2004 s40 build audio/interior

Hendo22 · Post by **Hendo22** » 12 Mar 2018, 23:36

Hey guys, just wanted to share a project I’ve been working on. First off, this is my first Volvo and I recently bought it. My goal is to make the interior luxurious with high quality audio.

I have had a few mechanical issues I have fixed/replaced, I will touch on those later. First thing I did was take all the seats out and give it a good cleaning and look for things to be fixed.

The car had some nasty purple tint that I wanted off. It was so bad a few shops told me not to even try and they would charge me out the ass if I made them do it. So I did it myself and it turned out badass. Currently playing with tinting, I put new tin on the quarter glass a few nights ago, seen in pic. Wish I had a pic of the rear glass but I don’t.

Next thing was to strip the entire rear end and deck to reupholster. I lined the panels with sound deadening material starting from the back to front. FYI this is by far the worst part of the build so far.

Lining the material is extremely time consuming, the cleaning process needs to be pretty perfect. HVAC tape is used over the edges to make everything nice and pretty. I got as much of the exterior panels as I could and also added foam to insulate more.

Cleaned up all the wiring with felt tape, replaced all harness clips, backed the trunk trim in 1/4” foam. Took the deadening rubber all the way up to the rear seats.

Will update more tomorrow. Currently almost finished with the rear deck upholstery and have installed the rear deck speakers. Had to mount the speakers pretty tricked out because the factory ones are very unique.

Hope some of y’all find this build interesting!

Post by **alschnertz** » 14 Mar 2018, 01:39

Nice work.
You may consider redoing the headliner while everything is out.

Mine started falling down about 2 years ago and I hate looking at it.
I've done headliners before on other Volvos. It's not easy, but is very rewarding if it comes out nice.
I won't be redoing it on this '01 though as rust will likely kill it in a few short years.

Hendo22 · Post by **Hendo22** » 15 Mar 2018, 09:21

Little update on where I’m at:

Finished lining the entire trunk and rear seating area and adding foam to the trunk covers. I’ll add more photos of that later, nothing too special. Here’s the fun stuff, I already have the headliner out waiting to upholster it. Here is what I did to the rear deck cover and custom speaker grills:

Right now I am working on tinting the windows and installing the speakers/lining to the doors. More fun to come!

QUARKS40 · Post by **QUARKS40** » 18 Mar 2018, 21:18

Nice work on the rear deck, my compliments. Just a thought. The rear seat armrest/cup holder can be turned into a nice speaker cabinet for a small sub or pair of small subs. Something on the DL. Think a pair of Focal 13WS or a pair of Kicker CWRT671. Bassbox pro can give you the right dimensions for the enclosure and port sizes - or go infinite baffle.
Quality sound doesn't need to be high decibel. And the way you have the car insulated, 100W/ch should be more than sufficient.
Something else to keep in mind: Alternators for these Volvos don't come in high current capacity. I know, I've looked. Adding 1 Farad capacitors can help augment the power grid, but charging them will take a toll on the battery/alternator.
What speakers are you using in the rear deck?
What material is covering the rear deck?

JenniferWatts · Post by **JenniferWatts** » 31 Mar 2018, 00:12

Nice work done buddy.

Hendo22 · Post by **Hendo22** » 05 Apr 2018, 00:22

Just a little update here, mostly on work around the engine and a few more pics of the interior.

So I had a small leak I originally believed to be the exhaust cam seal, upon further inspection the timing had actually jumped a tooth and the timing belt tensioner had broken. The leak was NOT the seal, or the tiny o-ring I had seen in other forums suggesting. Simply replacing the cvvt phaser/solenoid gasket did the trick for the leak. I went ahead and installed a timing belt kit which included a water pump for only $20 more... WARNING: if you replace a water pump make sure to get the gasket from a Volvo dealer, only $12. The gasket that came with the kit was junk and leaked the second I added coolant. Anyways... rolled back the exhaust cam one tooth, which will rotate clockwise once you remove the belt throwing off the time horribly if you don’t notice it, and the motor is running like new. Message me if anyone needs help with timing, the “time” I put in can answer any questions. The tensioner pulleys on these are quite different than others depending on your year.
Other replacements:
FPR
Fuel filter
Injector cleaning/o ring replacement
Spark plugs
Serpentine belt
Cabin filter/air filter
MAP sensor
IAC module

Speaker/tint install:
Focal 165 2way in the rear deck
Focal 130 components in the front (tweeter in the dash, woofer in the door)
20% tint on front windows
15% tint on rear - I ordered this with lexen and didn’t realize their tint comes with a blue (I say green) tint to it so they gave me a half refund and I will redo the rear this weekend.

I have finished the front of the car and the rear deck but I’ll have to post pics later. I reupholstered the small door panel inserts with a brown suede fabric and painted my speaker covers back. Lined the exterior/interior door panels with more sound mat, gotta day I’m super impressed with how much this stuff can quiet your car from road noise.

Some pics:
This is my “helper”

I’ll take more pics but I replaced all of the door control LEDS, tedious but worth it.

I promise to take more updated pics, here is the rear window tint I installed, and half of the progress of a door panel. JL Audio XD400 4x2 amp to be installed this weekend!

Hendo22 · Post by **Hendo22** » 05 Apr 2018, 00:34

QUARKS40 wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 21:18 Nice work on the rear deck, my compliments. Just a thought. The rear seat armrest/cup holder can be turned into a nice speaker cabinet for a small sub or pair of small subs. Something on the DL. Think a pair of Focal 13WS or a pair of Kicker CWRT671. Bassbox pro can give you the right dimensions for the enclosure and port sizes - or go infinite baffle.
Quality sound doesn't need to be high decibel. And the way you have the car insulated, 100W/ch should be more than sufficient.
Something else to keep in mind: Alternators for these Volvos don't come in high current capacity. I know, I've looked. Adding 1 Farad capacitors can help augment the power grid, but charging them will take a toll on the battery/alternator.
What speakers are you using in the rear deck?
What material is covering the rear deck?

Focal 165 2 way for rear deck
Focal 130 components (tweeter in dash, woofer in door)
I just got my amp in, it’s a JL Audio xd400 4v2 and it’s been years since I’ve messed with a car amp. These things have came a long way.

Question: I’m floating the idea of running a second batter in series in the trunk, or getting a better alternator. Don’t know much about capacitors besides the general function. What do you think after the amp install?

Also, loving the focals but I think I need to add a small sub somewhere. Might just run it from the pioneer head unit I installed instead of adding another mono amp to power it. Bass isn’t a big concern for me.