My toys (Alfa and Volvo) Holliday times

[thomfr]

No news? well no car news really..
Been busy the whole summer with Garden, painting the house (from faded yellow stones now shiny white and dark grey window frames and doors). And moving a steel staircase for the attic of my garage from one side to the other side where it is less obstructive in daily use of the area.



Also I made a new bracket for my twin compartment brake fluid reservoir (changing from single system to front/rear separate made this necessary).



Nicest project was re-engineering of an old part which is needed if you convert a Volvo PV or Duett from front drums to discs. The pit man arm then hits the shock absorber lower attachment so you need so called Ex-enter bolts instead of the standard straight bolts which are used in the original configuration. These bolts where obsolete for a longer period (some suppliers still listing them but not shipping..). It was not an easy project as these are under rather some stress so needing to be manufactured from high quality steel with several treatments afterwards to get the desired strength and flexibility and avoiding brittleness.
I had a small series made (you need 2 per car) and most of them are sold now.







The last two months have been very low on hobby productivity due to the fact that I lost two friends after each other, both of lung cancer. One of them was an older friend bet the other one was my car hobby pall for over 20 years now so I'm still in a shock.


Graat jacobs 1957 - 2021


Thom

[melle]

Very sorry for your losses Thom.

I love it that you pulled your finger out and had those bolts made. Fear of liability would probably stop most people here from touching a project like that.

[thomfr]

Thank you! It was a bad fall this year.

The bolts are sold with the guaratee that they are made of the stated raw material and that the material was treated as stated in the specs by professional certified companies but are made as a hobby project for display purposes only ;-).

Thom

[thomfr]

Hello,
As I told before I had a sad fall with two good friends lost to cancer so I dropped myself in too much work, family time and for the rest sorting in the stuff I received from the widow of one of those friends (lots of garage stuff!). But no progression on the Volvo whatsoever. I did use the Alfa regularly but did only check fluids and that was it.

So with a week off between Christmas and New Years eve I kicked my ass and started again to work on the Volvo. With great help of another car friend we lined the nose, fenders and engine hood out (all including the inner fenders can be adjusted on the X,Y and Z axle so it is quite a task which is impossible to do on your own).



And also added the between panel body lining (kind of Skai material) which went in far easier than expected with the help of some Teflon spray and the use of a wooden paint stirrer (the ones which they give you when you are buying a new thin of paint for mixing it before use). After fiddling the lining I just had to tighten the bolts (keeping a close I on the lining to not be pushed out and it all fitted.





After that we started to align the front doors one more time to close nicely but I first have to fit the door locking system to finish that.

I also received a decent brake line flaring tool from UK (thanks for selling DEZ) so after thd main body parts the brakes are on the list.

Looks like the circle of laziness in the Garage has been stopped ;-)

Thom

[grizz]

Good to see your MoJo returning Thom, despite your losses.

I always think that if I were to tell my friends my wishes, it would be to celebrate my life and get back to action as soon as possible.

But we all deal with loss differently.

Happy New Year when it gets to y0u.

In the mean time….. good to see you get on with work.

[thomfr]

Hi Ryan,
Thank you for the nice words.
I wanted to kick start earlier but I could only therapeutically move his stuff in the right places in my garage "system".. Now feel fresh energy finally and enjoying it to work further on the old bastards ;=).
Wishing you and all the other nice people around here also a Very Happy and Healthy New Year.

Thom

[thomfr]

Well although there where some New Years party preparations to do I managed to sneak in the garage this afternoon. Applied body sealer to the (self produced so not always nice) welding seams etc of the Volvo Duett. And did some inside painting.



Tomorrow (after the sealer has dried) I will add the last coat of paint on the inside of the load area and under the rear bench.

Beside that I bought another piece of must haves for the garage;

I had this already:



And added this today (Came from FB and was for sale around 200 metres from my home)



Have a nice New Years eve all!

Thom

[thomfr]

The painting inside was finished just before we had to go to the New Years party.


Not perfect (hand rolled) but nice for the loading area and under rear bench area of a former workhorse and futher SUV ;-)

I also started sorting out the stashed away loose parts of the Volvo at the attic above the garage to make assembling easier (and some motivation via all the shiny or refurbished parts ;-) ).



Tomorrow night I will go further with the electrics etc.

Thom

[thomfr]

Next step is assembling of the dashboard and fitting to the car so I can finally fit the loom.



The Volvo parts book is sometime a bit basic as help while assembling. It does not help either that it is already nearly 5 years ago that I took it apart and a lot was far from original.



The fixing lugs of the defroster ducts are prone for breaking and the ducts are unobtainable parts for many years now (I assume there is a connection there). I repaired mine with some aluminium sheet, strong glue and patience (not my strongest side) and they are in their working position again. These have to be fitted before you fit the dashboard as you cannot attach them afterwards.



No big progress but at least something.

Thom

[thomfr]

Some more updates. I could not find the screws for fitting the dashboard anymore. They are UNC (I do not know why Volvo used UNC on all body parts, and a mix of UNC, UNF and Metric on the technical parts. Beside the rear axle which is partly US treats (supplied by Spicer US)... But the rear brakes are UNC...
The nice friends at the Dutch classic Volvo forum showed a picture and now I remember that they where shorter than I had them in memory. I will look again in all the bags and little butter thins where I put all the Volvo bolts and nuts in product groups while disassembling...
In the time between I decided to go further with the electrics. Starting from front working to rear with the installation means starting with the head lights, indicators and horn ;-)



I also installed the last body seals with piping on the lower part below the grille(hole).

Progress is slow but there is progress.

Thom

[thomfr]

Again some kind of update.

Our Italian Diva had a kind of cough for a while and was hating to be waked up after standing for more than a day or two. Tending to fool the plugs then.
First looked at the plugs and they looking a bit too dark/too strong mixture. Started with checking the fuel levels in both Weber’s and found them a tat high so corrected them. Looked up the correct air mixture and main and accelerator jet sizes for a pre-1973 (not environmental restriction) set-up for a 1750 Alfa and started to look what was fitted.
I had to do so because during the last MOT I was very short of time and had outsourced some work including setting up again but was not ever happy with the result afterwards. Out came that there where some unmarked (aftermarket?) air mixture pipes fitted and that the main jets where a bit over sized. Measuring with some tricks I discovered that the air mixture pipes where to small so that was not a good mix..



Robbed my good fathers treasury of Weber jets and stuff (I kindly allowed me to do so 😉 ) and the Alfa is running far better now. As a sidekick I also discovered more by coincidence that the nr3 cylinder spark plug cable had a loose connection witch I solved. Hope this solved the damp morning hiccups which she sometimes had..
After a longer test drive the plugs looked very healthy now (I forgot to take a before pic, sorry)



Beside that our fleet has grown again with the arrival of a 09’Ford Focus 1.8. (the old twin cam 16V) Typical case of a car advertised with a so said gearbox problem. Being a one owner Titanium station with tow hook and dealer stamp and NAP (national car milage/KM registration) back upped 78000 Km. working life it fits perfectly in the family needs of an extra estate at low costs. I took the risk with the gearbox as the price was very interesting and was very happy as I found out that it was only a dead clutch slave cylinder.. At € 75 plus a few hours of cursing it runs perfect again…



The Volvo was a bit in background this month but I did some time consuming but invisible stuff like improving fitment of the spare wheel compartment door and the main doors. The weather is at least getting better now so that helps motivation absolutely.
Thom

[thomfr]

First I have to confess I defeated and cheated.. After ages trying (timing, compression, ignition, cleaning and set up of carburators etc.) around to get the Alfa running as smoothly again as it did untill about two years ago (and the 20 years before) I loaded her on the trailer and brought her to my Alfa specialist of trust (Jan Steutel Almkerk) to have a check over and if need a rolling road session. I just had the feeling that I was turning in circles with it so choose not to waste more time on it without getting any further.



Hope it will be back in good heath soon.

Beside that:

I DID IT AGAIN!! ;-)

I went to buy a rear axle for my Volvo Duett as the one I have is very rough at the mounting points (somebody with an electric welder went nuts in the past on it) and after a second trip to pick up the trailer I came home yesterday evening like this,,
 




A rough round the edges 1964 Volvo Duett B18 which has A LOT of parts on it (including axle) for my other Duett.

Decided that it made sense to buy it and not only it's axle and have a pattern for assembling (better than looking in a parts book) and a lot of parts which are better than on mine.
Rear Axle
Spare B18 engine and gear box
Decent exhaust (up to rear axle)
Steering wheel with horn mechanism
Inner light
Sunvisors
Parts of the dash board
Spare (steel housing) relays etc
Seat consoles
Ventilation windows
Copper fuel line which is not axed 
LOTS of bolts and nuts
etc.

this morning it smiled to me as I came back from my morning walk with our dog ;-)



Thom

ps: Thanks Glen!

[glenanderson]

Good stuff.

To change the title, go back to your first post, and edit the title there. 👍

[thomfr]

They are talking Swedish to each other I think.. ;-)






Thom

[thomfr]

Hi,

Beside (very slowly) assembling the Volvo Duett I'm also still remodeling pieces of my garden and the house.

During the winter we will replace one of the secondary buildings (storage and washroom) by a new, bigger hopefully not leaking like the current and better insulated one.
Due to the different lay-out I will lose my little garden tool shed in this process.



As I do not want to store the garden stuff in the garage I had to find a new location.
The garage is a free-standing building in the back of the garden with a spacious attic for storage above it. Access to the attic is via steel outside stairs with a little square pod-est in front of the door.
Bingo! Four vertical poles and a roof frame waiting to become enclosed and roofed. How to use now more or less useless space 😉


I forgot to take a picture before the work started so the wood poles, door highers and plastic roof plate are already "work in progress"

Normally I would pour a slab as a floor which would be a bit higher than the surroundings and end the planks (with some damp foil between it) leaning just above ground level against the slab. However, we spent two years ago a considerable sum to replace all concrete (ugly, old and at least in 5 different sizes and designs) pavement with kilt burned ceramic little stones (nuggets). Don't ask about the work to lay 160 m2 of these small little gold nuggets.
So, I would prefer to keep also under the new tool shed this pavement.
However, the big question is how do I " seal" the sides (Walls) just above ground level between the vertical placed planks of wood (heat treated) and the pavement?
Thought about a rubber skirt but don't know if this will work as being a classic " original" pavement it is not perfectly even and has flushes. Anybody a good idea?
Just to give an idea of the kind of construction when the planks are fitted:



Also I wonder how I can seal the underside of the door which will also be planked with the same wood planks ;-).



Gr,

Thom

[grizz]

Nice.

Practical,spaces.

[75swb]

Keeping water out is not an easy game. Could you just have a step up inside? Either build a floating floor or use a metal grid cut to size and laid on the golden nuggets? Or build a mortar dam on the ground on the inside of the shed to keep the worst of it out?

[glenanderson]

Have a wooden floor, a couple of inches off the ground.

Great use of the space though. 👍

[thomfr]

Not much news here.
Weekend was a combination of having some beers and a good laughter (was overdue) and some more woodwork. Outside work was not so funny with the rain showers. And I continued tonight



For the floor I decided (mainly through the input here) to go for some insulating foam on the floor (I work in the foam industry) and a water resistant multiplex floating floor on top. Have to pick the multiplex plates up on Wednesday after work.

Planning is to finish it before next weekend so I can work on my real hobby again then  ;-)

Funny thing is that such a totally different project in between motivates me again to continue with the Swedish elephant.


Thom

[teaboy]

Nice shed, Thom.