Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Neat story Art

I had quite a productive afternoon today, disassembling things in readiness for fitting the kit of new parts that arrived during the week.

The exhaust, manifold(s), carb, water pump, thermostat and rad are all off now, the final job before packing up for the day was splitting the downpipe from the manifold. I took the latter off the engine so that the assembly could be upturned in the vice, then copious freeing liquids and heat could be applied to the rusty-looking nuts. After some persuasion both nuts came off successfully, something they'd never have done had I left the manifold in-situ.

Next job will be to clean the parts that are to go back on, and then begin the re-fit.

Most important job done today though was removing the modern VOC grille badge, and replacing it with a period AA one instead. The rear of the grille isn't accessible with the rad in place, so it had to be done now.

RJ
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[Rick]

Father Christmas arrived early this year when a large box, containing many goodies, landed on the doorstep



A couple of shots now of the disassembly, which required the car to be up on jacks and ramps to get at everything.



Removing the rad for instance was a breeze, just two bolts hold it on, the bottom is located on a pin set into the front panel. The carb and manifolds came off easily too.



The manifold-downpipe bolts proved a little stubborn, but removing and upturning them before putting them into a vice made separating them fairly straightforward (must tidy the bench).



The new water pump is now fitted, and the rad, hoses and manifold assy are all now back on, ready for the exhaust to be fitted. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend.

RJ
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[Rick]

All back together now, I fitted the exhaust today and re-fitted the water pump (again), I can't say that I'm a fan of the push-fit "O" rings that are used to seal the pump and the plumbing, but it's ok now. Another bonus is that, with the new thermostat in place, the engine warms up properly and the heater has been brought back to life, result!

Next to do will be the tappets, and probably an oil change, although with it back on the road again I'll do a bit on something else first.

RJ
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[ukdave2002]

[Rick]

[Rick]

The new exhaust & gaskets have transformed the old girl from a slightly noisy machine, to one with a much more agreeable exhaust note.

This evening it was treated to a fresh 50% mix of coolant, and taken for a test run during the final minutes of daylight - old car, clear roads, great weather, all good fun.

RJ
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[Rick]

Looking around online I found this neat radiator badge for the PV, and as the car illustrated upon it is blue it seemed like a sensible addition



The new exhaust has cheered-up the rear view somewhat also.



RJ
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[Rick]

I thought I'd have a peek under the dizzy cap this evening, as I'd not yet had a look in there and at times the acceleration didn't feel as sharp as I thought it should.

The points were furry and had closed up so that they hardly opened at all. In fact I don't think the points are the correct ones, but for now I cleaned and adjusted them up, same with the plugs which were also gapped incorrectly. The contacts in the cap needed a gentle scrape too, ok for now but I'll get in a kit of parts to freshen it all up, and replace the HT leads with copper-cored type while I'm at it.

The transformation was considerable, and as it was a nice evening I took it out for a 15 mile test run

RJ
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[47Jag]

Rick,

A tiny dab of grease behind the heel of the cam can help fend off contacts closing up.

Art

[Rick]

Yesterday evening the old girl was treated to fresh oil and filter. The oil that came out didn't look too bad, nor did the filter, but as I've no record of what oil went in last time, it seemed like a good plan to change it.



RJ
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[vitesse]

I am loving that old Volvo Rick. It is a work of art to look at compared to modern cars.

[Rick]

[Rick]

The Volvo was pressed into service for our visit to Oulton Park earlier today. The glowing ignition/ammeter light seems to have rectified itself thanks to a wiggle of a connection (it needs a new connector on one of the wires to the dynamo), and/or a few choice thumps of a hammer handle to the dynamo (to cure sticking brushes if necessary). All a bit last minute, but it restored charge, for now at least and enabled us to use it rather than the modern today

Seen here parked outside of Lodge corner at OP.



RJ
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[vitesse]

Looking as good as ever Rick.

Every good classic owner should carry a hammer in their tool kit. The bigger the better.

[Rick]

Just a quick update on the 544.

The MOT expired a little while back but, with the weather being lousy, I've been in no rush to get it renewed.

One job I've wanted to do since buying it is to attend to the footwells. Both were look a bit iffy in the corners. Prior to me buying it the car had sat outside for quite a time, a leak from somewhere led to the sound deadening beneath the rubber mats getting sodden, with predictable results. Both corners were looking a little frilly so the decision was made to get them both replaced with new steel. I had planned to get a local garage to replace them, but in the end a friend did them both for me. With that done I can now think about cleaning up the underside and rustproofing things.

Neither of the two horns were working either when I last tried them, so off with the rad on Saturday to sort that out (they're tucked away ahead of the rad, under the front panel). One earth had gone AWOL while the live feed to the second horn had disintegrated. New connections and a fresh earth saw normal service resumed.

RJ
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