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JaredR's Yellow 1995 850 T-5R Estate

156K views 2K replies 98 participants last post by  gms850r 
#1 · (Edited)
A lot of you already know about this, but, last month, I bought maronha's yellow T-5R estate. I finally got around to taking some decent pictures today, so I decided it is time to start up a progression thread.

What's the history of this car?
  • 1995-02-13: Shipped to dealer. Appears to have been a Volvo press car. Made the cover of Motor Trend and was featured in the May and July '95 issues, was one of the Cannondale Mountain Bike Racing Team support cars, who knows what I'll find out about it next.
  • 1998-06-12: First owner of record, Bill, bought it. Somehow, without a title ever being issued for it, it managed to do 86,700 miles and get auctioned to a Citgo gas station in Coventry, CT.
  • 2002-10-07: Bill moves to VT.
  • 2009-05-21: Bill moves to Harpers Ferry, WV.
  • Somewhere in here, maronha starts seeing it driving around.
  • 2013-10-07: maronha buys it at ~250k. This part of the story is pretty well documented HERE, aside from the critical part where rmorse bought THIS T-5R on ebay.
  • 2016-01-03: I bought it at ~276k.


What was done to it before I got it?
  • Bill did the following mods:
    • Nivomat delete, Bilstein HD's all around.
    • Poly mounts.
    • IPD turbo-back exhaust.

  • Titans appear to have been been lost at some point during Volvo's owneship. All the records of Bill buying new tires are for 16" wheels, although maronha reports that it had Aquila wheels when he got it.
  • Maronha did a fantastic job getting the paint back in shape. The 276k miles show in some places, but it does look good for the miles. I feel bad parking it outside....I need to get my parts 850R out of here so I can get it at least into a temporary garage/building before the summer sun comes.

What have I done so far?
  • Put Volans on it. Actually, I bought it with no wheels at all which was perfect because I didn't want the Pegs and maronha wanted to keep them for his V70R, so I took my extra set of Volans from the parts R down there with me.
  • The driver's seat back was not moving, so I pulled the seat out to do the Robert Spinner/Rspi/Robert DIY seat back cable fix and then put it back in. It works now!
  • Got a set of T-5R floor mats and a new Motorsport badge from CJ.

  • 2016-02-28: Didn't have a 14mm 6 point ½" drive socket to pull the head on my 850R, so, instead of wasting the 70° day going to Sears, I did a couple of things on the T-5R instead:
    • Fixed the tweeters. They were blown so I swapped in the ones from my wrecked R. It is amazing what a huge difference those make; sounds so much better, even up front.
    • Re-secured the panel that goes over the area the starboard tweeter occupies. The clips securing the panel were completely gone so I also swapped these in from the parts R. Hopefully this fixes the rattle I was hearing back there.

  • 2016-03-03: Rattles are much reduced! That unsecured panel was causing a huge portion of the rattles. The dog gate with its bad struts is probably the worst rattle now; need to either get new struts and a dog or just take it out and deal with it later when I get a dog....or I maybe I should just sell the dog grate and train my future dog not to destroy my car instead. There is also a high pitched squeak that sounds like it's coming from somewhere behind the passenger seat that is almost constant and really annoying. I have no idea what it is and apparently I'm the only one in my household that can hear it, so I guess I need to take a ride in the back seat and see if I can find it. FIXED 2017-08-21 turned out to be the rear seat latch squeaking.
  • 2016-08-xx: Installed my Dolby Pro Logic system. Sounds absolutely amazing. Also installed some '97 windshield moldings with the rain channels.


What does it still need/what am I planning on doing? (in no particular order)
  • Get my parts 850R out of here so I have more space to work in the driveway!
  • G̶e̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶8̶5̶0̶R̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶.̶ Well, at least it's restored to stock condition. We'll score that as a victory for the moment.
  • N̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶T̶i̶t̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶. Done! Need tires now....
  • Has some burnt out bulbs in various places in the interior that need to be replaced.
  • T̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶w̶e̶e̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶-̶p̶i̶l̶l̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶.̶ ̶ ̶N̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶.̶ ̶ ̶D̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶n̶t̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶l̶e̶n̶t̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶.̶ Fixed!
  • M̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶p̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶S̶C̶-̶9̶0̶1̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶.̶ Done. Sounds fantastic!
  • M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶d̶a̶s̶h̶ ̶p̶a̶d̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶o̶l̶b̶y̶ ̶c̶e̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶a̶k̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶(̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶8̶5̶0̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶?̶)̶.̶ WOW what a difference. Highly recommended. It's an easy mod, too.
  • Needs to spend a day with a PDR guy. There are probably 10 or 15 door dings and some damage to the starboard quarter panel, some of which is visible in the pictures.
  • Needs a new rear bumper. It was hit at some point so it's kind of crunched up. It was repainted...and now that is going bad.
  • Front bumper could look better. I'm probably going to repair the bumper off of my wrecked 850R and paint it yellow so I can keep the original paint on the original bumper and have it as my spare bumper.
  • Padding in the front seats doesn't feel as comfy and soft than it should. The skins on the seats in my parts 850R are trash, but the seats feel good, so I think I think I'm going to make some T-5R style seat skins for them and put those in.
  • Going to put stock suspension back in. I like Nivomats because I believe that estate cars should be useful! Also dislike the way the Bilstein HDs ride; way too harsh for New England roads. Going to use the stuff out of my wrecked R.
  • Going to put stock engine mounts back in. Poly mounts vibrate too much for my taste and it's not like I'm going to be taking this thing to the track....
  • Probably going to put a stock exhaust back in. Don't like the drone in the IPD system and actually prefer the exhaust note of the stock system (how much would this increase my turbo lag with the stock 15g?).
  • MANUAL SWAP! Obviously. Probably going to use a M66D. Not sure when this will happen; depends on whether I am able to get the M66D I am trying to get shipped over from the UK over here in time for my 850R engine swap or not.
  • When I do the manual swap, I'm going to hook up a boost controller to the sport/econ button.
  • Various interior squeaks and rattles that are annoying need to get fixed at some point.
  • Headliner has water damage from bad sunroof seal. Maronha replaced the sunroof which fixed the leak, but the sunroof guides are busted, too, so I need to replace those. and the headliner.
  • Throttle feels quite stiff. Thinking there is probably something up with the cable. The wrecked R felt fine so I might just swap that cable in and be done with it.
  • Handbrake doesn't grab until the top of the travel. Fine for now but will probably need attention at some point.
  • D̶r̶i̶v̶e̶r̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶u̶s̶t̶e̶d̶.̶ Finally got around to fixing this!
  • D̶o̶g̶ ̶g̶u̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶u̶t̶s̶.̶ ̶ ̶J̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶o̶g̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶.̶ Don't have a dog yet so decided to take it out until then so I can bill the dog gate struts as a dog expense :p.
  • Engine sounds like one of the cylinders might have low compression. It is running great so it's certainly not too bad if I'm hearing it right, but I might look into this when I get around to the manual swap. The engine is original and I want to keep it that way, so I would probably rebuild it if I found any issues.
  • Other than that the general maintenance is pretty well kept up on for the moment.
  • Might put in some heated rear seats and maybe some other goodies for the people in the back. The 850R will probably be the test bed for these new features, however.

PICTURES!!!
Finally got around to getting some good pictures today. I was going to do this a long time ago, but we took it out several weeks ago on what was supposed to be a dry day but ended up finding a few puddles, so I had to wait for the weather to warm up enough to hook the hose up so I could rinse it off.

This color is hard to photograph and have it look anything like it does in real life! I spent at least an hour editing the photos last night and still don't think I got them right. I will probably take some more at some point because these really aren't that great for a bunch of reasons. Anyway, here it is as it stands now:











 
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#4 ·
Thanks!

Looks great.

I have an SC 900 or 901 if you need one - will sell if for a very good price ;-). My yellow came with one but I picked up an 816 with the single cd. Just be aware that the 900 or 901 color will not match as the black dash of the R and the later radios were grey.
I know about the color mismatch; that is a bit annoying. On the 816 in my dad's V70, he's discovered that the grey coating will rub off to reveal black plastic underneath...and that that will rub off to reveal the white translucent coating. Not sure if this is the case with the 900/901s, though, given that they were not previously offered in black, but, if not, there is a guy on here that found some black paint that will stick to them.
 
#3 ·
Looks great.

I have an SC 900 or 901 if you need one - will sell if for a very good price ;-). My yellow came with one but I picked up an 816 with the single cd. Just be aware that the 900 or 901 color will not match as the black dash of the R and the later radios were grey.
 
#6 ·
Great write-up, great pics, looks awesome! Maybe we will cross paths sometime this summer. I just picked up a yellow sedan and live in southern ME
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thanks! You bought the one from NY, right? That thing is a beauty. Shame you have to sell the Laser to make room; I bet those two look great together.

I love when people have orderly build threads. :D
I try. I just hope the actual restoration/build stays as orderly as the thread!
 
#9 ·
Nice thread! The links to the previous thread and eBay purchase are invalid.

Tappin and Talkin on the iPad
Thanks!

Just tested the links and they are working for me. Could it be an iPad compatibility problem?
 
#10 · (Edited)
Haven't done anything to the T-5R recently, but I did photoshop some Cassiopeia wheels onto it because I happened to have a good picture of a V70R that looked pretty good on them. Not really seriously considering getting any (I want Titans!) but was just curious what it would look like.

 
#12 · (Edited)
So I actually did manage to get some stuff done today.

Installed the mats I got from CJ (going to wash them once it gets warm enough to play with the hose comfortably).......







I agree. I thought they would given how good they've looked on the pictures I've seen of them on other P80s. The two tone finish of these gives them enough contrast to not be overwhelmed by the yellow.
 
#15 ·
They look good and I haven't even washed them yet; definitely not returning them! I will probably wash them up once the spring rainy season ends.

You're nuts if you take off the Volans, they're perfect on that car. Looks great.
Thanks! I do like the Volans on there, but my 850R is going to want them back when it's not on jackstands anymore....
 
#14 ·
You're nuts if you take off the Volans, they're perfect on that car. Looks great.
 
#16 ·
JaredR - I met Maronha a few weekend ago to get a seatbelt for my wife's 02 XC. His Sonic is nice, and I heard the story of you coming down with your parents to pick this up. Luck guy.
I see you want a set of Titans, and while they need refinishing, GreenS60Guy has a set he was looking to sell. He's here in Maryland... http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?289058-Feeler-Post-Titans-for-sale
 
#20 ·
I was actually in touch with him, but he wanted to trade for some other 17s - he wasn't interested in trading for cash at the time I was discussing with him. I don't want to give up my extra set of Volans so it ended up not working out.
Scottishbrick hooked me up with a guy who has a set that also needs refinishing, but we haven't closed the deal yet. I should probably get back on that so I can jump on any other sets that come up if that falls through.

I used a pressure washer on mine when I got the car last year and they look much better. Depending on how bad they are cleaning up the yellow on 20 year old mats will be tough IMO. You might try some type of carpet cleaner, Resolve, or something like that on a small area first to see how it works.
I wouldn't mind my yellow stitching being move vibrant, either, but most of the mats I've seen that still have really strong yellow are also still very black. My mats and carpets seem to be equally faded, so it all matches quite nicely. Anything I can bring back in the yellow is bonus at this point.

I might be about to score a set of absolutely filthy 850R mats locally, so those would be good to play with cleaning techniques on.
 
#18 ·
I used a pressure washer on mine when I got the car last year and they look much better. Depending on how bad they are cleaning up the yellow on 20 year old mats will be tough IMO. You might try some type of carpet cleaner, Resolve, or something like that on a small area first to see how it works.
 
#23 · (Edited)
The V70 decided to break, so we had some fun getting parts. Not sure if it is socially acceptable to do this in a yellow T-5R, but I did it anyway:





Got all of this stuff off of an 850R that is getting scrapped. Most of it is either for the 850R or getting sold (PLEASE GO TO THE PARTS CLASSIFIEDS AND BUY MY STUFF!) but I got a few things that are going to the T-5R:

Like a new sunroof assembly. The original one does not work reliably anymore so I just grabbed the whole thing because it worked great and will figure out a treatment plan later. The headline on the cover panel is in good shape, too, unlike the T-5R's.


Also grabbed a pair of 850R front seats to be reskinned in T-5R style skins eventually and a new glovebox door because the one in here is messed up and the extra one that I got with the car is from a gray interior, not dark gray!
 
#24 · (Edited)
Nice find!

Do you think you can re-skin R seats with T5-R skins? Maybe a custom upholsterer can do it but the underlying foam looks different between an R and a T5-R. T5-R foam is the same as any 850 of that year.
 
#25 ·
I doubt it. They are in shockingly good shape for 277k miles, too, so I don't even want to try and risk damaging them. The original seats will be stored as-is so that I can put the interior back to original if/when doing a serious amount of miles in this car no longer makes sense at some point in the future. So I guess it looks like I either need to learn how to sew or make some good investments so I can have Elwood do it for me. The skin on the driver's seat out of my old red/tan 850R (which is actually the car the sunroof mechanism is sitting on in case you didn't notice the duct tape and ill fitting sunroof) is absolutely trashed, so I wouldn't feel awful about cutting that up to make patterns if I had to.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Noticed this today. Anyone else ever had this? Should I be OK once I ditch the Bilsteins? I checked the spring seats right after I noticed this and they spring back to their original position as they should.





YES there are/were mice living in my fire blanket. There are/were mice living in all of our fire blankets, actually. Not really sure what to do about this other than a fire blanket delete.
 
#28 ·
Yes.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Coming soon:
 
#34 ·
I had the P7 A/S+ on my S60 RD (factory tire for that car) and I thought they were great.

My yellow car currently has Kumho Ecsta 4X and they are fine - roads where I live are pretty good and the car is only driven occasionally. Biggest reason I have them is that I only needed to replace two so wanted to match the other tires on the car.

I have had the DWS on my R and they were good too.

You seem to have a lot of sets of wheels to choose from. If your roads are that bad I would probably keep those pristine Titans in storage and use Volans or Pegs for normal duty.
 
#50 · (Edited)
I had the P7 A/S+ on my S60 RD (factory tire for that car) and I thought they were great.
How many miles did you do on them and how did you think they handled in the wet? Some of the reviews have disliked them there.

The PZero A/S+ is also tempting me but it is hard to justify the significant losses in fuel economy and comfort given that there is approximately one fun road in/near Boston (which also happens to have a state police station on it....awesome lol). The Michelin Premier A/S is also pushing its way into the options thanks to it's phenomenal performance in the wet (even better than the PZero and competitive with the A/S 3). The A/S 3's ride quality issues pushed it below the PZero for me and I'm also not crazy about buying into a tire that's about to be retired in case I needed a replacement tire for a puncture or something.

But then I look at the charts with the standard touring tires and it's like LOL city but with another mpg or two so maybe I would think the P7s are just fine....
 
#35 ·
The T-5R isn't a daily, anyway. I'll definitely go with 215s. I have 215s on the Volans on there now and they don't rub.
 
#36 ·
Jared, I'm so cheap I have Michelin Primacy HP takeoffs from a BRZ, pennies on the dollar.
 
#37 ·
I remember seeing that on your thread. I suspect I am every bit as cheap as you in many (most?) areas (built my own neck for my banjo, will walk an hour to save $2.15 on the subway if I have time to kill (ok maybe that's actually a false economy if I could somehow monetize that time), got a 10 year old SLR for $100 on ebay and use it with old manual lenses that were just about free, etc.) but I feel like having a yellow T-5R estate comes with a certain level of responsibility that, if I can't do it right, I should sell it to someone who can. The Volans that came with the 850R have nearly new Continental ControlContact tires on them.....they are nowhere near my first choice (probably not even in my top 10 choices) but they are staying there for now because they are there and usable and good enough at keeping the car on the road even if they have some other traits that I'm not so happy about. I may change my attitude a bit after I graduate (or find any sort of revenue stream that is more lucrative than being a student working co-op jobs every few semesters), though.
 
#39 ·
Nice thread! Amazing how these cars hold up even at high mileage when they are properly being cared for.

You could also run 225/45/17, but needless to say they are very tight in the front. This also depends on the tire of course.

I had them on my old 850 which was lowered with H & R springs. Tires were Goodyear Eagle Sport.
They did rub on the inner fenders a little and just a tad on the outside only on the driver side. I had to "modify" that area a little.

Looked great though and the added sidewall height certainly made a difference:

 
#47 ·
The P* comes with the PSS. They really are pretty much the best summer tire currently. Just a little pricy in 20" size and they probably only last 20k miles (if that) on that car. You gotta pay to play!
 
#51 · (Edited)
So this showed up in my mailbox today.....





 
#55 · (Edited)
It is in very nice shape. It is really amazing what good shape it is in given that it came out of this part out of a rather beat up looking car. I never realized that these were tri-fold until I opened it up this afternoon; always thought they were the same as the 850R pouch but just with a different cover. The total capacity is the same, however, and I have so much original literature that it doesn't all fit in there!

I found a set of Titans that should be on their way here fairly soon but I would be very interested in yours if that weren't the case.
 
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