1970 1800E Driver Restoration

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by DanMarino

Nice job. That doesn't look like fun. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the encouragement; and no, it isn't any fun.

I keep telling myself that once I get on to the mechanicals it will all be like a walk on the beach at sunset....that's what keeps me going.

[didenpx]

Front end pretty much finished up.

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Focusing on the left rear quarter next:

After sweating out the lead from the joint where the quarter meets the door jamb:

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Cutting and dry fitting the fantastic quality VP patch panel:

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I plan on using 3M panel bonding adhesive as recommended by dmax99 (http://forums.turbobricks.com/showth...=304503&page=3) for the bond between the patch panel and the door jamb, sill, and wheel well lip.

Before I get to that I need to patch up the inner wheel well:

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[petiww]

Keep up the good work!
I´m in the same boat... Mechanical bits are child´s play compared to correct bodywork.

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by petiww

Keep up the good work!
I´m in the same boat... Mechanical bits are child´s play compared to correct bodywork.

Thanks!

Driver's side quarter panel patch completed. Used 3M panel bonding adhesive for everything except the butt welds.

Inside primed:

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Dry fitting:

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Epoxied and clamped every which way:

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Tack welded:

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High tech epoxy curing system in operation:

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Grinding done:

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Termination of the inner wheel well at the rear of the sill with Dynatron sealant:

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Next step is to decide whether there's any way I can tackle the crumply bits on the aft end of the rear quarter and the rear valence. Working to get an estimate on having the work done to help the decision....

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And one final (better quality) shot of the front of the front end:

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[dutch242]

nice job again. keep on the good work ;)

[didenpx]

If anyone out there has replaced the rear valence on an 1800, I'm looking for info/advice on how best/most easily to access the mating surface between the valence and the rear quarters for spot welding. The top portion is accessible from inside the trunk but then it disappears and is inside the space between the quarters, valence, and various other panels. How do you get at it without taking apart and rebuilding the entire ass end of the vehicle??

[DanMarino]

So much work! Great job! There's no way I could do that type of work. How did you learn?

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by DanMarino

So much work! Great job! There's no way I could do that type of work. How did you learn?

If I can do it (see my initial attempts at welding earlier in the thread.....UGLY!) then I'm pretty sure any one can. I never attempted to weld anything before I started this project and have never done a car project this ambitious before.

I just started learning to weld by trial and error starting on areas under the car where cosmetics weren't an issue. Since I have PLENTY of rust to deal with I got lots of practice and am now proficient enough to be dangerous. I'm sure I'm doing a bunch of stuff sub-optimally or outright wrong, but at least I'm able to do the work myself.....

And it's definitely a huge advantage to have a garage stall where the car can sit out of the elements when I run out of steam or need to spend some time thinking about how to tackle the next challenge.

[nel621]

I don't do facebook but you may want to visi. t the Volvo Sports Cars of America page. VSA is all about the 1800. You may be able to get someone to there to answer some of your concerns.

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by nel621

I don't do facebook but you may want to visi. t the Volvo Sports Cars of America page. VSA is all about the 1800. You may be able to get someone to there to answer some of your concerns.

Thanks for the suggestion Nelson; I'm also subscribed to the Yahoo 1800 group and found someone there who just did this recently. Procedure he used was to remove the backing place that connects the rear valence to the floor of the trunk and that gave enough access to execute the plug welds between the quarter panel and rear valence.

Still have time to think about it, but I'm leaning in this direction now. Also sort of regretting that I didn't bite the bullet and just replace the entire driver's side rear quarter....

[nel621]

May have been a better move considering the other metal work at the lower rear and near the fuel opening. But no going back now, soldier on.

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by nel621

May have been a better move considering the other metal work at the lower rear and near the fuel opening. But no going back now, soldier on.

I may end up springing for a new quarter and sectioning around the middle of the wheel arch and using just the aft portion of it. We'll see.....

[didenpx]

Made decent progress this week on the miserable work underneath the passenger side.

Floor pan patching completed:

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Front frame cross member (I managed to lose/misplace the jacking point piece so I'm masking off the area where it will go in hopes it will turn up....therefore the blue masking tape):

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Aft passenger side frame rail extension. I found some rusted through spots underneath undercoating that was from all outward appearances perfect. Kind of scary that these can rust from the inside and hide under the undercoating! Didn't take photos, but I blasted out the scale on the inside of this piece and treated the inside with Eastwood frame sealer and (closer to the cut out areas) two coats of Rust Destroyer.

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[smoothdurban]

Very nice work! Your project reminds me of how terrible it is to fix underbody rust. But you are making short work of it. Keep the updates coming.

[didenpx]

It's been a while.....

Project was dormant until a little while ago. Have a schedule in mind to get it out for blasting and then body work. My previous schedules have been so ridiculously optimistic that I'm going to keep this one to myself.

I'm going to have the body shop sort out the bashed in rear valence and the crumpled in part on the aft of the left rear quarter. So my punch list is:
-Fill in hole where rear antenna used to be mounted
-Remove dash
-Patch battery tray
-Remove headliner
-Remove wiper lugs
-Remove all hard brake lines
-Replace rear diff cover & gasket
-Replace axle shaft bearings & courses
-Replace oil seals on rear axle
-Replace pinion oil seal on rear axle
-install rear axle

In the meantime I'm working to patch the right rear inner wheel well and get ready to put on the quarter panel patch.

[/url]Preparing to skin rear quarter for patch by didenpx, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[IMG]Inner wheel well patch awaiting welding by didenpx, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[IMG]Inner Wheel Well Primed by didenpx, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Rocker Panel Blasted and Primed by didenpx, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Underside View of Rocker & Sill, Masking Removed by didenpx, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[DanMarino]

Great work! I hope to learn welding one day. What type of welder do you have? With all the work you have done, I'm sure it has paid for itself.

[smoothdurban]

Glad to see your back! Keep them coming.

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by DanMarino

Great work! I hope to learn welding one day. What type of welder do you have? With all the work you have done, I'm sure it has paid for itself.

I'm using a Lincoln Mig Pak 10 that I bought from my brother (it's about 20 years old or so).

There's no way this project would have made sense paying someone else for all of the welding. Expense would have been crazy.

[didenpx]

Epoxy curing.....

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[smoothdurban]

The extensiveness of your rust repair would send 99.9% of the people on this forum running! Do you have any clamps in reserve or are you showcasing your lifetime collection of them?

[didenpx]

Originally Posted by smoothdurban

The extensiveness of your rust repair would send 99.9% of the people on this forum running! Do you have any clamps in reserve or are you showcasing your lifetime collection of them?

That was pretty much the whole shootin' match right there. Had to scrounge in the basement to come up with them all.

I too am questioning my own sanity every time I head to the garage to work on this thing (ergo the slow progress). Believe it or not there's a 73 ES waiting in the wings that is probably in worse shape than this one.....we'll see if that project ever gets off the ground.

[didenpx]

Closer to getting it back on its own feet.

Quarter patch completed:

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Plugged up the hole where some PO mounted an antenna on the rear quarter:

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Been working on the rear axle. Replaced the pinion oil seal diff cover & gasket. Waiting for some wheel bearings and then it will be ready to paint and start putting back on the car:

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Patching the battery tray now and after that (fingers crossed) no more welding for me. The fun ended more than a year ago. Really looking forward to some honest mechanical work and reassembly.

[amerbritcan]

Originally Posted by smoothdurban

Glad to see your back!

Harsh dude.

[Råda]

Impressive work

[didenpx]

Still making progress toward getting the shell out for media blasting. It probably doesn't look like much is happening (and probably that's accurate) but the psychological impact of actually reassembling some stuff (rear axle) is huge after many months of tedious and unrewarding rust remediation!

Pulled the remaining hard brake lines and the proportioning valves. No photos.

Dash wiring documented and dash pulled:

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Axle shafts are out for rebuild/new bearings. Started to reassemble the rear axle and suspension after work today:

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