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Say hello to Olga the 144

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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 13:45   #21
john h
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Hello all,

It's been months since I updated about Olga, but there has been a lot going on. I will split the progress into sections; firstly:


Engine & engine bay

Engine


I took the head to be pressure tested, skimmed and converted for unleaded. Whilst it was away, I cleaned up and repainted the engine block


Some rust in engine bay needed dealing with






I had the brake servo professionally refurbished. The bakelite part inside was broken. I repainted servo/master cylinder mounting


refitted


The first time I refitted the head I foolishly re-used the original head bolts. They looked OK, but this one was obviously weakened. It snapped below the block top surface, which was worrying!


Proving the value of social media, I put out a request for help, and a Facebook friend who rebuilds engines suggested getting an anti-clockwise drill bit to remove the snapped off part. I didn't even know they existed, but it worked perfectly. The technique is to drill a small central pilot hole, then use a larger ant-clockwise bit. When it bites into the metal it unscrews the remainder of the bolt. Zero damage to the thread in the block.




I refitted the head, again, with new bolts. (I have since read that it's good practice to convert the B20 to studs. I'll do this if/when the head needs to come off again).

I had several failed attempt to get Olga running right, before I realised that the original combined inlet and exhaust manifold had a crack. This caused poor running buy allowing a big vacuum leak into number 2 cylinder, which would also affect number 1 by leaning out the front carb, and the whole engine by reducing vacuum advance.

When I removed the manifold, the cracked part parted company.


I decided to bite the bullet and bring forward an upgrade I had planned for the future. I fitted a B18 style inlet manifold (which has better flow, without the B20's emission control secondary butterflies) and a tubular 4 into 1 exhaust manifold.








Ryan and I removed the original fibre timing gear


It was very reluctant to come off!


For reliability, I replaced it with an aluminium gear
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 15:23   #22
john h
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Cooling

Another job brought forward was to convert to an electric cooling fan. Two reasons: the original viscous fan clutch was leaking and hence can't be expected to operate correctly...


... and the new water pump I ordered has a shorter front end, and would have required an adaptor to refit the viscous fan


To make better use of space, I modified a 940 e-fan to fit on the front of the radiator. It's a close fit, but works really well


Pretty much invisible when the slam panel and radiator are fitted


I fitted an adjustable fan switch into the top hose.

The is wired up (via a relay) to operate the 940 fan at the lower of its two speed settings. This is to reduce noise, and the the load on my alternator which (at the momement) is the original 35amp!

When I have fitted an uprated aternator, I will add a dashboad switch so I can manually switch on the fan's higher speed, if that's ever needed.


Fuel tank

Although Olga's fuel tank is perfectly sound, with no rust holes or other leaks, it is full of surface corrosion from condensation. This quickly blocks up fuel filters. The tank will get a professional refurb - a friend is looking into that for me. As a temporary measure, I fitted the good tanks from my 1973 164E. Being a fuel-injection tank, there are some differences, but I was able to make it work on the carb 144.


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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 15:48   #23
john h
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Bodywork


There was a delay getting some engine parts that I needed, so I decided to restore the worst parts of Olga's bodywork whilst I was waiting. As often happens, things went a little further than I had initially intended!


Doors

The two right doors had bad rust pitting at the top, and the driver's door had rot at the rear lower corner.

I cut out the corner, made a repair section and bonded it in




A little filler to get the shape right, then primer


The door tops had quite bad rust. No holes, but quite deep pitting in places






First I stripped the door tops to bare metal




Next I carefully ground out all the rust spots I could find, down to metal with no sign of rust visible



Next I used acid gel, hoping to remove any microscopic rust pitting that I missed with the grinding




After the gel was washed off and dried thoroughly, I applied high-zinc primer, followed by stopper to fill in the ground out areas


After sanding the stopper, next stage is filler primer


Then a light guide coat to assist with getting a good surface finish with wet flatting



Spare wheel wells

Before spraying the colour coat on the doors, I decided to deal with some other rust spots. The spare wheel wells are original and much better than you'd expect from a 48 year old Volvo! But they both had some rust around where the mudflap bracket was spot-welded on, and the seam just above.

I can't find some of the photos now, but all rust was cut out and patches welded in




The lower rear panel also had some surface rust, and was dented


I dug out rust, same process as the doors, and applied fe123 rust converter. (I'm doing a test to see whether this or the acid gel makes a better job of slowing down rust).



Rear shock absorber mounts


This is a famous 100 series rust spot. It's caused by the original design. Volvo spot-welded a strengthener piece over the top of the inner wing. As soon as this flexes enough to crack the underseal, water gets in between the two panels and causes rust.

I had seen swelling here, indicating rust. Initially, I hoped they might be solid enough to get through the first MOT, so I could tackle them next summer. But a little prodding quickly proved they were too rusty for that.




The same area from inside the car, rear seat removed


All the rust was cut out, and a repair section seam welded in. I cant find the photos now, so I will add them later.


Window frames

The window frames had suffered from acid rain damage, but a hard buff with a 3000 grit pad followed by G3 cutting compound brought them up pretty well


Paintwork in progress








Paintwork done, straightened bumper fitted, B20 badge refurbished and dents in the grill straightened out


Side chrome refitted



Modifications

Originality purists, look away please!

For my taste, the 144 looks a little plain in standard form, especially in this grey. I decided to fit paint the rear panel satin black, with 164 chrome strips top and bottom. I always like the 164E badge used in some markets...


... and decided to make a 144S badge inspired by this design. I made the 144 badge by cutting and shutting two new 164 badges I was able to buy at reasonable cost. The S badge is donated by an inferior modern car.... any guesses?


I fitted a new number plate light. Expensive, but I couldn't get the look I wanted any other way. I was lucky enough to find good used tail-light surrounds.

I bought a good condition fuel cap (thanks Carlo!)


I fitted 164 chrome trim under the windows, and a door mirror. I have a matching mirror for the left side, but not fitted yet. The mirror actually needed modifying to give enough adjustment range, but it works fine now.


I fitted a chrome strip along the door-bottom line, similar to the dealer option Volvo offered (and standard equipment on the 164)


The right front and rear wings, and the sill, had defects corrected, then I sprayed the whole side of the car, plus the back panel. I bought 5 litres of the specially mixed grey, so that I can do a full respray in the same paint - but in stages.

I fitted new mudflaps all round


I will take some better exterior photos when the weather permits.

Cheers

John
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 15:58   #24
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Apologies, some of this is out of sequence...


Before I did the paintwork repairs, my motivation was flagging and Ste very effectively fixed that by buffing Olga to bring up a shine. It was a tough job, decades of fading to remove


refurbishing front bumper mounts


removed the rubber from the original bent front bumper


cleaned up the good front bumper from my spares. I needed to swap over the rubber insert from Olga's original because the replacement bumper is from a 1973 140, which has two shorter rubber sections with the number plate in between. Olga has a continuous rubber pad with the number plate mounted below the bumper.


Ste polishing


We removed the towbar. This is available free if anyone wants to collect it


I removed the very ineffective wing mirrors. A little rust around the mounting on this side
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 17:25   #25
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Interior

I stripped out the trim to assess the floorpan. Most of it is very good, but there has been a water leak into the left rear. Here I'm removing the bitumen pads to deal with that




Rust in the left rear ground out, treated and painted. Also, all four of the circular infill pieces had rusted, so I replaced them with plastic






I drilled drainage holes at the low points of the floor in all four footwells. I then masked and rustproofed the parts I was leaving as water drain channels underneath my sound deadening


I refitted the rear demister channels, after rustproofing underneath them


The 144 will be doing some long distance driving, e.g. European holidays. Looking at period roads tests, it was criticised for being noisy when cruising at high speed, even by late 60s standards, so I decided to add in some refinement.

The whole floor was covered with a dynamat equivalent, before rubber mats, then a new black carpet








I also insulated the pillars


The black mats are doormats from B&Q. the major advantage over the original foam type is these don't hold water. Any water that gets to the floor will just drain out






Refitting the interior components as the new carpet goes in


I am 6ft 5, with long legs, and initially it was difficult for me to drive Olga.

I have bent the gearlever slightly to the left, so that there is room for my left knee when in third gear.

I also spaced out the driver's seat mounting to allow the whole seat to go further back
[photos later]

I fitted a 164 early type gearknob. I like this type; being spherical it's nice to change gear with.


For safety's sake, I wanted an upper brake light, but I didn't want it to look modern. I made one using a period stainless steel rear fog lamp




There is more to do, but I like how Olga's interior looks and feels now






Running gear

The handbrake adjuster and pulley had seized up, so I refurbished it


Olga's role in my fleet is comfortable cruiser; I have the 245 turbo for speed!
For the most part, Olga will stay with standard suspension, but I am looking for some subtle changes:
- improved comfort (where I can do it without damaging handling)
- improved handling (where I can do it without damaging comfort)
- lighter steering

Working to these goals, I have fitted an uprated 22mm front anti-roll bar.


The thicker front anti-roll bar keeps the car more level during cornering, helping both comfort and handling. More front roll stiffness could tend to increased understeer. I am offsetting this by running higher front tyre pressures, which will also lighten the steering a little.

Here I'm refurbishing the drop links, before refitting using new poly bushes








When I removed the gearlever for carpet fitting, I noticed that it had some slop. I made some spacers from slices of copper pipe that take up the wear nicely and give a crisp gear change. Here they are slid on over the original side pins


Olga has passed her first MOT for many years. I can't drive her yet, because I need to await the new V5 before she can be taxed (previous owner lost the original, and I mistakenly thought I could apply for a new one at the same time as taxing her). But soon she'll be on the road!

And I think this brings me up to date!

I will try to keep on top of the updates better from here onwards

Cheers

John
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 18:31   #26
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Hi John

Thanks for informative info - only now been able to view all your pics as my computer died - again! I like your high-level brake light - might even look into that on my next 164 project.

Neighbour still hasn't dropped heat gun off so I can remove rear door chrome topping section from my breaker - sorry. So where did your chromed number-plate light cover come from - that lack of shine on mine is a real downer.

So the question - are you going to challenge Ray from Barrow with Olga for the best 144 at next years BKV? Yours is coming to be a real nice car now - keep it up!

Paul-the-164
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 19:35   #27
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I'm loving the comprehensive updates, what a great job you are doing. Thank you for taking the time to share!
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Old Nov 27th, 2017, 21:44   #28
john h
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomoose View Post
I'm loving the comprehensive updates, what a great job you are doing. Thank you for taking the time to share!
Thanks for the kind words!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple-S View Post
Hi John

Thanks for informative info - only now been able to view all your pics as my computer died - again! I like your high-level brake light - might even look into that on my next 164 project.
Thanks Paul, feel free to copy or improve on the idea


Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple-S View Post
Neighbour still hasn't dropped heat gun off so I can remove rear door chrome topping section from my breaker - sorry.
No worries, whenever you can




Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple-S View Post
So where did your chromed number-plate light cover come from - that lack of shine on mine is a real downer.
Skandix do a decent quality reproduction light:

http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts...light/1027276/


Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple-S View Post
So the question - are you going to challenge Ray from Barrow with Olga for the best 144 at next years BKV? Yours is coming to be a real nice car now - keep it up!
Cheers Paul. I am very fond of Olga, but to be honest she's still a long way short of being a bkv winning standard. Anyway, the judging at bkv doesn't really suit me - for one thing, I like to use my old cars a lot, and for another I like my little modifications. I do this for fun, not prizes!


J
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Old Nov 28th, 2017, 13:27   #29
Billy Smalls
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This is simply inspirational work - a high benchmark for anyone (me) wanting to do the same....

Is the interior NOS - it's in incredibly good condition.

Fantastic car
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Old Nov 28th, 2017, 17:46   #30
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What a nice car

Can only agree with your love for the interior

Car looks smart with that rear badge.




Jens Christian
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