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Found some interior parts at the junkyard when I was looking for a heater core (didn't find the core) found two of the solid interior parts. Didn't think to take pictures before swapping the glove box (now I need to figure out how to swap the key hole) Only parts I need now is the steering wheel, shift knob, dome light assembly, instrument cluster (already have it, doing when I replace the core) and passenger foot well cover. The trim around the radio is getting swapped with the new receiver as it needs to be custom XD (also need new speakers... Stock ones for now)

Sorry to keep you guys hanging. Just I have some things at work that are creating 16-18 hour days for the past couple months. I have been working it piece meal when I can. So as you know, I took that damn dashboard out again. I hate that damn dashboard. I almost gave up on that damn dashboard. The tabs broke again and the upper trim near the windshield is cracked and breaking (on that damn dashboard). I actually have a good dashboard from a '98 S70. Much better construction and material than my damn '97 850 dashboard. Unfortunately, it would need to be heavily modified to fit the good S70 dash in place of my damn 850 dash. There will be a time and place when I replace the entire damn dashboard. 'nuff said. Last night I wrestled that damn dashboard back in. As mentioned, there were a few things I modified in the wires and cables inside that damn dash. I also mounted my Alpine Ipod interface box in a perfect location. Second, I installed the ashtray gauge pod custom made by Owned. Quality product there and sets right under my other three gauges. I got the "A" gauge pod all sorted out. Hey - my oil pressure is already 44 pounds!!! Here is where we stand. Everything is 95% wired up. Interior is pretty much done (again). Sorry to bore you guys will lame stuff like this. I promise there will be some exciting pics coming shortly. Scott C.

Wednesday night and its 1 am. I just got finished with a few hours under my dash installing the clutch master cylinder. I've been procrastinating on this for weeks if not months so I have I've made a personal breakthrough here. Had to get under the dash unbolt the brake master... then wedge the clutch master into position, then bolt the clutch master from under the dash and finally rebolt the brake master. Simple huh? I don't wish this task on anyone. My hands are torn and my back is killing me! No pictures as it would have only been me with my head up under the dash. Next step, finalize the wiring, etc. in the dash area and then getting the dash installed again (once and for all). Scott C.

Ok - last weekend I pulled the dash again. As I said, I wanted to re-do some of the wiring and run more power into the cabin so never have to think about getting through the firewall again. Now I can run a fuse block inside the cabin and power things. First I ran three strands of 10 gauge through the harness assy and into the cabin. Conveniently a bit of the fuse block was already broken down in the corner and allowed me perfect space to drop down into the cabin. I then mounted a distribution block in a good location. The large 4 gauge runs to the trunk to power a future amp. The finished product. Don't worry - there is a plastic cover that goes over that distribution block. Also notice that I have a new battery try to turn the battery sideways. I will go with an Optima Red Top. More to come tomorrow. Scott C.

I changed plans on the gauges locations, stereo, etc. So, I want to re-wire everything correctly. Plus I need to loosen the master brake cylinder to get the clutch master installed. Much easier without the dash, etc. So - I should have everything back in a couple of days or so. Scott C.

Got some work done today but I messed up with the camera. Forgot to put the memory card in so the pics are in internal memory and I need to download on my wife's PC. Will post later. Ok - today I embarked on the wire harness conversion as written up by Hank_Scorpio. Pretty straight forward but I still get the jitters cutting into a perfectly good wire harness assy. A couple of items. That harness is an oil and dirt trap right behind the fan. So I had to clean out the whole assy as I hate even knowing there is dirt and crud in there. Check all your connectors and wires carefully. I found some that were darn near close to breaking so I pulled them apart, re-soldered the connectors and put new loom on everything. I replaced the red 4gauge wires that go to the alternator and starter. Rather replace them now than later. Did I mention dirt??? What the heck is this all about??? I hope these are the wires I was truly supposed to cut Here is a fuzzy - unsexy pic of the results. I got the harness all reinstalled to the engine bay. I also installed Slater's upport torque mount and the AutoMeter temp gauges in the single-DIN panel. There is a great firewall pass-thru on the passenger side and the time sensors cleared with no problems. Ciao - Scott C.

Dang guys.... I should have know Volvo guys are hockey fans too! Anyway, back on topic. Interior is 95% finished. I have not installed the drivers seat or center console because I am still working on cables. This weekend I applied sound deadening material to the entire trunk. I also applied a layer of OverKill foam matting to the rear deck to kill yet more sound. See that ball of black material in the background? I later used that up on top of the SD material in the trunk. Trunk is all assembled now, but my wife stole the camera while I was working on this stuff. Ok - I received in my IPD sways (nice!) yesterday. I need to install them this weekend along with VMS endlinks unless Slater can come through with his newer version soon. Scott C.

Ok guys - I haven't been loafing off too much. I mentioned that I would try to get the dash in on the weekend and I didn't post yesterday. Well, that is because I ran into a couple more things with the dash and I took a jaunt up to CJ's place. Awesome guy and an awesome 855!!! SO notice this cracked up defrost vent panel. You know... if I have the sucker out and I've done all this work, I just can't put it back in there and stare at those cracks. So I took another day to do something about it. I sent the wife on a mission (...to find a new wife. Just kidding). I needed 6 feet of good quality black felt. I made a quick attempt of covering that plastic part and it looked really good. OOoopsss... but then I thought about it. Will the air really vent through that felt effectively??? If I put in on high, will the felt puff upward or come completely out??? So I sprayed some 3M heavy duty glue under it. Dummy me... I just pushed it right down and the glue seeped through and left a splotch about as appealing as a Monica Lewinski evening dress . There has to be a better way than this. So... out it came (... uhhh... no pun intended). So first mask off the areas you don't want the 3M heavy duty spray glue. Then I tuck the felt into the seem of the vent assembly and the dash. Nice and tight. I basically used my handy dandy flexible PPO insurance card but a Costco card may work similar results. Now I shoot a bit of that glue on there and let it setup about 2 minutes. Nice and tacky... just like Monica (man I kill myself!!!! ). Then I just lay up the felt and tuck it into the top seems. Felt goes down and stays down. Just trim out the edges. I then took a very sharp Xacto knife (cause felt doesn't like to cut in straight lines) and I cut along the seam of the vent holes. Using my insurance card, I tucked the edges down into the vent between the little vent tabs. Holds great.... I hope!!! Here is a pick of the finished product. Those small slotches actually disappeared over night A couple of keen reminders: Do not use a valid insurance card. I now have to request a replacement one! Do not hold a very sharp Xacto knife in your mouth... not even for a moment. Do not huff the glue fumes until AFTER your project is complete! OK, so I let all that glue setup and cure over night. I came home early today and I wrestled the dash back into the car. Not fun, but looks great. Again, everything was cleaned with Simple Green and a toothbrush before reinstalling. I shot that felt with some ScotchGuard hopefully to kill all them Gamma rays from the sun that might fade that felt. Here it is. I still gotta wire up everything, but this was enough for one night!!! Ciao - Scott C.

Today's update... Once again I got nine solid hours in today. "Miller Time" Ok - First thing I moved on was to finish laying all the Sound Deadening material so I can get the interior somewhat back in order. Took me about 2 1/2 hours to knock this part out correctly. Have a looksy! Here I have worked in the floor padding over the SD material, reinstalled the floor vents and the shifter assembly. Note custom stereo cable assembly provided by BING on both the driver and passenger side. I found some brand new wire tubing left over from my last car project so if you notice up in the dash I've cleanly put most of the wiring in tubing. This makes things much easier to figure out and I should have done it long ago. ALSO notice the SD Material that I put on the Knee Bolters. I even put the ABS sticker over the top of it. The Knee Bolster is nothing but a hollow metal assembly which I'm sure acts as a drum with road noise, etc... so I covered it with SD Material. Here is the deal... I've been working up the bolt posts on my dash with the forementioned ABS goop. Unfortunately, my wife commandeered the Camera to here is a semi-finished set of pictures. Note - I built up using the ABS Goop and then put a final smear of ABS cement over the entire thing. That ABS cement contains both MEK and ABS so I wonder what the real difference is between the Goop I made and the ABS cement??? Anyway - I am going to let this cure over night to ensure that it is ready ready ready when I try to get that dash back in tomorrow!!! Finally - got the drivers side carpet, etc. etc. all intact. Looks pretty good and clean. I still need to install the clutch master cylinder so it's not over just yet. Hopefully get that dash back on tomorrow. Then it might start looking like a real car again!!!! Later - Scott C.

Thor - I took you advise on this one. I mixed a batch of ABS pudding using ABS shavings and MEK. YOU ARE RIGHT - that MEK is some seriously nasty stuff, but it gets the job done! Here are a couple of pictures of me just trying to setup what pieces I could salvage. Once I have once complete, I can try to replicate the position, height, etc. for the others. Again - I'm just setting these up and plan to reinforce the whole area better than stock. The consistency of this stuff if perfect for repairs. The MEK evaporates rather rapidly and it sets pretty quickly. Here is another post but the lighting is not so good: I will continue pics and posts throughout the weekend. Goal is to get the dash back in this weekend! (Yeah - Right ) So I tried to knock out some more of the SD Material in the interior. Hopefully can finish this out tomorrow and get the floor padding and carpet back in. Then its ready for the dash. This stuff if more work that it appears!!! I don't envy anyone who does this for a living!!! And one final thought. Don't hold me to this but... I'm thinking of trying to create a custom Throttle Body for the 850 using an S60 Throttle Body. The S60 TB is on the left and has an outside diameter of 3". The TB on the right is actually an SPG9 overbored TB for the 850. I know, I know about the bolt holes and the throttle position sensor differences, etc. etc. But time to get creative!!! This would be perfect to run 3" IC piping into a 3" IC into a 3" TB and flow into a 3" DP to a 3" full exhaust... talk about flow!!! Will post more tomorrow as things progress!! Scott C.

Today was another 9 hours at it!!!! 9 am to 6 pm with a small break to jam half of a cold chicken quesadia and a coke!! Let's get right to it. I finished putting SD material around the roof area first. Then I got the sun roof assembly mounted back up again. For those of you who have never tried this alone - I suggest that you don't try. It is very painful on your head (holding the assembly in place) and your shoulders (trying to bolt in the corners while this thing is resting on your head). I should have called it a day right here!!!!! At least the headliner was much LIGHTER!!!! Well - I took a break from all this padding this and padding that. I wrestled in the clutch assembly Unfortunately, you have to pull the steering column to do it. I don't know HOW anyone can do this with the dash still on the car!!! FINALLY - THREE PEDALS!!! Well - after that wrestling match, I figured I would go back to installing SD material again. Still got alot to finish here!! Look carefully and you will see the silver material along the top of the firewall, etc. This should quiet things done a bit!!! I need to pick up a few small dash parts tomorrow, so I focussed on the rear of the car again. Here is the car with most of the rear padded. Let me remind you that EVERY piece got a solid scrubbing with Simple Green (plastic) and Lexol PH Leather cleaner before going back into the car. Almost there! Voila!!! An immaculate interior. Every piece you see in there has been cleaned including the headliner and carpets!!! Now I just have to focus on the Clutch master cylinder install, the dash and wiring, and then completing the DF material for the front. I didn't get to any of the doors today, so I still have those to do, but they are probably easier while sitting on a nice clean leather seat!!! I'm thinking of relocating the battery to the trunk as well while I have the chance to wire everything. SUGGESTIONS??? Well... my back will never be the same but a couple beers might cure me!!! Later! Scott C.

Sound Deadening of the Interior. Well, this morning I woke up nice and early, drove to Krispy Kreme and scored a half dozen assorted and a large coffee. The Breakfast of Tuners! So at 9 am sharp I embarked on applying the Damplifer Pro from Second Skin Audio. I figured I would cut me teeth on one of the rear doors first. Ok -the panel was already off. But hey - you know me... I want the job done right and sound dampen the INSIDE of the doors. It too me a while to figure out how to remove the power window motor assembly - namely how to unclip the window from the assembly. Did everyone know that you're 850 door has this like "Honeycomb" plastic in it??? I was looking for some bees to come out or something. Ahhh... Swedish Engineering once again. OK - so I laid up some S.D. material on the inside of the door. I then laid a sheet of material between the two Honeycomb assemblies. This should stop them from passing noise from the door skin to the inside panel. Took me a while to figure out how I took these things out and how the went back in together. I finally figured it out though. With one layer on the door and one layer between the honeycomb assemblies, the unit fit pretty snuggly back into the door. I then laid up sheet on the door itself. One thought was that it would be easier to lay it up on the inside of the door skin itself, but I probably would not stick for long. SD Material is better against clean metal. Now complete with door assembly back in place. Gee... that only took two hours to complete!!! Well, I continued onward... I spent the day on the back end of the car where most of the difficult parts are (I figured I wouldn't leave those for last). Here is a picture half way through the day (maybe). I will try to take picture through tomorrow as well. Hoping to get an early morning and the two Coronas and one Heineken are slowing me done. Later! Scott C. Here is a bit further along. Well. I ended today about 6 pm~ish. 9 hours plus a few minutes to jam a sandwich and a Red Bull. So - I have the back half of the roof complete, one door, the rear deck and the rear seat area. Tomorrow's goal is to complete the other rear door , the roof and roof framing, as well asthe rear part of the floor boards. That way I can reinstall the sunroof assembly and (nice and clean) headliner assembly. I can also get the rear door panel back on as well as rear carpet and back seat. That should give me some more space in the garage (mess). Look for more tomorrow. I keep recalling something I read on a Sound Dampening site. "You have to want it!" This is a lot of work, but I just kept telling myself that all day today Scott C.

Scott - I'm not sure on the part number. Even if it is riveted on, would it be a seperate part number??? I'm headed up to VolvoSaab early tomorrow to be there when the open to get some "stuff". I'm going to ask while I am there. I'll print out pics of the dash. I thought I would share some pics of what I've been trying to describe to everyone. Below are the four broken points. Tomorrow (when my arms get tired of putting sound matting on my roof), I'll break out the fiberglass and try to craft something back together. I figure if I create a fiberglass tab (possibly with some metal screen in it) I can sand it down to where the original sping nut will slide over it. Then, the bolt has a self-tapping (with some help) head and I can line up the spring nut and go right through the fiberglass. That should hold well enough. Thoughts anyone??? Scott C. I figured I would drop this picture in here. I got the roof liner out and the sunroof assembly. I am going to use a gentle pressure wash to clean up the head liner and the sliding cover of the sunroof. No sense doing all of this to the interior and leaving dirty headliners right!!! Every interioro part is going to be brush scrubbed with Simple Green before going back into the car. Net result will be one imaculate interior and super quiet cabin. I'm getting goosebumps already!!! So - here is a piece of engineering mastery. "Swedish Tar Paper". Literally this stuff is tar paper and it even had huge air bubbles under it. You can see where I pulled a bit of it off. Don't know what true purpose this serves so.... OUT IT COMES!!! You can see where I pulled a bit of it off, but it took me an hour to get it completely off with a razor and then using Goof Off to get the rest off. Tomorrow, that Second Skin matting with go down (up??) real nice. Once again, I plan to start on the top and work my way down. I'll take pictures along the way. Scott C.

Project has just entered the "OH CRAP" phase. You know... the phase of a project where you are heading into areas you just know you shouldn't be headed!!! Well - definitely this dash has been removed at least once in its lifetime. Found that all the spring-nut points where the bolts from the firewall side (4) attached, were broken off. Thus, not much holding the dash in place. SO, out it came. Here are pictures of the chaos that ensued. Sans dash... talk about lightening up!!! If anyone knows where I can get a new/used black trim piece (the volvo parts program 9158192/9165373 ???) that is uncracked and looking good - drop me a line! OK - I also got the rear desk out. Standing by for FatMat to arrive. In the process of taking out the headliner. So - I will start FatMat on the roof then up under dash, then the rear deck, doors and finally the floor - top/down. I will wash and scrub all the interior parts prior to re-install to get everything purty and smelling baby-fresh. QUESTION: If anyone has any suggestions on maintanance or other while I have the dash / interior out, give me a shout out. AC Evap? Blower Motor? Thanks. It's Miller Time! Scott C.

I figured that I would post and update. I'm about 1 week away from receiving in the Venolia pistons. Once that is in, I think I have most everything needed to send out for port/polish. Then the fun will start So - I haven't been idly sitting around drinking beer. Well, at least not sitting. I have the interior of the car removed and 100 sq ft of FatMat should have been here by today - it's not. I figured I would post picutres of the sound matting process in case anyone else is interested in what is involved, etc. BING was over my place this morning helping me plan the sound system, etc. We cut out lengths of speaker and power wires so I can pre-wire everything while the interior is out. Bing also hooked me up with an Alpine R12 sub for a deal. We'll look into making a custom enclosure for it in the trunk. For those of you who don't know yet - Bing is an awesome guy that does awesome installs!!! Here is the interior waiting for FatMat to arrive: OK - I thought I'd kill some time the other night - yes, I polished the water return line. Am I a geek or what??? I will post FatMat install progress for everyone to see. Scott C.