stupidity 1964 Volvo 122S - Amazonian rustforest. Ok. I'm sorry. I washed it.

[bunglebus]

I hate seeing old cars going for scrap, but at least it wasn't wasted

[juular]

9 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I hate seeing old cars going for scrap, but at least it wasn't wasted

Yes ,me too. I felt like a criminal letting it go but it already had at least one reprieve as I technically bought it as a scrap metal.   It's a shame it got into that state in the first place.

[Jim Bell]

 

[Datsuncog]

It'd be nice if scrappies still kept a spot in a far corner of the yard to leave hopeless old wrecks and let nature reclaim them, but I s'pose that's not the best business model... still, here's a couple of Amazons that were laid up in what you might call a 'traditional' breaker not far from me, a few years back... dunno if they're still there, but I wouldn't be surprised if so...

EDIT: full set of pics from the yard are available to view here, if you fancy losing yourself down a rusty rabbithole for an hour or so: 

 

[alcyonecorporation]

My word. 

[sdkrc]

On 9/18/2021 at 11:25 PM, loserone said:

Thought I recognised this when you posted it

https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/217246/volvo-amazon-wrm502h-carlisle

 

@juular, amazing work and updates. You're getting a reputation as a Volvo whisperer

 

[juular]

29 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

It'd be nice if scrappies still kept a spot in a far corner of the yard to leave hopeless old wrecks and let nature reclaim them, but I s'pose that's not the best business model... still, here's a couple of Amazons that were laid up in what you might call a 'traditional' breaker not far from me, a few years back... dunno if they're still there, but I wouldn't be surprised if so...

EDIT: full set of pics from the yard are available to view here, if you fancy losing yourself down a rusty rabbithole for an hour or so: 

 

That is something else!!

[juular]

33 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

You're getting a reputation as a Volvo whisperer

Evidently not a very good one, all my Volvos are quite broken 😄

[juular]

So, the Amazon has been waiting patiently at Mrs Juular's mum's house while I finished off the 240 and got it shifted out into the front driveway, which is reserved for cars that behave themselves.

@dome bought a Porsche locally that required a trailer to collect. This helpfully coincided with me being able to make space in my garden for a project. He very generously agreed to tag on another transport mission, which meant that I wouldn't have to arrange my own trailer hire, extra numberplates, and the small obstacle of learning how to actually tow a trailer. What an absolute legend. The stars were aligned!

The Porsche was successfully offloaded at @dome HQ with the help of @Tickman and @Supernaut

It reminds me how much I want a 924 at some point.  There's something so right about the shape of these, the popup headlights, the wheels and the epic glass boot.  Here's the courtesy link to the thread:

 

 

After a quick pie-based lunch, we headed to Bonnybridge. With the help of @Supernaut we got the Amazon loaded up, with generous amounts of duct tape to stop the bonnet flying off on the motorway.

And dropped off. 

In the naughty corner.

First job was to check if the ATF I'd poured into cylinder #4 some months ago had drained down. It hadn't. So I filled all the cylinders with diesel again.

Next morning, it had drained through 1-3, but still stuck in 4.

I gave the piston a whack with a lump hammer and a bit of wood, topped up the diesel and vowed to forget about it for now.  I still have the spare engine if this one doesn't turn over.

Next I did a quick look over to see which parts had dissolved since last time.

The patina is improving quite remarkably.

The exceptional craftmanship is worth mentioning again, especially the plywood, wood screws and bathroom sealant.

There's quite a few bits of metal here and there that have been glued on to presumably fix* the rust and add* strength*.

I decided to crack on and start pulling panels off so I could see better.  This process is helped a lot by the fact almost everything is attached with 1% of the original bolts.

 

Next, stripping out everything from the engine bay including the rotten brake / clutch pipes and wiring.

 

 

 

There's not much to it, to be fair.

There are holes.

 

Complete with structural filler.

The suspension is surprisingly in excellent nick.  The car has done 64k.

 

The chassis is mostly sound.  There's one area of concern here. I'll chop out that rail and replace it.

 

The fuel tank is fine.

 

The boot floor is theoretical at best.

 

The sills are not horrendous, but I'll probably chop off the seam and redo it.

 

All in, I'm feeling pretty confident. There's no exterior bodywork to do, and no horrific pillar / glass interfaces to deal with as I did on the 240.

The next step is to take the engine out, and go over the engine bay and bulkhead with a wire wheel and sander, and see what's what.

[Datsuncog]

**Rubs hands with glee**

Looking forward to progress on this!

[Supernaut]

Ach, it'll be ready for the FotU knowing your rate of progress!

[Tickman]

6 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Ach, it'll be ready for the Drive it day knowing your rate of progress!

More realistic...

[Fabergé Greggs]

I abso-bloody-lutely love an Amazon and would have loved to take this on. Really looking forward to this! 

 

[dome]

Just look at it.

What a honey.

[Jim Bell]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:13 PM, dome said:

Just look at it.

What a honey.

It's sharp as mustard. 

[juular]

Started stripping the engine bay. It's slow going but I'm trying to remove as much rust as possible before it gets treated and painted.

This is of course where I find all the quality repairs.  Tin foil and bathroom sealant - that's a new one.

Kilos of filler applied straight over rust. And more tin foil.

 

Got it as far back as possible then applied phosphoric acid.  Love the way this goes, almost tempting to leave it. 

 

Got bored of stripping paint, and enlisted the help of @Lacquer Peelto get the engine out.

 

That went gracefully*.

 

 

The front timing cover had been put back on finger tight without any gasket, which caused the oil to tip out. Should have drained it first. Whatevs!

Pulled the gearbox off, drained the rest of the oil.

Tiny gearbox!

With the engine out I could have a good poke around the crossmember. If you've read the 240 thread you'll know I had a traumatic episode in this area, so I was worried about having 'nam levels of flashbacks. But you know, it's actually pretty good!

As for the engine, I don't actually need it working, but it would be nice to have a spare that I could possibly sell on or use for something else.

Regardless, I enjoy poking engines, so let's go.

Flywheel and RMS off.

Sump, timing cover and oil pickup off.

Well, it's definitely some kind of engine.

 

Crank journals and big ends off.

 

Crank out.

 

 

And the rest of the stuff that isn't seized in:

 

Despite being soaked in various kinds of oil / diesel for months and being whacked with a sledgehammer, #4 is well and truly jammed in there.

 

The weather changed rapidly, so I decided to try soaking that cylinder from the bum end with a mix of various flammable liquids to see if that would help.  I'll cover it and leave it until the weekend and will probably have to resort to fire.

 

The news you're dying to hear is whether or not this engine is potentially saveable. I'm going to go with a resounding 'maybe', because everything except that stuck piston looks really good.  The cylinder walls are really smooth and with a quick hone will look new.  The pistons and bearings look great.  Here's a look at one of the main bearings, which looks like it has done about 0.5 miles (minus the oily gunk).

 

Stay tuned for more adventures in the clean room garden.

 

[GingerNuttz]

5 hours ago, juular said:

Started stripping the engine bay. It's slow going but I'm trying to remove as much rust as possible before it gets treated and painted.

This is of course where I find all the quality repairs.  Tin foil and bathroom sealant - that's a new one.

Kilos of filler applied straight over rust. And more tin foil.

 

Got it as far back as possible then applied phosphoric acid.  Love the way this goes, almost tempting to leave it. 

 

Got bored of stripping paint, and enlisted the help of @Lacquer Peelto get the engine out.

 

That went gracefully*.

 

 

The front timing cover had been put back on finger tight without any gasket, which caused the oil to tip out. Should have drained it first. Whatevs!

Pulled the gearbox off, drained the rest of the oil.

Tiny gearbox!

With the engine out I could have a good poke around the crossmember. If you've read the 240 thread you'll know I had a traumatic episode in this area, so I was worried about having 'nam levels of flashbacks. But you know, it's actually pretty good!

As for the engine, I don't actually need it working, but it would be nice to have a spare that I could possibly sell on or use for something else.

Regardless, I enjoy poking engines, so let's go.

Flywheel and RMS off.

Sump, timing cover and oil pickup off.

Well, it's definitely some kind of engine.

 

Crank journals and big ends off.

 

Crank out.

 

 

And the rest of the stuff that isn't seized in:

 

Despite being soaked in various kinds of oil / diesel for months and being whacked with a sledgehammer, #4 is well and truly jammed in there.

 

The weather changed rapidly, so I decided to try soaking that cylinder from the bum end with a mix of various flammable liquids to see if that would help.  I'll cover it and leave it until the weekend and will probably have to resort to fire.

 

The news you're dying to hear is whether or not this engine is potentially saveable. I'm going to go with a resounding 'maybe', because everything except that stuck piston looks really good.  The cylinder walls are really smooth and with a quick hone will look new.  The pistons and bearings look great.  Here's a look at one of the main bearings, which looks like it has done about 0.5 miles (minus the oily gunk).

 

Stay tuned for more adventures in the clean room garden.

 

Better watch your monoblock doesn't get cancer from that oil. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

There are two Amazons local to me (two estates) that I see from time-to-time.  One is an absolute time capsule and in beautiful condition.  I absolutely love them and am hugely looking forward to seeing what you do with this.  Fantastic cars.

[Fumbler]

On 04/04/2022 at 15:19, GingerNuttz said:

Better watch your monoblock doesn't get cancer from that oil. 

Probably why the cylinder's seized; too much oil exposure.

[juular]

I was really looking forward to a barbecue, but I decided it would be worth having one last go with a much larger Persuadertron.

Bore looks fine. So that's one in the bank. I could mate the twin carb head to this and retain the original engine number. Or just use whatever bottom end looks the best.

[big_al_granvia]

that piston doesnt look too ffooked, new rings?? the block looks fine, give it a hone

[juular]

The back of the car is becoming the engine storage area.

Did some more stripping back to find the bits that need attention.  This repair at the inner arch is a highlight. Seam welded really nicely along 2 edges. Glued along the other 2.

WHAT IS POINT.

Eventually back to nice clean metal.

You can see here (photo taken before stripping paint) the worst bit located on the bulkhead. Unfortunately the steering column goes right through it so that will have to be removed before cutting anything.

 

First, pulling the steering wheel and indicator stalk off. A picture of the wheel again as it's so nice to look at.

Then detaching the upper column from the lower column.

 

With the steering box loosened and tilted out of the way the upper column can be pulled out.

Zap. The area behind the bulkhead is full of.. stuff.

Continued along, removing the worst bits of bulkhead, arch and floor panel.

Replaced some metal.

At this point my tin snips helpfully fell to pieces, so I continued by making more holes rather than filling them.

I was absolutely dying to poke the driver's side footwell. I mean look at it, it's just one big scab ready to fall off.

The jacking point under it aint gonna jack no more.

The outrigger is pure theory.

 

And the best bit so far, the inner sill.  This was a few strips of metal blebbed on top with something that looks like decorator's caulk.

It's kind of all the same stuff I tackled on the 240 so I'm not running to the hills.. yet. If anything the Amazon is constructed in a far simpler and lighter way which makes some of these repairs less involving.

[JMotor]

Liked for the progress. 

Sad for the fuckery that was done by the last owners. 

But happy that's now in good hands and will be sorted properly. 

[captain_70s]

Got to say, the shell looked far better before you went poking!

[juular]

Decided to have a look at the spare engine to see what shape it's in.

I didn't want to have to lift it into the van using the engine crane as the stones make it an absolute nightmare.  I've found that if I strip the block right down I can lift it.

 

On the plus side, everything came apart easily, no seized pistons here.  As per the other engine, the bearings look healthier than they have any right to.

However, I'm not sure if this is going to be a deal breaker or whether it just needs cleaned out and honed.

Even if it's no good, I now have a good twin carb head, a good block, and an overdrive gearbox.   The plan is to create one good engine with new piston rings, seals and gaskets (I am reusing those bearings.. there is absolutely no point throwing them out).

Into the van and back to HQ.

 

Did a little bit more cutting and welding on the actual car.

 

 

 

 

#

The wind then picked up with a vengeance at this point, so I packed it in and went for a drive.

[dozeydustman]

Nice progress sir

[Rust Collector]

I'm loving the masking tape template method; I'm sure I saw you do that on another of your cars, thought it was a great idea, then completely forgot about it once it came to welding one of my cars!

Do you use the tape template to cut the repair section first, then use the repair section to mark and cut the bad section from the car?

[juular]

13 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I'm loving the masking tape template method; I'm sure I saw you do that on another of your cars, thought it was a great idea, then completely forgot about it once it came to welding one of my cars!

Do you use the tape template to cut the repair section first, then use the repair section to mark and cut the bad section from the car?

I cut first, so that I'm sure that all the bad metal is out. I take lots of photos just in case I'm not sure how it goes back together but it's usually fairly obvious.

I then put the duct tape on, and run a finger around the perimeter of the hole to copy the line onto the tape. I then highlight it with a sharpie.  I also mark any intended bends or curves onto the tape for future reference.

I peel the tape off, stick it onto the steel and cut round it using aviation snips.

It's not 100% accurate as the tape does change shape ever so slightly on occasion. However it tends to err on the side of being too big which is what you want. I then go round it with the tin snips or power file to refine the shape once it's in place.  It's better to do it in multiple sections for accuracy.  It's still the quickest and most productive way I've found to copy the shapes to the steel though.

[juular]

16 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I'm loving the masking tape template method; I'm sure I saw you do that on another of your cars, thought it was a great idea, then completely forgot about it once it came to welding one of my cars!

Do you use the tape template to cut the repair section first, then use the repair section to mark and cut the bad section from the car?

Oh yeah, if I'm using an off-the-shelf repair panel, I mark a point on the car way beyond the damaged section and cut the length of the repair panel roughly to that point.  Then I lay / clamp the repair panel over the whole area and cut through both layers. That way the cutout and the repair panel should fit exactly.

[Fabergé Greggs]

A few points M9

1) Loving this 

2) Do not paint 

3) Dibs