Let there be LIGHT! C30 Edition

Before selling the S40, I removed the brightest mod I had, my Eyourlife 20 inch Light Bar.

Using the same brackets bolted to the bumper, I hung my light bar just in front of the intercooler.

LED light bar mounted

LED light bar on car

Of course, many will question the point of blocking air flow from the front mount intercooler.  Admittedly, it does hinder things a bit.  But the upgraded intercooler still does its job; I have yet to experience heat soak with this car.  Besides, I'd rather see animals/debris on a dark road at night, than risk plowing over something in a car with only 1.5" of clearance.

The center console of the 2008+ P1 Volvo interior is slightly different from what my 2004 S40 had, so I installed the toggle switch in a small cutout where cars equipped with BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) would normally have a button.

Toggle switch

All in all, I am very pleased with this modification.  I receive a lot of compliments from the 4x4 crowd who only expect to find these high powered light bars installed on off road vehicles.  I do have another idea in the works that may allow for a bit more illumination without compromising air flow over my intercooler, but that is just another project for another day.

In case you missed the video from an earlier post, here is the light bar in action.

Door Speaker Grille Repair

Coming from a Volvo S40, the C30 doors seem ridiculously huge.  All the controls and interior bits reside in the same location, but the door itself is longer to provide easier access to the back seats.  This means you cannot open it as wide when parked next to a wall or another car.

Now, I would never consider myself to be clumsy person, but this C30 has proven me wrong...  Rotating to get out of this car requires Cirque du Soleil flexibility.  In the first few months of ownership, I completely cracked the speaker grilles by kicking them with my toe.

It was easy enough to ignore the cracks from a cosmetic point of view, but the rattling from heavy bass notes became unbearable.

Unfortunately, you cannot simply replace the speaker grilles.  They are plastic welded to the door card and sold as an entire unit.  That's a $200 piece of plastic!

Removing the cracked speaker grilles was not difficult, despite the plastic spot welds, my left foot had done a sufficient job in breaking those points loose.

Preferring not to leave the speaker grilles completely unprotected, it was time for a DIY project with parts from the local hardware store!

Supplies

Using wire cutters, I was able to cut out pieces of the mesh to match the shape of my speaker grilles.

Cut mesh

A few push clips for mounting and some foam trim to clean up the edges, it's a sufficient fix for the time being.  

Custom mesh speaker grille

Thankfully, I have since mastered the art of exiting my vehicle.  I know the final speaker grille was not the most beautiful part in my car, but I hope to create something a little more decorative in the near future.

Happy Birthday Belle

One year ago today, I purchased my C30.  While the previous owner had already installed many modifications, I have done quite a lot to it over the last 365 days. 

I will admit that there have been some ups and downs.  The car has not been completely problem free, but it has been a reliable daily driver for the 43 thousand miles since the time of purchase.  October 16th of last year, I was driving her home from New York to Georgia.  She was our honeymoon transportation on a road trip across the south eastern states.  We have driven on the Tail of the Dragon a dozen times and entered a few auto cross events along the way.  I even drove her back up north to attend a car show with our Volvo friends.

October 16, 2014

October 16, 2015

The car gets a lot of attention in its current state.  Every time I fill up with gas, somebody approaches me with questions; the most common being, "That's a Volvo?!?"  ...and I'm not done with it yet!  There are a few more performance and cosmetic modifications to come, but I am slowly reach a point of complete satisfaction.  It's nearly perfect in my eyes and I look forward to the journey ahead, wherever that road may lead.  

I know my blog has been inactive for the past few months, but all of my projects have been documented.  Over the coming weeks, I intend to post updates for all the things that have changed to the Swedish cars in my stable.

Battery Relocation

Why would I move my battery to the trunk?  

The biggest reason is for an even weight distribution to all four corners.  You might say the battery won't make a huge difference, but anything can help.

The average car battery weights between 30-40lbs.  In the C30, that battery is located above the driver's side front axle.  That is a lot of extra weight along the left side of the car: the driver, the steering wheel, the pedals, the gauges, even the transmission sits slightly towards the left.  By moving the battery closer to the back right axle, the weight is more evenly distributed front to back and side to side.  Yes, that is less weight pushing the front drive wheels towards the ground, but it helps create a more balanced car while zipping through the turns.

Another reason to relocate the battery is to extend its life.  Most people get 3-6 years before the battery is sufficiently dead.  Temperature, alternator efficiency, sound system, and even phone chargers all have a play in the battery's ultimate life span.  But one of the biggest battery killers is the constant heat of the engine bay. Especially in a car with a high pressure turbo, a summer day could see 200°F around the engine block.  Even though the cabin gets warm, it is a climate controlled environment that can extend battery life up to 10 years or longer.

But is it safe to have the battery in the cabin?  

Many performance cars have trunk batteries and many enthusiasts relocate their batteries as well.  The main concern with a battery in the cabin is the hydrogen gasses emitted from the cells, which is why a battery in the car should be fully enclosed with proper ventilation.
Technology has improved a lot in recent years, but there is always a risk when dealing with a wet-cell battery.

For my battery relocation, I cut a rectangular hole in the rear shelf and bolted in a Walmart battery box.  While this is not a sealed container, the Ultima Redtop battery has a special sealed case.  On top of the battery are two small vent ports; these only vents under extreme circumstances.  To play things safe, I connected a rubber hose to those vents and routed them through the floor, outside of the car.

• The power wire was run through the cabin with a fuse 12" from the battery; if anything were to happen, there would not be a live wire running the length of the car.
• The area around one of the trunk bolts was ground down (pun intended) to use for my battery ground.

Trunk battery box

Admittedly, the box is a bit bulky. If the shelf extended level with the trunk, the battery could be completely hidden, but this suffices for my needs and still provides easy access to the battery.

Up front, it was just a matter of reconnecting various wires to the new power source and removing the unnecessary brackets and casings. 

Engine bay with battery removed

I have a few plans to utilize the extra space, but that is another project for another day.  

For now...

There's so much room for activities!

Car Parts In the House

Admittedly, I have a lot of car parts and tools stacked up in the garage, filling the closet, and overflowing into the living room.  Most of these parts are sorted into boxes: some to sell, some to install, some to keep if I ever revert to stock.  But some parts deserve to be on display.

When I sold my S40, I took it back to stock and sold all the aftermarket performance parts.  The only thing I kept from that car was the front grille; it had been personalized and I wanted something to remember my car by.

2004.5 Volvo S40

The Elevate badge was transferred to my C30, so I replaced the blank space with the "S40" letters which I had previously removed from the car.

Refinished letters adhered to the grille

Four hooks were screwed into the bottom of the grille as a place to hang my keys.  Mounted on the wall by my front door, it is a proud reminder of my previous car while serving both a functional and cosmetic purpose.

Key rack mounted on the wall

Holding the keys of the cars in my Swedish stable

Open to Breathe

I have always found it humorous that car manufacturers design cars with fake grilles.  If air is not passing through it, why make it look like a vent?

The C30 has two fake grilles which surround the fog lights.  While these make sense as covers for the light housings, I wanted to make them functional vents for added cooling.

Using nothing but a dremel tool, I carefully cut out the plastic between the grilles.

Custom fog grilles

Unlike the S40, the C30 had solid plastic behind the fake grilles.  Using a drill, I was able to remove that plastic panel to expose the ends of the front mounted intercooler.

Not only is this a cosmetic upgrade, but more air now passes along side the intercooler and oil pan.  Added ventilation and cooling is always a benefit, especially on a turbo'd car.

Maker Motorsports C30 Diffuser

As the co-founder of Maker Motorsports, we are always excited to see when customers creatively use our products in unique ways.  I myself have always attempted to make something that is different from what others have.

On my old S40, I took our standard S40 diffuser fins and mounted them on an additional bumper trim piece.  This was then bolted to my factory bumper, to give a clean aftermarket appearance.

Maker Motorsports S40 rear diffuser

On my new car, rather than just using the three fins included in the C30 package, I opted for a four fin set up. 

Maker Motorsports C30 rear diffuser

The standard T5 dual exhaust cutouts were widened to adapt my quad exhaust tips.

 

Quad exhaust tips

For anyone interested in purchasing their own diffuser fin set, they can be purchased online through the Maker Motorsports ebay store.

A Milestone and a Small Mark

Earlier this month, I passed the 100,000 mile mark. Of course, hitting 100k miles is pretty common for cars nowadays.  Even 200k miles is well within the life expectancy of a "modern" car.  But that doesn't make it any less special.

Immediately following this kodak moment, I mounted my Volvo Heritage Club badges.

Volvo Heritage Club Badges

The Volvo Heritage Club has replaced the traditional Volvo High Mileage Club.  While they continue to give badges for each major milestone, they now reward Volvo owners for their loyalty to the brand.  Because my family has owned at least one Volvo for the last ten years, we were able to apply for the "Ten Years" badge.


As I embark on a journey to reach 200k miles, I added a small tick mark to the top of my steering wheel.

Steering wheel marker

Originally used in race cars, the tick mark is visible in the driver's peripheral vision, making them aware of when the steering wheel is straight.  Some might consider this "modification" to be ricey, but it truly does make a difference during autocross events and even for daily driving.

Kinivo Bluetooth Aux Review

My 2008 C30 has one major advantage over my old 2004 S40, and that is the auxiliary input.  But let's face it... It's 2015 and no one uses aux inputs anymore; it's all about bluetooth now.

Though bluetooth was not an option for my model year, there are solutions.  After a little bit of research, I pulled the trigger on a Kinivo Bluetooth Aux unit.

The small little orb plugs into the 12 volt socket and aux in, then automatically connects to my phone and plays music and phone calls through the car's speaker.

Kinivo unit mounted to the center air vent

Of course, my installation was a little more involved since I prefer to hide all of my wiring.  The power was run to my 3-way splitter, while the aux-in was removed from the center console and hidden beneath the dash.

Factory aux in disconnected

As with any aftermarket handsfree device, phone calls sound like I'm yelling in a closet.  But I bought this for the music and I could not be more pleased.  The sound quality is just as clear as a normal auxiliary cable.  Two little buttons on the top of the device make changing tracks and answering phone calls easy; my phone never has to leave my pocket.

I have yet to discover something I do not like about this device.  For the price, the Kinivo is a must have item for any car that lacks factory bluetooth.

Feeling Blue in the New Year

As with most modifications to my C30, I am building it to be a little "race car" that pleases my boy-racer taste.  A lot of people will dislike the most recent alteration, but it is my car, not a crowd pleaser.

On New Year's day, I spent nearly 15 hours vinyl wrapping the java brown trim.  Admittedly, it's not perfect, but rarely does a vinyl wrapped car go without a few flaws.

Cosmic White and Bright Blue Metallic

 The Bright Blue Metallic vinyl is a product by Avery.  Up close, the metallic flake perfectly compliments the metallic flake in the Cosmic White paint.

Bright Blue Metallic and Cosmic White Metallic

Vinyl wrap is not just about changing the car's color or hiding imperfections in the paint.  It's about changing the style of the car for something completely unique; the subtle details are what cleanly finish off a wrap job.

Blue stripe continued into engine bay

Along with the wrapped trim, mirror caps, and stripe, I also painted my brake calipers to match.  These were finished off with white VOLVO decals placed along the faces.

Painted brake calipers to match

In my eagerness to share my work, I took pictures on a rainy / overcast day.  With the light reflecting off of the clouds, all angles were highlighted, making the vinyl look more turquoise than blue.  Below is a low quality iPhone picture, but it more accurately captures the dynamic color combination on a sunny day.

Colors on a sunny day