My first Volvo! A long wanted 145!

[Tattyoldvan]

front valance is cheap and still available from Hadrians last time i checked, although i'd decided i was going to make a new one using the bottom end of a 240 one meaning could add the little rubber bib, but hey its for the best i dont have my greesy mits on it anymore!

[john h]

Originally Posted by WPR678B

It would be great to see some pictures of your car Sean.

+1 for the photos Sean!

John

[WPR678B]

Valance is no longer available i'm afraid! I will probably end up repairing the one on the car!
I must confess to doing very little to it so far as even though i want it on the road asap, i am being convinced that i should finish the Morris Minor project i am currently doing first!
Still waiting for a load of bits to turn up as well, must chase them again.......

[WPR678B]

Well i've shelved the Morris Minor project to get cracking on the Volvo! We all know that makes sense eh!
I haven't made much progress as i only get saturdays to "play with my toys" but progress is progress!
I started on the passengers front corner as the wing was already partly removed. Once off it revealed some rust as expected, but still not bad for a 40 year old car.
The hardest part was removing the old underseal as it was cracked in places and rust was festering underneath!

[WPR678B]

Once repaired it was given a good coat of etch primer...
Then it was off with the sticky caliper for a strip down, clean and paint and re-seal. Pictured cleaned down and primed, but since topcoated and awaiting re-assembly!
That took care of last saturday!

[WPR678B]

Then it was onto the back arch. The outer arch on this side was the worst of the 2, but the inner wing around the shock mounting was the better of the 2. Strange how it goes eh!
First i cut the rust from the inner arch and cut away the affected section of the shock mounting plate. I have bought a new panel for the mounting, but decided that as such a small area was affected then i would just fabricate my own repair panel!
The inner arch was repaired first, dressed back (but halfway through my 4" grinder that has the sanding disc on threw a bearing hence why the weld is only partly dressed in the picture! The only grinder that left me with was a 4+1/2" with 1mm cutting discs, definatly not suitable for anything other than cutting!) and then a panel was fabricated from 2mm plate to replace the section i had cut from the shock mounting.
The new inner wing metal and the inside of the repair panel were coated with weld through etch primer before being welded in place.
I then cut away at the inner and outer arches and made good where was required ready to accept the new sections.
These have been saved from a scrap 240 and are in great nick, but the trouble in using them is that all 3 layers need to be seperated to build them into the car properly. After drilling out the spotwelds they eventually seperated and there is minimal repair work to do to them before i can fit them. The inner arch section is trimmed to suit and ready to weld in, but it got to 7pm and started to drizzle so i packed up for the day!
The last 2 pictures show the current state of play!

[marcmarel]

Nice job. I haven't cut rear arches or sills back that far, good to see the structure like Volve made it. Most cars over here have had (dodgy) repairs in all those places, sometimes it's like an archeological dig going through layers of metal, filler, tar and poprivets.

Yours is a bit rusty but in it's indisturbed natural state.

[222s]

Lovely neat repairs & with all rust cut out - excellent work! Looking forward to seeing more on this project

[WPR678B]

Thanks for the comments. I have restored many Morris Minors over the years, but this is my first go at a Volvo so the sill and wheelarch structure is all new to me!
I am lucky that this car has had little repair work carried out before so i am able to see what is what rather than having to work my way through many patches as previously mentioned!
I managed to finish the caliper this evening so that will find its way back on soon...

[WPR678B]

I managed to get the day to spend on the 145 yesterday and have made some progress. (Yes, i know it wasn't a saturday, but have other plans for this saturday and didn't want the Volvo to miss out!!)
Although i think i haven't really got much done, at the end of the day its quality not quantity eh!?!
I managed to finish the front of the passengers rear arch and repair the rest to just above the spare wheel well, which is going to need replacing, and is a different profile to the 240 section i have to hand and was planning to use.
Also got the caliper back on and made a new pipe to suit.
Treated it to new pads and a fitting kit while i was about it!