Another white 850......in need of TLC

[Shinsplintz 101]

Thought I'd start a thread on this old beast, mainly to keep track of what's been done - if any of you find it interesting then that's a bonus!!- as this will be one of the first times I've gotten my hands properly oily & wielded the spanners in anger, so no laughing at the back.

Picked the car up a few weeks back


Drove it back from Gloucester [about 160 miles or so], bit rough towards the end, developed a bit of a misfire at low rpm, but made it home ok. Gave it a good clean inside & out before starting to attend to some of the more obvious cosmetic issue
After a clean:


The cars an earlish T5 [Oct '94], manual, approx. 143k. No paperwork apart from an old mot to confirm mileage & the hpi check that I had done [its clean] Mechanically pretty tidy considering it's not seen much of a garage over the past few years. Has a mot until June but I want to get it back into tip top shape ready for a new ticket. It has a CD spec, or nearly, internally. Cruise control, Ac, heated seats etc...but no premium sound system or memory seats like in the later models. No sunroof either. Full leather [in that amazing blue!] with no rips or tears, but in desperate need of cleaning , feeding & re-colouring in places.

So, plan of attack:

1. Sort out the interior & return it to as pristine condition as possible
2. Mechanicals - engine bay needs some work, full stage zero then whatever needs doing
3. Externals - new windscreen, new tyres & poss. refurb alloys, sort out any areas of rust, attend to any paint defects. Full cut, polish & wax. Re-colour all external plastics. Replace roof gutter trims. Fit rear spoiler.

There's probably more but i'll expand or contract the list as I start working through the car.

Cheers for reading, Morgan