25 May 2007, I went to look for a volvo 780 TD, as replacement for my current daily driver volvo 740, as I always wanted to use a 780 as a daily driver, but couldn't find a decently priced one.
I've tried to make an appointment to take a look at the car before, but due to some problems I wasn't able to go. I was glad to find the car hadn't been sold when the problems were over, so I contacted the seller again and we went for a look.
Initial information
Tha car was advertised as a running diesel, which had been stored by
the owner when the family extended. (i.e. they got kids)
The car was imported from italy in 1997 and the owner bought it in 2001,
at which time he replaced the timing belt setup.
The car had been used for 1.5 years since purchase and put in storage afterwards. The family didn't fit anymore and the owner got a bit bored with the car.
Initial impression
Below is a list of points of attention:
- Needs a good cleaning.
- Empty battery.
- Right headlight glass cracked and punctured.
- Right foglight glass missing.
- Left side blinker glass missing.
- Worn steeringwheel.
- Torn driverseat + padding bad.
- Electrics passengerseat not working.
- Hanging headliner.
- Cracked dash in 2 places + several holes due to mountings of some equipment.
- Badly repaired left rear light unit. (hole in blinker 'patched' with orange piece of plastic)
- 2 Spots of rust on the rear window rims. (standard spots)
- Missing original aerial.
- Aerial hole in right rear fender.
- Aerial stub on roof.
- Electric roof didn't open all the way.
- Roof mount point of electric roof rusting slightly.
- As it was an italian import... no original 780 audio set was fitted.
- Non standard wheels.
Testdrive
The car had been in storage for a long time, so the battery was dead.
With a powerpack the car was started and taken for a drive.
There were no problems detected with the engine, gearbox and stearing.
The car accelerated fast, especially when you take the storage time
into consideration. The ABS check light stayed on until the driver
switch halfway (a friend also drove the car) and the rear shocks were
bad. (afterwards we were told they were marked during the MOT as a
possible defect the next MOT)
ToDo
The car is nice, in usable condition. The previous owner took good
care of the car, but limited the attention to the technical part of the
car. The engine engine was running perfectly, but the interiour and some
light need attention.
As with the 1986 780 I've devided the
ToDo list per desired goal.
Daily driver
To be able to use the car as a daily driver from the start there is not much to do except the following:
- Clean the car.
- Polish the car.
- Prevent rust spots rear window rim to grow worse.
- Fix driverseat.
- Fix hanging headliner.
- Replace battery.
- Replace rear shocks.
- Replace right headlight glass.
- Replace right foglight.
Longterm daily driver
- Repair rust spots rear window rim.
- Fix pasesengerseat.
Complete Volvo 780 in working order
The car is almost complete. There is only 1 item missing to make it a complete Volvo 780. (As it's an original italian version, no volvo radio should be fitted)
- Replace wheels with original set.
Complete Volvo 780 in perfect condition
To achieve a perfect state however, there is a lot to be done.
- Definitely address all rust spots.
- Repair small dents in doors.
- Replace bad steeringwheel with perfect one.
Conclusion
The car has lots of potential, especially as I want to use it as a daily driver. The rust near the rear window has to be addressed tho. The car was one of the first few made, as it has VIN 170... so I don't know what I'll do... buy or... Ah hell, who cares, you only live once. :)
It's mine...
Ok, not yet, I'll have to pay first and collect the car. Something with being a bit short on cash, but not willing to let the car get away...
Additional info
If you want to take a look at all the pictures I've got online, take a look here, just click on the image to view the fullsize image.
Last update: 25 May 2007
© 2007 Jan Huijsmans