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So I did something stupid

D

DMFWallace

Ignoramus Bigotus
Joined
May 1, 2004
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
And went and bought this R!

Way too good to pass up.. Didn't really have the money to spend on it, and I DEFINITELY don't have the room for it, buuuuut I made an exception because I figured this was a one-time deal. It's a 1997 850R (duh) with 150k, great paint, and an immaculate interior. Needs nothing. Drove it 1.5hrs home with no hiccups and lots of smiles.

The best part, ITS WHITE! I've wanted an 850R for a long time but wasn't crazy about having a black or red car so it kinda left me dwindled hoping a nice T5 would come along in a reasonable color. P80 cars make for a great daily driver, my blue car was excellent until the dash rattle drove me insane and I parked it (broken cage). The A/C is ice cold in this one so my daughter won't be hot and angry when I pick her up from daycare.

It's slightly modded.. RIP kit, boost controller ~18psi, speedtuning tune, pegs with 225/40/ZR18s, carbon fiber inlay between the taillights that actually looks really good, TME exhaust, BOV, big fuel pump.. few other bits that I'm forgetting and probably some that I haven't found yet.
Edit: Some I was forgetting - has HDs front and rear with some lowering springs. Not sure which brand.

The car is REALLY quick but I'm kinda sad it's modded. I would rather have had something totally stock that way I know anything I need to know is in a manual somewhere or a schematic posted online. Less to figure out.. but regardless, it's mine, and I love it!! Pics!
On the way home:
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Stopped at the old man's place to show her off:
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Showing off continues:
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Made it to the Casa:
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Decided to go out for a bite and a drink, ran into my coworker at Hard Times Cafe - #whitecarclub y'all!:
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Sweet interior:
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Daughter will have a beautiful back seat to terrorize.. gotta figure something out for that :omg: :
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Just one more view of that ass:
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Future plans include fixing the curbage on the pegs and having them powdercoated the same color the 350Z wheels are. It's a custom color made by a local shop for him and he still has the mixture code. It's a black/gunmetal mix with a lot of metal flake that really pops in the sunlight. The next thing will be to remove that "R" emblem from the dash.. haven't figured out how to do it yet. Other than that I'd like to go over the car with a fine tooth comb and enjoy it how it is. I've got some maintenance parts on the way just to do them so I know it's at 100%. Timing belt and WP reportedly have 18k on them and it was performed 2015 so I should be good until 200k or overhaul, whichever comes first. If I get really bored this winter maybe I'll try to find an M56 to swap in for some more fun factor and reliability. This thing makes great power and I'm not sure how long the trans will hold up, but it gives me -zero- indication that it's in bad shape. Shifts like new. Might actually be new.. who knows..

I really want to keep this car nice, I'm almost terrified to drive it in fear someone will total it for me. I'm shopping coverage but nobody wants to give me what I want it to be insured for.
 
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Nothing stupid about a white 850 R. Although that wood in the dash, Why Volvo, Why??

Very nice car, I am jealous, I sent my wife an 850 T5 I saw on CL about 2 hours ago. I want one.
 
Really sharp ARRRRR. Definitely worth continuing it's preservation and enjoyment... Nice find!
 
That's a nice ride!

Can't for the life of me figure out why the R's all had slushboxes though. I mean come on Volvo, the R should have been manual only if there was no choice!
 
James10952001 said:
That's a nice ride!

Can't for the life of me figure out why the R's all had slushboxes though. I mean come on Volvo, the R should have been manual only if there was no choice!
Click to expand...

Because getting them legal in the US cost a lot and Volvo figured lazy Americans didn't mind. Lots of manual swaps though, Doug did a killer write up on it years ago and I took parts of it to update the process for a write up on Volvospeed in 05 or 06.

Baby that front bumper, they're NLA from Volvo.
 
Quoting on my phone sucks ass and I left the office for the day but thanks everyone for the positive replies. I'm excited to learn more about these T5s. I have some experience with the n/a 5 from my blue car but never messed with a boosted one.

Saturday I installed a GROM unit and it works awesome. Had snoop dogg on spotify sitting in traffic on the way home. Truly a gangster car. Nice tint, 18s, low, etc hahah.

Does anyone know if 18psi is safe? Should I back it down some? It has a turboXS controller and 2 of the 3 vacuum hoses for the TCV have been cut. Not particularly worried about it, just another thing to learn. Car feels like its making at least 300 lb/ft at that level, spins one of the two 225/40s no problem once it hits in 1st.

About the bumper - apparently the guy before me got away with it but in VA you must have a front license plate. It would kill me to have to drill holes in it so I'm experimenting with zip ties as I write this. Hoping I can utilize the tow hook (which still has its cover!) for the license plate. I'm wary of every raised manhole and speed bump. Would ruin me if I damaged the bumper since its in such nice shape. Part of me wants to park this car in the garage and leave it there forever so nothing happens to it but that defeats the purpose.

Anyone have a good idea about mounting the license plate?

Edit: I have a spare wideband that I plan to install as soon as I get time to drill a hole and weld a bung on. Genuinely curious as to what kind of safety threshold this tune gives.
 
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Pull some neodymium magnets out of old hard drives, glue a couple on the inside of the bumper and attach some to a license plate bracket. Depending on how thick the bumper is that may hold it quite securely. Obviously you'll want to test that before driving around. You could also fabricate a bracket that attaches behind the bumper and wraps up over the bottom.
 
Yeah I've been brainstorming for a bracket but magnets hadn't even occurred to me! Might look in to that. Think speaker magnets would work? Kinda thick though..
 
Who tuned it ? Please don't say ARD, please don't say ARD, please don't say ARD

18 psi is fine if the vac lines are intact and the engine is able to act accordingly. Boost spikes are always my biggest fear with a controller, I've heard of engines taking a hit that way.
 
Thank you for buying this! I was watching that car for a while. If it was a wagon it would have been even worse! Good buy for sure.
 
DMFWallace said:
Quoting on my phone sucks ass and I left the office for the day but thanks everyone for the positive replies. I'm excited to learn more about these T5s. I have some experience with the n/a 5 from my blue car but never messed with a boosted one.

Saturday I installed a GROM unit and it works awesome. Had snoop dogg on spotify sitting in traffic on the way home. Truly a gangster car. Nice tint, 18s, low, etc hahah.

Does anyone know if 18psi is safe? Should I back it down some? It has a turboXS controller and 2 of the 3 vacuum hoses for the TCV have been cut. Not particularly worried about it, just another thing to learn. Car feels like its making at least 300 lb/ft at that level, spins one of the two 225/40s no problem once it hits in 1st.

About the bumper - apparently the guy before me got away with it but in VA you must have a front license plate. It would kill me to have to drill holes in it so I'm experimenting with zip ties as I write this. Hoping I can utilize the tow hook (which still has its cover!) for the license plate. I'm wary of every raised manhole and speed bump. Would ruin me if I damaged the bumper since its in such nice shape. Part of me wants to park this car in the garage and leave it there forever so nothing happens to it but that defeats the purpose.

Anyone have a good idea about mounting the license plate?

Edit: I have a spare wideband that I plan to install as soon as I get time to drill a hole and weld a bung on. Genuinely curious as to what kind of safety threshold this tune gives.
Click to expand...

You need a wideband asap, get one in and that will let you know if the tune is safe. Is it on the stock 15G/16T? You're getting the one tire fire from the open differential. I seriously doubt you are close to 300hp.

If you do a manual swap, get a LSD, upgrade the turbo, and get a tune from Aaron http://vasttuning.com/

Welcome to the WWD Volvo club.

blkaplan said:
don't forget the delrin subframe bushings. makes a world of difference
Click to expand...

Truth, made a huge difference for me.
 
Thanks again for the replies and wisdom, will quote/reply individually once I'm in front of a computer. Found a bad vac elbow last night for what I assume is the FPR so gonna fix that tonight once I'm home.
From memory:
Ben, I'll get the subframe bushings asap. They're definitely on the list!

Doug, yes, extremely grateful this didn't have the tan/maple. It looked awful when new and even worse 20 years later. Love the dark interior with the dark wood, really feel like I hit the jackpot. And yes, stage 0 and enjoyment is the goal here. :)
Edit: the interior colors and condition of them were a couple of the main reasons I couldn't pass this car up!

Erik, wideband coming soon for sure. Want to see what this tune is doing and its just a good thing to have to easily spot danger. Not 300hp by any means, maybe 250 but the torque is very impressive at anything less than 5k rpm. Definitely making more than that in torque, the thing plants me in the chair taking off. Has a 15g not sure if its original but my assumption would be yes. Probably not 300 lb/ft but it's gotta be knocking on the door. Thank you for the link and as soon as I get a wide band and see what's going on I'll investigate tunes.

Matt B, previous owner stated its a "speedtuning" tune, going to open the box later and see if the ECU has any label or identification as to what it is.

Haven't been getting on the car much because of the bad vac elbow. Things are still going smooth though. Has a little whine on cold start. Sounds like PS pump noise but I want to take the serp belt off and check the idler. Maybe turbo? Idk. Haven't really investigated yet. Still solid though. Pulls 20 inches cold and hot in park, little less than that in gear.
 
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