welding project Juular's Scandi Noir. Volvo C70, 240 &122. Last door repair.

[Talbot]

4 minutes ago, juular said:

Also, what on earth am I doing with my life? 😄

IMO.. winning!

This car deserves to live.  It had just two owners over nearly 30 years.  I picked it up for peanuts a while back but due to all sorts of personal circumstances was unable to do anything to it.  I am very pleased to see it resurrected!

[davehedgehog31]

Brilliant effort from all involved. Looking forward to seeing it in the metal.

[danthecapriman]

Well done guys and gals! I’m not a particular lover of French cars but it’s always nice to see classic’s saved and get a more certain future.

‘What on earth am I doing with my life!?’ - what else would you do with it😄

[hairnet]

old rusty *not now toot

winnar

[Sunny Jim]

Sorry to hear that you had a rough patch MH-wise. Here's hoping you're back to rude health and back doing what you love. Rustival was ace but it wasn't the same without you, Mrs Juular and other assorted Scotoshite.

[juular]

Eyes on the prize.

Chase one rabbit.

Pretend I don't have to look after 5 cars now.

Etc.

Trying to get my list of Amazon tasks scored off before I move on to anything else, because having a car lying on the drive routinely without doors isn't great.

Before refitting the two repaired doors I tidied up the sills and door frames and refitted the kick plates.

Looks almost okay from a distance.

Let's fit the doors and see how that goes.

Pick one : 

Badger's Arse

Ryanair landing

Builder's estimate

All less rough than this:

As kind of expected as soon as exposed to daylight and other parts of car that are the correct shape, the doors look like shit.

Also, it looks like I'll probably be painting the whole car.

At least I can say that for a week or so the car won't be trailing rust flakes everywhere.

I did visit a car show at the weekend and @captain_70s and @blackboilersuit were eager to point out just how rough some show cars often are, including an Amazon in the same colour with pop riveted rear arches and about as many sanding scratches as mine.

So I can only carry on and do this within my capabilities.

Brief respite was given when I took off door number 3 to have a look.

So it's blown through, but mostly on the inside and with a reasonably easy bit to repair.

With a skim of filler and some paint, it's not bad at all.

Before refitting that the rear door frame and sill was tidied up ready for paint.

Getting there slowly. 

The weather at the moment is generally spectacular if cold, so I'm hoping to get the front door done sharpish and refitted before everything returns to the normal dampness.

[Surface Rust]

You are doing a grand job there, don't be so critical. Those repairs and the paint will give it a good few more years to match the mechanicals.

Great backdrop as well!

[juular]

I'm contemplating what to do with this paint.

The original plan was to just touch up the welded bits to keep them waterproof and see how it looked.

I'm not a fan of the contrast between clean white and the ratty look. I'm at a crossroads as to whether I paint the entire car, or try to find some middle ground where I can blend the painted parts in with the ratty parts.

Options I see are:

1. Try to colour match the weird mustardy paint and blend in the repaired sections. Then satin clearcoat the lot, sealing in the patina on the top half while keeping the bottom half tidy.

2. Paint the whole car in something satin / matte to make it fresh but hide the shit bodywork. NATO green or dark grey or something along those lines.

3. Paint the car properly, clearcoat, polish, the lot.

#3 is currently beyond my budget, tools and abilities and it will highlight the fact my bodywork is mince.  One day I might do this if I have an indoor space and can spend the time filling and sanding with an angled light.

Does the world need yet another perfectly presentable Amazon?

#1 and #2 are tempting. 

The brightwork isn't brilliant, so a ratty look does kind of suit it.

Open to ideas.

[danthecapriman]

I used to think car shows were for perfection so never bothered showing my own cars. Recently though having gone to a show and seen what people are showing I’m not of that opinion anymore. I’d say at least half of the cars at the show had scratches, rust blisters and whatever else on them. Fact is, it doesn’t matter at all. Pitted rusty chrome? Shitty worn paint? Rust blebs? Torn up seats? Who cares. As long as you’re happy with it, it really doesn’t matter.

For the paint, can you not just use that creamy white you’ve used on the bottom half to go all over with? I quite like that colour on the car. Doesn’t need to be perfect but as long as it looks reasonably presentable and keeps the metal underneath protected. 
What about a two tone? Creamy white lower half and something else above the waist line or on the roof?

[DSdriver]

Back in the late 1960s there was one I used to see around Holborn/Grays Inn Road in thhat London which had been sprayed with brown flock, a sort of suede effect. I bet that covered up a multitude of sins and what could be better than a suede Swede?

[loserone]

20 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

For the paint, can you not just use that creamy white you’ve used on the bottom half to go all over with? I quite like that colour on the car. Doesn’t need to be perfect but as long as it looks reasonably presentable and keeps the metal underneath protected. 
What about a two tone? Creamy white lower half and something else above the waist line or on the roof?

For discussion and inspiration purposes only

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Nato green and satin black steels wouldn't look offensive on this old girl. It's not like you've got much to lose with the paint on there currently. 

[loserone]

Or forest green

 

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, juular said:

2. Paint the whole car in something satin / matte to make it fresh but hide the shit bodywork. NATO green or dark grey or something along those lines.

if its anything like the VDP, just dont LOL

the non-shiny paint on it picks up oily finger-prints like a motherfucker LOL, which do not clean off readily at all, someone at the show I was at recently, tried to clean them off the front off the bonnet with some brake cleaner, and it just made it look like it had the sniffles LOL (and you can see all the oily prints on the wing still)

although i suppose the "sniffly nose" look is rather fitting given the kind of oil leak it sprung!, who knew cars can get hay fever/seasonal allergies LOL

[Dick Cheeseburger]

17 minutes ago, loserone said:

Or forest green

 

Looks good!

[Sigmund Fraud]

2 hours ago, juular said:

Options I see are:

1. Try to colour match the weird mustardy paint and blend in the repaired sections. Then satin clearcoat the lot, sealing in the patina on the top half while keeping the bottom half tidy.

2. Paint the whole car in something satin / matte to make it fresh but hide the shit bodywork. NATO green or dark grey or something along those lines.

3. Paint the car properly, clearcoat, polish, the lot.

There's an alternative option : coach enamel. Looks a million times better than thick NATO paint, but is much less effort than a proper paint job. Can be brushed on, but is easier to thin it down a bit and spray it on with a cheap gun.

[loserone]

[captain_70s]

8 minutes ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

There's an alternative option : coach enamel. Looks a million times better than thick NATO paint, but is much less effort than a proper paint job. Can be brushed on, but is easier to thin it down a bit and spray it on with a cheap gun.

I'm inclined to agree. I find satin/matt finishes really highlight dents/uneven panels because you don't have any reflections to distract the eye...

If brush painting was good enough in 1930 it's good enough now.

3 minutes ago, loserone said:

Safari Classic gives me the horn and gets my vote.

Then if anybody asks why panels are wobbly you can say it side swiped an elephant doing a rally in 1968...

[loserone]

3 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Safari Classic

 

[loserone]

[loserone]

[Sigmund Fraud]

36 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Safari Classic gives me the horn and gets my vote.

Then if anybody asks why panels are wobbly you can say it side swiped an elephant doing a rally in 1968...

I think you'll find it was 1966, and @juular would have to commit to wearing a turban when driving the car as a homage to this chap :

[Dyslexic Viking]

[Dyslexic Viking]

2 hours ago, loserone said:

Nr 1 Safari Classic gets my vote and is probably among the easiest to paint.

[Sunny Jim]

I've painted trucks and narrow boats with tractor enamel applied with small sponge rollers and brushes and got good results thinning it with white spirit to ease application. It's hard wearing and available in RAL colours. Having said that anyone can have a shiny car, yours is unique. If it were mine I wouldn't apply any more paint than you currently have and then satin clear coat as you said to stop it deteriorating. If you decide you do want it painted the safari classic in loserone's pic above suits it and wouldn't require the panels to be perfect.

[juular]

19 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Safari Classic

 

15 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

safari classic

 

17 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Safari Classic

Inclined to agree with the wisdom above.

Mainly because it's less painting, and I already have a dark coloured bonnet and boot lid waiting to go on. It feels like the stars are aligning in that direction.

It kind of goes with the car's African roots and the ZA plate on the back.

All it needs then is a bit of old rope tied around the bumper and a nice roof rack with some teak boards for full retro shonk.

Pleased to report the doors are now 3/4 complete.

Interesting to note that the slight kick out on the driver's door corner is the same as the other side. Originally I thought I'd bent the corners somehow. Maybe this is just how they are?

Other side: 

Another small job started: tidying up the interior windscreen trim as it was quite rusty.

Satin black to follow.

[juular]

I thought you'd appreciate seeing the final boss of doors.

Most of the filler appears to be held in place with plywood and screws.

At least there's no tinfoil.. ah no wait, here it is.

Finally found my missing 13mm socket from a few years ago.

I cut the inner skin out but there was literally nothing to use as a guide to replace it.

So this time I'm starting on the outer.

You know it's bad when you can't even find the metal with a flap disc.

After that the entire garage is in a layer of filler dust.

I cut out and replaced these bits first to maintain some sort of shape in the edges of the skin.

I could then zap off the rest of it and start to let in new metal.

Next I'll turn that over and start rebuilding the inner.

The finish on this one is going to be.. interesting.

[Ronkey]

Flipping heck, that looks familiar! I can see why you left this one until last.

[juular]

On 01/05/2026 at 15:59, Ronkey said:

Flipping heck, that looks familiar! I can see why you left this one until last.

It wasn't intentional, but I'm glad I didn't start with this one or I would have just given up.

I'm not sure why but this door has warped by far the worst despite me having learned to turn the power down and the gas up, and focusing the heat on the repair panel rather than the door.

Even the tack welds warped it badly.

New inner added.

Folded over and welded.

Trying something different by fitting the panels lower to prevent high spots from the welds.

Door is taking crazy amounts of filler. Have been at this all day and I'm on pass #6.

No idea how this will look but if I need a new door, I have one in mind and will just pay the money.

Also filled the wing mirror hole that I made in error a few years ago. (Fitted it and couldn't see the mirror while driving - genius move).

Will update in 2029 when I finish filling and sanding.

[danthecapriman]

Rubbing filler down is the job from hell! A never ending and mind numbingly boring tedious process. Bloody messy too.

Itll be worth it in the end though👍