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740SE... The Ultimate Daily Driver

83' Turbo

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Well this car was a local craigslist find that I intended to buy, cleanup a bit, then flip for a nice profit but after getting it home that quickly changed. While talking with the previous owner trying to work out a deal he told me that his wife and him had owned the car since early 1994. They finally put the car up for sale because they had run out of driveway room and just bought their 16 year old son a car so the Volvo had to go. He went on to tell me his wife wanted to give it to her brother, and quietly under his breath he told me that wasn't going to happen because he loved the car and didn't want to watch his brother in law run it into the ground :lol:. After that he went on to say he wanted the car to go to an enthusiast and we were able to work out a more than fair price for it which I was more than happy with. Oh yea, she has 138k on the clock!

Although the paint was 100% oxidized I could tell that this was a clean car underneath. After making the deal with the previous owner he walked out with all the service records from 1994 to 2012 (the car hadn't been driven for the last 3 years) along with all the orginal Volvo keys. After a few years of sitting the old girl started right up and I drove her home with no OD smiling the whole way. This is how the car was when I arrived at the previous owners home...

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Here are a couple shots of a little wax layed by hand when I got home to get an idea of what I was working with...

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The first step was to get the buffer wheel out and go to work. After about 8 hours or so I stepped back and fell in love with the car. This is when I decided I had a new DD :-P.

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Now that the paint was looking like it should again, it was time to tackle the extremely faded trim...

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After...

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Next on the list was to get the engine bay cleaned up. This was another great part of the car! Everything under the hood was still OEM Volvo and untouched. Even cleaned up the rusty bolts...

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Trunk seemed to be never used along with the spare and the jack...

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Next was to tackle the interior. Owning Volvos all my life I have always been more than comfortable but I must say the 740 did not compare. Also the front seat had a huge tear and the back seat was also starting to split. I was playing with the idea of fitting S60 front seats in but then Ben, Benjam83, came through in the clutch and even met me half way with this awesome S90SE interior. Thanks again, Man!

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And here are just some little things I have done so far...

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Here are some things that are next on the list to fix/update... Still trying to find a nice set of fogs (I know this will be a major PITA) before I still the new headlights.

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Also need to make the SE badge black again and also want to clean up the Volvo badge and try to bring the red out more on the euro panel or whatever you call it :)

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Also looking for a set of these if anyone has a set. Need to be 17xwhatever

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Holy **** dude, you weren't kidding. That car is sooper-bitchin. I'm glad the seats went to you.....that car deserves to have an awesome interior. They look amazing in there!
 
Glad someone is using those seats. I almost Pm'd Ben to meet up to buy them like 20 times, but it would set off my OCD having different front and rear seats. Looking good.
 
I see it was made in Belgium. Also I spied the rare factory alarm horn under the hood? Did it come with the fake wood interior dash trim? Mine doesn't have that. The fog lights are 740SE only. Scantech brand I believe. Not sure when I bought my SE it had some bosh ones jammed in there and DAle sold me some real SE ones. Killer score! Congrats!
 
Cleanest 7 I've ever seen. Seriously, nice score. Pretty cool it went to someone that's putting the effort into it as well.
 
Thanks guys. I must say I am very happy with the car now.


Your SE is cleaner than my SE and I can't tell if I feel jealousy or hatred...

Either way, really nice car!

Haha, I dont know, yours looks pretty sharp. Dont get me wrong she has her small scratches here and there.

Great work!

What type of cleaner did you use for under the hood? Looks like a foam of some sort?

I forgot the name of it. I bought it at a breast cancer fundraiser. It was some kind of cleaner wax. Worked pretty well though.

Nice. If you ever get bored and want to swap it out for a dark blue 240 wagon, let me know.

Your wagon looks amazing. We need to get a NC get together going soon. I would love to check it out. I could use a wagon in my life.

I see it was made in Belgium. Also I spied the rare factory alarm horn under the hood? Did it come with the fake wood interior dash trim? Mine doesn't have that. The fog lights are 740SE only. Scantech brand I believe. Not sure when I bought my SE it had some bosh ones jammed in there and DAle sold me some real SE ones. Killer score! Congrats!

Haha you saw that alarm, huh? PO said he had the car in NJ for 2 years and needed to add that in there. It did come with the dumb fake wood. I am usually not a fan of that at all but I honestly think it looks pretty decent and I feel like without it the dash is super plain so I plan on keeping it for now.

Yea I knew going into the project that the fogs would be a pain to get. Found a NOS set from a member but his price is just out of my price range right now.
 
I see it was made in Belgium. Also I spied the rare factory alarm horn under the hood? Did it come with the fake wood interior dash trim? Mine doesn't have that. The fog lights are 740SE only. Scantech brand I believe. Not sure when I bought my SE it had some bosh ones jammed in there and DAle sold me some real SE ones. Killer score! Congrats!

More about this alarm? I just picked up a '94 945t and it has a horn near the battery. It also has "wood" trim in the interior.
 
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