Project Volvo 740, interior headlining finished! Pg 23.

[cms206]

Floor trays came in black, grey, red, tan, green and blue in the 700 IIRC Mrs6C.

 

The armrest cupholders are something I would dearly love for my 740s; my "new" 850 has them, but they're an utter pain in the arse 'cos the 850's electric window controls are next to the handbrake.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Shep Shepherd]

I fitted an armrest with cupholders to The Volvo in 2004, after liberating it from a scrapped 960, However, I couldn't get on with its shape and size and never actually used the cupholders for their intended purpose (I don't like to eat and drink in my cars), so after a few months I removed it and flogged on eBay for far more than I paid for it.

[danthecapriman]

It’s now just under a month from MOT time for this. Doesn’t seem like a year ago since I did all the welding and other repairs!

Now the snow has all pissed off and temperatures are a bit more bearable I’ve had a quick look over the car and the only potential fail item I’ve found is the passenger front door not opening from outside.

The handle has always been a bit sticky but more recently it’s been a real bitch to actually open. You have to pull the handle really hard and jolt the door to get it to open.

These cars seem to suffer a bit from this issue, my old saloon did it and I’ve fixed another estate one years ago in the garage.

The outside handle mechanism has a little arm that lifts the latch rod up or down inside the door, with old age this arm can start to bend and eventually snaps off. Mine has got to the stage of bending since the door will sometimes open.

The new handle was a new non original Swedish made replacement, £15 off eBay.

 

First job was to strip the door interior trim off.

 

 

 

 

Note the broken trim for around the door handle! Good a time as any to replace this for the good ones I got from America.

 

Next was to remove the outside handle. Simple, one 10mm bolt inside the door, one in the end of the door shut area and a screw just above it. Then twist the handle to slide it off the latch pin.

 

 

Old and new side by side and you can see the damaged arm on the old handle.

 

While everything was in bits I’ve cleaned around the holes in the door under the handle, re greased the window mechanism and handle mechanism, cleaned out the dirt and crud from the inside of the door bottom then given that a good coat of Dynax S50 cavity wax to keep corrosion at bay. There’s non whatsoever yet but I figured it was a good idea to try keeping it like that!

[danthecapriman]

 

Plenty of wax all over the door bottom, I’ve payed particular attention to the bottom corners. Future proofing!

 

Next was reassembly. This is where it gets awkward as the new handle has to go back in through the holes at an angle while trying to force the latch pin back through the hole in the handle. It’s incredibly tight but it will go. Eventually! You’ve just got to be careful you don’t break or bend the new part doing it or scratch your paintwork.

 

 

Tested and working perfectly. I went a bit over the top again with this by packing grease into all the moving parts of the new handle just to stop wear or corrosion and I’ve also greased the retaining bolts threads to prevent seizure.

 

Then build up the door interior trim.

 

 

 

The new US sourced trim looks a million times better than that broken old part. They’re incredibly brittle though so need care when refitting.

 

Here’s another pic of the old handle with the arm being forced down to show how they fail.

 

[danthecapriman]

Just need to fit the new interior handle trim on the drivers side at some point as that’s smashed too. That side will need the vinyl fabric glueing back down though as it’s come away from the door card which might cause the new plastic handle trim to get broken again. I think a bit of impact adhesive should hold it down.

 

Finally have a pic from the other day when it started snowing!

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

for £15 why not get a new handle for drivers door for when you pull it appart and futureproof it a little

[danthecapriman]

for £15 why not get a new handle for drivers door for when you pull it appart and futureproof it a little

I ‘might’ get another three new ones, change them all so they all look new and fresh.

There’s a chrome version of this handle too which I was going to get a set of 4 of but they cost a bit more so I’ve just gone for a single black one to fix the problem for the MOT.

[AndySnapper]

This car is just getting better and better Dan.

 

Excellent work and hope it scampers through the MOT 

 

Andy

[Noel Tidybeard]

ooooh chrome = shiney

[danthecapriman]

ooooh chrome = shiney

My thoughts exactly!

[danthecapriman]

Just given this a really good wash. It’d got quite dirty last time I used it taking the Capri’s gearbox and other bits and bobs down the back lanes to where it’s being worked on. It was pissing down and the lanes were very muddy. I wanted to polish it too but the weathers a bit pants today so I did a bucket of normal car shampoo and mixed a good squirt of Autoglym resin polish in with the shampoo and did it that way! Not as good as doing it properly but it works well enough!

Looks much better now. I’ve given the wheels a good wash and wax too, polished the interior with trim shine and cleaned all the glass.

 

Naturally it’s just started raining now I’ve finished!

 

I’ve also changed the sidelight bulb on the side that had a dim light. The bulb had actually gone black inside but somehow was still working.

 

MOT day on Wednesday. Exactly one year from the previous one. Fingers crossed...

[danthecapriman]

MOT achieved!

 

Only issue found was the fog light not working. Sounds simple enough.

Yeah right! It seems that power was getting to the switch ok but not the light itself. Investigation revealed this was down to whoever fitted this cars tow bar. The wiring alterations were a right mess and at some stage someone had added a fog light connection into the new tow bar wiring! God knows how/why.

 

Long story short, it’s now working again as it should and I’ve got an MOT again.

However, doing this has caused the sodding bulb fail warning light to illuminate every time the brake pedal is pressed despite there being no fault!

I’d cured this last year by cleaning the light contacts and putting new identical pair of bulbs in but very occasionally the bulb fail warning light would still flicker on then off. Now it stays on until you take your foot off the brake. Bloody irritating!

So to try and fix this once and for all I’ve ordered a brand new bulb fail warning relay. They aren’t cheap (£50) or particularly easy to get, it’s coming from Germany, but I can only think the original relays internal coils have become damaged or loose and are not sensing the circuit imbalance and it’s detecting a fault when in fact there isn’t one at all.

If that doesn’t cure this then it can fuck off! I’ll take the instrument binnacle out, put a piece of black insulation tape over the warning light hole to blank it off and put it back! Sod it.

There is no fault and all the lights are working fully so if the relay doesn’t fix this then it’s likely just an ‘old car glitch’ and I’ll blank it off so it doesn’t piss me off displaying amber warning lights every time the brakes are used.

 

I’ve also ordered a pair of brand new genuine Volvo estate rear window trim rubbers and clips to replace the damaged one on the drivers side. The old one has come loose at one end and flaps around a bit in the wind when driving, which also pisses me off! So that can get fixed too.

 

 

Fingers crossed the new relay does the job.

[danthecapriman]

Just had a parts drop from Germania.

 

 

New lamp fail relay, rocker cover gasket, pair new estate window rubbers with new clips and glue, and a couple of genuine oil filters while I was at it!

Should give me something to do.

 

The lamp fail relay I’ll keep in the car as a backup. Since the MOT and resulting bulb fail warning light issue I’ve resoldered a connection inside the old lamp fail relay which so far appears to have cured the problem. Weather it’ll remain working or another part of it will fail I don’t know but at least I have a brand new replacement if I need it.

 

Next job will be to replace the estate window rubbers. Both are a bit tired and one has the end curling up where the glue has failed. The wind gets under it and peels it away when driving now which annoys me. They look pretty simple to do...

And one other fault has come to light, one of the compartments under the boot floor has been getting wet. Tracing the water marks back it’s coming from a tiny gap in the rear light cluster seals. I’ll see if I can get a new seal or if not just some black instant gasket or something should sort it out.

[Shirley Knott]

Just spent a merry hour reading through this little lot with my morning coffee

 

The car looks great, I much prefer the more classic look of the 740's vs the 940 models. Hats off to you for the work you've done and time you've invested in it.

[mat_the_cat]

Investigation revealed this was down to whoever fitted this cars tow bar. The wiring alterations were a right mess and at some stage someone had added a fog light connection into the new tow bar wiring! God knows how/why.

 

Some tow bar sockets have a switch built into them, to disable the car's rear fog lights when you are towing. The logic is to prevent distracting reflections from the trailer when you have the fog lights on, but given the amount of times you actually (should!) use them, it seems like introducing a new potential failure point for very limited benefit.

[danthecapriman]

It’s been a while since any updates on this. Though that’s because there’s not been much to update! It’s been spot on, not missed a beat and done whatever I’ve needed it to do.

 

However recently an old enemy has returned.

I walked past the car yesterday and noticed this on the load area cover.

 

 

Fucking water!

It’s been pissing down a lot recently and it’s getting in somewhere around the boot area. Further investigation revealed a tiny drip about halfway along the load area side window coming from under the plastic trim along the roof inside.

There’s nothing there that can possibly leak so the water must be getting in somewhere at the tailgate and running along behind the plastic trim before dripping down onto the load area cover.

So YET AGAIN I’ve got to remove the old very brittle plastic interior trims!

I hate doing this as there’s a very real prospect of breaking or shattering them taking it all down.

So, I’ve removed the side trim and the one above the tailgate opening which showed a rusty mark and rusty water staining on the inside of the roof above the tailgate opening.

 

 

It’s not gone through and there’s no sign of it whatsoever from outside the car in the tailgate shut area either so it’s not that that’s causing the leak but this is clearly where the water has been gathering before dripping down elsewhere.

I’ve tried sitting inside the boot with a torch and having someone else pour water over the car in this area while I look for leaks which didn’t show much either. It must be a very slow leak.

After much poking around and looking inside the framework inside the roof panels I can see a water mark running down from the very top corner of the boot/roof. On the outside of the car in this area are plastic trims which cover the panel join between roof skin and rear pillar...

Took the plastic trim off and all I’ve found is a line of seam sealer at the join. This has gone extremely hard and started splitting which I think is where the water is getting in. This bit is where the water from the roof is directed into the gutters or down the tailgate shut area drains so can become quite wet!

 

Here it is after scraping the shitty old seam sealer out.

 

 

I’ve cleaned it all up and applied a bead of new sealer, forcing it into the seam and smoothing it off. You can’t see this anyway once the plastic trim is back on but once it’s dry I’ll paint it body colour. The leak was only on one side but I’ve also done the same thing to the other side (which was also cracking and probably wasn’t far off leaking itself). I’ve also repainted the two plastic trims as they looked a mess.

 

Once everything is dry I’ll reassemble and see what happens. Typically it’s just started pissing down again!

[danthecapriman]

Rains stopped and it’s sunny again. Seam sealer has gone hard so I’ve painted it body colour. I’ve got a tin of the right colour paint so just painted it on with a modelling brush. It’s under the plastic trim anyway so you’ll never see it.

 

 

 

 

While that goes off I’ve sprayed the inside cavities of the rear roof section of the car with Dynax S50 cavity wax. Thought I might aswell since everything is in bits and it should help protect things inside. I’ve done this everywhere else as I’ve worked my way around the car.

Also aerosol painted the plastic trims for the rear roof/gutters. They looked absolutely shit before tbh, peeling paint and bare plastic showing through so I’ve rubbed them down, cleaned them up and sprayed them, primer, two coats of green-blue metallic and a coat of clear lacquer. Once that’s gone off (currently sat in front of a heater!) they can go back on with two new screws I found in my tool box to replace the rusty old ones.

The rusty blob inside the roof has also been wire brushed down and given a coat of rust converter.

[danthecapriman]

Just starting to get dark now but I’ve reassembled the interior and refitted the newly painted plastic trims to the roof. I’ve sealed the retaining screws too by dipping the threads in the tin of seam sealer then winding them in which should rule that out too.

Looks much better now but I’ll just have to wait until it rains again before I’ll know if this has fixed the leak, which I’m sure will be soon. Fingers crossed!

 

 

[AndySnapper]

Very nice work Dan! Hope you have stopped it now.

[Shirley Knott]

Fingers crossed for you mate! I lost alot of sleep over my soggy 940 over the summer, tracking down water ingress is a right pain.

[Shep Shepherd]

That's an area to watch on The Volvo, which is thankfully still water leak-free.

[danthecapriman]

That's an area to watch on The Volvo, which is thankfully still water leak-free.

Yeah yeah, stop rubbing it in!

I think it’s old age and probably this car being a dark colour that makes the old seam sealer degrade and crack. In the summer the roof got very very hot. I suppose after 30 years of that and cold and wet it’s just finally failed.

 

This 740 has actually been one of the most leak prone cars I’ve ever had! It’s a good job these cars are fairly rust resistant.

[danthecapriman]

Got the Volvo it’s Xmas pressie today!

 

 

Nice brand new pair of tail lights.

There’s not much actually wrong with the old two but there’s a few faint age related cracks and crazing on them and they just look a bit grubby and old. One of them could do with a new seal too so I thought sod it!

 

I’ll have to give the heater matrix a flush out this weekend too. The colder weather recently has shown the heater to have become quite shit recently. I think it’s down to the stop leak crap someone had put into the coolant when I got the car and it’s gradually bunged up the matrix.

I’m surprised tbh as I’ve flushed the entire system a few times and changed the coolant twice since too.

 

Any suggestions what best to use?

I’m thinking of pulling both in/out heater hoses and filling the matrix with rad flush or cheap coke etc and letting it sit in there for a few hours then try flushing and back flushing it all out.

[clayts450]

Isn't the default answer to this question always bung a Renault 5 in-line thermostat in the top hose ?

 

Believe it or not this is the advice I got on the PT Cruiser Facefart group (Cruiser Diesels have rubbish heaters) and it's only blooming true an' all... nice little job for the weekend

[Shep Shepherd]

White vinegar, Cilit Bang or kettle descaler?

[danthecapriman]

White vinegar, Cilit Bang or kettle descaler?

I’ve just had a quick look under the sink...

We have white vinegar, tile cleaner (lots of warning signs on bottle! And contains vinegar) and possibly some sink and drain cleaner. Will any of this stuff corrode or damage the matrix?

I’m loathe to have to change that!

[N Dentressangle]

I've used rad flush (Holts or similar, I think) previously.

 

It's fetched out a lot more gunge than my simple backflushing has done, so I'd probably give it a go. Won't do any harm, anyway.

[danthecapriman]

I've used rad flush (Holts or similar, I think) previously.

 

It's fetched out a lot more gunge than my simple backflushing has done, so I'd probably give it a go. Won't do any harm, anyway.

I’ve got a bottle of the Holts flush stuff in the shed. Trouble is, if the matrix is blocked adding it to the system and running the engine, as it says on the bottle, won’t work as the coolant can’t flow through the matrix as it is now.

Do you reckon it’d work by just pouring it into the heater directly down the pipes from the engine bay? Or does it have to be hot and pumped around?

 

I’m sure someone on here had a similar issue and unfucked it by pouring cheap cola or something down the pipes and letting it sit in the matrix for a while before flushing it out. Or am I imagining it?!

[N Dentressangle]

I would just chuck the rad flush in as normal and follow the instructions.

 

I think I gave mine a good 300 miles with the stuff in the system, and the gunge which came out was impressive, even after it had been backflushed before I used it.

[Ghosty]

Are those the Depo replacement clusters? 

 

I found them to be a good quality lens and a good fit - both my 740 and 850 have had replacement lenses from them. I'd recommend a bit of silicone around the tops of them to prevent water ingress.