Project Volvo 740, interior headlining finished! Pg 23.

[Timewaster]

Good idea. Fiver from the scrappy?

[Sir Snipes]

I totally removed The Volvo's headlight wash-wipe system in 2006, as it never worked and the wipers kept snagging me when I cleaned the car:

 

DHhWuvgXYAAiE8S.jpg

 

The Volvo, in the rain, ten minutes ago.

 

Personally, I think the 1989-1992 740 looks a lot better without headlight wipers.

 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

[cobblers]

I have taped up the ends and joins just to stop any damp getting in, might be a bit over the top but sod it!

Not over the top at all, TBH you'd be as well carrying on the tape down onto the wire, otherwise water will get up the back of there too. Those connectors really aren't up to keeping any water out. They'll do the trick if you keep them dry though, I've just done basically the same on my Talbot headlights but I used some adhesive lined heatshrink to keep the elements out.

[danthecapriman]

Not over the top at all, TBH you'd be as well carrying on the tape down onto the wire, otherwise water will get up the back of there too. Those connectors really aren't up to keeping any water out. They'll do the trick if you keep end dry though, I've just done basically the same on my Talbot headlights but I used some adhesive lined heatshrink to keep the elements.

I'm glad you agree, as I've just spent ages taping up the entire headlight/front end loom! It looks very tidy now and it's certainly water proof!

 

If I'm taping up the loom then that must mean I'm done right?

 

IMG_0657 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0658 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

 

Let there be light!

 

IMG_0660 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0661 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

All done, all working, all legal(ish!).

The second side was easy now I'd already done one so went very well. Everything's aligned with the wing and grill.

While it was all apart I've cleaned out the front end behind the grill and sprayed cavity wax all over the front crossmember below the radiator. I also used some paraffin wipes to degrease the passenger side inner wing as the air filter box etc was out. I've also scooped out all the dead leaves etc out from around the washer bottle. Best to be thorough!

 

Must say, I think it looks awesome! I really love the style and look of these over the Euro ones.

All that's left is to sort the extra plugs for the second inner full beam lights, and I ran out of amber bulbs for the indicators! One is fine but the passenger side one has started flaking its orange colouring off and is showing white light which will fail the MOT but I'll have a new one next week some time so no big deal.

Doing this was much more involved than I'd first thought but it wasn't particularly difficult and I enjoyed doing it tbh.

 

Btw, if anybody wants the old sealed beam dip beams (LHD) you can have them free as I don't need them, they work fine and I'll just end up throwing them out if not. If you want them just ask...

[Noel Tidybeard]

shirley you need to get ALL of the bottom light sorted as side lights

[danthecapriman]

shirley you need to get ALL of the bottom light sorted as side lights

You can't sadly. It's meant to be the US cars indicator unit but inside the lense is a plastic barrier around the bulb hole so the light can't fill the entire strip. The only way to do it would be to cut open the light and remove the internal barrier bit.

I think you'd end up destroying the light trying tbh. And you can only get these from the states if you fuck it up so I'm reluctant to try.

[Noel Tidybeard]

You can't sadly. It's meant to be the US cars indicator unit but inside the lense is a plastic barrier around the bulb hole so the light can't fill the entire strip. The only way to do it would be to cut open the light and remove the internal barrier bit.

I think you'd end up destroying the light trying tbh. And you can only get these from the states if you fuck it up so I'm reluctant to try.

 

its just that in pics 2, 3 & 4 there looks to be a bulb hole just visible unde the outer headlight

[danthecapriman]

It's the bolt lug to attach the light unit to the backplate.

You could drill a big hole into the back of the light and fit a second sidelight bulb holder but I don't think there's that much space to do it and the bulb holder wouldn't have the screw in type lugs to hold it in properly, it'd be loose all the time.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Great thread, the US lights suit these cars to a T!

[danthecapriman]

Great thread, the US lights suit these cars to a T!

I think so too. The good thing is that everything here I've used has a Volvo part number so it's entirely possible the car would look like this if it went to the US instead of here.

 

Anyone know if Osram night breaker bulbs are any good? They say they are an upgrade over standard bulbs but are they really any better?

[Shep Shepherd]

I think so too. The good thing is that everything here I've used has a Volvo part number so it's entirely possible the car would look like this if it went to the US instead of here.

 

Anyone know if Osram night breaker bulbs are any good? They say they are an upgrade over standard bulbs but are they really any better?

I have Nightbreakers in both of mine, and they are really good

[danthecapriman]

its just that in pics 2, 3 & 4 there looks to be a bulb hole just visible unde the outer headlight

This shows the US original type/position of the lights.

 

https://goo.gl/images/QVUDrs

 

Obviously here in the UK I can not legally use the US sidelight/parking light as the UK sidelight as it's got an amber filter inside it which can't be removed. That means it must be used as the indicator.

 

The only other options for sidelights are the one I've used (originally the US indicator) or the combined sidelight inside the new RHD headlight unit, which I don't think would stand out so much.

 

Edit;

 

This is quite interesting, https://goo.gl/images/r1Cg2q

Shows a 1979 dated 7 series prototype wearing both Euro and US lights proving the US sealed beam style front wasn't an afterthought at all. It was designed to be US dot compliant from an early stage.

[PhilA]

If memory serves on these you'd have a 5W orange where you've got the sidelight and a combo 5/21 orange to the outside if you had these clusters.

 

I'm more used to seeing these with the big reflector under the front light and just an orange 5/21 in the turn signal to the side of the light

 

These ones look better

 

Phil

 

 

Edit, stand corrected.. both are dual.

[danthecapriman]

Just grabbed some pics now it's dark out.

 

Sidelights only.

 

IMG_0662 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0663 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

The N/S bulb is about dead I think! It didn't look too good when I put it in. I've got no spares left though.

It looks better at night I think, the light fills the lamp better right across.

 

Headlights.

 

IMG_0664 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0666 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

I don't think there's much wrong in terms of lack of brightness from them tbh, they seem nice and bright with very clear beam patterns too when shining on my garage door.

I'll get some new bulbs as soon as I can still I think, I need some indicator and sidelight bulbs anyway.

[danthecapriman]

Nothing more to report, but I did just find this pic on Flickr,

 

1987 Volvo 740 2.3 GLE Auto by kie123, on Flickr

 

It's my old saloon!

 

It looks a bit less standard than when it was mine but it still looks in bloody great condition. Apparently it did 17k last year too which is pretty impressive for such an elderly car! Mind you, I bet the petrol costs for that were equally impressive!

Doesn't surprise me though as that car was superb. It would have shrugged that mileage off with ease.

Anyway I'm so pleased to see a recent pic of it and see it in such great condition. Made my day!

[danthecapriman]

Little more getting done to this.

 

I've found a set of three tan coloured interior roof grab handles on eBay. Which is great as some of mine are broken off or the centre trim is missing. I've been keeping an eye out for some since I bought the car but struggled to find any. Hopefully they'll be here next week.

I never actually use these handles in cars tbh but the fact that they're broken/bits missing really irritates me!

 

Next in line are the wheels.

These are the normal GLE alloys. They're all in decent enough nik but are filthy with baked on brake dust and the lacquer and paint is bubbling in places. Plus, 3 of the 5 wheels have ancient very poor condition tyres, the other two are fairly new but are cheap ditch finder tyres.

So I've stripped all the wheels off the car and they will be going off for blasting and powder coating asap to the same place that did my Capri wheels.

Once they're back I'll get a set of new tyres all round.

 

This morning I decided to fix the little rust blob on the front wing and the roof.

Front wing was easy. It's a stonechip that's gone rusty so I've scraped the old paint and rust off with an old screwdriver then cleaned it back to bare metal with a tiny abrasive stick and a fibreglass pen. Then it's been given a coat of primer and once that's dry I'll give it some top coat.

 

The roof however has turned into a monumental bastard!

Regular readers will remember my troubles with the sunroof leaking. Well, since fixing that I've noticed in heavy or prolonged periods of wet weather the roof lining has still been getting damp. It's not wet through but clearly water has still been getting in somewhere.

 

This pic shows the roof. Notice that small blister between the sunroof lid and top of the door!

 

IMG_0337 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Well that tiny little blister is the cause of this issue.

As part of my stonechip repairs today I scraped it with the screwdriver to start prepping it for a touch up, same as the wing.

It has unfortunately gone through!! It's now a hole straight through the roof skin, about 3mm diameter. So that explains why there was a damp issue. It's also left me with a real cunt of a problem to fix.

Obviously to fix it properly will require cleaning back the area then carefully cutting out the rotten edges and welding in a repair piece. The problem here is that it's on the roof. So any welding will make the metal extremely hot and run the risk of distorting the rest of the roof skin.

I may be lucky as the damage is next to the sunroof opening which has a frame around it and the door top/roof edge area which is also strong so maybe I'm worrying too much and it'll be fine?

I'd like to fix it properly though so no fibreglass or filler! I think I'll just have to tack weld it in place, let it cool, tack more, let it cool and so on until it's seam welded in place.

I could certainly have done without that though!

 

For now I've had to gaffer tape over the hole as I'm out at work in an hour or so. No time to fix it today.

[Dj_efk]

I sem to recall you can buy some kind of heat-stopping playdough-like putty that you could surround the cleaned-back hole with before welding that is meant to help prevent warpage?

 

I think it'll be fine if you do as you say and do a tiny bit then let it cool right down. The steel on these things is thicker than your average shitbox is it not?

[mat_the_cat]

If you have access to the rear you can place a lump a different metal (ideally copper but I've used aluminium) behind to act as a heatsink. Best way would be to place the lump on the outside, that way you are left with a nice smooth finish on the outside with minimal dressing required, but I'd rather not weld upside down! The putty may work in a similar way and should certainly stop weld splatter affecting the interior. A plumber's mat or fire blanket also makes good protection if required.

[danthecapriman]

I think I've got the easy(er) answer to this little problem. I'm going to have a go with some purpose made bodywork adhesive instead of welding.

 

From what I'm told and I've read on the inter web it's extremely strong stuff and sounds like the ideal solution. No risk of heat distortion and no associated mess that comes with the welding either.

I'm thinking of cleaning the hole back to sound clean steel, then making an oversize steel panel with joggled edges to fit flush to the outside of the roof then bonding it in place with the adhesive.

Once it's gone off it can then be cleaned up, filled and painted.

 

I'll report back when I get some glue...

 

 

The wheels went in for blasting and powder coating today too, so hopefully they'll come back looking as good as new soon ready for new rubber.

The two old front tyres currently fitted to this car aren't very old and have loads of tread so I'll stick one of them on my reconditioned spare wheel, then 4 new (Avon zv5's most likely) on the road wheels.

 

Once this is done it leaves me with two Volvo 5 stud steel rims with half decent tyres fitted (currently on the car instead of axle stands!) and one good tyre with loads of tread if anyone wants them?

Tyres are all 185/70/14. I don't want anything for them so if anyone can make use your welcome to them for free. Otherwise they'll just go in the bin.

[cpjitservices]

Little more getting done to this.

 

I've found a set of three tan coloured interior roof grab handles on eBay. Which is great as some of mine are broken off or the centre trim is missing. I've been keeping an eye out for some since I bought the car but struggled to find any. Hopefully they'll be here next week.

I never actually use these handles in cars tbh but the fact that they're broken/bits missing really irritates me!

 

Next in line are the wheels.

These are the normal GLE alloys. They're all in decent enough nik but are filthy with baked on brake dust and the lacquer and paint is bubbling in places. Plus, 3 of the 5 wheels have ancient very poor condition tyres, the other two are fairly new but are cheap ditch finder tyres.

So I've stripped all the wheels off the car and they will be going off for blasting and powder coating asap to the same place that did my Capri wheels.

Once they're back I'll get a set of new tyres all round.

 

This morning I decided to fix the little rust blob on the front wing and the roof.

Front wing was easy. It's a stonechip that's gone rusty so I've scraped the old paint and rust off with an old screwdriver then cleaned it back to bare metal with a tiny abrasive stick and a fibreglass pen. Then it's been given a coat of primer and once that's dry I'll give it some top coat.

 

The roof however has turned into a monumental bastard!

Regular readers will remember my troubles with the sunroof leaking. Well, since fixing that I've noticed in heavy or prolonged periods of wet weather the roof lining has still been getting damp. It's not wet through but clearly water has still been getting in somewhere.

 

This pic shows the roof. Notice that small blister between the sunroof lid and top of the door!

 

IMG_0337 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Well that tiny little blister is the cause of this issue.

As part of my stonechip repairs today I scraped it with the screwdriver to start prepping it for a touch up, same as the wing.

It has unfortunately gone through!! It's now a hole straight through the roof skin, about 3mm diameter. So that explains why there was a damp issue. It's also left me with a real cunt of a problem to fix.

Obviously to fix it properly will require cleaning back the area then carefully cutting out the rotten edges and welding in a repair piece. The problem here is that it's on the roof. So any welding will make the metal extremely hot and run the risk of distorting the rest of the roof skin.

I may be lucky as the damage is next to the sunroof opening which has a frame around it and the door top/roof edge area which is also strong so maybe I'm worrying too much and it'll be fine?

I'd like to fix it properly though so no fibreglass or filler! I think I'll just have to tack weld it in place, let it cool, tack more, let it cool and so on until it's seam welded in place.

I could certainly have done without that though!

 

For now I've had to gaffer tape over the hole as I'm out at work in an hour or so. No time to fix it today.

I need interior tan Door cards if you come across any.

 

Here's my 740 by the way. The door cards in mine are completely ruined. 

 

Both fronts are knackered. the bit you pull to close the door is non-existent.

[Honey Badger]

MMA adhesive will also give an excellent bond, I've tested some and it takes a load equivilent and above 5 tonne per meter squared to pull it off cold rolled steel. It's used by some car manufacturers to bond body work on.

 

From the headling side clean back to spotless steel and acetone wipe the surface, bond the patch on, leave for 24 hours and then fill the roof side and paint, no need to weld.

[cpjitservices]

Oh in regards to door cards, the tray bit has been snapped off both the doors and on the seats so if anyone has these items in tan, please get in touch.

[danthecapriman]

MMA adhesive will also give an excellent bond, I've tested some and it takes a load equivilent and above 5 tonne per meter squared to pull it off cold rolled steel. It's used by some car manufacturers to bond body work on.

 

From the headling side clean back to spotless steel and acetone wipe the surface, bond the patch on, leave for 24 hours and then fill the roof side and paint, no need to weld.

Brilliant! I'll have a look for that stuff then. Thanks.

 

 

I need interior tan Door cards if you come across any.

 

Here's my 740 by the way. The door cards in mine are completely ruined. 

 

Both fronts are knackered. the bit you pull to close the door is non-existent.

My door cards aren't too bad, the drivers one has the plastic insert bit into the door pull broken and the leather/vinyl has peeled a bit but generally pretty good. Even the plastic door pockets are all good on mine, they're often broken as the plastic gets brittle.

Mine needs the roof grab handles (got now from eBay) and one of my rear seat fold down catches has disintegrated! No big deal but does mean I can't fold the seats down to make the boot even bigger!

 

They do come up for breaking on eBay now and again, it's just finding someone braking one in the right colours!

[cpjitservices]

Brilliant! I'll have a look for that stuff then. Thanks.

 

 

 

My door cards aren't too bad, the drivers one has the plastic insert bit into the door pull broken and the leather/vinyl has peeled a bit but generally pretty good. Even the plastic door pockets are all good on mine, they're often broken as the plastic gets brittle.

Mine needs the roof grab handles (got now from eBay) and one of my rear seat fold down catches has disintegrated! No big deal but does mean I can't fold the seats down to make the boot even bigger!

 

They do come up for breaking on eBay now and again, it's just finding someone braking one in the right colours!

Aye, Ill get some photos of what mine are like - A before and after type thing.

 

Hopefully find some soon as its annoying. Engine all good though so far, could do with cambelt replacement on mine as its just ticker over to 102k

 

At least, i've finished wiring in the front door speakers so tunes are working and sound half decent

[cpjitservices]

Whats clutch bite like on yours? mines quite high - apparently thats normal on these.

[danthecapriman]

Whats clutch bite like on yours? mines quite high - apparently thats normal on these.

Mines an auto! No clutch to wear!

 

I've never had a manual 740 but I did used to have a manual 244. The clutch was a hydraulic one and that felt pretty heavy and the bite was high on that. It drove perfectly though and I had no reason to suspect it was worn. Maybe it's just a characteristic with them?

[cort1977]

Is the hole only 3mm total diameter? Sounds like a job for filler to me, quick, easy, cheap and in a place that's easy to keep an eye on.

 

I know you like to make lasting high quality repairs on your cars Dan but you might be over thinking this one in my unsolicited opinion.

[danthecapriman]

Is the hole only 3mm total diameter? Sounds like a job for filler to me, quick, easy, cheap and in a place that's easy to keep an eye on.

I know you like to make lasting high quality repairs on your cars Dan but you might be over thinking this one in my unsolicited opinion.

It's about 3mm in diameter at the moment. It's literally a spot where a stonechip has festered and it's left a little hole.

Of course it'll need cleaning back a bit to get rid of the rust and thin metal so it will get bigger! I'd say it'll be approx 5-10mm by the time I've cleaned it back.

 

 

 

I've just ordered some chemical metal putty, and some JB weld metal adhesive. And some Araldite steel epoxy adhesive.

I'll test the two adhesives on some cleaned up scraps of steel sheet and see which ones best.

When I've carried out the repair on the car I'll reinforce the rear of it with some of the chemical metal putty just to be sure!

 

Can't beat a bit of overkill!! Plus it'll make the fix totally solid.

[Ghosty]

If it wasn’t for distance I could use those steels as a temporary measure til I get tyres to get the Chinese toss off the front.

I’ll be interested to see how the powder coating goes. I want to do the same to my wheels but whenever I mention it someone chimes in ‘don’t do that, you don’t need to, just paint them’ for some reason.

[danthecapriman]

If it wasn’t for distance I could use those steels as a temporary measure til I get tyres to get the Chinese toss off the front.

I’ll be interested to see how the powder coating goes. I want to do the same to my wheels but whenever I mention it someone chimes in ‘don’t do that, you don’t need to, just paint them’ for some reason.

Yes, I'm a bit of a way away from you! Maybe someone on here's going up country and we could shitely them up to you?

They're the black steels though, if it makes any difference? I actually like the looks of them on my car tbh, they've got a bit of dish to them compared to the alloys which I like! The tyre sidewalks are nice and chunky too which gives the car a more aggressive look!!

 

The alloys are absolutely shit filthy in grime and brake dust at the mo, they're getting blasted back to bare metal then baked for a while then the silvery powder coating goes on. All 5 wheels are costing me £180, that's with the old tyre removal thrown in too. It's the same place that did my Capri 'dartboard' steel wheels.

It's the new tyres that cost the most!