welding project Juular's Scandi Noir. Volvo C70, 240 &122. Coach paint(ed).. almost.

[rm36house]

Great work Sir!😊

[Talbot]

Love this vehicle and the work you've put in to it.

Mechanicals:  Spot on.  
Electricals: Upgraded and working better than factory.
Body integrity and steelwork:  Serviceable and solid.  Very well protected.
Bodywork cosmetics: Nope.

Absolutely perfect IMO.

[juular]

It's been a couple of years since I welded new rear arches onto the Amazon, and never did get a chance to properly spray over the filler and primer with a topcoat.

This was partly because I was thinking of spraying the car properly, but never did commit to it given the other issues like the rusty door bottoms and boot lid.

Of course this was a stupid decision and because the filler is porous some of the arches started to get specks of rust breaking out where the primer was thin.

The filler on this side was shit anyway and I wanted to redo it.  As you can see the list of 'I should' items just grew and grew and in the end got ignored.

Since the doors are coming off this is as good a time as any to get stuck in. I wire wheeled the rear quarters and treated any dodgy bits with acid, sanded them back and covered in zinc.

This should keep them protected until I return with the tub of filler and some actual paint.

It's not a surprise any more that it snowed. Again.

I used this time to get stuck into the front passenger door.

Here we see the return of structural tin foil.

Big globs of filler.

New inner skin.

The outer was nasty. About an inch or two of crumbly filler and random aluminium plates screwed in.

Choppity.

Weldity.

As before it's a bit wibbly so the filler will be doing some heavy lifting.

The rest of the door I wire wheeled down the worst parts, treated and painted. It wasn't too bad, mostly surface rust.

In a rare moment of dry weather I refitted the new crankcase breather and airbox.

Here's the old breather which just dumps fumes under the car.

Compared to the new one which has a fitting to recycle / burn the vapours.

This goes to a nipple on the manifold.

The old blanking plug was a nightmare to remove but I got there with a bolt extractor and an impact gun.

And the nipple that was stolen from the other cast iron manifold.

Everything attached and plumbed in.

I'm hoping that significantly reduces the oil and petrol whiffs from the engine bay that can sometimes reduce the fun of driving this longer distances.

[320touring]

Excellent work on this! Puts my efforts to shame and has inspired me re getting the E30 back on the road!

[JMotor]

Top work sir.

And.

Was my reaction to seeing the bonnet badge 😄.

[juular]

I was in two minds about the doors.

Finish them nicely or just grind them back and stick primer on them?

I took a mad notion and decided to have a go at doing the passenger front door properly.

Pudding.

Lots and lots and lots and (lots) of sanding, then a skim of dolphin glaze.

Then filler primer.

I expected a lot worse.

Ah, shit.

For some reason I had two bits of filler that didn't set properly and reacted with the paint. 

I had to gouge them back to the metal and do those areas again.

With a coat of Volvo pearl white rattlecan.

On the plus side, you can't tell they've been welded and I seem to have got away with the heat warpage by copiously filling the low points.

However the paint is flat as fuck.

I might just leave it like that.

I still haven't decided what to do with this car. It's starting to get the potential to be an actual nicely finished car but I have neither the skill, tools or time to do this so I'm limited to rattlecans or brush paint.

Or I can leave the car half painted in the areas that I've repaired and just roll with it.

Stupidly I also decided to paint the interior side.

That came out quite nice which is annoying as it's pressuring me to do the rest.

So I ended up spraying the door caps as well.

Before.

After 

Where this is going I have no idea.

[loserone]

Time to commission @grizz and the lemmings?

[junkyarddog]

Coach enamel,paint it with a brush.

https://paintman.co.uk/product-category/coach-enamel-paint/cars-and-classics/volvo-colours/

 

[warninglight]

Great work as always!

It's a slippery slope now you've started making some bits nice. I always thought the original colour hiding under that yellowy tinge was really nice, would be good to see it in that colour at last!

[juular]

Since the front passenger door job went better than expected I made a go of the rear one that I'd already repaired.

Not amazing but not awful and a hell of a lot better than the way it was before.

I turned my attention to filling the rear quarters on the car again.

I spent an inordinate amount of time on this. As you can see by the amount of filler used, the welding had buckled the panels considerably, probably down to the fact I was working outside and using gasless back then.

Still, I reckon I've done a better job of it this time round and you can't see the weld line any more.

Since the day was getting on I was keen to get some primer and paint on it.

I of course checked the forecast to make sure.  Zero percent chance of rain? I'll take it.

Started to spray.

The weather: I see you've laid down some paint.

Can't really explain how raging I was at this point. However I went in for my tea, watched the telly a bit, and came back out to see if I could sort this mess.

That's definitely nicer. 

I did a final sand to 800 grit and then went in for the top coat.

Fuck off, fly!

As soon as I'd laid the first coat on the sky started leaking again.

Without a decent indoor space to work this job is absolute torture.

Just as I thought I'd achieved a decent finish some big globs of rainwater dripped from the door gutters down the fresh paint.

And as soon as the topcoat dried I realised I could see every fucking sanding mark that was all but invisible till now.

As soon as I packed it in for the day, the sun came out.

I fucking hate painting cars 

 

[loserone]

Great shot there

[captain_70s]

If it makes you feel any better, both of my "good paint" cars have some imperfections which seem glaring obviously when cleaning the things but don't really detract from a few feet away.

Especially on 50 year old cars...

The 145 is covered with sanding marks, over painted chips/scrapes/smudges and filler with tiny air holes in it. You can't tell from 6ft away.

The Dolly has a fair bit of dust trapped under the paint around the front/rear screens and a fairly impressive run by the rear C-pillar. People keeping assuming it is an original paint car, so it must be as good as BL ever got them.

[danthecapriman]

As long as the paint stops water getting to metal who cares!😄

My 740 is covered in marks, peeling lacquer and touched up repairs but it all just adds to the old car charm.

[juular]

Before the doors go back on I may as well sort the frames.

They're getting quite foosty.

The usual process: wire wheel, acid, zinc, primer then paint.

This is also a good time to strip the sill back to metal, treat and paint it.

A quick rattlecan on the sill and rear door frame and this side is pretty much done.

Then I can start the entire process again on the other side.

[juular]

Because half way through 3 projects seems a good time to add another.

[danthecapriman]

My guess is a white Volvo 740…😬

[juular]

12 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

My guess is a white Volvo 740…😬

Half right.

[Dyslexic Viking]

A white 740 with hydraulic suspension and diesel engine?

[loserone]

And added lightness 

[warninglight]

If this is what I think it is, you're a glutton for punishment.

Also, delivery available.

[hairnet]

On 13/04/2026 at 11:09, juular said:

 

Choppity.

 

Weldity

 

Beaschtity

also sctsch weather can fro

you have the patience of a saint

but yknow

amazon

[juular]

3 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

A white 740 with hydraulic suspension and diesel engine?

Close enough.

[Dyslexic Viking]

1 minute ago, juular said:

That is a weird looking Volvo.

[loserone]

Still boxy and good

[juular]

54 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

That is a weird looking Volvo.

Isn't it?

[warninglight]

2 minutes ago, juular said:

Isn't it?

Beat me to it!

[Sigmund Fraud]

3 hours ago, warninglight said:

Beat me to it!

See also : Reliant FW11.

It did take Bertone a little while to flog this design to a manufacturer willing to put it into production...

[cort1977]

Italian design, French hydraulics and a Volvo link. What's not to like?

[juular]

A bit of background on the BX as this one is very much a team Autoshite effort.

This was originally @Talbots car and was stored at the FOD.

After having a shot of another BX I quickly fell in love and realised I needed one of these in my life. Talbot was quick to jump in and say: if you can fix that one, you can have it.

What an offer. 

The next time we went to FOD we turned up with a gasless welder and a van full of tools to see if we could save the floaty French of quirkiness.

I started a thread here detailing the bits and pieces that were done at FOD.

The car was pulled to bits and any rust I could get to was repaired.  Working in the summer sun with a gasless welder on a temporary power supply my welding was atrocious but at least it was some sort of progress. I managed to at least fix the front inner wings, rear sill and arches and the boot floor. It got a set of new tyres and a new exhaust.

So firstly, thank you to @Six-cylinder and @Mrs6C for their patience in storing the car and gracefully putting up with my mess, towing my stuck van out of the mud (twice), and providing tea, biscuits and the occasional home made cider to keep motivation going.

There is only so much you can do lying on stones and mud and it soon became apparent the rear axle would have to be dropped to repair the chassis rails.

I did make an attempt at this at FOD but completely failed.

I ended up going through a really shit period of mental health and it became apparent the BX was again slowly decaying in the field unless it could be shifted to a place where it could be worked on properly.

For perspective,  FOD is about 380 miles from us so it's not a case of just nipping over at the weekend.

@Andyrew is very much a hero here. I'd almost completely decided to scrap or give away the car at this point but he arranged collection to his place where he had a lift and some temporary storage.

Our plans were to go down there and blast through the welding while it was on a lift.

We then ended up having a bit of a housing nightmare and needed to sell up and move. Once again the plans to drive down and fix the BX kept getting kicked down the road.

While we were moving house @Andyrew got stuck in and repaired the chassis rails to a standard way above what I would have been able to do. Not content with that he ended up replacing the hydraulic lines and repairing anything he found along the way.

I think it's safe to say without his intervention this car may have been fridged.

Andy, thank you!

So now that it's here, it'll be parked for a bit until I get a chance to go over it and find out what it needs for an MOT. 

It will need at the very least the electrics looked at, a timing belt, oil change and some rubber hoses replaced.

It does start on the button and rises no problem. Fingers crossed this can go on to lead a happy life annoying people with XUD clatter and diesel smells.

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

[loserone]

Looks like heaven to me