tooSavvy Posted March 10 Posted March 10 25 minutes ago, hairnet said: did you take off the roof rack yet needs v8 Yes... And YESS! 🤣 Epic 👍 🚙💨 captain_70s 1
N19 Posted March 10 Posted March 10 Congratulations on the house purchase. I'm hoping to try a similar thing in the next few months. Regarding the shelving-unit-cum-workbench, what I've done with mine and suggest, is a bit of thick 18mm ply screwed in place of the chipboard-style shelf on the top (I think I have two screwed together in place). I've then got a bit of angle screwed on the edge to give something to fix to. It does mean that it's pretty sturdy for bashing or cutting things against. captain_70s 1
captain_70s Posted March 10 Author Posted March 10 On 09/03/2026 at 19:55, rusty_vw_man said: Shit running, poor brakes and hissing vacuum servo could well be related. I had a T25 which developed a leaky master cylinder, but it leaked into the servo. The brake fluid didn’t agree with the servo pipe work and one way valve, of the servo diaphragm. This meant everything ended up more porous than ideal, so the engine effectively had a massive air leak, the brakes often lost pressure without any obvious leaks and it was all a bit shit but looked fine. Suspect your running may be more down to lack of vacuum advance so that it’s too retarded under some running conditions, but thought I’d mention the servo as symptoms are similar and I don’t find it until the brake fluid started dripping out the servo! So, we disconnected and plugged the servo hose, as that was a pretty big suspect, to no effect. It definitely runs better without the vac advance (retard?) disconnected and plugged. The timing light showed we were getting above 30 degrees at 1,500rpm with just the weights, significantly more than the book figures, but around 8 degrees at idle, a touch too retarded. It also jumps around a lot once you get to that sort of rpm. I'll need to work out exactly what dizzy is fitted and give it a prod. Today I gave it a level one tidy and polished off the rust stains with T-Cut. I find the neighbours appreciate the cherished classic car look over the Onlow-esque driveway... I then got the interior lights working by sanding all the contacts inside the fittings. Then I moved on to the numberplate lights. These were completely full of gunk but even after cleaning and sanding we had nothing so I went digging. So, there is no power to the bootlid at all. There aren't even any connected wires going between the car and bootlid. There are, however, the remains of wiring coming up under both hinges and a single yellow wire going through the, presumably factory, grommet on the right hand side. All the factory wiring seems to be absent or spliced and there were random bare wires just hanging about that were live! No wonder trying the rear wiper blows the fuse... There is also a load of old wiring which I think/hope is for speakers kicking about to confuse matters further. It looks like somebody started trying to rewire stuff fairly recently and then gave up as the yellow wire (the only wire between the car and bootlid) showed no signs of ever having had connectors, and there a few random lengths of recent looking wire going through the bootlid but not connected to anything. I've found a random bare wire which seems to go live with the lights, so will hijack that for the number plate lights until I fancy rewiring everything from scratch. scdan4, rob88h, vtec-e and 18 others 21
captain_70s Posted March 10 Author Posted March 10 On 09/03/2026 at 19:55, rusty_vw_man said: Shit running, poor brakes and hissing vacuum servo could well be related. I had a T25 which developed a leaky master cylinder, but it leaked into the servo. The brake fluid didn’t agree with the servo pipe work and one way valve, of the servo diaphragm. This meant everything ended up more porous than ideal, so the engine effectively had a massive air leak, the brakes often lost pressure without any obvious leaks and it was all a bit shit but looked fine. Suspect your running may be more down to lack of vacuum advance so that it’s too retarded under some running conditions, but thought I’d mention the servo as symptoms are similar and I don’t find it until the brake fluid started dripping out the servo! So, we disconnected and plugged the servo hose, as that was a pretty big suspect, to no effect. It definitely runs better without the vac advance (retard?) disconnected and plugged. The timing light showed we were getting above 30 degrees at 1,500rpm with just the weights, significantly more than the book figures, but around 8 degrees at idle, a touch too retarded. It also jumps around a lot once you get to that sort of rpm. I'll need to work out exactly what dizzy is fitted and give it a prod. Today I gave it a level one tidy and polished off the rust stains with T-Cut. I find the neighbours appreciate the cherished classic car look over the Onlow-esque driveway... I then got the interior lights working by sanding all the contacts inside the fittings. Then I moved on to the numberplate lights. These were completely full of gunk but even after cleaning and sanding we had nothing so I went digging. So, there is no power to the bootlid at all. There aren't even any connected wires going between the car and bootlid. There are, however, the remains of wiring coming up under both hinges and a single yellow wire going through the, presumably factory, grommet on the right hand side. All the factory wiring seems to be absent or spliced and there were random bare wires just hanging about that were live! No wonder trying the rear wiper blows the fuse... There is also a load of old wiring which I think/hope is for speakers kicking about to confuse matters further. It looks like somebody started trying to rewire stuff fairly recently and then gave up as the yellow wire (the only wire between the car and bootlid) showed no signs of ever having had connectors, and there a few random lengths of recent looking wire going through the bootlid but not connected to anything. I've found a random bare wire which seems to go live with the lights, so will hijack that for the number plate lights until I fancy rewiring everything from scratch. N19, Shite Ron, leakingstrut and 15 others 18
High Jetter Posted March 10 Posted March 10 Ooh, you have neighbours? Not a great Volvo licker but ?B12 is akin to BMC A and B series? Simples and sturdey captain_70s 1
neil72 Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Great to see this getting some love, it was quite a well known car in E.London, here it is in 2022 when i last snapped it N19, AnnoyingPentium, GrumpiusMaximus and 16 others 19
captain_70s Posted March 11 Author Posted March 11 Let's pretend we never saw this... A few connectors and a bit of wire later we have numberplate lights, fed by the random 12v feed coming up through the boot lid hinge. Presumably this is what that wire was intend for given it goes live with the lights. God knows how it wasn't shorting out all the time... A visit to my top secret storage facility was up next. Also trimmed back the brambles and trees... Deposited the spare bits I'll not be needing imminently. Filling up! Speaking of filling up, I brimmed the tank again and realised it was pouring out of the hole in the boot floor for the tow bar electrics. Seems to be leaking somehow at the top of the tank. Presumably the fuel sender or filling hose. It stopped leaking but the gauge is only showing 3/4, so that might explain the 18mpg on the collection mission... I also reinstated some missing fasteners for the front grille, headlights and interior so it feels a bit less likely to fall to bits on the road! Yoss, RoadworkUK, Scruffy Bodger and 33 others 36
N19 Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Was the collection mission from London to Scotland? That's fairly impressive! captain_70s, Weird Car, High Jetter and 1 other 2 2
Wibble Posted March 11 Posted March 11 2 minutes ago, N19 said: Was the collection mission from London to Scotland? That's fairly impressive! Portsmouth to Scotland, very impressive! N19, captain_70s, N Dentressangle and 3 others 4 2
captain_70s Posted March 12 Author Posted March 12 12 hours ago, N19 said: Was the collection mission from London to Scotland? That's fairly impressive! 12 hours ago, Wibble said: Portsmouth to Scotland, very impressive! Yah, thread is HERE! N19 1
Sheefag Posted March 15 Posted March 15 I can think of a more sympathetic conversion:- Meet The Owner - Tim Rose And His Volvo 145 Express chadders and captain_70s 2
captain_70s Posted March 18 Author Posted March 18 A bit of faffing carried out today. Started with scrubbing the interior... I'm going to say it is... Less bad... I also got brave... The sunroof seems to open/close alright aside from the dried out grease. It was made by the same Allard that made cars in the 1940s and 50s, was a new design for 1972 and would have cost £88.25 It is largely constructed around an ash frame, an ash frame that has largely ceased to exist on my car from the small areas I could get a glimpse of. I wasn't keen on taking out the million self tappers that are barely clinging on to anything. I'm not really sure what is to stop water ingress other than the soft top theoretically sitting tight against the roof. There weren't any conventional water channels or drains like you'd get on a modern cassette style sunroof. Speaking of water ingress I made some holes. This corner of the inner front wheel arch was packed with rusty mud and will provide unwanted ventilation and water to my knees. The water can at least get out via a nice hole in the floor just ahead of the front jacking point... The tubs either side of the boot floor are holed, as are the sills. Largely seems to be due to drains having been blocked/undersealed and the car having spent a long time filling with water and rotting from the inside out. Speaking of the tubs either side of the boot, the fact they were body coloured (as well as the sides of the tow bar) was infuriating me. It made the back of the car look like it had a blue ball sack. So I fixed it. I bought a rattle can to see if I could get the car looking a bit nicer from 20 yards but it was a comically bad match. Photos flatter it. The car has a slight green tinge to it, the paint was closer to lilac... I also got the exhaust fitted together a bit better than tape was allowing. Irritatingly my guesstimate of the pipe diameter was 1/4" too big so another clamp is en route... There was also what I thought was a catcher, for if the exhaust fell off. Turned out it was actually an exhaust clamp clinging on to the gearbox by one nut. I tried to bodge it but the threads had rotted away so it couldn't be tightened. New ones are on the way. The exhaust is supported by a comical number of random loose jubilee clamps and cable ties. I backed the ignition timing off as far as I could while still getting it to idle but at 2,500rpm it is still way too advanced. A quick spin around the block found it was still most unhappy. Upon returning and shutting the engine off the second carb overflowed a load of petrol and the car promptly vapour locked. Then the starter motor got stuck again... The front left brake was also binding hard, and the rear right wasn't far behind. At least it still looks nice on the driveway... Shite Ron, Sheefag, GrumpiusMaximus and 27 others 30
Zelandeth Posted March 18 Posted March 18 Hmm, diagonally opposed brakes binding together sounds like it may be hydraulic issues - try popping a bleeder on one of those wheels and see if it frees off. If it does it's a hydraulic issue rather than things being physically seized up. Yes, I rebuilt four calipers only to discover the problem was still there and the master cylinder was at fault once. To say I was "annoyed" was an understatement. Changing the master cylinder would have been both far easier (as I wound up having to remake half the hard lines as they wouldn't unscrew from the calipers) and about a quarter of the price! N Dentressangle and captain_70s 2
Angrydicky Posted March 19 Posted March 19 It might just be neglect/seized caliper/cylinder though. Looks pretty good (if you ignore the scabby bits) and well done for making the trip back home in it, that’s hardcore shiter level stuff. captain_70s and N Dentressangle 2
captain_70s Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 It has the classic Volvo multi-circuit system so in theory if a hose goes pop it should still have 3 working brakes. I'm not entirely sure how this works in reverse, I.e., if there is a hydraulic issue on one line could it affect another? It could be a few things, tired calipers, collapsed flexis, seized handbrake mech in the case of the rear. Ironically I can't have a look because my other Volvo is using all my axle stands due to me giving up on brake repairs 3 months ago... I really should bleed that system and throw it back at the MOT station so it can be sold and free up some space (both physical and head). The Dolly also needs dragging out of winter hibernation*. *Hibernation in this case being dumped at the back of the driveway where it can grow moss and the tyres can go flat... Shite Ron, CaptainBoom, GrumpiusMaximus and 19 others 22
N Dentressangle Posted March 19 Posted March 19 Good progress - you're at that stage where the number of jobs seem overwhelming, but one by one you're chipping away at them. The discoloured sun visor might respond well to G101 or something equally bleachy - that's what I'd try, anyway. Oh, and you can never have too many axle stands 😉 Buy more captain_70s 1
danthecapriman Posted March 19 Posted March 19 Does the sunroof leak? It looks like it has been at some stage looking at the water staining and mould like stuff on it. I used ordinary household cream cleaner like Cif (or Jif as it used to be) to clean a lot of bits on my old crocks interiors. My Capri’s sun visors looked absolutely rancid and yellow from decades of nicotine and it cleaned them up well. Gets rid of the smell too. It cleaned all the mould and filth of the entire interior of the Volvo too when I got that. Must’ve used a whole bottle on that one job!😄 captain_70s 1
High Jetter Posted March 19 Posted March 19 https://cpc.farnell.com/ambersil/190010000/multi-surface-polish-400ml/dp/SA190010000?st=hard surface cleaner aerosol Great stuff danthecapriman and captain_70s 1 1
danthecapriman Posted March 20 Posted March 20 13 hours ago, High Jetter said: https://cpc.farnell.com/ambersil/190010000/multi-surface-polish-400ml/dp/SA190010000?st=hard surface cleaner aerosol Great stuff We used to get that in at work. It is great stuff. Ambersil glass cleaner is good too.
captain_70s Posted Wednesday at 00:16 Author Posted Wednesday at 00:16 On 19/03/2026 at 20:19, danthecapriman said: Does the sunroof leak? It looks like it has been at some stage looking at the water staining and mould like stuff on it. It doesn't drip on my head but water pours down the A pillars into the passenger footwell when it rains. So something is leaking... Cheers for advice on cleaning products guys. So far it has just been hot water. Further fuckery: So. Checked the dizzy. Correct for the engine. Upside down because reasons. Checked carb tag. The result? Morris Minor HS2. What are fitted are twin HS6s, so that's irrelevant and the carbs remain unknown. They lack the vac port below the butterfly (as noted by @juular), so aren't for a Volvo B20 engine. Changed out the fuel lines from pump to carb and between float bowls as they weren't looking great. Then the fuel pump started leaking. I found all the screws holding it together were inexplicably hand tight. I also set the valve clearances. Tried to work out what this was for (except seemingly getting very hot...) It isn't live, thankfully. I suspect it was for the front spot/fog lights that are no longer fitted. I also removed and straightened the steering wheel while I was there, as where it was sitting blocked the speedo between 20-40mph. This hurts my soul. Evidence of NOS doors. An oil filter and thermostat turned up but have yet to be applied. A better match of rattle can also turned up, although the paint is thin... Then the starter motor stopped responding to being hit by a hammer... Removing it was great fun. Not in the least trying to find a bit of car suitable for jacking the car up and supporting it. I could move the NSF jacking point a half inch up into the floor (mostly underseal and carpet) just by pressing it with my fingers... Attacked the commutator and bushes with 2000 grit, reassembled and hit it with a black rattle can to show it has been professionally restored. Meanwhile the 740 got the brakes bled and some bodgery to the exhaust and was set back down on its wheels for the first time in months... This actually happened first, as I needed the axle stands for the 145. The bushes I fitted to the ARB 3 months ago are doing great*. After a few batteries had been treated to some overnight action on the dumb charger it was time to shuffle the fleet... A lot of effort to achieve not much... Surface Rust, Dyslexic Viking, danthecapriman and 16 others 19
Spiny Norman Posted Wednesday at 01:34 Posted Wednesday at 01:34 Excellent work. Years ago during a freezing winter I had a late 60s B20 twin SU carbed Volvo, a late 70s Vauxhall with a straight 6 and an autochoke, and a late 90s Rover with all the modern developments you might expect from such an era. The Volvo was the only one that would start reliably, hot or cold, choke out, turn the key and Vrooooom! :p mk2_craig and captain_70s 2
captain_70s Posted Wednesday at 08:01 Author Posted Wednesday at 08:01 6 hours ago, Spiny Norman said: The Volvo was the only one that would start reliably, hot or cold, choke out, turn the key and Vrooooom! :p I'd like to think I'll be able to get mine to do that, although @Weird Car did point out to me when selling that the car was cursed and I'm not entirely inclined to disagree...
Weird Car Posted Wednesday at 08:39 Posted Wednesday at 08:39 36 minutes ago, captain_70s said: I'd like to think I'll be able to get mine to do that, although @Weird Car did point out to me when selling that the car was cursed and I'm not entirely inclined to disagree... Definitely either cursed or haunted by the Great Ghost of unreliable cars I don’t think a single owner going back to that chap in London had much luck with it
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