Dans septic wannabe ovloV!

[CLINT]

Nice, I quite like that and I'm not usually a Volvo fan

[Danthecapriman]

The radio was the next thing requiring attention.
The original radio never worked. Turn it on and the power aerial goes up, display comes on but all you get is hissing and ticking noises.
The sound systems on these cars are not straight forward though. It’s all non standard stuff, non standard wiring and the wiring colours in my car don’t match the diagrams they’re meant to which made fixing it difficult. Also, there was confusion over exactly what my car is fitted with and what it should be fitted with! It’s basically a load of shit!
Easy answer here was to bin the old stuff that’s causing the trouble and fit new with iso standard connections etc.

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Ok, I know! The new head unit is a modern one. Well, more modern at least! But the old stuff from volvo is questionable at best nowadays and I couldn’t guarantee I’d be able to find a good working unit now. I don’t usually like modern radios in old cars but this one doesn’t look too bad imho. On the up side, it works, the power aerial works with it and it’s a CD player with aux for my iPod. So I can ignore the shit playlists on shit radio stations and listen to rock and metal and nothing else!

[Danthecapriman]

Bringing this bang up to date,

One thing I had on my gold saloon but was not fitted to this car was front fogs. I like them with front fogs so fit some I must! I don’t even give a shit if I’ll probably never actually need them. I WANT them!
But, I had no fittings in the car for them and I couldn’t find any of the wiring in it either! I had planned on finding the unused standard wiring and simply connecting everything up plug and play style but it wasn’t to be.
No to be put off, I decided to buy the two fog lamp brackets, a pair of new lamps and a generic kit for fitting fogs/spot lamps to any car and just use that to wire it all in. But, I fucking detest generic cheap shit switches shoved into dashboards so instead of using the switch in the kit I’d source a proper Volvo switch for the front fogs so it’d look factory in my dash!

Parts acquired.

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Fitting it all requires removing the front spoiler/air dam/whatever the fuck it’s called from under the bumper. Then carefully measuring and checking the lights will fit properly then cutting out the plastic panels moulded into the part. These lights were never factory fit btw, but done at and by dealers for the cars first owners.

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Then the lamp brackets just bolt onto the underside of the girder Volvo used as a bumper. The holes already being in the bumper for them.

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[Danthecapriman]

Then just reattach the spoiler thing to the bumper and pass the lamp through the new hole, and bolt it onto the new brackets. There is a bit of adjustment in these so you can line up and aim the lights. I just did mine by eye but they seem to be lighting up the ground as they should and not aiming up into the air!

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Wiring them in is pretty simple. I ran all the wires into place loosely, then mounted the relay to a spare stud on the suspension tower. Then tied all the wiring permanently and tidily into the cars existing wiring loom under the bonnet so it’s less visible. The wire for the two lights is hidden under the front grill so it can’t be seen. Earths for each light are fitted under the bumper and coated in contact grease to stop corrosion and the relay earth just goes to the battery N/earth bolt on the side of the chassis leg.

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The switch was a bit more of a pain. The original switches are 4 terminal, for some reason they used these instead of the usual three terminal type for the tell tale led illumination in the switch but it took me a while to work out which terminals did what as it’s not exactly clear on the switch back! Once done though it’s simple, and I took a live feed for the switch - relay from the rear of the headlight sidelight switch, conveniently located next to the fog switches. I soldered these for a better quality join. Then just pop out the blank from the switch facia and pop in the fog switch.

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And the finished article.

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And nobody will ever know the fogs aren’t factory on this car!

[CLINT]

Looks good. Now you can cruise about looking like the good guy in a 1980s yank TV movie ☺

[Danthecapriman]

Looks good. Now you can cruise about looking like the good guy in a 1980s yank TV movie ☺

Or an 80’s ‘soccer mom’!

[CLINT]

Haha, good song that! I assume you are alluding to the Everclear track?

[DodgeRover]

Haha, good song that! I assume you are alluding to the Everclear track?

Heroin Girl? I've lost track of Everclear a bit as I never seem to hear them on UK radio.

[CLINT]

That's because UK radio is crap.

I'm referring to 'Volvo driving soccer mom'

Plus, Everclear have been boring for over 20 years now...

[Danthecapriman]

Not done much to this since the last update. I had a Boris MOT extension so that got me a free 6 months during the summer China virus bollocks, of course there was nowhere to go!

I did score a pair of B pillar interior trims off eBay to replace the two in the car. The clips on mine had gone brittle and broken making the trim loose and the seatbelt trim bit was missing on one side.

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Ok it’s not the biggest change but definitely one worth doing. It does tidy up the interior a bit though. Down side is the replacement parts must have been salvaged from a smokers car as they absolutely stink of fags!

Next thing to do was sort out the bit of trim around the windscreen which had come loose and making an annoying noise when driving. Basically one of the little clips underneath had snapped letting the trim flap around in the wind. As well as being annoying, there was a danger of losing the trim if it blew off and they’re not easily replaced nowadays.

Before:

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During. The trim is made up of the stainless bright trim, with some plastic/rubber seals. On mine these were flaking off after 30 odd years of sun and shit weather. Bonding them back on was a twat as very little glue-wise would actually stick to the stainless and stay stuck to it. In the end, PU adhesive did the job, it’s messy horrible stuff but sticks well.

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After. The tape was used to hold the rubber trims down against the glass until the glue has set. A handful of brand new trim clips were also fitted to retain the trim itself. Most of the old ones had gone brittle.

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