AndysR
02-19-2009, 12:13 AM
A bit of backround first I am 27 and although being a self confessed petrol head have only owned two cars. My first was ... a Ford Orion I owned the car for 9 years during which time I threw an absolute bucket of cash at. It started of as a one owner standard 1988 1.6i Ghia with 43k on the clock, then I started on it and it became a 1.6 CVH with lowered compression, lightend and balanced bottom end, Piper 285T2 camshaft and antipump lifters, T3 turbo hybrid with 360 degree thrust bearing, Full front mount intercooler, Superchipped, -31 all steel garrett actuator, Willwood 4 pot front calipers and 285mm discs, AP racing paddle clutch, RST transmission with uprated internal bearings and recon'd lsd. I also had a bespoke interior retrim by Jamie Shaw of Carisma an RST bonnet, RS accessory front chin spoiler, Facelift Sierra Sapphire Cosworth snowflake alloys and boot spoiler finished the outside off and it looked like this.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/MyOrion.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/_DSC0279.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1753-1.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1662.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/history.jpg
(The folder on the arm rest in the last picture was the car's history most of which was added after I took ownership!)
It won plenty of throphies and had a magazine feature with another one on the cards. To say I am proud of the car is an understatement and the new owner still rings me to tell me how he is getting on with the car and what he has planned for her.
However parts in general are becoming a joke to get hold of due to them falling off the parts list at Ford and tbh I was worried I would hit a bumble bee and get it written off I also hated constantly worrying about the weather when I was out in her incase it rained. So I decided it was time for someone else to worry about the rain!
But instead of upgrading to a Cosworth or Jap car I thought why not get something that can cope with living outside and being driven in the rain or what ever weather our beautiful country decided to throw at it.
So rather than by another show/modded car I bought something different that I could work on improving and fettling as I went along, something I wouldn't worry as much about when I parked it in a public carpark.
Enter my second car a Volvo 850 R -
The Volvo 850 R was the top of the range 850 at the time and superceeded the T-5R, not a limited edition like the T-5R, however it sold in similar numbers. It continued on from where the T-5R left off with stiffened and lowered suspension, part alcantara/leather interior with electric front seats. The engine produced 240bhp as an auto or 250 bhp in manual form. It was available in Black, Grey, Red, Blue and the very rare white as either saloon or estate. It was fitted as standard with 17" Volan alloys and lower front spoiler and rear spoiler. The 850 R was produced from late 1995 with production finishing late 1996 although stock levels allowed for late registrations through to 1997 with some very late models registered in 1998.
My car is a three owner from new 1996 model which had 87,400 miles on the clock with full history, not all Volvo main dealer though. It was a second car to a guy who had recently split from his wife, she was using the car but it broke down and she could not afford to have it fixed so he repaired it, kept the car and sold it as he had an 850 R in estate form but with two kids mean't the estate was more practical. It was located in Crawley some 120 miles from home I had it recovered straight to a Volvo garage who carried out a full service and cambelt change. They also set about replacing all the usual expected weak points of the car like the rear main oil seal, breather system, ht leads, rotor arm, dissy cap and radiator.
On the day I bought the car it looked like this..
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007200.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007199.jpg
The wheels look like they have all got white edges where the previous owner took a liking to kerb's so I had them all refurbished...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1982.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1968.jpg
I also had the drivers seat back cover renewed as it was worn on the bolster, quite a common wear point, especially when the cars are driven by short arses like me.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007207.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1825.jpg
I then detailed the body as the car looked very flat, unfortunatley whilst it made a vast improvement to how the car looked it like most Volvo's has been driven into solid fixed objects and as a result has had its fair share of poor repairs. But as I said it's better than it was and I will have the imperfections rectified with a full body resto but thats for the future, I plan to keep it for a while...
So far on the mod's front I have had the following.
Front brake upgrade to 302mm discs with Ferrodo DS2500 pads
Rica 304 remap - probably around 280 ish bhp, on a good day :D
Ferrita stainless steel catback exhaust, heatwrapped with special square exhaust trim to mimic original trim.
BSR induction kit and airbox
Goodridge braided brake lines front and rear
Powerflex poly lower arm bushes
Powerflex upper engine torque and bulkhead mounts
I have had the fuel injectors professionally cleaned/serviced and the fuel pressure regulator.
I have also had the turbo wastegate replaced and the car now holds a healthy 17 psi.
On it's last mot the emissions test showed a fault with the Lamdba sensor, it was running 10 percent co at idle! Needless to say after replacing the sensor the car is now better in fuel! ;)
Cleaning of the car wasn't restricted to the body as I have also tidied up the engine bay not show condition but clean enough that you can keep on top of the day to day grime that collects during normal use.
I think you will agree it's an improvement from when I bought it. :cool:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/243007-6.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_2109.jpg
Currently I am having an aftermarket lower spoiler, designed for the 850, fitted which trial fitted looks like this.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1876-1-1.jpg
Future plans include
Coilovers
IPD sway bars and roll bars
Ferrita 100 cell sports cat with larger downpipe
Larger turbo
Better intercooler
AP front brakes
S60R rear brakes - calipers painted to match AP's
Proper engine build and....
Well it's an auto at the moment :rolleyes: and the box's aren't keen on proper power so I will have to convert it to manual so I will be fitting a manual transmission and either a gripper or quafe diff.
When I have got the car back I shall post some pictures of the car with the new exhaust trim and front splitter fitted :)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/MyOrion.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/_DSC0279.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1753-1.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1662.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/history.jpg
(The folder on the arm rest in the last picture was the car's history most of which was added after I took ownership!)
It won plenty of throphies and had a magazine feature with another one on the cards. To say I am proud of the car is an understatement and the new owner still rings me to tell me how he is getting on with the car and what he has planned for her.
However parts in general are becoming a joke to get hold of due to them falling off the parts list at Ford and tbh I was worried I would hit a bumble bee and get it written off I also hated constantly worrying about the weather when I was out in her incase it rained. So I decided it was time for someone else to worry about the rain!
But instead of upgrading to a Cosworth or Jap car I thought why not get something that can cope with living outside and being driven in the rain or what ever weather our beautiful country decided to throw at it.
So rather than by another show/modded car I bought something different that I could work on improving and fettling as I went along, something I wouldn't worry as much about when I parked it in a public carpark.
Enter my second car a Volvo 850 R -
The Volvo 850 R was the top of the range 850 at the time and superceeded the T-5R, not a limited edition like the T-5R, however it sold in similar numbers. It continued on from where the T-5R left off with stiffened and lowered suspension, part alcantara/leather interior with electric front seats. The engine produced 240bhp as an auto or 250 bhp in manual form. It was available in Black, Grey, Red, Blue and the very rare white as either saloon or estate. It was fitted as standard with 17" Volan alloys and lower front spoiler and rear spoiler. The 850 R was produced from late 1995 with production finishing late 1996 although stock levels allowed for late registrations through to 1997 with some very late models registered in 1998.
My car is a three owner from new 1996 model which had 87,400 miles on the clock with full history, not all Volvo main dealer though. It was a second car to a guy who had recently split from his wife, she was using the car but it broke down and she could not afford to have it fixed so he repaired it, kept the car and sold it as he had an 850 R in estate form but with two kids mean't the estate was more practical. It was located in Crawley some 120 miles from home I had it recovered straight to a Volvo garage who carried out a full service and cambelt change. They also set about replacing all the usual expected weak points of the car like the rear main oil seal, breather system, ht leads, rotor arm, dissy cap and radiator.
On the day I bought the car it looked like this..
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007200.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007199.jpg
The wheels look like they have all got white edges where the previous owner took a liking to kerb's so I had them all refurbished...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1982.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1968.jpg
I also had the drivers seat back cover renewed as it was worn on the bolster, quite a common wear point, especially when the cars are driven by short arses like me.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/14092007207.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1825.jpg
I then detailed the body as the car looked very flat, unfortunatley whilst it made a vast improvement to how the car looked it like most Volvo's has been driven into solid fixed objects and as a result has had its fair share of poor repairs. But as I said it's better than it was and I will have the imperfections rectified with a full body resto but thats for the future, I plan to keep it for a while...
So far on the mod's front I have had the following.
Front brake upgrade to 302mm discs with Ferrodo DS2500 pads
Rica 304 remap - probably around 280 ish bhp, on a good day :D
Ferrita stainless steel catback exhaust, heatwrapped with special square exhaust trim to mimic original trim.
BSR induction kit and airbox
Goodridge braided brake lines front and rear
Powerflex poly lower arm bushes
Powerflex upper engine torque and bulkhead mounts
I have had the fuel injectors professionally cleaned/serviced and the fuel pressure regulator.
I have also had the turbo wastegate replaced and the car now holds a healthy 17 psi.
On it's last mot the emissions test showed a fault with the Lamdba sensor, it was running 10 percent co at idle! Needless to say after replacing the sensor the car is now better in fuel! ;)
Cleaning of the car wasn't restricted to the body as I have also tidied up the engine bay not show condition but clean enough that you can keep on top of the day to day grime that collects during normal use.
I think you will agree it's an improvement from when I bought it. :cool:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/243007-6.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_2109.jpg
Currently I am having an aftermarket lower spoiler, designed for the 850, fitted which trial fitted looks like this.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y140/Andyrs/100_1876-1-1.jpg
Future plans include
Coilovers
IPD sway bars and roll bars
Ferrita 100 cell sports cat with larger downpipe
Larger turbo
Better intercooler
AP front brakes
S60R rear brakes - calipers painted to match AP's
Proper engine build and....
Well it's an auto at the moment :rolleyes: and the box's aren't keen on proper power so I will have to convert it to manual so I will be fitting a manual transmission and either a gripper or quafe diff.
When I have got the car back I shall post some pictures of the car with the new exhaust trim and front splitter fitted :)