Amazon: Project Thread - 1966 Amazon 121

[Amma122s]

B20's a nice motor to go with, not checked back through the whole thread but have you got o/d too

[random_noise]

Small amount of progress this time. Made up a new inner sill section. Although I haven't kept the holes I have welded in some strengtheners so shouldn't have any issues jacking up directly on the sill on this side of the car now.







Most of the prep is now done for the outer sill. I just need to drill some holes for the plug welding. Got some cavity wax & zinc paint on order so once it arrives I can spray in then get the sill finished.

I've also been playing with Mitch's compressor & needle gun. It's absolutely fantastic for removing the old underseal from the bottom of the car! Hopefully this technique will save hours of manual labour.. I'm not lazy, I just like to work smart

[random_noise]

Been some slow progression recently. Life has been getting in the way too much.

What I have got done is to fill my shotgun with wax (Dinitrol 3125 Cavity wax which comes in easy to apply aerosol for small gaps). I also filled my inner sill with with this ready for the outer sill to go on.

As the inside of the front wheel arch had some cracking (see previous post) I made up some plates to weld in to strengthen them. First I welded up the cracks then made plates as per the Volvo service bulletin which Derek pointed out.

I wasn't 100% on board with welding them in the position shown in the bulletin- to me it made more sense to fit them exactly in the corner. I spayed both sides of the inside up with weld through primer then got to welding:


I left the bottom right unattached to allow any moisture which may get in there to escape. Will get some wax sprayed in there as well to keep it in good shape in future.

Bit of a rough grind later


This should look great once is painted & waxoiled up & I know the front will be nice & strong.

I did more prep for putting the outer sill on- drilled lots of holes ready for plug welding it on to the side. I got both doors on ready to aid with lining it up etc. I was so close to getting ready to weld it on, I removed the back wheel to get access to the back of the sill where I needed to weld a small patch to complete the end of the sill. Got the needle gun out to prep the surface & unfortunately the curse of my car struck again. Bodge city! I've only been welding for a couple of months but even I can tell this is an abomination.



We've got about 3 or 4 different half arsed attempts at welding in patches to the back. Obviously it was blowing through due to questionable metal to weld to, but they've soldiered on then covered it up.

To make matters worse the rear floor (under back seat) where this panel will attach to was made entirely of filler, so will need to be replaced first to give me something to weld on to.

I knew that at some point in future I'd need to do the wheel arch but looks like I'll have to tackle it sooner rather than later


All in all I'm a bit disheartened at the moment as I really wanted to get the sill finished, but to do it right its going to need a panel at the back of the arch... to weld this on I need to do the back corner of the floor under the rear seat and the inner arch (may as well do the lot while I'm at it).

[warninglight]

With Dave's blessing, I'll carry on this project thread, as I picked the 121 up from him on Saturday, and spent most of Easter Sunday towing it back down to Cumbria!

[Burdekin]

Excellent. All the best.

[Alf ista]

Good man Steven. Best of luck with it.

[nick_ovlov]

by any chance were you pulling it with a disco mk2? Sure I saw a red amazon with no windscreen as I came out of aberdeen asda last weekend!

best of luck with it and keep us posted on here!

Nick

[warninglight]

Well spotted! That was me, I was staying at the Norwood Hall in Aberdeen. I did wonder if anyone would spot it on the journey down South!

Hoping to get a good start made this weekend.

[warninglight]

Well work has been unusually busy since Easter, so it feels like I've not made as much progress as I'd like, so far, but still, an update!

The first thing I did on getting the car home was to remove the wings and doors. All had been fitted quite loosely, and would make access to the bits I need to weld awkward. The doors also had a couple of very worn hinge pins. They're not squirreled away in the spare room!


This bit of rot was visible on the bulkhead, and naturally it's the tip of the iceberg, but nowhere near as bad as my Austin 1100 was/probably is again!


I'll not be able to cut much more back without it turning into a whole new panel there, something I'm not keen on! I reckon I can work with that.


A bit of rot underneath the pedals was another chance to exercise the grinder. Dave had already replaced the outrigger on the passenger side and it was clear that this side would need one as well.


Mmmmm crusty!


Once I started poking around I realised I needed to clean up the chassis leg, as it was dented and felt a bit soft in places. There's always an overwhelming feeling that I'm making work for myself by exposing rot in old cars all the time, but it's the only way to make sure they're right!


Looking on Brookhouse, I can get a repair panel for £82 for that. Not worth that, says I. It had been a couple of years since I had last used any CAD software, and a friend has access to a workshop with guillotine, sheet metal benders etc. so I drew up what I wanted, and on Sunday we fabricated it. I'm pleased!


Looks like it'll be a neat fit! I'm going to shorten the new piece as I made it longer than necessary, and it'll be easier to fit if I shorten it to just slightly longer than necessary.


This is the current state of the floor on this side! I'm going to order an outrigger for it, and I think it's worth doing the inner wing cowl panel to match the other side. This one is mostly solid but has a bit of rot top and bottom. There's a bit on the inner sill which I suspect will see me taking the cover off to sort it properly, time will tell!


It looks like a good start, now I look back!

[warninglight]

A little bit more progress, which is good! I've managed to get a few hours here and there so I'm pushing on with the welding. Naturally my welder died a death on day 1 of a 4 day weekend I had taken to get loads done. All was not lost as I borrowed one, and have now bought a replacement.

The bulkhead hole has been repaired, just leaving the (difficult part) outer skin to repair, I need to do the same on the other side so will leave that for now while I sort the important bits.

The chassis section I made went in without too much fuss, followed by the new outrigger. I'm still in two minds about taking the sill cover off on this side, as where the metal has been replaced on the other side, looking along the bottom lip, this side looks fine. I might just do it anyway, but it is £70 for a sill cover, and I'm not sure that I could remove it in one piece!





I've also made the repair section for the front floorpan. Currently well clamped in whilst I make some final tweaks to it. Next is the inner wing and cowl panels, with a lot of measuring before anything gets stuck together!