PROJECT VOLVO

Over the last week I have been working on the inner box section of the n/s sill. As a 2 door amazon, my Volvo has what many believe to be an inherent weakness in that the rear section of the outer sill is actually part of the rear wing. This arrangement is arguably more susceptible to corrosion than on the 4 door amazon which has a single pressing for the outer sill, rumoured to be galvanised (as is the front section of the 2 door outer sill and both the inner sill sections) - the 2 door rear wing is not. Consequently, rust issues here are common with this model of Volvo, and once again, mine is no exception. Having removed the previous poorly patched repairs ( see February's post ), I attacked the inner sill with  a variety of wire brush attachments on my angle grinder. I then marked up proposed cut lines to take the box section back to good metal. I used my spot weld drill set to remove the welds along the bottom edge, then cut along the marked lines to remove the poor ...

First off, some new panels have arrived from Brookhouse *. I have bought the outer rear along with a spare wheel well, bumper hanger, the two lower rear ribbed valances and both o/s and n/s lower rear wing repair sections.  The rear panel looks to be a well made pressing and is rumoured to be 'original', or 'same as'.  I went with the higher quality lower quarters and I am pleased I did. They are clearly much better that the ones I took off, which I assume equate to the 'cheap' pressings. The rear wing repair pieces also look to be of quality but I was little disappointed that there is no lip/fold on the back edge, to attach the the back panel. The bumper hanger looks to be pretty much identical to the original but the spare wheel well itself is not so impressive. I would describe it as functional rather than finely crafted, but hey, you have to go with what's available; it certainly looks a great deal better than what's on the car now. I already have a ...

It has been a while since my last post, but I haven't been entirely idle. After my initial investigations into the state of the boot floor (see previous post)  I have removed more from the car in preparation for repairs, including the rear window. This was the last piece of glass still fitted to the car and I was concerned about damage from grinding sparks.  The stainless trim that surrounds the glass is extremely delicate and really expensive to replace, so needs to be removed and stored carefully. I used a couple of old plastic spatulas and they seemed to work pretty well although in hindsight, I think it might have been worth investing in some proper trim removal tools.  One important thing to note is that the chrome finishers that sit on the C pillars are actually held in place with bolts, so if you are attempting this yourself,  do not try and prise them off!  They will break! Instead, you will need to get at the retaining nuts from inside the car by ...