Giving my '05 a 2010 facelift!

[Jonnieb2009]

Thanks Higgy

Will try a few passes without the 'wet and dry' first.

I need to work out what rpm my angle grinder is as I plan on using this with the polishing heads I have bought - saves me buying a buffer.
Got the g3 compound, need to find a spray bottle, Im sure if I look under the kitchen sink I will find one - might mean doing a bit of mr muscle round the house to use up whats in there first!

I'm off Friday so hoping to do it then.

Ive also noticed some slight scuff marks on passenger side -think this is from the hedges so hopefully be able to get them out to - do you think I need to use the buffer on these or will the G3 compound work without?

I will follow the directions carefully you gave. Im a little nervous about i but can I really go wrong with just the compound if Im careful?

[Higgy50]

Jonnie,

you could try it by hand and I would suggest with the light scratches you try a little T-cut first as it's less aggressive and it should really shift those sort of light scratches. You can always step up to the G3 if this doesn't work first.

My advice if doing it by hand is to use small overlapping circular motions and just go over the area three or four times then check it and do a little more if required. you will be surprised how the scratches disappear without too much work if they are only light. When you've finished cutting the area will probably look a little dull but this will come back up shiny once polished!

If you do require the G3 I would usually T-cut and polish the whole bonnet afterwards so that you get a nice even finish across the whole panel. In fact it wouldn't hurt to T-cut and polish the whole car which should really make it gleam!

A word of warning though you only need a tiny bit of T-cut or G3, if you put loads on it is a bugger to get off and will spray every where if using the polisher!...keeping it 'slightly' damp with a 'mist' of water will help but once again overdo it and you'll have a nice mess to clear up!

When you use the polisher hold it with two hands (by handle and side handle) and tip the leading edge down very slightly (your left hand on the side handle will be up very slightly and the machine angled down from it). It is the bottom edge of the polishing pad which does most of the work and you will soon see that this is by far the easiest way to manoeuvre the machine. Don't use the polisher flat or you'll find it really difficult to to control and hold...And probably damage something!!

Good luck....give me a shout if you need any further advice...

[Jonnieb2009]

Thanks Higgy

Will give it a whirl!

rgds
J

[jasonb]

thanks Higgy, will disappear on my hols for a week then get cracking. Prep work is slow as Im learning all the time and re-work after re-work with the primer.

[BenB]

A bit of an update!! I've now fitted the facelift rears!!

Heres a few before & After Pics:
Old:


To New:



Old:

New:


A few more finished pics:








I found on the v50 the bumper went straight on, with no cutting of lugs, no brackets or anything needing removing from the car. Very easy! Slightly different to the s40 it seems.

Didn't take the wheels off or anything, If I hadn't have had to re-install my parking sensors to the new bumper (with OEM holes!) it literally would have been a 5 minute job to switch bumpers!
(The underneath screw holes are in a different place, I've left them unattached)

The lights however take a bit of a fiddle!;

Unlike the S40, the lower plugs that the rear lights plug in with on a V50 are completely different to the 04 ones, (have 5 pins, not 4) so when you source your '08 rear lights, you also need to ask the seller to include the bulb-holders, and the plugs, with a couple of inches of cable attached. When I bought mine, they had neither, so that delayed me a bit!

The upper light plug still fits, but the lower is different.

Instead of cutting all of the wires off, I found that if you prise out the orange bit from the front of the plug (it only comes out 4mm or so) it frees up the pins from the back, so by shoving a tiny screwdriver down the back you can wiggle and free the pin itself and just insert the pin into the new plug. Much more OEM than loads of cut and soldered wires.

I looked at the front side of the bulb holders themselves to figure out which pin goes where, made several mistakes though, but go there eventually!

The only new wires that need running are:
The indicators on the '04 are at the top of the light, you need to cut that wire and extend a wire down to the correct pin of the lower set where the indicator is.
The upper pin you just cut that was the indicator, is now a second rear light, so extend a wire up spliced onto the lower plug (the regular rear lights IIRC are the orange cables)

The upper brake lights remain unchanged (funny LED bank it looks like, confused the hell out of me to start with!

Another touch for those beady-eyed viewers are the little spoiler fins on the rear glass!
I knew my budget doesn't stretch to any more mods, so I'm not fitting a rear spoiler or splitter, seeing as this bumper already came with a painted splitter in my colour!

Bumper (completely mint) was £150 including shipping, reflectors and the splitter, he also through in the bulb holders I needed!
The rear lights were about £70 each delivered.
the rear glass spoiler fins cost me £12 from an ebay breaker.
So lets say £300 all-in.
My other bumper was practically mint too, so I'm hoping to sell it for £100, and my rear lights for £70 each if I'm lucky, so this whole rear upgrade will hopefully only cost me £50ish!

The whole front end, to recap, only cost me £100 by the time I'd sold the old parts, so my entire upgrade front and rear will only cost me £150 all being well!!!!!! :-)

Only really need to paint my standard skirts black now and it'll be done (We all know these things are never 'done' :-)
Having said that, a new grab handle would be god, spacing out the rear letters, and updating the main centre unit inside for the one with the sliding cover!

[Volvophile]

It was a good looking car to start with, but now it's bang up to date.

Regarding the grab handle, could you not just prise off the old letters and buy the new spaced out ones off Ebay?

[evo141n]

Looks fantastic, I've just bought one rear cluster and I'm in the process of finding the other, but I've just realised you need to change the bumper as well Any one know of a grey 08 bumper for sale?
Iain

[jasonb]

Tell me, what exactly do you need as I have a few parts!

[evo141n]

Well to start with, the offside rear lamp unit, bulb holders for both lamp units & bumper (perf grey) then if I can get round to it all front face-liftparts again in grey.

[evo141n]

Are the front items (ie headlamps and 'R' bumper) identical between the 2008 c30, s40 & 2008 v50? Thanks Iain