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Volvo PV444
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I pulled out the drivers seat and had a look at the footwells on the nearside yesterday. The rear was fine with original paint and just a couple of small areas of surface rust. The front well was not so good. Under the mats, insulation and dirt was a narrow split and a lot of surface rust. I waded in with wire brush and flapwheel and ended up with a vaguely oblomg hole along the outer edge, an inch or so wide and about 8 inches long. To be fair I had feared much worse than this from some of the photos that I have seen of early Pv's undergoing restoration. From my experience with long term parked up cars, I have the feeling that a lot of old vehicles that are left out in the open, simply leak, fill with water and rust from the insde out. This has been indoors for at least part of its dormant life and although there are signs of some water leaks from a quarterlight suggesting some time in the open, hopefully it has escaped the worst of this fate.

Pulling up the carpets on the other side will be interesting.I need a decent day so that I can chuck out the Austin and make some room.

I have therefore, now made a repair panel, cleaned up the area, treated the rest of the foot well with Vactan and pulled off all of the loose underseal from under the floor in this area. Fortunately the main box section looks okay and the split at the bottom edge of the bulkhead has not opened out into anything much more catastrophic. So welding has now taken place, although the photo shows it prior to any grinding back or seam sealing. it will be interesting to see what the other side looks like.



For light relief, I also stripped the chrome trim off the bonnet lid one evening. The garnish and the mascot at the front had been painted with aluminium paint by the look of things, which was a dull silver grey. Not being sure what kind of metail i was looking at, I thought that I would strip this and see what lay beneath and then decide the best way to try and make it resemble bright trim again.

Inspecting the rear face showed no corrosion at all and so I carefully removed the paint and scrubbed off the oxidisation to find what appears to be clean stainless steel (too heavy to be aluminium) or some kind of related alloy. Some polishing compound on the Dremel has brought it up to a bright shine, along with the bonnet top mascot and the central V for Volvo.

Alas the 'swallows' on the side of the bullnose lid are the usual Mazak type casting and although not as rough as some that i have seen, are pitted and shedding their plating. I am wondering what to do with these, not that they will be needed for a good few months. Any ideas?
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hot and sticky weather isn't conducive to rolling about under cars, but we have moved on a bit, albeit visually, things are looking worse rather than better in some respects, with the rear wings stripped off and the fuel tank removed.

Both front floor wells have now been welded up, offside was a similar story to the drivers well, on a smaller scale. I still have a small split to repair just in front of the seat cross member, but the repair patch is made and just needs zapping with the MIG.

And so to the rear offside corner, which was the only visible source of any problems in the external panels. Just in front of the leading edge of the wing was a short crack that was always visible and this area has clearly been filled in the distant past. Now the repair that it was covering was starting to fail. There were a couple of further problems in this wheelarch. There was a perforation in the inner wing into the boot at boot floor level and another lower down where the floor under the back seat joins the inner wing pressing.

I have bought a repair section for the outer panel and after some local chopping to work out how much of it was required, it became clear that I also had to remake some of the inner cill to fasten on to, and that the old repair to the inner wheel arch, again behind the wing mounting, was also suspect. Fortunately with the wing unbolted, it is all relatively easy to get at and should not require too much keyhole surgery. The rest I have fabricated from sheet and shape to fit. I just have a couple of small holes to patch in the mounting area of the rear wing and then it can all be painted and reassembled again.
Picture shows some slightly scorched looking welding (due to the use of a weld through primer that I use in order to prolong the life of my repairs as far as possible).




On the registration front, and after some prevarication over a minor inconsistency in the NOVA listing, DVLA have accepted the application for registration. However, they now want me to trailer the Volvo to the nearest VOSA depot, about 15 miles away, to get it inspected: ie: to have someone read the chassis and engine numbers and hence verify that this is the car being registered. That happens on the 30th. So any further major stripping down will be on hold until then, albeit there is enough to keep me going on the metalwork front.
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 10:45 am    Post subject: Hallelujah Reply with quote

At last after three attempts, we have a registration number for the Volvo, and a proper historic one at that. The inspector was quite interested in the car, never having come across anything older than an Amazon before, so that is another bridge crossed.

I finished the welding off in the rear wheelarch with seam sealer and then a coat of epoxy mastic, before refitting the wing.. Welded a last patch also into the inner sill alongside my floor repair and then painted all four footwells with epoxy mastic again.

I then managed to remove the rear bumper and salvage the small red telltale and the number plate light for transfer to the new one, and cleaned up the area behind, which had only a few pimples of surface rust. With the fuel tank out there is a lot of fresh air around this part of the car now, and very shortly, when things cool down a little, I will get underneath and clean off all the peeling underseal and general muck that is sitting under there.
I have also started prepping the body for paint, a little at a time (ideal work for an hour or so in the evening) since the body work that affects the visible part of the car is almost complete now.

Coming next, well soon anyway, engine out and probably onto the roller so that we can have a proper final go at the underside. But we need some cooler weather for that, I fancy.
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haven't had time to post anything for wee while now, but nevertheless work has been proceeding.
The main emphasis during the warmer weather was to get some paint on the car and I decided to roller it!
I can hear some of you recoiling in horror, but if you use the right paint and technique, you can get a finish off the roller easily as good as most amateur resprays and having used this successfully on a car a couple of years ago, I decided to give it a whirl.
I used Rustoleum, and you do need some patience, the finish straight from the roller is a light and glossy orange-peel if you get it more or less right and the paint covers well right from the first coat. If you leave it for 24 hours you can then rub down and recoat and after 4-5 layers, you have a fairly good looking finish that on some vehicles, you might well find acceptable in its own right. However, most leave it for a few weeks and then wet sand with fine grade wet and dry and then use a polishing compound to bring it back up to a gloss.
There are quite a few advantages, you can paint a car for around £75 using dense foam gloss rollers, it is almost odourless, (and hence quite environmentally friendly), using white spirit as a thinner, masking only needs to be local and you don't end up coating the rest of the garage and the insides of your lungs with paint in the process.



Above image show polished bonnet.

Putting the paint on did reveal some shortcomings here and there (as it always does). The offside front wing was a GRP replica and when under a layer of paint oxydised almost matt, it looked fine. It didn't however have the mass of the sort of GRP moulding that you might find on, say, a Scimitar, and was alarmingly flexible once the wing stay and mudflap support had been unbolted. With a coat of shiny paint, it was a mass of undulations and ripples and I juggled with the idea of either having a go at filling and stoppering it back to a decent contour, or chucking it away for a steel one.
New steel wings are around £850, and I didn't fancy that and put feelers out for a s/h item. Amazon cars came up trumps and I have today received a decent grey PV front wing (probably off a 544), that needs a little attention down the rear edge of the mounting flange and will require its sidelight hole tidying, but is otherwise in very respectable condition and is singularly more substantial than the GRP one.

On other fronts, I managed to finally dislodge the fixings for the nearside front bumper bracket, and then assembled my replacement bumpers and fitted it temporarily so that I could make sure that it was straight and level. headlamp units too were trial fitted and the rims having been cleaned up, I couldn't resist a fitting of them as well, and so, for a short time, the car began to look less of a hulk.
Then some serious stuff, I took out the engine.
It has always been my plan to put in the B16B that I had bought from Matts Andersson a few months ago, and I finally got around to jacking up the front on my excellent CJ Autos extending car ramps (much recommended piece of kit) and hoiked the engine and gearbox out. This has also given me the chance to attack and paint the engine bay and make a proper job of it. I suspect that I will need to find a few extra bits or carry out some fabrication for throttle linkages, etc. and I am also tempted to see if the original three speed box will graft straight onto the B16, in order to keep some of the character of the original car, coupled to a bit more oomph.


Above image shows engine bay after cleaning out several kilograms of Swedish mud and SAE 30, mixed into a thick greasy paste.
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't wait to see it all back together again and on the road. I lost one of my rear mudflaps the other week, on the way back from Oulton Park, grrrrrrrr. I've pondered about fitting a pair of front seats from an Amazon, temporarily, does anyone know if the dimensions are a close match to the PV originals?

RJ
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you look on the Volvotips website they recommend Volvo 340 front seats. You will probably have to fabricate a subframe of some kind, whatever you use, however.
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having received the secondhand wing from Amazon Cars, I set about tidying it up. Generally in decent order, it required the indicator mounting hole infilling (being from a 544 rather than a 444) and some tidying up along the rear mounting flange. However, the bulk of the wing is in good sound condition and after chiselling off the underseal from its inside face, carrying out a couple of welds locally and inserting some new metal into the indicator hole, I gave the inside a coat of Vactan and then some epoxy mastic and set about removing the GRP original.

Since the car is still on the extended ramps, working was at a more comfortable level and having anointed all of the fixings with Plus gas for a couple of days, I was very pleased when all of the bolts yielded without either snapping off the bolt heads or ripping out the captive fixing from the side of the car. The wing lifted off cleanly, so if anyone needs a not brilliant quality wing for a racer or rally car, then please get in touch.

Mounting surfaces were lightly rusted and I chiselled away the loose under seal in the vicinity and got out the Vactan again

Whilst the suspension was exposed, I decided to release the bolts on the shock absorber on this side, again well soaked in Plus Gas. This time my luck ran out. Although the bottom nut unscrewed obligingly, the top one flexed and then snapped off just alongside the nut and required heat to allow the rest of the bolt to be driven out, although the shaft did not appear corroded at all. A new one will cost me £18 from CVI unless I can find a second hand one somewhere.

However, this is not pressing at the moment and I have temporarily mounted the wing to check for fit, using some new M8 bolts and washers. Fit is good, so presumably my bargain wing is a Volvo original.

Proper fitting tonight and then some final prep for paint. (Yes, I know that I have already painted the car once, but I had not counted on being able to find a new s/h wing so easily and this does illustrate very well the flexibility of hand painting as opposed to spraying.)


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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

More progress. the new wing is now fully fitted and painted and is a great improvement on the GRP one.
I have also fitted the new master cylinder and linkage ans have reconnected the hydraulic brake pipes up. Likewise I have fitted the new engine mountings and scraped all the rust and underseal off the floor pan as far as the B post, rust converted it ansd painted with epoxy mastic. There are a couple of small holes in the nearside cill bottom that need a touch of the MIG a bit further down the line , but that shouldn't be a problem, and my next allotted task is to retrieve the spare engine and have a look at fitting that.
In the meantime here are a couple of photos to show where we have got to thus far.





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JC T ONE



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Original metal braided fuel hose Cool cool
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazed to see that I haven't posted since October 1st!!
Quite a lot of work has been done, but alas, not many photos. The current state of play is that I now have the B16B back in its rightful place, and attached to the 3 Speed box. The exhaust is fitted and most of the underside has been cleaned off and painted.
The twin SU's had some problems associated with the choke mechanism, and have been stripped and rebuilt. I haven't yet managed to fathom a replacement throttle linkage as yet. The SU's require somethingb radically different to the Carter on the B4B, and I am looking for further inspiration, or a linkage from a 544.
Last weekend I painted the inside of the boot and refitted the fuel tank and reconnected the petrol line. This weekend I shall attempt, other pressures permitting (a misfire on the Austin!) to carry on replumbing under the bonnet, and hopefully ending up with a reasonably complete engine compartment.
I will take some more photos over the weekend and post them.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the updates. Like yours did, my PV exhibits some tinworm in the footwell areas, the passenger side being the worst. It was left outside for a fair while, so dampness (screen seal and/or condensation dripping?) found its way beneath the rubber mats to the sound deadening underneath, with predictable results. The plan is to get new metal put into both sides in the near future.

RJ
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

looks like the Austin has a stuck valve, no compression on no 4 and a squishing noise back through the carb wnem cranking, so I am guessing an inlet on no 4 cylinder. I will be pulling it to pieces over Christmas to see if my diagnosis is right.

Made more progress on the Volvo, generally fixing bits and pieces under the bonnet and refitted the front bumper, mainly to stop me continually barking my shins on the bumper irons. Does look good though.



Here is the old lady looking a little more complete with her bonnet laid in place and her front bumper fitted.
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
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Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rick wrote:
Thanks for the updates. Like yours did, my PV exhibits some tinworm in the footwell areas, the passenger side being the worst. It was left outside for a fair while, so dampness (screen seal and/or condensation dripping?) found its way beneath the rubber mats to the sound deadening underneath, with predictable results. The plan is to get new metal put into both sides in the near future.

RJ

Just check underneath just inside the front wings, it looks to me as if this is another moisture collecting place that rusts out when the car leaks from within. In my case I think that two leaky quarterlights are the culprits , judging from the streaks and stains down the door cards. Fortunately it looks to have spent the latter part of its life off the road, under cover, and so damage was limited and everything was bone dry.

If you want some inspiration on floor repairs and other aspects of PV ownership and restoration., have a look at the California Classix website
http://www.californiaclassix.com/Bernard/PV544-1.html
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norustplease



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:22 pm    Post subject: Happy New Year Reply with quote

At last some progress. The Austin's blown head gasket occupied me through Christmas, and then frustratingly, the ignition packed up, so I retired to the fireside for a while and contemplated what to do next.
Since I was not exactly missing any driving weather, I decided that I would return to the Volvo and leave the Austin be for a couple of weeks.
So last weekend I got back into the engine bay. I fitted all of the remaining hoses. I fabricated the first bracket for my custom designed throttle linkage which will be fabricated to resemble that of a PV 544, with a cross shaft inside the car and an operating lever poking out through the bulkhead. The single carb 444's have a bracket on the rear of the engine and a lever that pokes through the toeboard behind a flap type accelerator. The carburettor end pops up halfway down the engine (single carb) whereas the twin carbs on my B16 have a rotary setup at the bulkhead end that attaches to a lever supported at one end in a pivot on a bulkhead bracket (that isn't there on my car)
544's appear also to have a pendant pedal.
Anyway, I appear to have sufficient bits to fabricate something suitable.
After that, the main obstacle to getting back onto the road would seem to be the brakes.
The old front brakes were rusted up solid and I dismantled them and put everything in a box before replacing hubs and drums to render the car mobile again. Most of the self adjusting mechanism is rusted solid and has not responded as yet to the dosing's of plus gas. More worrying, various tensioning springs within the mechanism simply crumbled away and even after scouring websites in Sweden and the States, I can only see overhaul spares for the later versions of manually adjusted drum brakes.
I am currently researching whether I can fit the later pattern back plates, etc. as a replacement. Failing that, it may have to be a set of Amazon discs, which will be an expensive solution.
Anyway, I am on the point of summoning my son from Altrincham, to help me refit the bonnet lid, and hopefully, if the day is good, we can shove the old heap out into the daylight and take a few photographs, which I will post up on here.
Happy New Year to you all, and keep reading
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1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reasonable progress over the last few days. I managed to virtually finish off in the engine bay with a refurbished dynamo and refitting the clutch linkage and have also fabricated brackets for the new throttle linkage.

To celebrate I pushed the car out into the daylight, washed off the dust, and took a few photos. I couldn’t resist hanging the hubcaps back on for the photo, and she didn’t look half bad. My son had come over and helped me refit and adjust the bonnet lid (freezing cold day, numb fingers), and so as things currently stand, outstanding jobs, in no particular order, are as follows:

· Sort out throttle and choke linkages.
· Reline and rebuild brakes
· Fit new shocks and drop links to front suspension.
· Refit rearlights and new indicators and wire up with new flasher unit.
· Small amount of welding behind nearside cill.
· New fuel tank sender and filler pipe to be re-installed.
· Waxoil underside.
· Finish re-painting interior metalwork.
· Replace headlining
· Seats….I will probably use the alternative front seats which are very good and see if I can fit the alternative covers onto the original rear seat frame, which is a slightly different shape.
· Manufacture and fit new door cards.
· Remake sun visors.
· Find new rubber flooring.
· New tyres.
· Fit period radio, door mirrors, aerial, etc.

In the meantime, this is what she looks like at the moment. Paintwork needs a final buff (only done the boot lid as an experiment, to date) and the front bumper heeds a little final adjustment, but otherwise, thus far I am quite pleased .







Can’t wait to get behind the wheel.
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