Concerning Parts

With the new rear panel in place, my amazon is beginning to look a bit like a car again (well, from the back anyway). In a possibly over enthusiastic moment I offered up the rear reflectors and mounts. I also tried a rear light cluster.

As it has been such a long time since I began stripping the car, these parts took me a little while to unearth they were in need of a clean up. I have concluded that I need to get organised and a parts audit is in order . I have spent a day cataloging.

Over the years I have acquired quite a few Volvo spares, both new and used, which I have stashed away in the loft and other places, along with those parts that have been removed from my amazon. Some areas are remarkably well stocked, others are less so. I am also concerned about the condition of certain parts and whether they are serviceable. With this in mind I have created a spreadsheet to help me keep track and work out what I might be looking for.

Most of the parts I have so far removed have not been properly cleaned and so I have also decided that I need routinely and systematically clean, assess and refurbish as I remove. I have also begun to do this with the parts in storage, beginning with the light clusters and the reflector mounts.

I found these to be in pretty good condition and after a clean up with wire brushes and the now obligatory Fertan treatment, I have given them a coat of etch primer. I have also sprayed the rear of the reflectors with a top coat of Toyota silver (it's what I had to hand).

These are the kinds of tasks I can do when I don't have enough time to tackle the bigger jobs (like the bodywork) and so I am planning to keep a rolling program on the go. I have so far cleaned and polished the rear lights, throttle linkage, inlet manifold and heat shield, wiper arms, coil, washer bottle, expansion bottle.... Of course I realise that none of these tasks are urgent, but it all needs to be done before I can make it to the start line.

< previous post next post >

Comments

Volvo Amazon Rear Arch Repairs: Update

This post is a short update and will not feature much in the way of photographic documentation I'm afraid. I have not been as diligent with my camera as I should be. Following the O/S rear chassis and inner wheel tub repairs ( see previous post ), I turned my attention to the new inner arch panels. These pressings look great and come highly recommended. It has been my plan for a good while to use these as the structure from which to rebuild the whole of the rear quarters, but (surprise, surprise) I have hit some problems. The first issue seems to be with the fit to the outer arches. I have new repair sections for these and so I thought that the best way to start would be to offer these up together, expecting them to clip together precisely; if only. I spent an entire day measuring, making card templates and trying to work out how they might marry up. I can tell you that the radius of the inner repair is not by default the same as the outer. This threw me completely....

Volvo P120: O/S Boot (Trunk) Floor Pt. 2

Picking up from where we left off, I had decided that I needed to create a controlled curve in the panel that I was creating for the front part of the O/S boot floor. I felt I needed a slip roller, or something similar. Researching available tools it soon became apparent that cost was disproportionate, given that it was entirely possible that I would never need this tool again, and so a 'DIY' solution was required. A couple of hours on YouTube and a root through the scarp metal bin... I came up with a plan. I used a couple of scrap bearings salvaged from Mazda Bongo idler pullys, two Ikea desk legs and an old HiFi speaker stand. The bearings fitted perfectly into the ends of the desk legs, great, so I then fitted some bolts and washers through the centre go the bearings as spindles. On the other end of the legs I found a couple more bolts that fitted snuggly into the plastic feet. Obviously not a robust solution, but I figured strong enough to last the short time required. I ...

Volvo 120 Side Cowl and Bulkhead Repair

Well, the weather has finally caught up with me and I have run out of time to finish that boot (trunk) floor and spare wheel well repairs before the winter so I have decided to leave it to the spring (see previous post). I have now turned the car around so as to work on the off side issues, including the side cowl, bulkhead, front floor pan and rear inner sill. I have made a start on the cowl. Another typical amazon rot issue is the side cowl. I think that this is a consequence of all that muck that gets thrown up and trapped behind the front wing, and the notorious leaking windscreen corners. The side cowl is under attack from inside and out. I had two areas to repair on the offside (having already repaired the nearside some time ago), the lower quarter, and the join between the cowl, the bulkhead (firewall) and the inner wing. To begin, I used a heat gun and a scraper to remove as much of the old underseal as I could, finishing off with some panel wipe. I...

PROJECT VOLVO

Search This Blog