The Caveman
New member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2026
- Location
- South Glos, UK
Hi All, thought I'd introduce myself and my latest project, a 1992 960 Turbo that I picked up yesterday and hasn't been started for over a year.
The story starts a few weeks ago when I was driving home from my mother's house and spotted a G-plate 960 pulled over in a farm entrance with an elderly gent wearing a look that said he didn't really want to be stopped there, so I spun around and went back to see if he was ok. The car hadn't ben used for about 6 months and despite starting ok had conked out with about 5 miles still for him to get home. As I was in the Land Rover and had a draw-bar in the back, I gave him a tow back rather than trying to sort the problem on the roadside. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned that I also had an old Volvo at home, to which he jokingly replied "do you want another one?". Well, what could I say, so we swapped numbers and I said if he decided to get rid of it, to let me know.
A couple of weeks passed and I had a message asking if I was still interested and to give him a call, which I did and after discussing a few details about the car and approximate value, he mentioned that he also had another one that he ought to get rid of too. Obviously, I made my excuses at home and went straight over in my 740 for a look.
The gentleman seemed to be having second thoughts about selling the blue saloon, so it was the gold wagon that took my attention. It was rather tired looking and wouldn't start. The MOT had run out a couple of weeks ago and there was only a few days left on the tax before it risked being towed away from the public carpark where it's lived for many years. There was a long list of advisories on the last MOT, since which, it had covered only two miles! Previous MOTs showed a similar list and generally around 300 miles per year for the last decade.
I went away and priced up the minimum parts I expected to need to get it back on the road, starter motor, brakes discs and pads all around, a pair of tyres, a headlight unit, a tail-light unit and, based on what I'd ben told, probably a new turbo too. I phoned the owner back and explained that for the work it needed, I really couldn't offer him more than a token amount for it and he'd get far more for it selling it for parts; he hated the idea of it being broken for parts and accepted a token offer on the condition that I fix it up and don't just sell it on for a quick profit, so I borrowed a trailer and went to collect it.
This afternoon, after work, I opened the bonnet to investigate the starting fault and found that it cranked fine with a hot-wire. It didn't just crank fine, it pretty much started on the first turn, having not run for over a year! A little more investigation and it appears to be the PNP switch, so I've added that to the list of things to do. The idle is a little rough and the turbo boost gauge seems pretty erratic; flexing the vacuum hoses significantly alters the idle and there is a bit of a hissing that I haven't managed to locate yet, so I'll probably just replace all the small vacuum hoses and see if that improves things. Next will be the brakes and a good service before it goes for MOT in a week and a half. Possibly a bit of welding too on the OSF inner wheel arch under the air filter box, but I might get away with that when I clean it up later, plus a few other bits and pieces that are unlikely to pass as it is.
After that, I'm morally obliged to get it running nicely and tidy it up cosmetically, so I'll doubtless be asking for some advice on here as I get into it!
The story starts a few weeks ago when I was driving home from my mother's house and spotted a G-plate 960 pulled over in a farm entrance with an elderly gent wearing a look that said he didn't really want to be stopped there, so I spun around and went back to see if he was ok. The car hadn't ben used for about 6 months and despite starting ok had conked out with about 5 miles still for him to get home. As I was in the Land Rover and had a draw-bar in the back, I gave him a tow back rather than trying to sort the problem on the roadside. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned that I also had an old Volvo at home, to which he jokingly replied "do you want another one?". Well, what could I say, so we swapped numbers and I said if he decided to get rid of it, to let me know.
A couple of weeks passed and I had a message asking if I was still interested and to give him a call, which I did and after discussing a few details about the car and approximate value, he mentioned that he also had another one that he ought to get rid of too. Obviously, I made my excuses at home and went straight over in my 740 for a look.
The gentleman seemed to be having second thoughts about selling the blue saloon, so it was the gold wagon that took my attention. It was rather tired looking and wouldn't start. The MOT had run out a couple of weeks ago and there was only a few days left on the tax before it risked being towed away from the public carpark where it's lived for many years. There was a long list of advisories on the last MOT, since which, it had covered only two miles! Previous MOTs showed a similar list and generally around 300 miles per year for the last decade.
I went away and priced up the minimum parts I expected to need to get it back on the road, starter motor, brakes discs and pads all around, a pair of tyres, a headlight unit, a tail-light unit and, based on what I'd ben told, probably a new turbo too. I phoned the owner back and explained that for the work it needed, I really couldn't offer him more than a token amount for it and he'd get far more for it selling it for parts; he hated the idea of it being broken for parts and accepted a token offer on the condition that I fix it up and don't just sell it on for a quick profit, so I borrowed a trailer and went to collect it.
This afternoon, after work, I opened the bonnet to investigate the starting fault and found that it cranked fine with a hot-wire. It didn't just crank fine, it pretty much started on the first turn, having not run for over a year! A little more investigation and it appears to be the PNP switch, so I've added that to the list of things to do. The idle is a little rough and the turbo boost gauge seems pretty erratic; flexing the vacuum hoses significantly alters the idle and there is a bit of a hissing that I haven't managed to locate yet, so I'll probably just replace all the small vacuum hoses and see if that improves things. Next will be the brakes and a good service before it goes for MOT in a week and a half. Possibly a bit of welding too on the OSF inner wheel arch under the air filter box, but I might get away with that when I clean it up later, plus a few other bits and pieces that are unlikely to pass as it is.
After that, I'm morally obliged to get it running nicely and tidy it up cosmetically, so I'll doubtless be asking for some advice on here as I get into it!
). Driving steady, everything seemed fine, but when I put my foot down hard, it revved so far and then went flat. Backing off it changed up a gear (yes, it's an auto), and continued ok, so long as I didn't try pushing it.
