My 221 Amazon Estate project

[Uncle Benz]

I changed the picture size too! Go me!!

[Uncle Benz]

My workshop has been busy for the last few days, so haven't had much time for the old Volvo. I did manage to repair the rusty upper tailgate. I cut a larger piece out from the old one to make a repair section. Luckily the inside upper face had minimal rust, so was ideal for using to repair the other one. A marked difference between the two though. My spare had some wax inside which had saved it from the usual rotting from inside out. The original on the car had nothing, and the bottom face was as rotten as a pear.



The larger piece I cut out did have some rust at its outer edges, but by the time I had trimmed it down we got away with a rust-free repair section, which I carefully stitched in.



Time and care taken to ensure no distortion of the surrounding metal, and linished the welds back to minimise the painter's work to make it good.

[Uncle Benz]

Rob, the painter, collected the front wings, bonnet, front panel and both tailgates yesterday. He wants to collect the bare doors next weekend. Best pull my finger out!

[Uncle Benz]

Another small item ticked off the list, I installed a new brake master cylinder. I have also ordered a new brake servo kit from Brookhouse. It's the Lockheed type aftermarket add-on. Without the engine in the car I'm not confident of placing it correctly, so for the time being I have piped the brakes up without it and bled them through. We now have working stoppers!!

[Uncle Benz]

Rob had started nagging me to get the doors off and stripped. I took them off today. The offside rear is still on in the picture. One of the cross head screws was a swine. All the others came out with a bit of persuasion, but there's always one... I had to drill the head off it in the end. The remaining stub wound out with a mole grip, so no need to panic over the captive plate. I stripped the doors out completely. Most are good, but the driver's door has some history. By the look of it, it has either been backed into a garage or something with the door open, or else the open door was hit by a passing car from behind. The check strap mount in the door has been torn out, crudely reshaped and welded back in, and the door frame has been creased top to bottom about four inches back from the front edge and roughly beaten back into shape. The outer skin has quite a bit of filler in it too. Might have to search for a better door...

[Uncle Benz]

I fear these may be big pictures again. Sorry in advance if that is the case...
First Batch of panels are back from Rob. I expressed some concern that he was painting some bits to final finish before the shell of the car, and whether there would be problems with matching. I felt a bit of a fool when he laughed and said it would all match fine. He said he'd do it again if it didn't match, so I'm happy really I guess!
The finish is flawless. I'm slightly concerned now that I might have gone down a path where the end product is too nice to drive. I think at the end this car will be moving on, so hopefully I won't need to fret too much about stone chips and the like...
Couple of pics.




Bonnet mirror...

[classicswede]

Coming along well there

The screws holding the doors on are often very hard to undo and can round off when you try

[gillberry]

Starting to come together, they are never too good to drive. A amazon should be driven not wrapped up in cotton wool 💙

[Uncle Benz]

Back on her wheels for the first time in three years!



Off to the painter in the morning

[Uncle Benz]

She's gone! Loaded up this morning and carted her off to Robs paint shop. My workshop feels weird without a car on the lift in the second bay. I keep turning round and going "woah! Somethings different!" Three years will do that I guess.