Volvo P1800ES...kinda

I love how those look, keeping the overall styling of the original 1800ES seats.  A lot of 1800 owners write/talk about how great the OEM seats are, but after a few thousand mile of personal butt-time in them, I can't stand them. 

In reply to Ian F :

Done several 1000 plus mile days in Miata seats and can attest to posterior sympathy with the design. So, hopefully still the case!  

Start the DS one tonight .

.

That seat looks incredible. 

The odd confluence of colors is going to require some future development, but I think I will live with it for now.

Pete

OK, I give up.  Is someone stealing your pictures on the Volvo Restomod group on FB, or are you also Bjorn Smith ?

Volvo Restomod

Great progress, by the way

In reply to CJ :

Guilty as charged. I had to disappear from FB two years ago, but still wanted to visit some car groups without any of my previous contacts knowing I was still alive. Enter the Muppet.

Pete

NOHOME said:

In reply to CJ :

Guilty as charged. I had to disappear from FB two years ago, but still wanted to visit some car groups without any of my previous contacts knowing I was still alive. Enter the Muppet.

 

Pete

So you've been Bjorn again?

TVR Scott said:

NOHOME said:

In reply to CJ :

Guilty as charged. I had to disappear from FB two years ago, but still wanted to visit some car groups without any of my previous contacts knowing I was still alive. Enter the Muppet.

 

Pete

So you've been Bjorn again?

Sorry if I blew your cover.  Will delete the post in the interests of flying under the radar if you would like...

In reply to CJ :

Not an issue.

Not only did you anticipate my dorky joke, but you proactively had custom plates made.

Well played, sir.

TVR Scott said:

Not only did you anticipate my dorky joke, but you proactively had custom plates made.

Well played, sir.

I read it as BJ OR NAGGIN’ and thought “that guy’s definitely married.”

In reply to AngryCorvair :

That made me genuinely laugh out loud!

And I also like that the cat in that picture looks ready for a beer and a TV remote.

This last week has been a good one as far as progress. Besides the seats being reskined, I also finalized the plan for the rear deck surface. What to put down and how to attach it was still an open question this late into the project.

Rather than weld in a sheet of tin, I decided to hedge my bets and bolt in the sheet of tin to cover this area.

That meant locating, drilling and welding in 72 weld-nuts..  That was fun.

Anyone spot another nerve wracking task crossed off the list?

Fortunately I had hepled a friend rope in a windshield  for a Mustang not long ago and it took some of the scary out of the task.  The reality is that it takes longer to do the benchwork of putting the rubber around the window and the rope in the groove, than it does to locate the windshield in the hole and pull the rope. Kinda cool how it just sucks the window into place as the rope goes around the perimeter. This is a good example of a job that I would have contracted out a few years ago thinking it was beyond my skills.

Now, if I can just figure how to get the trim on there, I will be happy. If not, it wont stop me from first drive.

Pete

From a number of discussions on the 1800list over the years, the easiest way to install the trim is to do it on the gasket before installing the windshield.

In reply to Ian F :

Tried that and it was not going well. Could not keep the rubber on the glass while trying to install the trim.  Downloaded the "Green Book" and it describes a rope method after the window is in, but the physics make no sense to me. 

I learned to live without windshield trim on the MGB GT so if it comes to that, there is precedent.  

Pete

Although I doubt it'll be any consolation, fitting the windshield trim has been a well-worn topic of debate for as long as I've been watching 1800 discussions - 15 years now - and it wasn't new then.  About the only thing agreed on is it's a PITA.

In reply to Ian F :

I have often wondered why this is so. It is virtually impossible to get the windshield trim on the MGB GT, and now this car. American cars seem to have a 5 second solution to a simple problem. It is not like engineers to design in difficult time consuming steps in a vehicle assembly, but these guys did so on purpose?

Weird, thought I had posted this...

The car is suffering from low vacuum. After looking at all the ussual suspects, I keep wandering back to this exhaust crossover. Mayhaps it is constipating the system and causing low vacuum? 

B or E cam?  If so, that's certainly contributing to low vacuum.....

In reply to MichaelYount :

e cam

just checked with my buddies e cammed engine and he has a solid 16 inches. 

I get that the e cam is universally reviled by the 302 world, but under 10 inches for a cam that is meant to make torque down low does not make sense.

Pete

Vacuum leak? Or timing set too low at idle?

In reply to NOHOME :

I add it to the "List of Reasons Why British Leyland Went Out of Business" and the 1800 has a lot of LBC traits in the design and construction.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Checked those two and should not be an issue.

Rich mix tends to make for low vacuum, but AF is good, or at least the reading is on the FITECH handheld and no exhaust leak that I can detect.

The engine actually runs fine, but the low vacuum makes no sense.

Before I take the sawzall to the pipes, gonna run this test and see what it reports:

Low vacuum also can be an immediate clue to a plugged exhaust. To check further, run the engine at about 2500 rpm for about 15 seconds. If vacuum drops during this period and does not increase when you close the throttle, you're almost certainly looking at a restricted exhaust.

In reply to NOHOME :

Are you checking vacuum through the computer or with a vacuum gauge