1986 Volvo 780
Candidate

16 April 2005, I went to look for a volvo 780 as suplement for my volvo collection, which already consist of a volvo 740 and a volvo 760.

When we arrived to examine the car we were supriced to find the paintjob looking pretty good. It was actually not a bad looking car at first glance. After finishing our coffee, during which we took a look at the maintenance history of the car at it's current owner, we left for a short testdrive. The car had bin used already, so cold start and idle wasn't tested.

The car handled prettig good, but while driving we noticed the controls were pretty heavy to handle. The clutch, accelerator pedal, gearbox, stearing... it all wasn't as smooth as we would suspect. The owner contributed this to the defective steeringrack (new one was suplied with the car) and the car not being used very often the last 6 months. It had run 14.000 km the first year and only 1000 the last 6 months. Also the car wasn't as quick as we suspected. The original D24Tic engine had bin replaced with a factory swap engine... a D24T.

Ok, it was lacking 18 HP to start with, but the engine felt like it was lacking more then it should. It also had bin replaced 155.000 km ago, which suprised me, as the car was reported to have only 277.000 km on it. I suspect one of the previous owners had the speedometer replaced. Maybe because it was defective, which didn't help much, as the replacement broke, or maybe to hide the real milage of the car. Having the engine replaced after just 122.000 km sounds not very likely. The engines are pretty robust, but are known to have to be replaced or refitted after approx 300.000 - 500.000 km.

After the testdrive the car was inspected closely and tho we were suprised by the higer quality of the paintjob then suspected, we were also suprised by the overall state of the car. The car was usable as a daily driver, but to keep it running for a while it had some work that had to be done. The greatest disappointment was the incompleteness of the car. There were a few details incorrect, which would need a lot of time and effort to get right. These details need to be addressed to get the car in such a state as to pass correctly as a complete and perfect Volvo 780. I'll list the points needed to be addressed per desired state of the car.

Daily driver

To be able to use the car as a daily driver there wasn't much that had to be done. Just turn the key and drive away. The MOT was still valid for 3 months, so no immidiate attention is needed. (but MOT is comming)

Longterm daily driver

As a longterm daily driver, there were some additional issues that have to be addressed:

• Steeringrack needs replacement (new one was suplied)
• Several spots of rust near the windshield, roof and rear window need to be repaired to prevent furter rusting.
• The hood has the front edge with rust over the complete lenght.
• The windshield is cracked and needs replacement.
  The crack is limited to the lower passengerside corner, but an entousiast will notice it every drive.
• The heavy handling has to be solved.
• For summer usage the airco has to be fixed.
  The owner reports this as an electrical problem, due to a shortout the last time it was used.

All these points need to be addressed to prevent the car from breaking or falling prey to the rest devil.

Complete Volvo 780 in working order

The car is missing some parts which would make it a complete Volvo 780. To complete the car the following parts need to be replaced or added to the car so it's in almost the same state as when it left the factory:

• Replace current D24T with a 780 spec D24Tic engine
  The 780 spec engine has 7 HP more then the 760 spec, but the source of the extra power is unkown to the writer or it's sources.
• Replace standard 740 steeringwheel with 780 leather steeringwheel
• Add original 780 spec volvo carradio
• Fix electrical antenna
• Fix driver chair electronics (Soldering)
  The seat won't move forward to aid entry to the backseat
• Fix headlight whiper for the passengerside headlight

Complete Volvo 780 in perfect condition

After this is done it could be an option to get the car in perfect condition, but this is going to take a lot of work. The interior and the exterior will need a lot of attention to get it back into the perfect shape most 780 entousiasts would like to have it be.

• Front spoiler needs replacement
  Nice, those speedbumps...
• Complete paintjob
  One of the previous owners had the car repainted after a slight collor difference between a repainted panel and the rest of the car. This was however badly done. All parts tnat didn't need to be painted were masked instead of removed. Also there are several scratches in the current paint and there is evedence of an attempt to steal the car, which was painted with an incorrect shade of blue.
• Interior trim + dash fixes
  Due to it's age there are tiny cracks in the wooden trim, the dash, door and other interior panels.
• Complete rebuild of the D24Tic before fitting it to the car
• Determine the real milage of the car and adjust the spedometer accordingly.

The car will be a nice daily driver, even for people who want to end up with the car being restored to perfection. The main drive for buying this car however can not be to end up with the perfect 780 while paying a good price and restoring it in the near future. It really hasn't got more potential than to continue it's current life as a daily driver until the restoration can proceed. This mostly due to the pretty steep investments that are needed to end up with the perfect 780. Search for the parts needed and in the meantime use it as a daily driver. This however implies that the asking price is to much for the car.

I suspect that the car has to be sold to someone without specific knowledge of this model or it has to be sold for a bit more then 50% of the asking price. The current owner payed to much for it to start with and had the misfortune to have to depend on dealers for maintenance of this car. Also he's comparing the current prices of non diesel 780s with the diesel he owns. I suspect that all these points will prevent the car from being bought and restored by an entousiast.

When it's possible to acuire the car for a reasenable price myself, one that would warrant restore in the future and use as a daily driver in the meantime, the car will be a nice addition to my collection.

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.

© 2005 Jan Huijsmans