manbeard's volvo.

[manbeard]

hello everyone! so i've posted pics of my car on here in a couple places, and i figured it was about time to show the transition my car has made from a pos to nice pos. and just to warn yall, this car isn't stanced or as low as its gonna be. i'm an EXTREMELY broke college student, and i rarely have time to even go look at the car, let alone work on it.

so here's the story on it. I've always been into volvos. my first car was a 1985 740 GLE.. out of the 9 cars i've had, only three of them haven't been volvos (isuzu truck, 02 mustang GT, and my current focus). that said, a good family friend of ours had this old volvo sitting on his property. they bought it new in 1990, but it had been parked for roughly 3 or 4 years. they knew i liked volvos so they offered to sell it to me. for a dollar.

well i said yes without hesitation. here is what i got..fresh off the tow truck..









it was nasty. it sat under a tree for 2 years, so all the drippings from that got gunk alllll over the car. that, and there was mildew on 95% of the surface of the car. well after washing the car 3 times, it was finally looking decent.





i found out i still had a lot of parts left over from my first volvo, so i put those on the car. one of which is the trans am spoiler that i put on the trunk. it fits perfect and adds to the boxiness of the car. i also spray painted the wheels gunmetal with duplicolor paint.





with all that done, i decided i wanted to lower the car. but i didn't want to spend $300 on springs to only lower it 1.5 inches, so i took out a few coils. i did 1.5 front and back.







that all said, the car still was in baaaad shape. it wouldn't start or run and just about everything was messed up. I spend a good amount of time and money replacing all the sensors, plugs, relays, etc etc and to only have it break down two hours away from my house >:| turns out the flex plate was bent ever so slightly, and when it was above 3000 rpm, it would send a bad signal to the crank position sensor.. got that fixed and its been good ever since.

[Slick]

Looks good and what a deal! I'll throw pics of my friends 740GL-T sedan once we slam it. Diggin' the spoiler!

[manbeard]

so after i got it running good, i decided i'd try to make the exterior look a little better. i made the single stage paint look brand new, but that wasn't enough. i painted the bumpers with duplicolor flat black spray paint.









while i had the paint out, i realized i missed full house, so now i can bring danny tanner with me whereever i go



and here was the car at that point



if you can notice my tail lights, they're rough. the plastic looks nasty and cracked. so i decided i'd tint them to hold me over until i can afford some brand new ones.



that done, i wanted to spruce up the interior some. the only real defect on the inside was the seam split open on the driver's seat. i've got to take it off and re-sew it, then it'll be good. i threw a mexican blanket over the seat back and rode like that for a while. I also painted some pieces on the dash to spruce it up a bit too





right before winter of 2009, i painted the swedish flag between the tails



and here is the car at that point along side my old mustang (sigh i miss it soo much)



and made a custom badge



and a sweet sunroof cover





i decided i wanted to change up the look of the car, so i painted the steelies blue.







and then i grew tired of the blue and went back to gunmetal



and fitted a spare exhaust tip leftover from a spare catback from my mustang



this is how the car looks now. most of the stuff still looks the same. i traded the mustang for a focus (polar opposite of a car, but it gets 3x the mileage haha). I had a mach one chin spoiler in the shed and made it work on the volvo. thats been the only real change in the past ~60 months..









so yea, i know its not low, or as low as most cars on here. and theres absolutely NO stance. but once i get a better job (hopefully by the summer after i finish next semester), there will be more work on it. I'd like to get some wider wheels on it. I've been thinking of what i could throw on there, but can't make a decision. also, its hard due to the fact that my wallet is empty as hell haha. I'd love to go bags eventually, but i think i'm gonna stay static. i'm going to cut another 1.5 coils all around, then get wheels. then after that i may make some coilovers or something. who knows. as far as performance, it'll most likely stay stock like it is now. if it aint broke, dont fix it

sooooo thats my car. its a slow build, but its happening.. eventually haha. If yall have any suggestions as far as what wheels you think would look good, or any mods that might make it stand out or anything really, let me know. i'm open to any and all criticism, whether it be good or bad.

Thanks for looking!

-Stephen

[manbeard]

oh yea, i forgot to say that my apartment is about 2 hours away from where the volvo is (we can only have one car there ftl ) and i've maybe worked on it 10 times in the past two years i've lived out here.. thats why not much has changed. but i'm moving back soon and will be able to put some good time into the car.. thank goodness

[DannyE32]

so you bought the car in $1 dollar? lol

[Madhatter]

Good work so far, my favorite stage was the blue steelies.

[Daviticus]

Not a bad start. You damn 700-series owners are making me look at them more closely, haha. Usually all I do is rob them of parts at junkyards for my 242.

[manbeard]

so you bought the car in $1 dollar? lol

haha i did. there was some problem with them just straight out giving me the car, so i had to buy it from them.

Good work so far, my favorite stage was the blue steelies.

I really liked the blue steelies too. I was unsure about them when i first did them, but i grew to love them. i got new tires and the shop messed up the blue paint. i sanded it all down and just painted gun metal back on there in the mean time. i'd love to get some 2 or 3 piece wheels and have the lips polished and the centers blue..

Not a bad start. You damn 700-series owners are making me look at them more closely, haha. Usually all I do is rob them of parts at junkyards for my 242.

haha yeaa most people say the only good thing about 700s is for donor parts. I've had a couple 240s (244 and a 245+T), but i really dont like them. the boxiness of the 700s is so different. i love it. and i can't wait to keep working on it haha

[manbeard]

so its 3:30am and i'm taking a break while studying for a final and got to looking at my sig picture.. i hate how the fender openings aren't even on my car. the car sits level, but because of those openings, the car looks like its got two dead 300 pound hookers in the trunk. i think another 1.5 coils cut away on the front would both get rid of the wheel gap and make it look even. do yall think it would look alright if i did that? i dont want 60s hot rod rake, but i think it could look good..

[Marsss]

going well but FFS loose the GT-R badge LOL

[cobrawannabe]

I <3 CD Silver STs. You should slam that as well as the Volvo.

[244Brick]

SNIPPY SNIPPY!! Oledowit alraudy

[manbeard]

going well but FFS loose the GT-R badge LOL

hahaha i found it at work a few years ago and put it up there for shits and giggles. it gets a laugh every time someone sees it. it'll stay until i can find a cheap new badge.. or maybe i'll shave it. idk.

[manbeard]

i moved back to where the volvo is so now i can do some work here and there on it. I had a free couple hours yesterday to mess around with it. I sanded the tail lights, and got almost all of the paint off. they're so crappy though. the plastic is all cracked and stuff. i gotta find some new ones soon. also, the gas tank was full of crappy gas and would make the car sputter and die. i replaced the filter and drained the gas, then put some fuel system cleaner and 8 gallons of premium in it and it runs like a dream. that means it should be on the road again soon. hopefully, at least. its staying at its current height for the time being. I'm going to get it inspected like it is, and then i'll cut some more coils. also, i should be getting some new wheels tomorrow..they're nice sized and all, and they'll fit awesome whenever i can afford adapters and tires anyway, i drove it around the neighborhood for a few hours yesterday and took a few pictures, so here they are


my DD focus and the volvo

[manbeard]

finally got some wheels. i was gonna keep quiet about these, but i'm way too excited haha. i know these wheels are considered played out by a LOT of people, but i've only seen them on a handful of volvos, and at that, i've never seen them on a 740 like mine. the adapters are coming in the next week or so. i ordered two that i know will fit the front, i gotta get them and install them on the rear to judge how thick of an adapter i'll need in the rear. i am looking for tires, too...i'm thinking 205/45/17s all around for some good stretch action.











these wheels look fan-****ing-tastic on this car, imo.

BOO YA

also, i got rid of the gt-r badge



and i painted my tails all red