Volvo P1800ES...kinda

Here's an old picture of my first TR6 that I bought for $3000.  When I bought it, I thought it just needed floor pans and maybe rockers.  The more I tore into it, the more bad patching and rust I found.  It didn't kill me, and it made me stronger.

It also taught me that rust lurks everywhere on these cars.  They can look really good on the outside and be complete basket cases underneath.  I'm not surprised that you found rust where you did on the frame.  They all rust there.  But I'd be worried that if it rusted out on the top of the frame, what does the bottom look like?  Those trailing arm sections seem to dissolve from the inside.

Nice work replacing the floors.  I'm glad it didn't go farther than it did.

In reply to JoeTR6 :

You won the bet!

No good deed goes unpunished as they say. One last ask from the owner was to replace the support plate on the bottom of the frame .

Stock picture

No big deal, other than doing the removal in the close quarters of a car on axle stands. Right.

This came out after a bit (lot) of grinding. That looks like a lot of rusty E36 M3.

And snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, we found this...

The lower control arm on the PS bolts on to this mess. 

So, I gotta fix this laying on my back under the car on axle stands. Should be fun.

Pete

In reply to JoeTR6 :

That tends to describe Volvo 1800's as well.  A lot of cars "look" really good, but they hide their sins well.  It's one reason I still want to build my car - all sins are known.

In reply to Ian F :

Agreed. Even though mine was solid looking, by the time I cut out all the stuff that was thin, I had replaced the entire lower 6" of the Volvo shell.

The killer is the number of hours that it takes and finding someone who is crazy enough to do this kind of work properly.  I cant guess how many hours your Volvo would take, but I think you would need to be in about 250 hours before you had an idea of where the finish line would be.. The $$$ does add up at that rate.

Pete

We should be sending you beer.  You're gonna need it.  How about a case?

< Looks at picture of frame again >

OK, maybe a keg.  And a fire extinguisher.

That trailing arm section looks like it's toast.  And that's not an easy job with the body on the frame.  You might get away with replacing the bottom of the frame as one piece and laying the new T-shirt pressing on there.  But check the frame side walls.

Unfortunately, whatever hosting site Pete uses is blocked at work, so I won't be able to see the pictures until I get home - but at what point do you decide chassis repair with the body attached is more work than removing the body? 

The good news is that the rust is pretty much restricted to the lower face of the frame, I need to do a bit more clean-up before I can be sure of how the one control arm mount is going to play out.

The way I plan to fix this is to dig out some 1/8" walled 2X4" rectangular tube. I am going to slice and dice and weld it to make a shallow U shape that jussssssst slides inside the frame rail after I cut out the lower face. It might be a bit more work than just making flat pieces to go across the gap, but it will make for a better weldment and the sides of the U will give a bit of strength to the whole thing.

My original advice to the owner was to ignore the whole lot and keep driving the car. The damage has taken 50 years to get this far and it aint gonna speed up.  It gets used about 100 miles per year and is dry stored. I suspect it would have outlasted him without any real issues other than maybe a wet carpet if he got caught in the rain.

My final line of defense is going to be to pull out the Joo Janta 200 welding helmet:

The Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Welding Helmets have been designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to structural rust. They follow the principle "what you don't know can't hurt you" and turn completely dark and opaque at the first sign of  rust perforation.

Pete

NOHOME said:

So, I gotta fix this laying on my back under the car on axle stands. Should be fun.

No you don't.

Im happy to see a hitchhikers guide reference.  Made my day!

NOHOME said:

So, I gotta fix this laying on my back under the car on axle stands. Should be fun.

I'm blinking the rust flakes out of my eyes just looking at the pictures...

Went out and got a bit of a run at the frame tonight. Mostly an exploratory to see how bad this was going to be.

The good news is that it is not so bad once you cut away the scab. There is still paint all the way to the bottom.

All of the rot, including the bit by the lower control arm mount, is restricted to the lower plane of tin.  I need to acquire a few 40 grit flapwheel to get the job done but otherwise  it wont bee too bad.

While I was out there, and since the exploratory did not take long, decided to do the seam sealing. Not that it matters, but I like to keep the stuff tidy, so out comes the tape.

Run a nice thick bead in the seam area and use a small foam brush to wipe it out smooth. Let sit for about 20 minutes and remove tape. I know, it is going to get covered in carpet and never seen again,and I am pretty sure the owner wont appreciate it, but I can't help myself.

Pete

And it is done and ready to go home. 

Frame welded up

Not my prettiest welding work, but considering the location and position, it will do!  I really need to come up with a way to get a car about a foot higher if I am going to keep doing this stuff.

Pete

Great work - I am  continually amazed at the quality of the work you are doing and your ability to keep working though the problems you come across.

Impressive.

Do you have bigger jack stands? For example, the 10 ton jack stands from Northern Tool go from 28" to 46" tall.

In reply to RossD :

Something like that needs to happen. 

Pete

OK, so right up front I will admit that I am procrastinating. I need to wipe the car down and do some epoxy spraying, and for some reason I am having a hard time changing project gears into that mode.

So, instead, I dug out the chrome trim and gave it a quick wipe to see what shape it is all in and if it is going to fit where it needs to. If I need to beat and bash to get anything to fit, best do it now before paint lands on the car.

Have you thought about doing a P1800 (Jensen era) side trim conversion?  It often makes purists grumpy, but they'll already be 10 min into their coronary with this car, so they'll have forgotten about it.  

The trim over the rear quarters is the same, but the doors, front fenders and door handle is different.  A relatively easy conversion at this point. 

In reply to Ian F :

That and the cow-horn bumpers have been very active in my imagination as this has progressed.

The fact that I have brand new factory bumpers and side-trim for the ES has kept me from acting on this. Plus the ship has kind of sailed in that I would need to weld up the rear quarters and re-smooth them and I am kind of getting past my love of bondo dust.

Sadly, I am going to miss yet another big Volvo meet that happens in my local area. I am dying to see what kind of reception this gets when they figure it out. If I don't open the hood, it has just enough hints to make people go WTF? without actually knowing what it is.

An interesting side effect of this project is that while I am not really marque driven in the car hobby (I am just a sucker for a pretty body ), I have developed an appreciation for Volvo classic cars.  When the Molvo is done I will have to see if I can swap rides with one of the owners who has dona a proper restoration.

I know that your shop is full of Brit tin at the moment, but since the stuff in the shop is just occupying space, have you considered dumping the Brit tin in the garden and dragging the P1800 into the shop where it has a better chance of becoming a project?  Wont cost you a cent to take that front clip off and declare a start.

Pete

Finally launching on a task that I wanted to be in denial about

The engine has to come out and the engine compartment has to be stripped of paint and re-painted.

Recall about a year and a half ago I was so happy with how this came out?

Well, the paint never hardened and with all the dust in the air it was a disaster. Two pieces of good news: first is that the paint never catalyzed and will wipe off with lacquer thinner. Lots and lots of lacquer thinner and rags, but better than having to sand it all off.

The other silver lining is that I get to re-do this filler panel. I have already wiped off the paint and run a sanding block over the panel. You can see where it should have been worked over before paint. One of those things that was nagging at me. (that one brake line is kinda in the same boat!)

So, a bit later and a bit dustier, we are nice and smooth.

So, am I looking forward to gutting the engine bay again? Nt really, but it is nice to know that when it goes back together it will be better than it is now.

Now that I have started, it feels good to be moving in a direction again.

Pete

"I know that your shop is full of Brit tin at the moment, but since the stuff in the shop is just occupying space, have you considered dumping the Brit tin in the garden and dragging the P1800 into the shop where it has a better chance of becoming a project?  Wont cost you a cent to take that front clip off and declare a start."

Hate to be a e36m3, but my fathers P1800 is due south from you in Homer Ohio.........he'll never drive it again..it sits in the barn above the Belgians..........black with a red leather interior....

In reply to 759NRNG :

And pray tell why have you not jumped on it and relocated to your garage?

Pete

Cuz the MGB/GT is in the spare stall in an even sadder state of disarray.....

Brian

In reply to 759NRNG :

Drive  the GT up here and I will restore it for you. Done about ten of them so far so know my way around them.

With the Canadian $$$ sucking wind, it is cheap to get this stuff done on this side of the border. Of course, when we speak of restoring cars, the word "Cheap" is relative.

What exactly is keeping you from making headway with the MG?

Pete

NOHOME said:

I know that your shop is full of Brit tin at the moment, but since the stuff in the shop is just occupying space, have you considered dumping the Brit tin in the garden and dragging the P1800 into the shop where it has a better chance of becoming a project?  Wont cost you a cent to take that front clip off and declare a start.

 

Pete

It's not so much that the garage is more than full, it's just the size of the garage isn't really conducive to body work.  At least not in the current configuration.  I have tentative plans to change the wall storage to something that will allow for more working width, but that will be awhile.  Right now, the transmission in the GT6 is the #1 priority.  I really wanted to work on it over the weekend, but it just didn't happen. It's so cramped and unpleasant that I just really don't like working in my garage.  It kinda describes my entire life right now - so much crap, so many projects, not enough space.  I need to get rid of stuff, but it's so much easier for me to say than to do.

If you have any plans to be in the PA/NJ area I can try to set up a test drive with my ex's 1800ES, which is basically stock.  Although she literally just bought a new car (2018 Golf Alltrack 6MT) and the Volvo may not be long in her stable as she's been talking about selling it for a year or so.  I imagine that process may get accelerated now that she has two car payments (the new VW plus her '16 Miata - which she could probably pay off with the sale of the Volvo).

In reply to Ian F :

Any chance she would cut you a good deal on the ES? A major liquidation of the stationary automotive art collection  to fund the purchase would put you in a good place as far as cleaning up the car hobby side.

At worst, if your project horde is worth  only 10k  altogether, and her ES is worth 20k, the 10k difference is a LOT less than you are going to need to get your ES on the road. Added bonus, you will have cleared the Gordian knot of cars in the stable.

This is all assuming that her ES up to your standards already and would not become a project?

Pete