A few questions from a P2 upgrader

[benrk]

Hi together,

As the beauty of my '94 850 wagon with 340 000km is more & more fading & friends are looking for a cheap beater, the time to upgrade to P2 has finally come, naturally I have a few questions:

Not having worked on Volvo cars before, I was pretty amazed about how well engineered & easy to work on my 850 is, would you say the same about the P2 cars?

I haven't ever seen a P2 XC70 with painted body cladding, has anyone here ever attempted to sand & paint the supposedly scratch resistant plastic panels?

As an English as a 2nd language speaker "PCV" is the crankcase exhaust/vent system/tube?

Are the booster seat cushions on the rear bench standard equipment or an option?

How easy to see/photograph is the 3rd gear band anchor bolt when you open the hood, would you consider it a manageable request for a used car dealer to send you a picture in which you can tell wether it's a 5 or 6 point head?


Thx, Ben

[MacNoob]

Welcome to another Winnipegger.

Never worked on an 850. I expect to be able to do just about anything on my '07 XC having done everything with my Saabs for the last 10 years - surprising how similar the cars are. Time for brakes in the spring!
If you don't like the plastic cladding, find a black XC (so the plastic matches) or find a V70 with no cladding. Painting would be too much work and expense for me.
You are correct about the PCV (PCV=Positive Crankcase Ventilation)
Booster seats optional.
Why do you care what bolt is in the top of the transmission? Nobody will know what you are talking about if you ask a car dealer.

[benrk]

Hi MacNoob & thx for your answer, good to see another Winnipeger on here, given how rare these cars are in our neck of the woods.

No, I do indeed not like the unpainted plastic cladding & would take a regular V70 awd just as much, unfortunately they are not in my budget, besides I do like the XC interior with the beige dash & dark seats as many of the silver & gold XC's have & the baseball style stitching on the leather seats, the fenders on the XC are more flared for the bigger wheels too, would look pretty sharp painted & the higher ground clearance comes in handy in the winter. The painting I can do myself, just if the plastic is not sandable the paint won't stick & will flake off pretty fast, that again would look terrible...

For the transmission, I'm looking for an early model & read up on the transmission issues here on the forum, '01 & '02 are somewhat finicky & '03 & up as well as factory rebuilt transmissions have a tamper proof 5 point bolt instead of the early 6 point, so if there's a 5 point head chances are high the transmission has been replaced (as many have on warranty) & will be mainly worry free. But I guess with the VIN I can find out on the warranty history of the car & also the booster seats, if not from Birchwood then maybe from a friendly forum member ;-)

In terms of repair friendliness, I'm more used to VW & BMW, there you often come across solutions that just make you shake your head, whoever designed it clearly doesn't work on cars themselves, on Volvo Trucks you notice that the designers actually have to have a Class1 & take multiple trips a year with overnight stays in the truck, working on the 850 I actually wondered if at Volvo Cars it may be mandatory for the designers to spend time in a shop repairing cars as smart as some solutions are.


Greetz, Ben

[C7mb]

I haven't ever seen a P2 XC70 with painted body cladding, has anyone here ever attempted to sand & paint the supposedly scratch resistant plastic panels?


It has been done before, however it is very expensive (all painting is). Another option is PlastiDip if you have that where you are from.

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?15752-XC70-with-painted-body-moldings

http://www.volvoxc.com/volvo_photo_gallery/albums/userpics/grym_xc.jpg

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?177058-Java-XC70-sitting-on-coilovers-and-20-quot-three-piece-wheels&p=1987282

[JRL]

It's a lot of work.
That's a TON of rough plastic that has to be sanded, primed, sanded, primed, etc but it looks great if done properly

[benrk]

It has been done before, however it is very expensive (all painting is). Another option is PlastiDip if you have that where you are from.

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?15752-XC70-with-painted-body-moldings

http://www.volvoxc.com/volvo_photo_gallery/albums/userpics/grym_xc.jpg

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?177058-Java-XC70-sitting-on-coilovers-and-20-quot-three-piece-wheels&p=1987282

[thumbup]. THX!!! The blue one gets pretty close to what I'm envisioning!

[benrk]

It's a lot of work.
That's a TON of rough plastic that has to be sanded, primed, sanded, primed, etc but it looks great if done properly

There's a shortcut to that procedure, which is standard in German body shops, but seems to be rarely known in North America, it's called spray-filler & is being sprayed out between the bondo & primer, gets rid of those little bubble holes & sanding scratches in the bondo, typically applied once & then you're ready for the final primer & good for top-coat ;-)

[JRL]

All well and good, but no bondo here, no skim coats.
Plain old prime and sand, prime and sand.
Usually takes 3-4 times until smooth