[BenB]

I'm regretting mounting the front plate there whenever I see the pics without it!! (particularly as there are screw-holes through it - already there btw). I'm thinking about mounting the plate in the lower grill hole and putting little dome caps over the holes (not sure what I'll use as caps though!)

 

[gkerr4]

i wouldn't - moving the plate screams "modified" - and never looks quite right - stick with the OEM look - number plates are just something we have to live with.

(says me - with the reduced size 5-character plate....)

 

[gkerr4]

great thread by the way! - love the car and the changes you have made.

 

[mr-ponting]

Get that I/C polished and dont put a grill on it

 

[Dunkz2006]

OEM+ = Winner top job mate :thumb:

 

[BenB]

Last Week removed the front (v. stone-chipped) splitter and painted both front and rear splitters with primer from a rattle-can.

The lower door-strips too. These I gave a few coats, then sanded back with some 1200-grit to just take the high spots off, then coated again, did this about 4 times, they aren't completely glossy, sure they would have been with a few more goes, but you'll never see when they are on the car, at the bottoms of the doors, especially after paint, lacquer and hopefully good gloss.

Then I moved to a better position, hanging the splitters from the ceiling of the garage with bits of wire, so I could spray all sides without a problem.

Then down to business! My wife bought me a second-hand compressor a while ago, so i went to Halfords and found they do still sell the litre-size mixes of paint (I thought they'd stopped doing them for some reason - european law or something?)

The guy at Halfords said I didn't need to thin it, but it looked so thick that I diluted it with about 1/3 cellulose thinners. Using a cheap spray-gun from ebay (less than £15 I think!) I started spraying. I managed to get the speed and distance just right. Too fast or too far and it doesn't leave a nice gloss, too slow or too near and it runs. Somewhere in the middle you get it just right

Really happy with that!! It's the largest item I've sprayed with such a solid colour. I did once paint my Caddy pickup, but that was just white so any crapness was hidden!!

Now's where I cheated!!

In the past I've always found that no matter how good the main coat a bit of lacquer from a crappy spray-can and the whole thing can go horribly wrong. so I paid a trip to my local paint guy who just happened to be clearcoating someones car this afternoon. So I left them with him to paint with 2k lacquer, for £20 to collect the next morning, good and shiny!!

The skirts I've got here I'm leaving in original paint - the chips on them are small enough to touch-up, so I'd rather not mess with them!

To be honest I didn't expect the paint finish to come out so good from my compressor, I think I fluked the thickness/pressure etc cos quite frankly I don't know what I'm doing with it!!!

Here's some completed pics once I got everything fitted again!

I'm happy to leave the wheels as they are as 17's, the spoiler would be nice, but I think for the time being I'll leave the main bodywork as it is. Perhaps I'll fit the new shape rear boot handle with spaced lettering at some point, but with a baby on the way in about 7 weeks I'm not going to spend a penny more on mods for a good while!!

And a few more, seeing as it's just been polished!

Clayed, Scratch-X, Dod Lime-Prime, and Collinite 845 - it rained yesterday and it just beaded off! This morning only needed a quick shammy over again and it's perfect!!)

I literally feel like I've got a new car, I look back at the early photos and it looks unbelievably dated now! I forget it's a 6 year old car with 107,000 miles on it!

Here's how it started again:

 

[gkerr4]

that looks great - top work and i admire your spray-ing skills!

brilliant stuff - although I still think a move to 18 or 19inch wheels would pay dividends - it's a big investment though

(i know cos I am toying with replacing the 18" on my car with 19s and removing the run-flat tyres - it's a lot of cash!)

 

[BenB]

I know - 18's in an ideal world would be awesome (I'd love some BBS CH on it tbh, I can imagine that looking great!!), and dropping it on coilovers too. But that just aint gonna happen!!! My wife drives it most of the time, and despises the harder ride of 18's, lowering etc, she's had enough of that in the past!

If I could, I'd fit coilovers, 19" BBS CH, chrome window surrounds from a 2010 model, silver roof rails, brushed silver mirrors from the 2010 model, the spaced lettering rear handle, the rear spoiler, and at very least the central console from the new model, possibly the new leather.
Kinda goes against the 'doing it on a budget' idea!!

I just have to remind myself how bad it used to look and not let myself get de-sensitised to the changes I've made already!!!

 

[Lemongrab]

Great looking Volvo. I am also a huge fan of "OEM+" upgrades, as they look nice and match the rest of the car.

I have a Honda Fit (or Jazz for the .uk folks) with many parts from later years or OEM japanese parts, and it looks... let's say it brings a smile to my face ;-)

Congrats on your project!

 

[shaziman]

How about this for a quick photoshop.

Personally i would have gone with the old school black grille from the T5R days like this:

Looks great tho! great effort

 

[mislavto]

wow, this photoshop picture looks amazing...grill without badge looks great on this volvo

 

[Bowler]

Good up date really does look like the new spec. I would spend £250 on a cherished plate to really take the age off.

 

[martyp]

Awesome, great turn around and looks so much meaner now. I remember forking out £130 for one of the egg-crate grilles for my S40, don't regret it though!

Can't believe you got the parts so cheaply though!!

I'm going to get the trailer hitch removed from mine as I never use it, but would leave a cut under the bumper. Need to keep an eye out on eBay now I think...

 

[Phil H]

very impressive car looks much better

 

[mark marshall]

V50 facelift

I am new to this site and looking for any info on facelifting a v50. I need the following items to complete, rear bumper, front lights, spots. Also if anyone has any info on rewiring the new back lights it would be much appreciated

Many thanks

Mark

 

[Altered Carbon]

That's a big improvement from the standard version - you must be pleased!

 

[ChrisFiesta]

Hello,

i need some Help! I want to update my V50 to facelift. I had already updated my frontbumper and Xenonheadlamps.

But i don`t know where i can become a new plug for the new rearlights. I think the plug must be rewired. I don`t know the connector assignment!

Please help me!

Sorry for my bad, bad english:wall:

 

[BenB]

The best place for the connector is from Volvo themselves.
You need to just trace the metal tracks to each bulb on the old light and again on the new one and figure out which pin lights which bulb.
There's no quick way I'm afraid, and I certainly can't remember which goes where!! It didn't take as long as I thought it would though.

Check when you are ordering the lower connector, whether the upper connector fits from your old lights, I can't remember if I needed a new one now.

I remember there is one connector in the top section that needs to be extended down to one of the pins on the (new) lower connectors, but iirc all the other connections are just your existing pins pushed into the new connector.

There is a little plastic part on the connectors, when you pull it out you can remove all the pins out the back (with a bit of fiddling) and the pins you already have wired to your car can be inserted. Much neater than cutting every wire and soldering them!

Good luck, just go through the bulbs one by one, make notes. It shouldn't take too long

 

[ChrisFiesta]

Thank you!

do you have a partnumber for the under connector? I need one with 5..

 

[BenB]

Volvo should be able to find the connector on their system. Make sure you have the bulb holders too (Getting one from a breakers yard they may or may not have included it.

When I bought my rear lights from a breakers I asked them to include the connectors, and to cut them off leaving me 6 inches or so of cable.