Got myself an 850 SE

[RaelG]

Thanks Willi - I will check that out. All the trim was in the boot and I managed to find a home for most bits, including the rear covers for the front seats so maybe these go at the front? As for the other part, I do not know yet, but I can tell you it is hinged in along the length of it, albeit two thirds broken!

Thank you for the recommendation Baffler (and DaveNP and Luxobarge (you live so close to me, I'm in Horley!)), I will check them out. I believe I know what you mean by the "housing" of the clip in the trim and I can see at least one has been broken from a less than careful removal yank I should imagine.

Bordervolvo - for the time being, the glass modifications are staying, yes. I like privacy glass personally, problem is that right now it looks stupid because the rest of the car looks a little...how can I put this...in need of some love! So short term plans are clean it thoroughly (I am not sure when it was last deep cleaned but I believe there is dust a foodstuffs from the late nineties still in there!), put all the trim back on, put some period correct alloys on it and sort the visible rusty bits like on the headlight wiper arms etc. Oh and the lambda light is on so I need to look into that too. Longer term, I'm tinkering with the idea of BTCC livery

4x4 - Are you saying my wheels don't look that nice? How rude! I might like the idea of rusty steelies...! Kidding of course, they're already getting on my nerves and I am itching to change them but I must fix some of the other things before splashing out on new wheels. Ideally I would go for the turbine looking wheels which I believe are called Perfa or Columba depending on year as I have always loved the design, in fact I bolted a set of them on my previous 850. So thanks for the offer but I will see if I can hold off for the time being.

[4x4]

Possibly the top of the passenger side rear seat

[Bigfella666]

Rage - very fine looking mota indeed

Save yourself some money and also get decent service by nit using PFV - he sells far too much low grade aftermarket with an attitude to match

I bought rear wiper upgrade and upgrade boot liner kit from an online outfit out Oxford way - excellent quality and like I say cheaper

Only trouble is cannot recall name of the business - will come back to you when I do !

[Bigfella666]

I knew the name was obvious and suddenly struck me between the eyes !

Cannot recall the fellas name but trades as Parts Monster - I found the service level and quality of kit supplied first class

[RaelG]

I thought that Mr 4x4 but it already has a cover there which threw me a bit. Also, where do the funky net things that are hidden in there go? Mine doesn't seem to have a parcel shelf, is that all the estates came with?

Cheers Bigfella, will look into those guys too. Appreciate the recommendation.

[Luxobarge]

Yeah, changing those wheels will make the single biggest difference to the car IMHO. However, hang on to the steelies, or sell them to me, they can be very useful to put winter tyres on.

Looking forward to following progress on this! If you need a cheap-ish but reasonably decent body shop I can recommend one near here in Horne - in Bones Lane, if you want. I also have a code reader if you need to read codes, it works on my 1997 V70, I've no idea if it will work on your 850, maybe you need the little box of flashing LEDs instead.

All the best!

[RaelG]

Originally Posted by Luxobarge

Yeah, changing those wheels will make the single biggest difference to the car

I couldn't agree more...it is very tempting to just splash out but I will see how long I can hold out!

Thanks for the offer of the reader and the bodyshop, very kind of you, I will definitely keep that in mind.

Cheers

[Cookeh]

Originally Posted by RaelG

I thought that Mr 4x4 but it already has a cover there which threw me a bit. Also, where do the funky net things that are hidden in there go? Mine doesn't seem to have a parcel shelf, is that all the estates came with?

Cheers Bigfella, will look into those guys too. Appreciate the recommendation.

Nets go in the stowage compartment on the back of the seats. The trim hinges open and the nets would pull out from there. They were an option so not every car has them.

Parcel shelves were an option on the Rs, and the roll-out luggage covers were also an optional item. They tended to stop retracting after 10-15 years so most got binned (even though repair kits cost all of £15), making them thin on the ground now.

[DaveNP]

Originally Posted by RaelG

...
Thank you for the recommendation Baffler (and DaveNP and Luxobarge (you live so close to me, I'm in Horley!)), I will check them out. I believe I know what you mean by the "housing" of the clip in the trim and I can see at least one has been broken from a less than careful removal yank I should imagine.
....

I think practically all of us have found that no matter how careful one tries to be removing trim pieces the plastic is brittle due to age. It can also be the source of random squeaks in the car if the trim clip or its housing are broken unseen under the panel then the panel will move and rub causing weird squeaks.

[RaelG]

Thanks Cookeh - mine seem to pull out and roll back still so that's good, what I couldn't figure out is what to do with them once I'd rolled them out, I couldn't see anywhere obvious to attach them. Perhaps I need to look harder!

Fair point Dave, I think perhaps I'm just frustrated and impatient at wanting to put things back together and not having all the right bits