Volvo S60 front bumper disassembly

Hello!
It's been a while. The people that follow this blog, know that a few months back I decided to close it. After some time thinking about how much work I invested and seeing that what I do here actually helps some people, I decided to bring the blog back

So, let's get cracking.
Today I decided to write about the steps necessary to take the front bumper off your car. As you may already know, I have changed my headlights (new post soon) so in order to remove them I had to take the front bumper off.

This procedure is easy. You start by taking off the bumper moldings. You can use a bone tool or your bare fingers if you are careful enough not to scratch the paint.

If you have a '00 - '04 front bumper model like mine, all you need is to pry the left and right moulding. The center one and even the license plate can remain on your bumper. However be careful not to pull too hard so you won't break the little clips holding the molding to to bumper.

Next step is removing the 6 plastic clips from under the hood. They can be removed easily by pressing them with a screwdriver. After you are done with whatever work you had to do with your bumper you can reuse them.

Next you have 1 torx T25 screw on both sides of the car under the wheel arch that need to be unscrewed . As you unscrew it make sure you push on it, this way it will push against a locking mechanism that is attached to the bracket that holds the bumper. 

Lastly there are two 10mm screws that need to be unscrewed and you are almost done. One is on the right hand side...

And the other on the left hand side

After all this unscrewing and pressing, it's time to take it off. I suggest you put some cloths or something soft under the front bumper before proceeding. The last part requires 2 persons because it is easier to slide the bumper off the brackets this way. I am not saying it can not be done by a single person, I'm just saying it is more difficult that way. 

After you have detached the bumper from the car, let it rest on the cloths, but be sure that you disconnect the fog lights (if equipped). The fog lights are very easy to take out of their housing. 

Done. Make sure to store the bumper out of your way and place it in as much of a natural position as possible to avoid warps or chips of the paint.

End result

It's good to be back! Safe journeys everyone! Don't forget to comment in the section below if you have any questions or ideas. I would love to read them! Hope this helped.

Painting the exterior mouldings

Hello, my friends!
Today I will share the experience I had during the hot summer of 2010, when I decided I wanted to paint my Volvo S60s exterior plastic mouldings. I decided to go that way, because I wanted, as I said in earlier posts, an exterior look closer to the newer S60 models. Here's my car before the paint-job:

You probably wonder, how did I got the obsession about the MY2005 and up look? Well, funny thing, I parked once near an almost exact Volvo S60. Why is funny? Because here in Romania, it's more likely that 2 identical German cars (SUV) will meet in a random intersection (seen it quite often) than having 2 Volvo S60s parked next to each other. So the pictures below are quite rare (impossible even, in Romania). The only noticeable difference was the exterior look. Of course the car color was also a bit different, mine is Volvo Cosmos blue metallic 450, the other is a newer shade - Volvo Barents blue metallic 466, but, I prefer my shade of blue. Here, what do you think?

twins with a different birth date

 and another shot.

So, I went to the guy who painted my trunk fin and asked him to paint the mouldings. Also, must note that I didn't paint the side skirts, because I didn't quite made my mind as to how they will  look in the end, will I buy some sport kit side skirts or not, etc. 

Another note, the plastic mouldings had a discrete course look and feel to them, witch had to be sanded down for perfect paint adhesion. And a funny note, I already confessed my fear of damaging the car in the process of updating, so I also bought a used set of exterior mouldings. Now they lay around in my back yard. The mouldings came off quite easily, being hold in place with nothing but a few clips and double sided tape. Next day they were finished and installed. Here's the finished look:

front

 back

 side

 front, drivers side

Improvement or not? Tell me what you think. Write me a comment in the section below.