Skip to main content

Amazon Build: End of Year Progress Report


Winter is here and so things have been put on a back-burner for a while. My garage is not insulated and being of a concrete pre-fab construction, working in the cold weather is not ideal, especially bodywork. AA mild spell in November did allow me to make a start on the nearside windscreen repair though.

I have also been to an auto jumble,  my first time since the before times. I bought a few bits and bobs but the best find was these front callipers. The vendor had purchased them new for his early 140 but after an initial fitting they were deemed incorrect. They looked right for my car though, so I took a punt and I got them for an excellent price.



Back home I compared them to my old units; they look identical. A test fitting confirmed that they are indeed correct. Result!


Back to the windscreen then, and a pretty sorry state it is too. The inner panel has completely corroded away leaving not much in the way of a recognisable lip as reference point. 



I decided that the best way forward was to cut away the inside section and then use the remnants of the outside lip as a guide. Once this piece had been made and positioned, I would be able to create the outer skin lip.


I carefully drilled out any remaining spot welds, cut away the inside panel and began making a repair piece.


This is as far as I've got, and the weather and other issues (i.e. work) has closed down operations for the time being. I think that it will likely be Easter before I can resume. In other news however, my inner wheel arch repairs have finally turned up.  Hurrah! I'd all but given up on these.




< previous post            next post >




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boot (Trunk) Excavation

As I suspect you are aware, issues with rot in the boot (trunk) of the Volvo 120 series are common and my Amazon is no exception. Over the years it has been 'repaired' a number of times and not always sympathetically. I have made a start removing the filler and the patchwork of metal plates that make up the n/s and the floor next to the spare wheel well.  I've ground off some of the welds, chiselled and bent back the non-original metal.  As I have already reported the lower rear quarter replacement panels are definitely not correctly positioned but I have successfully managed to uncover the original boot floor which although is in a very poor condition, does give me some points of reference for the rebuild. Incidentally, a word of warning. I had to remove a lot of seam sealer and I really should have been wearing gloves. A slip with the scraper brought the session to a rapid conclusion. I was lucky not to end up in A&E. Now that I have investigated more tho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tooling Up: DIY Sheet Metal Brake

My new 1mm sheet steel has arrived, along with some additional angle and flat bar... but more of that in a moment. Using the refined ply forms , I have now made the boot floor rear edge piece again and I am much happier with it.  Going for the extra gauge steel was definitely the right decision and this new panel feels much more substantial. I have had a full test fitting with all panels, which is looking pretty good. The next issue concerns the rear inner arch to which spare wheel well side and floor is to be attached. There is some rust here and so this will need to be repaired before the really serious welding/reconstruction of the boot floor can begin. Although only a relatively small area, complex curves and profiles need to be created. I realised then that I had need of more fabrication tools. Here then is a description of how I fashioned a DIY sheet metal brake; a means by which I can easily and precisely create folds in sheet metal of up to around 90˚or so. This constructio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volvo Amazon Chassis Repairs

As suggested in my recent post, the job I originally planned at this point was to repair the battery tray which is in a bit of a state. However, even after an extensive staring, prodding and rumination, I still haven't come up with a strategy. The curves and swaging in this pressing are really quite complex, I am simply not ready to tackle this.  "Does it really matter what it looks like?" I hear you cry, "Won't it be hidden?" Well, actually I think it does, not least of all as I am planning to relocate the battery to the boot (trunk) and utilise the tray in some other way (the current thinking is to locate an oil catcher here, which is required for competition). If so, the repairs will indeed be visible. I've decided to ignore it for the time being and come back to it later. Instead I have turned my attention to the rear arches, starting with the offside. I knew that there are some repairs required to the chassis and the area above the spring locator. I...
Post a Comment
Read more