welding project Juular's Scandi Noir. Volvo C70, 240 &122. Earth day.

[juular]

I'm the considerate sort. Taking the fast Ovlov's feelings into account, I decided that it needed company.

Many thanks to @Saabnut for today's delivery service. It was a pleasure to meet you. 

[Fumbler]

Tasty. 2 randoms plz

[juular]

44 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Tasty. 2 randoms plz

It does have a taste I suppose, mainly a foosty damp iron oxide sort of one currently though.

[montytom]

What a lovely looking old thing my dad used to have a 740 gle in what looked like the same colour. Any interior pictures by chance?

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, juular said:

It does have a taste I suppose, mainly a foosty damp iron oxide sort of one currently though.

Ah! Nice. I'm sure that could be packaged up and sold as Eau d'shitter...

Seriously, though, looking forward to progress on this.

[Lacquer Peel]

I had a look at the 240 earlier and it is most excellent. Great colour and interior, I'm sure it'll be on the road soon.

[danthecapriman]

Oh my!! That’s rather tasty!

Always liked the 200’s, I had a 79 244 which was a brilliant car and one I regret selling. Tbh, I think I prefer 200’s in saloon flavour. GLT is a good spec too.

Cant wait to see more about this one.

[juular]

Told you there were spiders.

I'll put up a few interior shots when I get back. Someone is letting off fireworks here and the small dogs are not best pleased. Cue an emergency run to the vets for some happy pills as one of them has a heart problem.

It gives me an excuse to do a dash at night shot on the C70.

Note that it is so fast that it can slingshot around the sun and do time travel like the starship enterprise. Or maybe I just can't be bothered changing the clock.

[Lacquer Peel]

Poor dugs. People who set fireworks off days and weeks in advance of bonfire night really are dicks. 

The x70 dash is quite soothing at night I find. 

[Saabnut]

So pleased this went to a good home, as I really did not want another project despite it being a perfect partner to my estate, especially as they both came from the same home. 

Of course, as I neared home I had a phone call and tomorrow I am collecting a new project! 

Ovlov about to leave its old home

And united with its new carer

[juular]

15 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Of course, as I neared home I had a phone call and tomorrow I am collecting a new project! 

Ovlov about to leave its old home

 

I'm glad someone had the sense to document its journey. I had the phone ready on arrival for photos but kind of just got caught up in the moment.

Looking forward to seeing the new project.

[Jim Bell]

That 240 really was a top buy. Hope it doesn't need too great of a tickle to get back into its natural environment: the many and varied roads of Scotland. 

[juular]

This isn't a view I'll be seeing much of for a while so I'll put it here as motivation*.

The glovebox is out but not to worry, there's two to choose from.

It has the correct gearbox.

Electric windows and mirrors, and the only real reason I buy any car if I'm honest, heated seats.

[GMcD]

Love these. Top buy. Looking forward to seeing new developments 😊

[SRi05]

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this, you're definitely the right person to take this on! 

[juular]

Happy Halloween I suppose!

Lots of bits came with the car, it's going to take me a while to sort through it all but every bit of help is welcome.

She starts and ticks over fine. A little lumpy on occasion which seems to be improved by giving it the tiniest bit of throttle. This is a good time to admit I thought this car had a carb until I saw the k-jet in the flesh, so I have some reading up to do. It won't help that the tank is almost dry and possibly the petrol is quite old. If nothing else I might increase the idle a fraction. I think there's an adjustment screw on the k-jet for that, but that stuff is down the road a bit.

[Minimad5]

Being a fellow Volvo perv, I approve greatly at both barges.

Looking at the new arrival has me hankering after one now. Keep up the good work

[juular]

Just checking in to see if I'm doing this correctly?

Old car - check

Full of holes - check

Damp carpets - check

Winter approaching - check

Lack of garage - check

Grinding and welding in the rain - check

 

Serious hat on.

It was pretty clear when I bought the 240 that it was very much a car needing rescued, but to be honest that's pretty much what I was looking for. I kind of struggle mental health wise unless I've got a problem to solve, especially at this time of year. It might sound like the worst thing to be doing in the winter, but I'm a bit strange in that I'd rather be outside in the cold doing something useful with hammers than sitting all warm but sinking into an existential crisis.

Despite the 240 sitting outside for years it has coped very well. The previous owner obviously went to great lengths to underseal every inch of the car. Normally that would set alarm bells ringing but it seems to have been done well as the underside is really solid.

Grot is pretty localised to the places where water is supposed to drain, but hasn't, which is kind of what to expect.

The scuttle and sunroof drain directly into the sills but over the years the drainage has gunked up and water has just sat doing its thing.

My first job is to take stock of what needs done.

The outer sills are generally knackered throughout, but the inners seem to just need patches at the sill drains.

The rear arches are crispy, but mainly on the outers and thankfully not far past the edges. The inners pass an initial vigorous poke test with a screwdriver. 

The bulkhead needs work as there is foam soundproofing there.

The nearside A-pillar is pretty bad and the door is sagging.

 

Nothing ever bothers Juular™

[juular]

I started with damage limitation in the form of buying a few tarps, as there are quite a few leak points.

I decided to start with the passenger A-pillar.

Door supported.

Took off the fusebox and bitumen lining to see how bad it was inside.. not good is the answer.

It is however just metal in the end.

Thankfully the door hinge comes off easily and should be reasonably easy* to realign.

@Lacquer Peel came over and was a massive help. I'd only blinked and he'd managed to basically get the front end off the car so that we could get the door and wings off.

Small positives. The outer wing and inner wing arch is solid.

The A-pillar is not.

Metal was cut and marked for holes.

 

Templates were made from tape

As it was getting dark LP helped strip the foam out of the bulkhead as damage limitation. It's not as bad as I feared in there.

The rest of the wet weekend was spent transferring templates to metal and cutting out.

My Jigsaw is a heap of shite and does little other than deafen me and get jammed in the sheet metal. So I got these bad boys.

They are brilliant.

Once the weather improves I'll be filing, shaping and welding this to form the A-pillar base, so that I can then chop out the old one to get in and sort the rest of the rot.

In other news I rewelded my mini sheet bender as I managed to drop it nastily on edge onto concrete and break one of the welds.

[sloth]

jesus fuck thats rusty, my 88 wagon had the screeen surround rust thanks to a shit screen replacement. btw whats your colour code - it looks suspiciously like mine, yet i was told mine was an aus only paint. 

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, sloth said:

jesus fuck thats rusty

That's not even trying... Friends don't let friends buy Scottish cars.

Looks like this one has gone to somebody with the gumption to fix it properly though!

[juular]

On 11/10/2020 at 3:20 AM, sloth said:

jesus fuck thats rusty, my 88 wagon had the screeen surround rust . 

It may look toe curling, but in the grand scheme of things for an 88 car that has sat outside on the east coast of Scotland it has done surprisingly well. It's hard to find one of these where the sill ends haven't gone crispy at least.

The windscreen surround on this is pretty grotty as well.  One impossible thing at a time!

[Lacquer Peel]

 

Great work with the repair pieces so far. 

I liked working on the Volvo, it's good to work on an older car without the pressure of needing it to go to work the next day. I'm up for another session of taking panels off when needed. 

[juular]

Small progress is still progress. 

Lots of filing, bending, testing, marking and refiling.

Tacked up.

Getting there, almost ready to chop this section out.

[rusty998]

Great work!

Just read the whole thread,  I've owned a few Volvo's over the year's not had a 240 but my father has, he had a M reg iirc 145 Estate first with a full length Webasto, a W reg GLE 244 Saloon, a 1990 240 GLT Estate in that lovely dark metallic Grey, he now has a V70 auto Diesel,  

It's been a long time since I've been near a 240 but don't remember them rusting like this but that could be because I've lived darn sarf all my life, enjoying the progress on this and it's a great colour for a saloon, hope the weather holds up for more progress. 

[Jim Bell]

There should be a special badge you get for welding outside in winter that other men can see you wearing when you enter a pub so they can buy you a drink and let you have free goes on the Juke box. 

[Spiny Norman]

Superb work, well done for keeping another one going. They do seem to have a habit or going round the door frames, my old 264 had a big hole at the bottom of the B pillar when i got it.

 

[KitKat]

Superb thread @juular!! Whilst I’m sat here listening to the wind and rain and guzzling black coffee, you’re getting straight into the nitty gritty,  doing it properly and cutting out rot rather than just plating and Shultzing over it. Outside. In winter. In Scotland. It’s humbling, mojo boosting, and I can totally attest to the mental therapy aspect this sort of project delivers too.

I was seriously tempted by this last month, but if I bought the poor thing would still be waiting it’s turn this time in 2024. I’m glad its in your ownership. Old Volvos in general, and this one in particular, deserves to remain Scotch. It’s just the way of things. I adore a 240 GLT. My mum had a silver GLT estate when I was a titch, and I have oddly vivid early memories of squelching jam into those black chesterfield leather seats with my greasy mits. 

When cycling to work, there’s a mint silver 2.3 manual F-Reg GLT estate which I frequently spot poking its nose from a garage. Makes my day. Who’d have thought I’m single.

Now subscribed and following with intense fondness. We want updates flowing like single malt on Hogmanay 

 

 

[KitKat]

What gauge of steel are you using on that pillar? I’d go 18ga (1.2mm) at a very minimum, and use some nice chunky 3/16 plate for the parts behind the hinges to spread the load. And keep checking those shut lines and alignment prior to welding proper. 

The experience of closing a Volvo 240 door should make bank vaults, that airlock in Alien or a VW Golf’s door feel hopelessly unsubstantial.

[juular]

2 hours ago, sickboy said:

What gauge of steel are you using on that pillar? I’d go 18ga (1.2mm) at a very minimum, and use some nice chunky 3/16 plate for the parts behind the hinges to spread the load. And keep checking those shut lines and alignment prior to welding proper. 

I started with 1.2, and the flat panel I cut for the door hinge area is 1.2. However I soon realised this is in fact much thicker than the original metal.

On the opposite pillar I originally thought someone had plated over this area, but upon closer inspection it is a cut out and replace job, a pretty good one too. It's just that it's been done with 1.2 and sticks out like a sore thumb.

Most of the hinge area strength comes from a reinforcing bracket and a thick 3mm plate directly behind the hinge.

Using a digital caliper I went round and measured the good metal at various areas of the pillar base and got readings of 0.8-0.9, and that's with paint.

So the curved sections of the pillar base I've made out of 0.8, which is a good thing as my 1.2 is almost impossible to bend into the correct shapes without a shrinker/stretcher!