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JaredR's 1997 850R Estate

151K views 1K replies 77 participants last post by  JaredR 
#1 · (Edited)
Before I got the T-5R, I got this 850R. Before I got this 850R, I got a red/tan 850R estate from just north of Albany, NY, but, while it was sitting in a huge snowdrift in our yard last February, it got picked up by a front end loader that was supposed to be clearing the street, but ended up doing some off-roading in our front yard instead. This meant I needed another caR, so I bought this one off of the Atlanta Craigslist in April, 2015 with a blown engine and had it shipped up here. I was looking for another red/tan to replace the other one, but, given its cosmetic condition, what the guy was asking, and the fact that it was probably going to get parted out if I didn't buy it, this was simply too good a deal to pass up.

What's the history of this car?

  • 1996-08-01: OSD order placed. Original owner was a one star general in the Ohio Air National Guard.
  • 1996-09-17: Temporary Swedish registration issued.
  • 1996-09-23: Departed Sweden on M/S ATLANTIC CONCERT.
  • 1996-10-15: Arrived in Baltimore with 16 miles on the odometer.
  • 1996-10-22: Registered in Canal Winchester, OH.
  • 2010-07-30: SOLD to second owner in Atlanta, GA, at 253k miles. The original owner took incredibly good care of it.
  • 2014-05-29: "Sold" to 3rd owner at 262k miles. I say "sold" because this guy never actually transferred it to his name. I believe he had blown the engine by November, 2014.
  • 2015-04-06: I agreed to buy it at 269k miles. This got complicated because the guy never transferred it into his name.
  • 2016-01-27: Finally got a bill of sale from the 3rd "owner." Yay for VT's lax title laws. Luckily I have a copy of the title signed over to him and bill of sale from when he got it, so I can document the full chain of custody and that it wasn't stolen if I ever need to.

It's an odd history since the original owner sold it. I have to wonder what the story is with that second guy who owned it for 4 years and only did 9k miles in it.

What have I done so far?

  • Vacuumed and washed it. This thing was a mess. The guy left tons of junk in there and the car was covered in pine pollen. It was bad...and there is still pine pollen coming out of the panel gaps.
  • Somebody thought it would be a good idea to put in some really crappy Kenwood speakers in the front doors and take the tweeters out of the dash. Did a speaker swap from the wrecked R. Sounds good now.
  • Aired it out. Still airing it out, actually. 3rd "owner" was a smoker.
  • Bought some 850R floor mats on ebay. Pretty clear that there were some OEM Volvo mats in there until recently before I got it, but who knows where they went.
  • Started process of engine removal. Got everything ready to pull the engine, but then we discovered the engine was seized when we tried to turn it over to pull the torque converter bolts. Bolted a steel bar on to the end of the crankshaft where the serpentine belt pulley attaches and broke out one of the bolts trying to get it moving. Going to pull the head and try to get it going from inside, and, if that fails, then I guess we'll pull the engine and transmission together and put the M66D in the this one now and do the T-5R later.

What does it still need/what am I planning on doing? (in no particular order)
  • Needs a working engine!!
  • MANUAL SWAP! Obviously...this will eventually happen even if it doesn't happen at the same time as the engine swap. Going to use a M66D. Going to to turn the sport/econ button into a boost controller as part of the swap.
  • Need to buff out the paint. It is pretty badly oxidized from living outside in Atlanta, and I haven't been keeping up with the wax, either, since it was already bad when I got it.
  • Needs a new headliner. The fabric was falling, so the previous owner tried to use some thumbtacks. That didn't work, so he just ripped it off and the fabric was in a big ball in the back when I got it. Oh, yeah, I got a lifetime supply of thumbtacks out of this deal, too.
  • E-code lights.
  • Needs a rear spoiler. Thinking about adding roof rails, too.
  • Driver's door was damaged and replaced at some point. It was clearcoated when it was repainted, so I need to either find an original 609 door from a R that's getting parted, or have it repainted again in single stage. The clear that is on there is starting to show signs of failure.
  • Might put in a SC-901 at some point.
  • Maybe get another dash pad from somewhere and try to mod a dolby center speaker into it (anyone done this in an 850 yet?).
  • Needs a new glovebox door because some clown tried to pry it open at some point.
  • Needs to spend a day with a PDR guy. Surprisingly, there aren't any door dings, but there is a pretty good dent in the port A pillar, a small dent in the roof, and a crease that is only noticeable from certain angles in the starboard fender.
  • Front bumper has a couple cracks. Hopefully I can address those without a full bumper respray but I think it probably will need a respray.
  • Probably going to put in some heated rear seats and maybe some other goodies for the people in the back, like maybe an aux jack for the music management system I have planned, a P2 style armrest with the little storage bin, and some floor lights like the front seat gets. Maybe some P2 style B pillar air vents if I really go nuts.
  • Going to add a music management system that has enough space for all of my music. Can't fit it all on a phone so this is going to have to be something clever....and I'm going to use a stock HU because I want to keep that '90s feel. Hoping I can do something where I can hook it up to my wi-fi network and sync music directly from my computer.
  • Need to call up the original owner and see if he still has the OSD plates. Managed to track him down, but he's moved to AZ since he sold the car, so I'm not feeling optimistic. Failing that, maybe I can get some repro OSD plates. I have the temporary registration form with the reg number and expiration date on it.

Pictures!

This is what it looked like right after I vacuumed and washed it.

IMG_6903 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6904 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6909 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

The odometer works. Gear was replaced by the original owner at the dealer. Dealer pulled the mileage from the computer when they did this.
IMG_6911 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6938 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6939 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6941 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6947 by Jared R 945, on Flickr

IMG_6951 by Jared R 945, on Flickr
 
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#755 ·
Well look what we have here:



K24 airbox in a P80 has been done......by the same guy who owns all the special color T-5Rs LOL. Trying to find out what intercooler he is using because, if there's a decent drop in(ish) option that moves the end tanks to the sides, this gets super easy. Don't want to do a FMIC so hopefully that's not what this is.
 
#756 ·
Car looks great, Jared. So awesome of a build.
That setup the t5r guy has even kept the dead panel. Lol.
 
#757 ·
Thanks Ian!

Yeah I got a kick out of that, too. LOL.
 
#758 ·
Made a successful drive from the street back to the driveway today. Only stalled once! Pretty happy with that given how it's running so far. Also really enjoyed the shifting experience doing about a 15 point turn to get into the driveway. The all P2 shifter/cables/trans is really good. Can't wait to try it out on the street........if enough of the morons will ever go home for me to feel safe driving an 850 on a public road again.

 
#759 ·
Excited for you.
Good luck taking your cars out into the street toactually enjoy. Was in the basement this morning. It's recycling day so I put the rolling bin out at maybe 730. I'm watching the news and hear a loud bang and think, "hmm ... that sounds like a loud recycling truck." Then I hear a horn and it didn't stop. The whole house woke up and the street is out looking at the chaos. A woman went over the other side of the road, narrowly missed a tree by 2" , took out a street light and slammed her odyssey into the next tree. I used to live in a quiet neighborhood. July 3rd is historically a bad day here. A week after buying the s60, a snapper lit the temp Portia john in the neighbor's yard up, which lit our fence on fire and it was headed for my new to me car, lit up a garage a street away which burned his subie wagon to the ground. Another year someone stole all the American flags up our street.
I swear, man.... pandemic, murder bees, looting, riots, packs of wild hogs tearing up the neighborhood in my sister's SC town, my Dad at the ER yesterday, and t5rs at the scrap yard. The world has fing ended.
 
#762 ·
Yup, everything is a mess right now. I was hoping this was gonna be the year I actually get somewhere with my life, but that's been a challenge!

Maybe in the next few months everyone will grow up and decide to get along (and this damn virus will go away)! That would be nice.
 
#763 ·
Maybe in the next few months everyone will grow up and decide to get along. That would be nice.
I've been waiting for that for 67 years.
 
#764 ·
I agree. It’s been difficult to listen to NPR, as much as I love it I just get depressed every morning when my alarm turns on to my local station. Important news, but hearing it every day and not being able to do a ton about the situation besides the obvious is frustrating.
 
#766 ·
I agree. It's been difficult to listen to NPR, as much as I love it I just get depressed every morning when my alarm turns on to my local station. Important news, but hearing it every day and not being able to do a ton about the situation besides the obvious is frustrating.
Exactly, it's important to keep people informed, but come on... there's NOTHING else to talk about but the same damn thing? So many of the new outlets are just pushing fear and confusing people. I wish it could just stop.
 
#768 ·
Thanks, yes. He made it home and hope he is on the mend. I'd have been down there but the whole plane thing isn't happening and all three p2s need... something. If I'm not getting a bonus right now or any raise then cars will have to wait a bit. Good thing we aren't really driving.

The wild hogs are apparently a relatively new thing where they live as they've never seen it before but damn- they do a lot of damage.
Rooted across an entire lawn that was pretty sweet right across the street from my sister's house.

This picture isn't very good. She sent from the neighbor who took it. She sent me a daytime destruction review video but I don't have a channel. It's pretty awful. I see six but there may be more.


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#769 ·
The wild hogs are apparently a relatively new thing where they live as they've never seen it before but damn- they do a lot of damage. Rooted across an entire lawn that was pretty sweet right across the street from my sister's house.
Try living in Texas. This place is overrun with wild hogs. We're allowed to shoot them anytime of the year (even from helicopters). When they first opened up Highway 130 near Austin, there was a big problem with hogs crossing the highway. The speed limit out there is 80mph.
 
#780 ·
JRgo is slowly inching towards the typical "guys look at my lambo" YouTube channel, but he is by far and away one of the better car youtube creators. RCR makes great points about both life in general and cars, with the occasional psychotic outbursts and poop jokes to keep your inner child interested.

I thought the grand tour was a really good reimagining of what old Top Gear could have been provided they had no budgetary or scripting limits. Still need to get caught up, but any chance to see the boys messing around is a chance I'll take.
 
#781 ·
JRgo is slowly inching towards the typical "guys look at my lambo" YouTube channel, but he is by far and away one of the better car youtube creators. RCR makes great points about both life in general and cars, with the occasional psychotic outbursts and poop jokes to keep your inner child interested.

I thought the grand tour was a really good reimagining of what old Top Gear could have been provided they had no budgetary or scripting limits. Still need to get caught up, but any chance to see the boys messing around is a chance I'll take.
Clarkson recently said that they finished up the next episode, hopefully that goes out soon. I've enjoyed it too, the more the series goes on it's gotten better. Unfortunately it's on borrowed time at this point, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

He is, but he still focuses on what I (and a lot of other people) want to see, being cheaper cars. He gets pretty negative feedback on videos about cars like his R8 or anything of the more expensive/new variety. I like to see "regular" cars (why RCR is enjoyable!), they're just so much more interesting to me.
 
#785 ·
Actually just started rewatching a bunch of the old Top Gear episodes over the last couple days. They're always quality entertainment
Went through seasons 8-13 during quarantine. So good. Top gear is not a car program it's a british comedy that also has cars
 
#787 ·
So after emailing back and forth with Aaron we discovered that at least part of the problem was the tune was for a stock MAF housing. So he sent me a new tune that fixed that. Flashed that and it ran about as well as it did with the MAF unplugged previously so I started unplugging stuff to see what would happen. Turns out the problem is with the intake VVT. Not sure if it's a hardware or software problem but, either way, it idled very nicely with that unplugged so I decided I'd go for a cruise around the neighborhood. Drives quite nicely aside from the front suspension being horribly out of alignment. Also these gears are long!! But then that was kinda the point lol. Need to get the alignment a little more sorted out and go for more than a mile long cruise.
 
#789 ·
I was getting a recurring DTC for coolant temp sensor signal. Decided the easiest solution would be to cut it out of the car to see what was going on since the harness needed to be extended anyway to really work properly with the RN routing.

Unsurprisingly, it was falling apart.



Rebuilt with some Tygon tubing and hot melt lol and reassembled. Ran it up to temp and no codes.



Steering wheel was at like 60° off center when I was going straight so I decided I'd had enough of that. Also had a lot of toe.....dunno exactly how much, but it was a LOT.



Lined up a string against the back wheel. Gonna hope the rear wheels are close to zero toe but I really have no idea since I also did all that over. But I know they can't be out nearly as horribly as the front. Gonna get a real alignment eventually anyway so if it goes remotely close to straight I'll be hapy.



Steering wheel straight ahead....and I had already taken out a LOT of toe.



Much better. Doesn't look perfectly straight since the string and rod aren't in plane.



Two tape measures make it a breeze. Target of 0.15° toe in comes to 0.078" over the 30" between the tape measures. If I'm anywhere between 0.15° and 0.3° I'll be happy.

 
#790 ·
Instead of using a round rod, it’s pretty easy to make a pair of toe plates. If you’re going to make a habit out of DIY alignments, a pair of proper toe plates will make life much easier

Also, you can measure each wheel from the centerline of the front subframe to remove the variability of the rear toe from the equation.
 
#791 ·
#792 ·
Instead of using a round rod, it's pretty easy to make a pair of toe plates. If you're going to make a habit out of DIY alignments, a pair of proper toe plates will make life much easier
Yeah, using rod was super annoying lol. I would definitely come up with a better strategy if I keep doing this. However my driveway is so uneven that I'm not sure better equipment would really help me get better results.

Also, you can measure each wheel from the centerline of the front subframe to remove the variability of the rear toe from the equation.
Interesting idea; how/what do you set up on the centerline to measure off of?
 
#793 ·
I use toe plates when changing camber at the track, but otherwise I always rely on a qualified shop for setting baseline angles and resetting after track days.

This is not a reliable way to set alignment because can’t get camber angles close enough in a garage.


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#794 ·
There's so little camber adjustment on a P80 though, and most shops won't even touch it. Toe is the only adjustment anyone around here will touch on these cars.
 
#795 ·
You need a new alignment guy! There about a degree of adjustment, which can greatly impact drivability. Especially if left and right are in opposite directions.

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#799 ·
Stopped by my neighbor's house on my way to the gas station. Drives MUCH better with the new "alignment." Still trying to figure out the throttle situation his 01 T5M.



However a horrible squeal had developed by the time I made it about a quarter of the way to the gas station. Dust shield was hitting the rotor.



Squeal fixed! Fresh tank of 93. Averaged about 25 mpg on the trip computer to the gas station and back and that was with stupid traffic. Things are looking promising!

 
#800 ·
That’s a beautiful 855R Jared. Very nice.


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#802 · (Edited)
That's a beautiful 855R Jared. Very nice.
Thanks Neal!

Awesome!

I hate that dust shield squeak. It sounds terrible, but a huge sigh of relief when you figure it out.
Ha yeah scared the shiit out of me first time it happened. I was 500' from home and wondering if I'd make it the rest of the way around the block.....

The biggest shock, once I realized what I needed to track down, was that none of the pedestrians seemed to think anything of it. Are people so checked out of their physical world that they don't here a horrible screech? Or are cars making horrible sounds so normalized in our culture that nobody is surprised? Some combination thereof?
 
#801 ·
Awesome!

I hate that dust shield squeak. It sounds terrible, but a huge sigh of relief when you figure it out.
 
#806 ·
Thanks Ted!

Just need to keep it away from snow removal vehicles and other heavy equipment. :knock on wood:
Lol might be sending this one to off-site winter storage too. We'll see.

Wonder if he is going to build another clear shed! But this time he has to use a tinted red vinyl to make it, to match the car of course!
No space. But the existing one is falling apart (is now about 6x older than its design lifespan) so I'll be tearing it down ASAP and rebuilding on the same site.
 
#805 ·
Wonder if he is going to build another clear shed! But this time he has to use a tinted red vinyl to make it, to match the car of course!
 
#807 ·
Datalog #2 came with a decent picture

 
#809 ·
Daaaaamn that thing looks good!
 
#817 ·
Noticed that there was gasoline dripping off my gas tank shortly after I filled it.



Yup, got a leak. Oh well not like I wasn't already planning on upgrading.

Glovebox door was pretty droopy and squeaking and you could see the fasteners through the gap above it. So I glued the pieces I could find back in with some CA and then fiberglassed it. Feels solid, hope it stays that way. Probably will oil the latch if it continues squeaking. I suspect this one was so busted up because it was missing the little arms that hold it from going down all the way when I got it, and someone had also tried to break into the glovebox at some point. So those hinges have not had an easy life lol.











 
#819 ·
Oh man that glovebox looks so much better, mine drops down quite a bit and it's definitely bugging me. What area did you fibreglass to eliminate the droop? Not totally clear on that, and what is CA?
CA = cyanoacrylate adhesive (aka super glue)

Once I got as much of it glued back together as I could I fiberglassed over all the areas that looked like stress risers to me (corners/edges/etc) and any areas where I was missing pieces. Gluing all the brkoen pieces back in is eliminated the droop; fiberglass is just there to hopefully make it last more than 5 miles.
 
#821 ·
Wow, those fuel lines are gross!
 
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