31 years after the last 780 rolled off the assembly line and parts production stopped for all of the unique interior and exterior parts on the 780. While Volvo made every effort to project what would be needed by way of replacement parts for a few decades, they certainly didn’t stockpile enough for keeping the cars on the road three decades later.
For the Rebuilding Generations restoration team, it means we have to do a lot of cleaning and repair work. Not only are the leather seats being restitched and redyed but all of the interior trim is being hand cleaned and will be resprayed to match the original trim color, wear, and sun fading.
Another team is working on engine parts, like the brackets for the brake booster or painting and polishing the ABS control unit. Others are working on the wood panels chipping off the old broken coating and restoring back with new sealant. Others are fiberglassing and gluing interior trim pieces. The list is long…
While we are replacing with new parts we can find the majority of the interior and engine are being restored. Many hours of cleaning, sanding, gluing, painting and refurbishing. It is amazing how good these restored parts are looking. Everyone is excited to get to reinstalling into the car, which is happening along the way!
