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Reviving a barn find P1800ES

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Old Dec 1st, 2020, 16:19   #41
powen1
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I see, thank you for this nugget of wisdom guys! It would seem that my car never had these and the kit I purchased doesn't either.

I would need the later larger o-rings also. I can see that Skandix sell these and the washers, so I'll get these parts ordered and installed in good time too.
Sent you a message I have various seals and washers from a gasket kit it fitted if you need them
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Old Dec 1st, 2020, 16:33   #42
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Powen... I cannot reply through here until I have posted 10 more times.

Please feel free to message me your email address and we can continue the conversation there. Thanks!
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Old Dec 1st, 2020, 17:29   #43
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I don't think these insulator washers are expensive from a main dealer but you might get them a little cheaper from FRF Swansea using the code C3. See the Traders section if you are not aware of them. There is a Volvo kit that contains them. Postage from Scandix is usually exorbitant so you might take that into account.
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Old Dec 1st, 2020, 18:01   #44
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When I'm next at the car I'll do a compression test again and report back. I have a B20E engine, so am I correct in thinking compression should be around 150psi?
The 1971 service manual specifies 170 - 200 psi for a B20E. That is presumably at sea level. I did a compression test on my B20E after a complete rebuild and the results came out at 163 - 168 psi. My altitude is 577 m so correcting to sea level that would be 171 - 176 psi. I also discovered that I put in a thick B20F head gasket rather than the proper 0.028 gasket which contributes to my test values being a little low by about 3%. Correcting for the gasket my average value would be somewhere around 178 psi at sea level. I have not retested since I refitted with a proper 0.028" gasket.

I run my valve clearances as tight as Volvo permits. If you run your clearances on the loose side this will increase your test pressure slightly.
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Old Dec 26th, 2020, 17:09   #45
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Weather was mild and dry today so popped to the car this morning to do a bit of tinkering.

I replace the oil line that runs from the block to the pressure gauge hard line as it was leaking quite badly. A bit fidly but didn't take long. The engine is 100% leak free now. Just needs a good degreasing and jetwash now.

It hasn't been started for well over a month and it took a little cranking at first, but it fired up nicely and ran well afterward. After the first start it would fire up immediately with no throttle needed and had a nice smooth idle; so it seems to be running really well now.

I took it for a brief run up the road and it pulls really well indeed and sounds strong and healthy. Not bad for a car that's been sitting idle for so long.

I did another compression test and the results are much better now too. Just over 160psi on all cylinders except one which showed about 180psi. I did crank it quite a bit longer on that cylinder, so i suspect that's why it read so high. If i cranked for longer on the other cylinders they would probably read a bit higher also.

Oil pressure was very good took and reading 50+ psi even when up to temp.








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Old Feb 1st, 2021, 16:14   #46
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We’ve made some more progress lately so thought I'd post an update.

Next tasks on our list were to fit a thermostat, fill it with coolant and fit a new rad cap for good measure.

Whilst under the hood we also fitted a new braided oil line that feeds the pressure gauge as it was leaking pretty bad and looks like it has been for some time as it’s a bit of a mess down there.







Now that we have everything sorted under the hood and the car is running well, we plan to give the engine bay a proper detailing and restoration in the near future. More on that to come.

Here’s a quick pic of the oil pressure after warming up the car. Pretty good I say!



For some reason the previous owner dismantled parts of the car before laying it up and we were given buckets of parts and spares. All the chrome trim on the passenger side was missing, but after rummaging through the boxes we found everything, and the hardware needed to fit it all.

It was bugging me every time we went to the car that this was all missing and I was dreading having to source these as they so rare, so I’m pleased we found everything and got it all fitted correctly.







Whilst rummaging in the parts buckets we also found a brand-new genuine Volvo taillight to replace the cracked one on the car.



We then turned our attention to the interior.

The clock was the only gauge on the dash that didn’t work, so I decided to investigate what was happening.

It’s a wonderfully archaic blend of a mechanical wind up mechanism with an electronic solenoid winder that triggers every 2 minutes to keep it wound up.

I blasted some compressed air and lots of crud came out. I then gently lubed everything with silicone spray and to my surprise it kicked back into life. When I added power to the solenoid it all worked, triggering the winder every 2 minutes.

I didn’t get many pics of this, but it keeps good time and it’s back in the car functioning well.





Next task was to clean the grime that had collected around all the gauges. I have no idea what this was, but it was another thing that bugged me every time I looked at them.





Whatever it was came off with a new sharp blade and they’re much more pleasing to the eye. At some point I’ll address the pitted matt black gauge surrounds.





The carpets in the front had already been pulled out by the previous owner so we decided to pull all the carpets and give them a shampoo.

We used a good carpet cleaner combined with a drill brush attachment and they all came up looking great! There are some minor stains we couldn’t shift, but they are largely covered by the seats.

Here’s a couple of before shots.









And a few shots of the cleaned carpets.















With all the carpets and trim stripped out, we gave the interior a thorough clean and we just can’t believe how solid this car is.





We then fitted all the carpet back into the car. I didn't have any contact adhesive, so we'll install the piece by the boot latch next time and also the door finishing strips before we put the seats back in.

For now though, this is how it sits. We just need to finish installing the rest of the interior and fit the new wheels and tyres before we can take it on its maiden voyage!












Last edited by P1800 ES; Feb 1st, 2021 at 18:22.
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Old Feb 1st, 2021, 16:58   #47
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An 1800ES with solid floor pans. That is a rare sight to see! You should be pleased with the way the carpets turned out.

Keep an eye on your brand new rad cap. I purchased a brand new rad cap and it leaked from day one. It appears that the tangs on the cap that engage the filler neck were formed slightly out of position with the result that the cap did not seal on the rad neck resulting in loss of pressure and fluid at the cap. The problem was relatively easy to fix with some layers of 0.005 brass shim stock added between the underside of the cap and the gasket.
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Old Feb 1st, 2021, 18:55   #48
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Thanks! I'm very happy with the interior clean up so far. As the car sat indoors for half its life they don't appear to have faded either.

I have run the car up to temp with the new cap and it all seems fine. The true test will be when I take it for a proper drive.

I did notice the cap span all the way round when I first fitted it, and it was actually the stopper tabs on the radiator neck which had deformed. I bent these down and the cap feel a nice tight fit and stops where it should.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2021, 14:12   #49
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It's looking better and better. A great result. The black goop around the instrument faces is probably the decomposing rubber sealing rings.
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Old Feb 22nd, 2021, 16:51   #50
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Another update as some more has happened lately.

With the car running well and with it all insured and taxed, we were keen to take it out on its maiden voyage.

We had only driven it 40-50 yards up and down the driveway and the brakes had hopeful signs of life, so we thought we’d take it for a run to see if we can get the callipers exercised before overhauling the brakes. If we could get the callipers operational it would save a bit in replacing them.

Before we took it out I wanted to change the diff oil. There’s no record in the tech log from the previous owner of this ever being done and it was showing signs of a leak, so thought it best to refresh this beforehand. The diff is also quite visible from the rear so I was keen to get it looking a little nicer also.

First thing to do was get the cover plate off and drain out the old oil. As you can see it was pretty ugly back there.



With the cover off we cleaned it up, gave it a coat of stone chip and fitted it back on with a gasket and a good bead of RTV.











At some point I want to give the whole underside a thorough clean and proper coat of underseal to protect it and make it look nicer. For now though, this will do and the priority was to get it mechanically sound.

It was sub zero when it came to filling the diff and the oil was like treacle. It took a bit of faffing about to make up a pump and get the oil up and in, but we used a foot pump and a Robinsons squash bottle to great effect.

25psi was as high as we’d pressurise it as we didn’t fancy an exploding bottle of oil, but it was enough to get the oil flowing into the diff. It took a little while as we needed to get nearly 1.5 litres in, but the diff eventually filled and is now leak free.





I didn’t have any faith in the flat spotted, cracked, mismatched and very old tyres so we also fitted the new wheels and tyres onto the car. These are the correct size and it sits so much nicer now. The old chrome wheel rings were very tired also, so we sourced a new set to finish it off. I know these aren't 100% the correct profile, but at £35 the set they look the part and will do for now.





The first drive was very exciting whilst being pretty nerve wrecking. At first everything was going well. It ran great, the gearbox felt nice, it tracked straight, the suspension all felt good and generally it felt really sorted.

We took it steady and headed straight to the petrol station to brim the tank with premium unleaded, but after that things started to get a little weird.

Although it drove very nicely, the brakes clearly had a major issue. It would stop ok, but the callipers would bind and the brakes would stick on. They would release and free up on their own quite swiftly, so we pressed on and were determined to see if we could get them exercised.

We got on the motorway and it was driving excellently. The overdrive worked, it cruised at 70-80mph comfortably with no untoward noises, rattles or vibrations and the gauges showed good oil pressure an no overheating. Very happy days.

But once we left the motorway and used the brakes again they just kept binding up. It was pretty scary at times, so we decided to nurse it home and call it a day.

We covered about 30 miles of careful driving and the brakes showed no signs of improving, so instead of messing about with the old callipers we bit the bullet and new callipers, discs, pads and flexi lines were ordered all round.



This weekend we got the car up on stands and pulled all the old brakes off and replaced with new.



As you can see, the old discs and callipers are looking a little past their best. What should have taken a couple of hours ended up taking most of the day as the old discs were seized onto the car and the old lines were a complete pain to remove.









But we got through it and once all the old parts were off, refitting the new was pretty straightforward.









Unfortunately we didn’t get time to fill with new fluid and bleed the system, but we’ll do that soon and fingers crossed it should stop well.

One other issue we noticed whilst driving was that the bottom radiator hose was cold even after a fairly long drive. The car didn't overheat and there was good heat inside the car, but I suspect the radiator is blocked.

Next jobs are to bleed the brakes, check there's no leaks and get these working properly. We then want to pull the radiator out, back flush it and refit with a new water pump.

Last edited by P1800 ES; Feb 22nd, 2021 at 16:55.
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