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

[barrett]

Amazing to see this heap moving under its own steam, great work man!

But, you gotta bite the bullet and pull the tank out and try and flush as much of that crap as possible otherwise you'll be chasing that shit forever man. It's a pretty horrid job but well worth it. I spent the best part of a day removing and then (repeatedly) 'sloshing' the tnak on our old Ford V8 but the payoff was well worth it. 80-odd years of crap flushed out, and the chronic fuel blockage problems that had haunted it for years were gone in a single stroke.

[juular]

9 hours ago, barrett said:

But, you gotta bite the bullet and pull the tank out and try and flush as much of that crap as possible

I know. The strange thing is I already have flushed it before it went in. A good rinse out with a hose, then a swirl with phosphoric acid, then another flush out.

I think the crud is actually coming in from the boot floor, as I noticed that fuel was seeping out from a shot sender gasket and dragging shit back into the tank. 

I'm going to run a few more filters and see how it goes, it's already getting a lot clearer now. If it hasn't cleared up completely once I use up most of the fuel I'll take the tank out. It's a piece of piss on these as it just lifts out of the boot, but the tank does need to be drained first as the fuel outlet is on the bottom of the tank.

 

[juular]

11 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

you'll be on the road hoovering up the locals like a Saint.

The boot is big enough for a few corpses now the holes have been patched up.

[juular]

Baby steps. Made it to the end of the street.

Alternator was fine then belt started slipping. Have started work on a home made tensioner.

[Scruffy Bodger]

Great work as ever and especially seeing it moving under its own steam, I've been enjoying the updates ta.

[juular]

Plan B. I could have called it an alternate plan but I didn't.

The belt squeal was due to the alternator managing to walk the brackets out of the engine a tad and go out of alignment. Predictable?

I am using the wrong alternator on its wrong side.  But I'd rather make something work than spend the money because I'm miserable like that.

Here is alternator fitting kit 2.0.

Significantly beefier bracket / cradle and I lengthened the tensioner bar by welding two together.

That is significantly better, but it's still very difficult to set the correct tension. Normally you'd jam a crowbar in and then tighten the top bracket, but because there is a thin coolant pipe there I'm loathe to get in about it properly.

Here is the game changer. Turn the nut on the right to tension it up, then lock it down.

Squeak now you bastard, I dare you.

[Crackers]

Christ man, I hadn't looked at this thread for a while and suddenly it is ALIVE. 

*applauds*

[dozeydustman]

Congrats on the first drive. This has been one epic thread from start to finish.

[juular]

Finishing off some bits inside.

Rubber trim around the doors in place of the windlace trim. Also the new headlining installed by @MrsJuular

And more of her work in the new door cards.

The front ones have been upgraded with door pockets from a 240. The original stretch pockets seemed a bit useless. These will hold bottles and cans.

The seats are original but they are different from most Amazons I've seen.

Dome light and sun visors.

The dome light didn't work off the driver's side door. This was down the spring inside the switch breaking a bit off, and causing it to no longer make contact.

A few bits of solder added to the gold connection on the right padded it out enough to work again.

Finally, a shot of the fuel and temp gauges actually working. The temp gauge seems rock steady. A worthwhile and cheap upgrade.

I really love the green backlighting on the dash. 

[Ronkey]

A bloody useful reference for me whilst I catch you up with my 122s. It doesn't half make the jobs easier then someone else has been there before you and provides photos to boot! How the hell you did this lot outside is beyond me. I have fraction of the work mind. Currently fighting with sills...

[warninglight]

Magnificent work! You've now done all of the jobs I've been putting off doing to mine over the last 6 years too.

That really has come a hell of a long way since I dragged it out of a stately home/Castle near Hamilton in 2020. 

[juular]

Let's go for a drive.

[High Jetter]

I bet that felt good!

[320touring]

Fucking tremendous to see this in the flesh this evening. A proper credit to the collective Juular!

[juular]

It went very well on the way home too despite the 40mph winds and driving rain, although the overdrive decided not to engage on the motorway despite working properly earlier.

Very comfy. Tremendous heating. On a winter's evening it's a very cosy place to be.

Drives lovely. Lots of grunt, I'd even call it lively.

No unusual noises. Sounds very snorty through the twin carbs. Lovely!

Rolls like a boat but feels planted and has endless grip. Steering is far quicker and better than expected despite being a steering box.

Brakes are absolutely fantastic despite being unassisted.

Gear change is slick. 

Feels like a Volvo.

I love it. ❤️

[juular]

9 hours ago, Ronkey said:

A bloody useful reference for me whilst I catch you up with my 122s. It doesn't half make the jobs easier then someone else has been there before you and provides photos to boot! How the hell you did this lot outside is beyond me. I have fraction of the work mind. Currently fighting with sills...

That's some pretty welding!

[juular]

6 hours ago, warninglight said:

Magnificent work! You've now done all of the jobs I've been putting off doing to mine over the last 6 years too.

That really has come a hell of a long way since I dragged it out of a stately home/Castle near Hamilton in 2020. 

It's strange seeing those photos. I don't think either of us thought it would be particularly rusty either.. it hid the rot surprisingly well.

The patina has developed quite remarkably since then too.

[warninglight]

To be fair the Disco towing it in those photos was hiding plenty of rot too! 

You've done a fantastic job with it, are you going to keep the patina? 

Do you want a loan of a Laplander to keep you busy? 😆

[juular]

3 hours ago, warninglight said:

are you going to keep the patina? 

I haven't made a decision on that yet, so it will be rocking the rat rod look for quite some time at least. I quite like it.

I'd also like to prevent the roof and boot lid rusting any further so I might paint the car eventually. I fancy it being changed to a deep teal colour.

3 hours ago, warninglight said:

Do you want a loan of a Laplander to keep you busy?

Can I go back to your original plan and put a T5 in it?

[juular]

Overdrive problem = found

[Talbot]

File that under "yep, that'll do it."

[Talbot]

Reading this thread feels like:

Work.  More work.  Welding.  Stuff.  Mechanical things.  Cosmetic things.  More work.

Suddenly,

Volvo.

[adw1977]

1 hour ago, juular said:

Overdrive problem = found

I hope the fix is as easy as the diagnosis!

[juular]

There is a freshness to the air.

I better have a decent breakfast before sorting things.

New alternator arrived, so I can give @320touring his back.

Stuck a 60A fuse in line to the alternator as it just seemed the right thing to do.

The OD problem was caused by the solder joint on the OD solenoid acting like a structural joint. It just gave way.

Simple enough fix there.

To stop this happening again the wire was cable tied to the body of the solenoid so that any tension doesn't get put onto the solder.

Next on the list, an obnoxious exhaust blow that started last time I drove it.

This looked decent when I reassembled the exhaust. Oh well. Out with the welder. Again.

I really, really couldn't be bothered here and the inside of the pipe looks like kerplunk.

The downside is now it's so clean it doesn't want to fit properly in the mid silencer, it's a bit loose. The solution for that was to create a new.. ahem.. exhaust gasket. Out of mig weld.

One last special touch. 

£20 for a throttle linkage bush? Get it round you.

6mm fuel hose.

Have some videos.

Cold start.

Jrive.

 

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

You're the hero we need, not the hero we deserve.

[barrett]

I saw a bloke on his morning commute in a scruffy-ish two-door Amazon this morning and it really made me ashamed, having decided to take the modern to work instead of spending 40 minutes scraping ice off the Rover. Feel like a fraud. Anyway, it made me think of this car and how fucking great it is. Keep at it!

[junkyarddog]

1 hour ago, juular said:

inside of the pipe looks like kerplunk

🤣

[juular]

On 29/11/2023 at 21:38, Talbot said:

Suddenly,

Volvo.

Lift up your head

Wash off your lichen

Here, take my Kleenex, wipe that dipstick away

Show me your face, clean as the morning

I know things were bad, but now they're okay

Suddenly, Volvo is standing beside you

You don't need no paintjob, don't have to pretend

Suddenly, Volvo is here to provide you

Sweet understanding, Volvo's your friend

[Talbot]

It was an ASDF reference...

Ironically, your reference was funnier!

[juular]

Not a huge amount done recently because:

Latest status update:

Exhaust is now less obnoxious. The downpipe started to blow at the manifold because it had been on and off so much, but that was professionally mended using exhaust paste and foil tape.

Overdrive still not working for some reason. It would activate at lower speeds but drop out on heavy throttle or at higher speeds.

First thing to check was the linkage behind the inspection plate at the solenoid. This can go out of alignment and since I was messing around with the solenoid it was worth a look.

That was checked by sticking a 4.5mm drill bit through the hole in the arm which should align with a hole in the case. Oddly, it was perfect.

Next thing to check is the filter on the other side.

I didn't realise taking that inspection plate off caused the oil to drain, so that got messy.

Anyway, the filter was jammed full of sludge. Cleaned that out with white spirit.

Then refitted and refilled the box with fresh oil. 20/50 engine oil in these temperatures is like treacle so this was a somewhat time consuming job.

Anyway, a test drive was a bit frustrating as the overdrive wouldn't engage at all.

Took it a much longer drive and noticed that it would bang in and out of OD constantly. Then, after around 20 miles it just started to work. And has worked ever since.

I'll take it.