a new car. I guess I should add a private plate to my shopping list!!? Then nobody would know!
 
#24 ·
Just had a look on the dvla registrations site and 'V50 BNB' (my initials, obviously!) Is £399. Certainly not got the budget for a private plate atm though!! Would be the icing on the cake though, once the front & rear bumper and the sideskirts are all complete
 
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