1971 Volvo 1800E Restoration

Garage Makeover

2010-10-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family, Sorry for the lack of updates on this blog. I've been getting emails from some of you guys, wondering if I sold the Volvo. No, that's not the case. I've been really busy with the day-job, hence the lack of activity and updates. Although I've not been working on the Volvo, I have been driving it a lot. Also, I've been a little occupied with my garage makeover. The wife's been complaining about the clutter and the dull depressing color of the garage interior. I've since added a touch of color to brighten up the garage and to draw more ambient light to work on the Volvo. What do you think ... too much?

Before:

After:

Sightings in Melbourne, Australia

2010-07-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

What a treat! I got an email this morning from a buddy of mine in Melbourne, Australia with these attached photos. He spotted this beauty on his way to work and snapped some shots for me. Thanks Hans!

Back To The Future

2010-07-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

This is for all the "Back to the Future" fans out there: Today is the day that Marty McFly INTENDED to arrived at in the future after hitting 88mph in a pimped out Delorean in 1985.

I say "intended", because as anyone who has seen Back to the Future knows that Marty McFly never got to the future in Back to the Future ... and when he does finally make it in Back to the Future II, it is year 2015.

I never really got the titling of this movie. Why call it "Back to the Future", when he didn't go to the future, but back to the past instead ... unless they're referring to McFly going back to the future in reference to him being in the past. Besides, isn't it back to the past and forward to the future? Can't really go back to the future when it hasn't happen yet right? I'm very frustrated right now ... calling it a day.

Cold Start Relay

2010-07-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

For several weeks now I've noticed that It's been increasingly difficult to start the Volvo from a cold start. Warm starts are fine, but that first start of the day usually takes about 6 tries while keeping the throttle sightly open. Suspecting a faulty cold start relay, I performed a barrage of electrical tests on the unit to see if the terminals would open or close - nothing ... it was dead. Good thing, Bosch still makes new replacement relays! Unfortunately, they look too modern for the Volvo; black plastic and all. Fortunately, I was able to source a working, used, "old school" unit from iRoll Motors

Before:

After:

Above and below are some before-and-after shots of the replacement cold start relay after sanding and polishing. The car now starts on the first or second try, but I still have to keep my foot on the gas pedal to keep the throttle slightly open ... must be an old car thing.

Before:

After:

New Quarter Window Seals

2010-06-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

After almost a year since I purchased a pair of new quarter window seals from iRoll Motors, I finally worked up the guts to tackle this project. I've been spending lots of time researching a) how to remove the old dried-up rubber seal without breaking the windows, and b) how to install the new seals. Turns out, it wasn't that difficult at all! The first challenge of removing the old rubber seal was simple. Mine were so weathered and brittle, they just broke off when peeled by hand. Anyone attempting this should take note that the rubber seal is the only thing holding the quarter window glass in place, so make sure you hold on to the glass!

The second challenge was even easier ... I paid the local auto glass shop $40 to install the new ones. After reading countless articles and forum posts on using the "rope technique", and perfecting the manuever in my mind, I decided to have the professionals do it for me. Here are the before and after shots:

Before:	After:
Before:	After:
Before:	After:

While I had the glass off, I took the opportunity to have the quarter window trim pieces re-chromed. Notice, the "before" photos show the black residue left from the old dried-up rubber seals. I got these off using what else? ... but another tool from the kitchen - a bamboo skewer. Yes, the same kind used for shish-kebab and barbeques. They're hard enough to scrape the dried rubber off, but more importantly, they won't scratch the surface of the trim.

Quarter Window Trim - Before:	Quarter Window Trim - After:

The "rope technique" of installing the window and the new seal obviously requires some finess ... a word that is not in my vocabulary. The way it works is as follows: The rubber seal goes arond the glass first. A length of rope is then inserted between the glass and the lip of the seal. The whole thing (rope, glass, and seal) then goes into the window opening. Rope is then pulled, thereby pulling the lip of the rubber seal outwards to form a seal against the body of the car.

My advice: pay the local auto glass shop the small amount of cash, sit back, and have them perform the rope trick for you! They'll even seal the windows with that black waterproof stuff as part of the install. Here are more before-and-after photos of the trim pieces after I had them re-chromed and reinstalled:

Quarter Window Trim - Before:	Quarter Window Trim - After:

Here's a photo of the bamboo skewer used to scrape the old dried rubber from the quarter window glass. Bamboo skewer + Windex (or some other glass cleaner) = no dried rubber + no scratches! As for this last photo of the truck ... the place that I go to, to have my stuff rechromed is in some back alley in a dodgy part of town. This place doesn't even have proper business signage. Every time I have to make an appearance, I feel like I'm either going to get mugged or made into some transient's bitch. Anyway, the owner of this five-star plating establishment is always in a foul mood. He's this old timer who looks like a salty old sailor or Captain Ahab, has a permanent scowl on his face, never speaks unless spoken to, and when he does, it's alway gruff and in short sentences. I've always tried to be warm and friendly to the guy, even tried breaking the ice a couple of time ... but nothing ... no love ... you could hear crickets chirping in the background. I'm now pretty certain that he doesn't just wear his "grump on" just for me. On my last visit I took this picture of his truck. Click on the photo to view it enlarged and take note of his license plate.

Bamboo skewer to remove dried rubber:

Mr. Grumper's Truck:

Sightings in Malaysia

2010-05-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank all my pals for their hospitality during my recent trip to Malaysia. Turns out, the timing of my trip was perfect. Had I been there a couple weeks later, I would be right smack in the middle of World Cup Football (Soccer) madness, and none of you guys would be sober enough to pick up the phone. Having said that, there was still quite a lot of Pre-World Cup drinking going on, however I did sober up for a day or two to take these photos of classic Volvo sightings in town.

The first two photos are of a beautiful ivory Volvo 122 4-Door sedan, followed by a striking blue Volvo 123GT. As a kid, there were these two Amazons in the "old neighborhood" that I've always admired. I wanted one then, and I still want one now. The P1800 of course was a "must have" as soon as I saw one available. If Roger Moore had one, I had to have one too! As for the Amazon ... I'll get one right after I move into one of those houses with a 4-car garage. Unfortunately, as with most other home owners in California, I'm upside down with my property values, so I'll be staying in this house for the next 130 years. The last photo is a sighting of a stripped P1800 in a paint shop waiting to be repainted silver.

Volvo 122 4-Door Sedan:	Alternate View:
Volvo 123GT:	P1800 at the Paint Shop:

Glamour Photos

2010-05-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Fuel Pressure Regulator

2010-04-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

I'll let the pictures tell the story this time ...

Before:

After:

Fuel pressure regulator shown below was restored using a polishing wheel attachment on the Dremel rotary tool and Mothers Billet Metal Polish.

Before:

After:

Mounting bracket for fuel pressure regulator:

Before:	During:
After:	Mothers Billet Metal Polish:

The following photos are of the engine bay when I first got the Volvo compared to what it looks like to date:

Before:	After:

Comfort the Dying!

2010-04-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hey, I was just thumbing through my Volvo 1800E Instruction Booklet this weekend, and came across this handy pull-out that seems to be a relic from the cold war. It contains instructions on what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Step 7. is kinda vague - "Comfort the Dying", but it doesn't tell you what to say. Some pointers would be helpful, like "the bad news is if you survive this, you'll be a radioactive mutant ... but hey! The good news is you're most likely going to die within the minute - so it's all good! Does anyone else have this pull-out, or do I just have the special edition? Was this part of the Volvo safety sales pitch?

Volvo 1800E Instruction Book:

In Case of Nuclear Attack:

Auto Detailing Clay

2010-04-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Okay ... I know this stuff isn't new to the veterans out there, but to a newbie like me, it's new religion ... auto detailing clay! I recently learned that if there's not enough things to do in a day and you'd like to add another step between washing the car and before polishing and waxing the car - there's always removing paint contamination with a clay kit! The yellow paint on my Volvo is riddled with tiny black spots (road tar me thinks), tree sap, and other contaminants that can't be washed off. It looks flawless from 5 or even 3 feet away, but any closer and you'll notice the black specks - hundreds of them. Polishing and waxing the car at this point would only seal the contaminants in. Enter, the clay kit. This stuff really works! Used with a lubricating fluid like Meguiar's Quick Detailer, rubbing the clay back and forth on the vehicle's surface will remove contaminants and leave the painted surface smooth for wax to better adhere to.

The kit that I got is called Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit. The kit came with 2 clay bars, a spray bottle of Meguiar's Quick Detailer (for lubricant), a microfiber towel, and a bonus sample bottle of cleaner wax. Griot's also sells the stuff. Boy, I tell you what ... talk about killing a whole day! As miraculous as this stuff is, it takes forever to get it done. I spent an entire weekend working clay back-and-forth over a 1 foot section at a time, and I'm still nowhere near done ... and then there's the polishing and waxing that's to follow! Come to think of it, if you're reading this and this is new to you too, you might want to forget about ever reading this - it's too late for me, but you should run for the hills boy ... save yourself ... save your marriage!

Seat Belt Catch

2010-04-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Here's another recent eBay find: A very decent looking seat belt catch. I usually get a lot of comments from people wondering what this thing is ... "it's a vintage 2 hole punch I tell them", or "those are levers for the ejector seats." There's nothing functionally wrong with the one I have ... just cosmetic issues, so when I stumbled upon this fine looking specimen on eBay, naturally I had to have it!

Before:	After:

Purring Like A Kitten!

2010-04-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

I got the Volvo back from the shop earlier this week and it's purring like a kitten! Erratic idle - gone! Engine Stalling - gone! Running rich - not anymore! I took it to a shop in town called British Steel Restorations. Rick Rogers, the proprietor, and a former helicopter mechanic specializes in the restoration of classic British automobiles. I figured, if he can fix helicopters, he'll surely be able to fix the Volvo! I've known Rick for a couple of months prior to taking the Volvo in for work ... having sought him out, and set up a couple of meet-and-greets to tour his facility, evaluate his work, and more importantly, to lure him to the dark side by coercing him to temporarily abondon his staple of fine British classics to work on my Volvo as it surely has enough British components in it to qualify. It does - Smith gauges, Lucas electrical components, Laycock De Normanville overdrive is similar to the TR6 or 7 models, etc.

Are there any other places in town to take the Volvo to? Sure, but I'm extremely particular when it comes to people working on my car as I don't want it to be molested by any regular mechanic with a socket wrench. It has to be someone who is also a collector, who specializes in vintage vehicles, who will handle my Volvo like they would a radioactive fuel rod. Hence, the many months of research and interviews for just the "right" mechanic. There are Volvo dealerships that I could have taken it to, but I doubt that they still employ the guys that were around when the 1800s were still on the market. Plus, they usually don't let you "hang-out" and watch while they work on your car - where's the fun in that? Anyone who no speaka ingrish - is automatically disqualified. Shops that won't allow me to bring in my own parts were also disqualified (it's a sign that they'll mark-up the parts that they'll undoubtedly need to source from a third-party). Mechanics with a low teeth-to-tattoo ratio were also disqualified (different though if you need radiator work done - you'd want the biker guys with the low teeth-to-tattoo ratio, as they really know their shit!).

The main reason for the visit was to have the Volvo complete its tune-up with an oil change, valve adjustment, oil filter replacement, and have Rick verify with his instuments all my prior adjustments to the idle richness, timing, idle & throttle settings. The stuff that I messed with were all pretty close, but we (by "we", I mean "Rick") did it again with instruments this time to get them within factory specs. Turns out, all the valves needed adjusting - which is most likely the cause of the erratic idling and engine stalling. With everything dialed in to specs, the engine is running much quieter and better than its ever been since I've had the car!

Arrival at British Steel Restorations:

Chromed Valve Cover & Oil Cap:

Pictured above, on the right, is the chromed valve cover & oil filler cap that I stole off eBay about 8 months ago. I've been itching to get it on the engine ever since, and now the opportunity has presented itself with the removal of the old valve cover for the valve adjustments. Pictured below are the before-and-after photos of the engine bay with the old vs. chromed valve cover in place. Take a closer look at the chromed valve cover and you'll see the valve cover hold-down kit that I got from IPD. These valve covers are prone to distortion from overtightening the mounting screws. This leads to improper sealing and oil leaks. The hold-down kit spreads the clamping force over a larger area, allowing the gasket to better seal against the cylinder head.

Before:

After:

Another thing that I had done while the car was in the shop was the replacement of the rubber steering coupler. Mine had a few tears in it. It is a part that is often overlooked when purchasing a vintage vehicle, but is crucial as you will lose the ability to steer if it comes off! I also instructed Rick to take a good look at the entire vehicle to identify anything that might affect drivability or safety that needed replacing. He found one - the driver-side tie rod was "barely" hanging on and it was promptly replaced with a brand new one from IPD. Other than that, Rick's report was very encouraging - everything under the car looked solid, no rust on the floor pans or cross members. The car is mechanically and structurally sound. The rest is just appearance items or aged parts that currently do not affect the drivability or safety of the vehicle and can be swapped out at my leisure.

I also had Rick perform a compression check on the engine just for the heck of it, and the results for each of the 4 cylinders were well within the range for an engine of its age, and the variances across cylinders were within norm (I don't have the test result on hand right now, and it's all greek to me anyway - all I know is he says it's all good, so I'm driving it across the Atlantic). At one point Rick even had a scope down the fuel tank and was happy to report that it looked like it was in great shape and the outbound fuel was clean. Good news for me, as it's one less thing to restore!

Before:

After:

ZDDP - I read somewhere that it's good for flat tappet engines (here and here, I think!). Unfortunately modern engine oils no longer have it, but here's an additive that I bought from iRollMotors.com called ZDDPlus (picture below, left) that can be added to the engine at each oil change. I also found out later that Valvoline VR1 20W-50 motor oil still has the appropriate levels of the stuff, so that'll be the oil I'll be using in the future with no need to spend the extra $10 for the ZDDPlus additive.

ZDDP Additive:

Instrument Cluster:

Ever since I've had the Volvo, the following instruments on the dash were not working: Oil temperature gauge, fuel gauge, turn signal indicators on the dash would only flash once, and the emergency brake warning light on the dash would stay lit all the time the car was running. The gauges were in working condition, just the wiring (or in the case of the oil temperature gauge, the sensor) needed some attention. Well ... the oil temperature gauge was a simple fix. Installing a new oil temperature sender during the oil change solved that problem. As for everything else ... heck of a lot easier as it turns out! The brake warning light first of all has a dual purpose - It lights up when the the emergency brake is engaged when the engine is running, and it lights up when there is unequal pressure in the brakes as sensed by a switch in the engine bay. Neither of which applies in my case as I'm aware that the previous owner had some electrical work done by his mechanic which resulted in 2 things happening - the warning light being lit all the time, and the fuel gauge stopped working. This is where the giant colored wiring diagram I purchased a couple weeks ago proved useful. It seems that the previous mechanic got creative with one particular wire in the dash, and upon removing the "stray wire", everything on the dash started working! I mean everything ... the fuel gauge works perfectly now and it is accurate (we tested). The brake warning light works like it should. Even the turn signal indicators on the dash started behaving - they flash continuously until disengaged. Bonus! I'm crossing off a bunch of stuff from my to-do list with one pull of a wire!

Is We Relateds?

2010-03-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

1963 Ferrari 250GT:

1971 Poor Man's Ferrari:

Color Wiring Diagram

2010-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Volvo's still in the shop ... undergoing a major tune-up and having some minor work done like having the steering coupler replaced. Meanwhile, the wiring diagram that I ordered just arrived ... and it doesn't disappoint! It's 11 x 17 inches laminated, and the wires are in the original factory colors. The diagrams are way bigger and makes tracing wires a heckavulot easier than the smaller black & white diagrams found in various shop manuals. There are various suppliers on eBay selling them. I got mine direct from www.colorwiringdiagrams.com for $20, and it includes free shipping.

Got It ... Kinda!

2010-03-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

I managed to get the engine running way past the 7 minute mark after making adjustments to the air/fuel mixture. It's not pretty ... the engine revs higher than I'd like it to at idle, but that should keep it from stalling when I drive it to the shop. The first thing I did after the static timing, was to invest in a fuel pressure gauge. The fuel pressure was indeed at the recommended 30 psi. Next, I adjusted the throttle butterfly located in the mouth of the intake manifold. This was done via the throttle adjustment screw pictured below. The various instructions call for a 1/4 or 1/2 turn of this screw from the point of contact with the throttle valve spindle. I did mine at 1/2 turn. By the way, I had to use a dental mirror to get a visual of when the screw was making contact with the throttle valve spindle. The purpose is for this screw to hold the throttle slightly open as it should never be completely closed. I found that mine was originally opened more than it needed to be as if someone used this to adjust the idle instead of the idle adjustment screw located below the mouth of the intake manifold. The second photo below shows the throttle adjustment screw after the adjustments have been made. Having messed with throttle butterfly, the next procedure was to reset the position of the throttle switch to accomodate the new setting.

Throttle Adjustment Screw:

Close-Up:

Next, was the idle adjustment screw - I removed it completely from the manifold and cleaned it up with electronic contact spray. Here's how it looks like pictured below. I also sprayed a whole bunch of electronic contact cleaner down the hole indicated by the red arrow in the next photo below. This is where air for idle gets through and the volume of air is restricted by the idle adjustment screw. Needless to say, a tsunami of black stuff came out of that hole that could be restricting air flow.

Idle Adjustment Screw:

Throttle Butterfly:

I also figured out what that knob was on the side of the ECU. I originally thought it was some sort of fuse (red arrow in the photo below), but it's the idle enrichment knob. It controls the richness or leaness of the mixture, but only at idle. Clockwise is richer, counter clockwise is leaner. It increments in "clicks". Once all that stuff above was dialed-in, tuning the idle air/fuel mixture was a matter of adjusting the idle screw and messing with the idle enrichment knob on the ECU.

Since I don't own any instruments like a CO meter, or revolution counter, adjustment of the idle and air/fuel mixture was done "by ear" and the use of a caged canary next to the exhaust pipe. Alright ... it was way less low-tech than that! Using my own body as an indicator, the more nauseous I got and the more burning and watering of the eyes from the exhaust fumes - the richer the mixture. So I adjusted the idle screw and leaned out the mixture via the idle enrichment knob on the ECU accordingly until the feeling of wanting to throw up went away.

It was tricky dialing in the right combination of idle air flow and mixture richness/leaness to arrive at a compromise that'll work for now. All this has to be done with the engined warmed-up by the way. Lot's of trial-and-error and measuring engine "run time" with a stop watch to see if it's running past the 7 minute mark. My neighbors hate me now I'm sure of it, and I think I might have also single-handedly depreciated the real estate values in my neighborhood while prospects were attending open houses this weekend.

Before:

After:

In the midst of all the adjustments, I also managed to sneak in some "rotary tool" time and went to town on that thing that secures the throttle cable to the manifold. I don't know what it's called, but the before-and-after pictures are above. In the end, I took the Volvo out for a spin around the neighborhood for various lengths of time, stopping at every intersection to see if the idle drops and the engine stalls. Aside from sounding like I have a V8 under the hood, there were no problems at all during my test drive. It is only after each test drive, when I'm pulling into the drive way, the idle drops and I have to tap the gas pedal to keep it from stalling! I drove it for 20 minutes one time, and it almost stalls 10 feet from the driveway. Drove it for more than 30 minutes another time (all the while stopping-and-going to try to get it to stall - it didn't), and it does the same thing 10 feet from the driveway as I was returning from the test drive. The street is flat too, so I know it's not the incline in my driveway that's causing stuff to shake up in the gas tank and possibly leading to fuel restriction. Can you believe this?!!! It's like the Volvo is trying to tell me that it doesn't want to be in the garage ... it want's to be DRIVEN! Well then ... I hope it won't embarass me on the drive to my mechanic's shop.

Static Timing a B18/B20 Engine

2010-03-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in last week's post, the goal this weekend is to dial in the timing one notch better by performing static timing as outlined in this article on the Swedish Embassy website. Once this prerequisite procedure is done, my hope is to be able to mess with some variables that affect the air/fuel mixture to get the engine to stop stalling at 7 minutes so that I may drive it to the shop to have them fine tune everything. It took me awhile to get comfortable with attempting this procedure as I was getting confused comparing the Swedish Embassy article vs. the procedure outlined in my Owners Workshop Manual. It was really the instructions in my manual that was throwing me off. In particular, their scripture read (not verbatim, as I don't have it with me as I write this) "... turn the engine until the timing mark lines up with the "0" scale on the crank pulley ... back it off until the timing mark is opposite the 10 degree scale." The word "opposite" was throwing me off - I kept thinking 180 degrees from the 10 degree scale ... which is opposite right?!! No ... they should have been consistent with their verbiage and used "lines up" or "adjacent" instead!

Anyway, the main reason for this post is so that I could post some photos as a visual reference for myself in case I wake-up from a coma with minimal recollection and I have to do this again in the future. Note to self: this pictorial guide is to supplement the static timing instructions in the Swedish Embassy article ... Why? Because I'm a moron!

First photo below shows the 10 degree timing mark on the rim of the crank pulley lined-up with the pointer on the timing cover of the engine - this is 10 degrees BTDC (TDC is at "0"). The pointer is more like a fin (red arrow in photo). Timing marks are the numbers on the rim of the crank pulley (20 ... 10 ... 0 ... 10). It took a while to find the timing marks on the crank pulley the first time around as they were all covered up in grease. Rotation of engine is clockwise when looked at from the front. Second photo shows both valves for cylinder no. 1 up and closed at ignition point (TDC) as seen through removed oil filler cap. Top of cylinder should also be visible through spark plug hole no. 1 (that's the first one from the front of the engine).

Timing Marks on Engine:

Valves For No. 1 Cylinder:

Third photo below shows orientation of distributor rotor at TDC. Rotor should be pointing to cylinder no. 1. Last photo is of spark plug no. 1 grounded to the valve cover. In summary, it all went well. I static timed it to 10 degrees BTDC, and the engine started right up. Now I can make adjustments to the throttle valve, throttle switch, and idle to see if I can get to the bottom of this stalling problem.

Distributor Rotor Orientation:

Spark Plug on Valve Cover:

A New Clue!

2010-02-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

I've been making observations and taking notes since performing the "rough" timing yesterday and here's what found: The engine idles at 1,500 rpm from a cold start. That's 1,500 from the car's tachometer ... which could be a bit off. Idle doesn't sound blaring loud though, rather a pleasing deep old Volvo like rumble ... or old school bus like! Anyways, idle drops to 1,000 rpm at around the 6 minute mark presumably from the engine warming up and the Auxilary Air Valve (AAV) closing down and restricting air to bring the idle down (as it should). At around 7 minutes, the idle starts to stutter and the engine soon stalls.

First off, 6 minutes before the engine warms up and idle drops seems a tad long I think ... but who knows, maybe that's normal? Second observation is at the time the idle starts to drop, the fumes from the tail pipe begin to smell like gasoline ... that and my eyes start to water. This has been pretty consistent since the first day the car started acting up. Me thinks, during a cold start with the engine still cold and the AAV open, there's plenty of air to burn off the fuel. As the engine warms-up and the AAV closes, less air gets through leading to incomplete combustion of fuel. Run the engine long enough (7 minute mark) and it soon stalls from air starvation compared to the amount of fuel being served, and finally there's enough fuel left over to flood the engine to prevent a subsequent warm or hot start until the excess fuel evaporates.

Well ... I did some reading, and learned a new word: "running rich" - when there's a high fuel-to-air ratio in the chambers ... exactly what I'm experiencing! And I though it meant hanging out with the golfers at the country club in the good side of town ... no that's "running with the rich" ... nevermind. Here's another tell-tale sign of running with a rich mixture: black sooty fouled plugs (pictured below). These are brand new spark plugs by the way!

Fouled Spark Plug:

Crankcase Breather Hose:

Now, armed with this new clue and a set of quantitative base-line data to compare against (specifically the elapsed time before things start to go south), I think my next move ought to be resetting the timing followed by checking the fuel pressure. Even though the "rough" timing I did sounds good to me (then again, any signs of life from this Volvo excites me), I think proper static timing is called for this time as incorrect ignition timing could also lead to rich running conditions from what I read. Correct fuel pressure is also critical as higher than normal fuel pressure also leads to running rich. I'll take on these two tasks next weekend as I need to consult my horoscope and purchase a fuel pressure gauge.

While messing around with the crankcase hoses checking for vacuum leaks, I noticed that the hose from the oil filler cap to the intake manifold had some mayonnaise like residue in it (pictured above). Not sure if this is normal. What is this stuff ... engine pus? In any case, I replaced the crankcase hoses with fresh ones. Some of the crankcase hoses also didn't have hose clamps on the ends and stock photos of the hoses didn't show any on them either, but I clamped all of them up anyway just to be rid of any potential vacuum leaks that might be contributing to the problem.

Crankcase Hose Nipple - Before:

Crankcase Hose Nipple - After:

The crankcase hose from the oil filler cap to the manifold attaches to a nipple which I also removed and cleaned as pictured ablove. I used a port brush for a hummingbird feeder to get the insides real good, and flushed out lots of black carbon deposits, and finally finished it off with some light sanding with the rotary tool to get rid of years of surface oxidation. In summary, none of the changes I did today made any difference to the warm engine stalling problem. I'm still checking things off my list, but I have hopes for next week as I attempt to dial in the timing a few notches better and check the fuel pressure.

Oh ... I told myself that I'm not going to be one of those people who name their cars, but after what I had to go through this past few weekends, I've changed my mind and am naming it "Legion" ... for the problems are many.

PerTronix Ignitor Points-to-Electronic Ignition Conversion - Part 2

2010-02-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

I was all ready to perfrom static timing on the engine this morning per the instructions on the "Swedish Enbassy" website when on a whim, I decided to turn the distributor clockwise about 5 degrees just to see what happens. Well ... I lucked-out! I had 50/50 odds of getting it back to its original timing prior to the PerTronix install by turning the distributor clockwise or counter-clockwise. The Volvo roared back to life sounding livelier and "younger" than it ever did as opposed to "tired & grumpy old Volvo." Well, that excitement lasted for several minutes until the engine warmed-up and it was back to a degrading idle and eventually stalling. The good news is, the PerTronix seems to be a promising upgrade ... all I need to do now is solve the warm engine stalling problem.

Having ruled out points as the possible culprit by replacing them with an electronic ignition module, it's time to look elsewhere for a fix. Let's see, so far the following checks have been conducted:

Replaced ignition coil
Replaced ignition wires
Replaced spark plugs
Replaced coolant/engine temperature sensor
Replaced engine thermostat
Cleaned all wiring terminals + grounds
Checked cold start valve - no leaks
MAPs sensor OK - unhooked the hose to the manifold and sucked on it. Tounge got stuck, so no leaks + pressure held. Resistance checks on terminals also OK.
Auxilary Air Valve (AAV) OK - Crimping the top hose dropped the idle when running engine cold. No effect on idle when running engine warm.
Air filter OK
Replaced points with PerTronix

Next on my list was to check for vacuum leaks and verify that the wiring harness to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) was ok. While performing a visual check for any possible source of vacuum leaks, I did find a couple of tiny holes in the air intake hose pictured below. Since this hose is north of the intake manifold I don't think it has any effect on the vaccum. I sealed up the holes anyway with a few drops of Gorrilla Glue just for good measure and to prevent unfiltered air from entering the system.

Air Intake Hose:

Holes in Air Intake Hose:

Now that the engine was equipped with a brand new coolant/engine temperature sensor, I wanted to verify that the wiring itself was in good shape, and thus not sending mixed signals to the ECU. I proceeded then to disconnect the Fuel Injection wiring harness from the ECU to perform the electrical checks outlined in this document I found in the Tech Archive of the VClassics Interactive website.

Couple of things I learned from this procedure: Plastic cover for the ECU slides off - do not pry it off like you would a can of paint (see photo below). Referencing the second photo below, pin #1 is on the right (where the red arrow is pointing), or furthest from the bunch of wires enternig the connector. Bottom line is, every single connection was good ... which is fantastic news since I wasn't looking forward to performing surgery on the wiring harness anyways!

ECU Cover Removal:

ECU Wiring Harness Connector:

PerTronix Ignitor Points-to-Electronic Ignition Conversion - Part 1

2010-02-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

Alright ... same problem, different day. Engine starts & idles fine. Once warmed-up, it idles rough and eventually stalls. I've replaced the spark plugs, ignition wires, installed new thermostat and coolant temperature sensor in the engine block - no difference. The good news is there's only a finite number of possible causes and I've made a list of things to systematically check - it's only in the low hundreds. Among the items on my list are cold start valve leaks, vacuum leaks, MAPS sensor, fuel pressure, etc. There's also some suggestion on the forums that the gap on the breaker points may be closing down. Thus, being the last item on my list, and knowing my luck - it usually is the last thing that I'd check that's the culprit, I decided to skip all the other checks on my list for now and head straight for the last item on the list in an attempt to alter destiny.

Since I was already planning to perform a points-to-electronic ignition conversion and already have the PerTronix Ignitor module on hand, I decided to perform the upgrade which would eliminate the points & condensor ignition altogether, and hence any problems attributed to faulty points. Having spent a considerable amount of time on the forums trolling for installation notes specific to the Volvo 1800E with current sensing tachnometers, I was able to piece together shards of information into the following 2 wiring diagrams drawn up by my 3 year old daughter using crayons. Ok ... so I did do the drawings myself. The diagram on the left is how the stock wiring should look like for 1800E models. The one on the right is how the PerTronix module needs to be wired to get the current sensing tachnometer to work. My car does not have a ballast resistor going to the coil, so this implementation is specific to my set-up. Really simple - red PerTronix wire goes to ignition coil positive. Black PerTronix wire connects to white tach wire (or faded white on 40 year old cars!). The red PerTronix wire was not long enough to reach the coil on my car, and the black wire was way longer that it needed to be for my set-up, so I trimmed the black wire down and used the remains to lengthen the red wire for my specific application.

Stock Wiring diagram:

PerTronix Wiring Diagram:

The PerTronix installation walks you through removing the distributor cap, rotor, and points, followed by the installation of the module, and finally threading the wires through the distributor housing. Fuhgettaboutit! Save yourself the trouble - after removing the rotor and points, thread the wires through first before installing the module! Pictured below is the problematic somebitch! Attempting to thread the rubber grommet from the Pertronix module through the tiny hole (left by removing the condensor wire) from the inside of the distributor is an exercise you don't want to go through! If you follow PerTronix's instructions and install the module first before threading the wires and rubber grommet through, you'll find that there's not enough wiggle room to work the thing. In addition, the terminals on the PerTronix wires has barely enough room to clear the hole in the distributor housing. Not impossible - it's just a tight fit. Best to deal with it first before installing the module.

Problematic Somebitch:

Wire Terminal Thru Distributor Housing:

Here's how I did it: Remove the rubber donut completely. Thread it off the PerTronix wires and set it aside, but leave the coned-shaped other half attached to the wires. Next, thread the wires through the distributor housing (from the inside of the distributor of course). Apply dielectric grease all over the rubber donut ... inside the donut hole, inner lip, etc. The dielectric grease is just there as a lubricant to get the donut into the hole ... you can wipe off the mess later. Finally, thread the donut back onto the wires and ease it into hole of the distributor housing. I find that it's much easier to work with the rubber donut from the outside of the distributor. Apply pressure with thumb while slowly rotating the donut to get it to slip into the hole. Once inserted, thread the rest of the wires and the coned-shaped grommet through the hole in the donut to form a tight seal. You're done - follow the rest of the PerTronix manual to complete the rest of the installation.

Installing PerTronix Rubber Grommet:

PerTronix Rubber Grommet Installed:

Although I do realize that it is necessary to reset the timing after the PerTronix installation as the triggering points are different for points vs. electronic module, I was hoping that the "old" timing would be "close enough". That way (assuming that this upgrade took care of the stalling problem), I would be able to drive to my mechanic and have the professionals adjust the timing with their fancy equipment. Boy, was I wrong! Timing was way off! The engine would barely stay running. Everything else worked fine - starts fine, and the tachometer works, indicating that the install was correct. All that is needed now is to adjust the timing .. which I'll save for next week's challenge.

Before:

After:

I found an article on static timing a B20 engine on the Swedish Embassy website, which should prove useful for next week's challenge. I tried reading it briefly, but I think I broke a couple of my teeth in the process. I'll have to give it a thorough read this weekend ... right after I figure out what's TDC, what's 16 degrees BTC, what's a crankshaft, what's a timing cover, and what do timing marks look like or where to find them.

New Thermostat & Engine Sensors

2010-02-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

Well ... it's another weekend, and I'm back to troubleshooting my "warm engine poor idle followed by stalling" problem. Suspecting a bad coolant temperature sensor for the D-Jet EFI system, and not knowing the exact range of resistance values for a good sensor across a wider range of temperatures beyond the 50F - 104F outlined in the 1800E Service Manual (the "Green Book"), I had no other option but to order a new part. Besides, installing a new coolant temp sensor or removing the old one for testing would require draining coolant from the engine anyway, and because having new parts is waaaayyy better than money in the bank, I decided to replace the thermostat and the sender for the coolant temperature gauge as well.

Armed with a new and old coolant temp sensor, I took the opportunity to do some bench testing in the kitchen to satisfy my own curiosity. Drilling 2 holes in an empty food can, one for the sensor, and one for the food thermometer (classy ... I know!), I was able to submerge the contraption into a pot of water and take resistance readings with my multi-meter while slowly bringing the water to a boil. Results are as follows:

Temp	New Sensor	Old Sensor
80F	2000 ohms	2500 ohms
90F	1400 ohms	1800 ohms
100F	1000 ohms	1400 ohms
110F	1000 ohms	1200 ohms
120F	800 ohms	1000 ohms
130F	800 ohms	800 ohms
140F	600 ohms	600 ohms
150F	400 ohms	500 ohms
160F	350 ohms	450 ohms
170F	350 ohms	400 ohms
180F	260 ohms	350 ohms
190F	260 ohms	300 ohms
200F	250 ohms	250 ohms

New Thermostat & Engine Sensors:

Testing the Coolant Temp Sensor:

I began taking readings at room temperature water (80F according to the food thermometer) ... obviously a well calibrated instrument! You can count on those numbers ... trust me, I'm a lawyer! Anyway, although, the new and old sensors have different resistance values at the same temperatures, the one shared trait is that the resistance values do drop at increased temperatures. Not entirely sure if they need to hit an exact resistance value "on the money" at a given temperature or just be "within range", there's no way from looking at the table above for me to tell if the old sensor was really "bad" as I originally suspected. I say "originally", because installing the new thermostat and coolant temp sensor did absolutely nothing to change the running conditions of the engine - hence the old sensor should still be good ... unless it's the wiring from the sensor to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that's crap - I'll have to check that at a later time.

Acknowledgements:

Parts were purchased from iRoll Motors.
Funds for this failed attempt at engine diagnostics provided by Union Bank of California.
Food can provided by Hi-Top Fruit Cocktail
Food thermometer made in China.
Multi-meter also made in China.
This site was tested on animals. They didn't get it either.

Battery & Starter Follow-Up

2010-02-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a follow-up to the no-start problem I was having until last weekend (now fixed): I found this excellent article about Battery & Starter Problems on the VClassics site today when I was supposed to be working. It goes into detail about the voltage, current, resistance, and what happens when you crank the starter. Basically information that I could have used a couple weeks ago.

Throttle Position Switch

2010-02-15T18:05:00.000-08:00

Following-up on a lead that I read somewhere on the forums regarding a dirty Throttle Position Switch (TPS) leading to erratic idling and engine stalling, I decided to give my TPS a thorough cleaning to see if that solves my engine problem ... or at least eliminates the TPS as the source of the problem. At present, I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics of how it might contribute to the issues I'm having as I read about it late at night while I was half asleep, but detaching the plastic cover revealed some black scuff marks on the contacts as indicated by the red arrow in the first photo below. This was easily rubbed out with electronic contact cleaner and q-tips, followed by light dusting of the entire unit with the Dremel rotary tool with the soft bristle brush attachment.

Before:

After:

Nope - didn't change a thing. Engine still starts up and idles fine until it warms-up, then it starts idling erratically and stalls. I didn't think it would work anyway since the symptoms are obviously heat related. I have my money on the coolant temperature sensor for now as the Fuel Injection Control Unit relies heavily on this very sensitive piece of equipment. Testing the resistance of the temperature sensor with a cold engine yielded a reading of 3000 ohms (within specs at 65 degrees room temperature). I took another reading when the engine was hot (after letting it run for a while until it stalled), and I got 0 ohms. I'm not entirely sure if its supposed to go all the way down to 0 since none of the resistance charts that I've seen for the temp sensor bother to show that range. Based on those readings, it does seem that the temp sensor is working like it ought to. However, it didn't occur to me while I was performing the test to see how quickly it reached 0 ohms. I'll do that this weekend, starting and stopping the engine at 1 minute intervals and then taking resistance measurements to see if I get a range of values.

It's Alive!!!

2010-02-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

Yup, the battery was at 85% of it's full charge. Took it to the AutoZone store this morning to have them charge it, and it's now registering 12.6 volts. Bench tested the new starter again with only the battery hooked-up and it spun each time. Reattached the starter to the engine, and the car fired right up! That little 1v or so sure made a huge difference! Now that the no-start problem has been solved, it's back to the original problem that started this whole mess - the engine idles ok, but when it warms up, the idle becomes erratic and I'll have to keep tapping the gas pedal to keep it from stalling. Once stalled-out, it takes a few tries to get it going again .. or sometimes not at all unless everything cools down.

The following series of 3 videos demonstrates the current running condition of my 1800E. The first video is the sound of the new Bosch permanent magnet starter in action. The 2nd video is the engine idling normally right after ignition and while it's warming up. The 3rd video is when the engine is all warmed-up and things start to head down the toilet.

Sound of New Starter:	Idling Normally:
Erratic Idle After Warm-Up:

New Starter

2010-02-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

My new starter finally arrived from http://www.rockauto.com/ ... well "refurbished", since they don't make new ones anymore. It's the newer style Bosch permanent magnet starter and it's a later production part than the stock starter on the P1800s. Originally for the Volvo 240s, this "newer style" starter will fit the P1800s. For those interested, just do a search at rockauto.com for part no. SR37X. The new starter has the exact terminals and mounting as the stock starters, but that's where the similarities end. The mounting holes for the 2 bolts are threaded, unlike the stock starters. I've heard that there's a chance of receiving one that is threaded metric. I was prepared to drill out the threads in case I got one of those, but I lucked-out and was able to use my original bolts to install without any modifications. As seen in the photos below, the new starter is smaller in diameter than the stock starter, and is much lighter. It also has internal gears that spin it real fast thus requiring less cranking amps and produces 3hp vs. the 1hp on the stock starters. All pluses in my opinion!

The week prior, while in "staging mode" waiting for the arrival of the new starter, I had spent the time cleaning all the electrical connections leading to and from the starter as well as removing the ground strap (passenger-side undercarriage) and cleaning it proper for this week's install. Switching out the starter was an easy enough job ... just an hour or less. What took more time was working up the courage to get under the car after jacking it up on jack-stands! I rocked the Volvo back-and-forth, sideway, and in every imaginable way while it was up on stands all while contemplating if the 40 year old jacking points would cave in and crush me while I was under the damn thing. After more than an hour of contemplating my life and prophesying my death, I had a meal, smoked a cigarrette, paid all my bills, fed the fish, dog, and cat, and went for it.

Bosch Permanent Magnet Starter:

New vs. Stock Starter:

Guess what? It didn't work! New starter installed ... turned the key in the ignition ... a click ... then nothing! There was a slight improvement over the old starter at this point. I could hear the click of the starter solenoid engaging this time. What could it be? Checking the voltage on the battery positive lead to the starter while cranking yielded about 3 - 4 volts - not good! Whereas a slight drop in voltage is normal when cranking, that much of a drop seems unusual. Am I grounding-out somewhere? Is my ignition switch bad? (Not good, as a replacement would be hard to find!) Did my engine sieze-up? (definately not good!) My head was spinning at this point. More prophesying and fortune telling went on until I came to accept the fact that my day was crap already so why not remove the starter, isolate it from the engine and bench test it with just the car battery hooked up.

Not Funny!!!

Bench Testing New Starter:

Second time around, I figured out how to pull the starter without jacking the car up. Lying flat on my back, I was able to reach under the car from the driver-side with my monkey arms and undo both mounting bolts with a socket wrench. Cool - I'm not getting crushed today! Not how I want to go anyways ... pinned under a 2000lbs Volvo! Not my style ... has to be in a blaze of glory ... big production.

With the battery positive lead attached to the starter's main terminal, and a piece of wire to ground the starter body to the engine, I used 2 more wires to "hot-wire" the starter via the ignition wire terminal on the starter and the starter's positive terminal (watch out for sparks). Detached, from the engine, the starter spun this time indicating that it is indeed working, and the problem is elsewhere. I was only able to get the starter motor to turn on once while bench testing ... which leads me to believe that the battery doesn't have enough juice to power the thing. Checking the battery last week yielded 12 volts though, and another check today yielded between 11 and 12v - which seems to me like a full charge on a 12v battery right? Maybe it's supposed to be 12v while under load? I'll take the battery to the local AutoZone store tomorrow morning to have it charged. They do it for free. Then we'll go another couple of rounds tomorrow. Things are looking up though ... there's hope!

Anti-Corrosive Paste

2010-01-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

Found a tube of anti-corrosive paste for electrical connections in my local ACE Hardware store under the brand "Ox-Gard", Anti-Oxidant Compound by Gardner Bender. The stuff sells for $3 - $4 a tube and how it differs from dielectric grease is, in addition to its anti-corrosive properties, the paste is also conductive. Whereas dielectric grease works great for protecting brand new connections from the elements, on old cars where electrical connections have already degraded, anti-corrosive paste works way better in preventing further degradation and improves connectivity via its conductive properties ... from what I read anyways ... I'll let you know in 20 years if it's true. In the meantime, it can't hurt. All I know is, because it is conductive, care must be taken to wipe off any access to avoid current "jumping" to adjacent connections. Here's a list of other anti-corrosive products and their manufacturers from the K1TTT Amateur Radio Station website.

So, armed with a tube of Ox-Gard and some fresh fuses to get my multi-meter working again, I set out to restore all the electrical connections I could find under the hood to ensure corrosion free leads and proper grounding. To pick-up from where I left off with the main fuel injection relay, I was able to determine that input to the relay was indeed 12V, but output from the relay to the coil was still 10V indicating that the voltage drop was happening via the relay. Perhaps this is how its supposed to work by design? Or perhaps, the additional voltage is kicked in at ignition point? Who knows ... I have bigger problems to solve right now ... like the no-start situation. That's why I placed an order for the "Bosch Fuel Injection & Engine Management" book on a tip from blog reader George Downs of Bartlesville, OK (thanks George!). This book may be found in IPD's P1800 book section.

Oh yes, I'm also pretty sure at this point that the cause of the no-start is due to a faulty starter. I applied the following "stupid starter tricks" that I knew off and arrived at the conclusion that it's dead:

My favorite - Banging on the starter solenoid with a hammer while attempting to start with the key. Sometimes the contacts in the solenoid get stuck and this low-tech approach may sometimes "free" them.
Check that the starter is getting the full 12V via the lead directly from the battery - it is.
Placing the transmission in gear and rocking the car back-and-forth before attempting to start. Sometimes the starter pinion gets stuck with the gears in the flywheel casing. This procedure should free it.
The screwdriver trick - If the solenoid fails, the starter can be "jumped" by engaging the ignition to the "on" position and placing a screwdriver across the 2 leads on the starter. Screwdriver was too cumbersome, so I used 2 cables with aligator terminals instead - Lots of sparks, still no start!

Just for the heck of it, I also ran some tests found in this Volvo Fuel Injection Fault Tracing handbook downloaded from the Volvo 1800 Picture Gallery website, and found that my air temperature sensor was faulty. The resistance reading of a working air temperature sensor should be between 260 to 340 ohms - Mine was 400 ohms. Could this little thing be causing the no-start? If anything it should affect engine performance instead of preventing it from starting ... right? I'm not stating this as a fact as I'm obviously not the person to ask about these things. Merely thinking out loud or talking to myself ... which is not out of the ordinary. I really need to read that book!

Spark Plugs Are Here!

2010-01-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

The new NGK spark plugs were finally delivered today. Pictured here is the new vs old and pretty banged-up spark plug. Bad news is - installation of the new spark plugs, coil, and ignition wires didn't make a difference. The car is still a no-start! All I get at the turn of the key is the sound of the fuel pump running, a click ... and nothing. Time to dig further into the ignition system - starter, ignition switch, distributor ... good times!

Coil Not Getting Full 12V

2010-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

When I installed the Pertronix Flame-Thrower ignition coil last weekend, I discovered that the coil was not receiving the full 12 volts required for optimum performance (I was reading only 10V on my volt-meter). The installation literature suggests that there is a resistor somewhere in the circuit that needs to be removed in order to get the full 12 volts. Well, first of all I don't even know what a resistor looks like, and a close inspection of the wiring schematic didn't reveal any resistors leading to the positive terminal of the coil. Here's a link to a nice wiring diagram in PDF format that you can zoom in on for a 1972 1800E (should be the same for a 1971 1800E ... I think?!!) Of course, me reading an electrical schematic is like a 3 year old reading the Wall Street Journal.

So, either there really is a resistor, or there's a voltage bleed somewhere somewhere in the circuit leading to the positive terminal of the coil. From what I can tell, the 2 brown wires feeding into the positive terminal of the coil are from the main fuel injection relay and from the horn relay via fuse #6 in the fusebox. In this 1st photo, the twin brown wires are shown connected to the positive (top) terminal of the coil. Red wire from negative terminal of coil goes to the tach. Figuring out the wire colors was a task all by itself since all my wires are black ... they're either spray-painted black by some previous owner or black from years of grease and dirt fusing to the wire jackets! Only with some 1-on-1 time with the rotary tool did I manage to coax the wires to reveal their "true colors".

Fuel Injection Relay - Before:

Fuel Injection Relay - After:

A volt-meter test on the battery showed a full 12 volts, so I decided to trace the source of the voltage drop by removing the main fuel injection relay, cleaning up all connections with the rotary tool and some electronic contact cleaner, reattaching all connections, and ensure proper grounding. The only thing missing is I need to get my hands on some anti-corrosive zinc paste that I read about in this excellent article about electrical connections in our old Volvos. This guy is almost fanatical about the stuff, needless to say, I found new religion. I also extended the session with the rotary tool to include the restoration of the relay housing pictured in the before-and-after photos above. First, a rotary paper sanding bit was used to remove surface impurities, followed by the stainless steel rotary brush to get that brushed steel finish.

Of course, after hooking everything back up and in my haste to test the voltage, I mistakenly set the multi-meter to test resistance and completely fried the unit! I probably just blew the fuse in it. In any case, I wouldn't know the results of my efforts until I have the fuse replaced and my multi-meter working again ... story of my life.

Hood Silencer Pad

2010-01-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

The spark plugs are still not here, so I couldn't mess with the engine this weekend. The hood silencer pads finally got some attention instead. Weeks ago, one of the pieces had fallen off after losing its adhesiveness. While reattaching the piece with a fresh application of adhesive seemed like a simple enough task, the challenge was how to effectively "clamp" on the piece with adequate amount of pressure during the curing process. My mind toyed with removing the entire hood, placing it on a flat surface and applying something heavy on the hood pad while it cured - too complicated! Another possible solution was to fabricate some sort of cross-brace with nylon straps while leaving the hood in place - problem is although the staps might hold the hood pad in place, it might not form equal pressure on all areas of the pad. After a 10 minute stare-down with the thing, I said to myself in frustration - "C'mon man! I make a living solving problems in the corporate world, this can't be that complicated! What would McGyver do with the stuff he has at hand in the house?" So here's the McGyver solution: 1 pillow, 1 trash bag, and a spray can of 3M's Super Trim Adhesive. The adhesive has to be rated for high temperatures of course, and the only thing available in all the neighborhood auto supply stores was this expensive massive can of the 3M stuff that I had to fork out 20 clams for!!! Twenty bucks, when all I needed was a couple of squirts! Hey, 3M guys - if you're listening ...put the same stuff in smaller cans and sell them for $5.

Detached Hood Silencer Pad:

3M High Temp Adhesive:

Anyways, here's what I did: Place the pillow in the trash bag to protect it from engine dirt and grease. Place the pillow in the engine bay on top of everything (engine, radiator, hoses, etc.). Apply the adhesive onto the hood pad and hold it in place for a minute or two until it forms a temporary bond. And for the last step ... just close the hood. The pillow will wrap around the hood pad, and that along with the weight of the hood will form enough pressure to "clamp" it in place during the curing process. Beats standing around for an hour holding it in place by hand ... wife didn't even notice her pillow was missing!

Pillow in Trash Bag:

Reattached Hood Silencer Pad:

Center Console Reinstalled ...

2010-01-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

... after 3 months of being out of the car and waiting for the heater to be restored! This chapter can now be closed ... for the moment.

Before:	After:

PerTronix Flame-Thrower & MSD Wires Installed!

2010-01-16T11:48:00.000-08:00

Lots and lots of dielectric grease is what you'll need for building custom spark plug wire sets! The boots are almost impossible to thread through unless they're lubricated with a generous amount of dielectric grease. The spark plugs I ordered didn't show up for this weekend's party (they're on backorder), so I still can't tell if any of these replacements will solve the "no start" problem. The plugs that I currently have in the engine have the old school styled terminals which do not fit the plug terminals on the new wires. Besides, the old spark plugs looked pretty fouled, so I hope that's the extent of my problem. Here's the before-and-after photos of the wire upgrade. I'm still not sure how I feel about the new wire set. I like the look of the red wires, but at this point I much prefer the cleaner look of the stock boots on both the spark plug and the distributor end. The grey colored oversized MSD boots might take a while getting used to, however they are built that way to take a pounding from the engine heat and oils. BTW - These wires really do have low resistance! I checked them with a multi-meter and they really do only produce 40 - 50 ohms of resistance per foot, which translates to greater efficiency in the transfer of energy to the spark plugs.

Stock Spark Plug Wires:

MSD 8.5mm Super Conductors:

I also replaced the stock Bosch ignition coil with the PerTronix Flame-Thrower coil which adds another chrome element in the "looks" department of the engine bay. The photo below shows the new coil with new red coil wire that I built using the same MSD 8.5mm wire kit used to build the spark plug wires.

Stock Ignition Coil:

PerTronix Flame-Thrower Coil:

Diode Wire Kit Has Arrived

2010-01-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

The Diode Wire Kit from IPD has arrived. Unfortunately, it's not something that I'll need for my application. This kit is used to bypass the original single terminal ignition coil without having to cut into the armored cable for the ignition switch for P1800's up to 1968 (yes, I now know what the "armored cable" is). The PerTronix Flame-Thrower coil that I purchased has the conventional dual terminals, hence no need for this bypass. Here's a picture of the kit anyways before I send it back. It does come with detailed instructions on how to perform the surgery.

"The Saint" Was Here!

2010-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well actually ... a gentleman who calls himself "The Saint" left a nice comment on this blog yesterday, which led me to his website: www.saint.org - a tribute to The Saint and the works of Leslie Charteris. A tremendous amount of work has been done by the publisher of this website to amass such a collection of knowledge on the abovementioned subjects. Seriously, everything you need to know about Simon Templar including the iconic P1800 that Roger Moore drove can be found on this site. I am halfway tempted now to take a stroll down memory lane by renting old copies of The Saint television series on DVD. I say "halfway tempted" because the last time I did this with "Mork & Mindy" - it didn't go so well. In fact, it pretty much ruined everything!

I had fond memories of watching Mork & Mindy on TV as a child. I used to think Robin Williams was hilarious - and he was for me at that time. Somehow, after 3 decades of advancements in TV & movie making (not to mention changes in my own brain chemistry), it just wasn't funny anymore. That's why I avoid reliving my childhood "TV time" with The A-Team, MacGyver, or Knight Rider for fear of tainting that geeky glee in me when I think of those programs. Gilligan's Island is not on that list - in fact, the chinese translation for "Gilligan's Island" is "Lau Tze Sho". I did however watch the entire "V" television series from the 80's recently and it still "did it" for me - I still believe! So perhaps I should give The Saint a try ... or maybe just read the books ... but, I just bought that 50 inch Sony LCD ...

Ignition Components Have Arrived!

2010-01-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

The MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor spark plug wire set, PerTronix Ignitor points-to-electronic ignition conversion kit, and PerTronix Flame-Thrower ignition coil I ordered have arrived! The spark plug wire set came with the terminals and the boots already installed on the spark plug end. The distributor end of the wires are left bare so that the wires may be cut to the appropriate length and attached to the included socket or HEI-style boots. To my surprise, the kit also included a coil wire! I wish they would include this juicy fact in their product description ... it would have saved me the trouble of buying that additional coil wire. Also included in the kit is a mini wire stripper/crimper to build the cables. Heads-up: you'll need a vise to complete the installation.

Pictured below right is the sexy looking PerTronix ignition coil that'll spit out 40,000 electronic frying volts! First thing that needs to go is the sticker. I regret ordering a chrome bracket for the coil. Chrome-on-chrome might be overkill. I wonder if they make a coil bracket in black ... or red? All I need now are for the spark plugs to show up before the weekend.

MSD Super Conductor Spark Plug Wires:

PerTronix Ignitor & Flame-Thrower Coil:

Oh Oh, Trouble!!!

2010-01-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

The engine fired up again on the first try. Idle is still rough and erratic. I didn't drive it this time - just left it idling in the garage to see what happens. Once things started to warm up, I gave it some gas to rev it up and as usual, once my foot was off the gas pedal, the engine idled low and eventually stalled. This time it's completely dead! Each subsequent try resulted in a weaker crank until there was no play at all (after about 3 attempted starts). Where's the love? I don't think it's the thermostat anymore although I'm not ruling that out yet. This sounds like a whole new problem and I'm not going to try cranking up the engine again at the risk of frying my starter. This new developments has forced me to expedite the ignition system upgrade that I had planned anyways. There are so many things that could cause a "no start" scenario, I think I'll start by ruling out the ignition system by performing the following upgrades:

Upgrade spark plugs
Upgrade spark plug wires & coil wire
Upgrade ignition coil
Perform a points-to-electronic ignition conversion

A quick check on the battery with a multi-meter quickly ruled out lack of power as the culprit as the battery has a full 12 volts. Fouled plugs can easily contribute to idling or "no start" problems. A quick check on my plugs I discovered, was neither quick nor easy! None of my standard spark plug sockets would fit, nor would any of my long reach sockets for the matter! It turns out, the plugs on the Volvo P1800 are 13/16 hex - that's bloody big! Why so large? Me thinks it's because the B20 engine (and it's predeccesor, the B18) was developed by taking Volvo's V8 truck engine and slicing it in half to produce a straight-4 to fit in a car. No wonder the engine is bullet proof - that and it was made for the freezing cold Swedish climate. In any case, it turned out to be an exercise to track down the appropriately sized plug socket and the replacement spark plugs as none of the neighborhood auto stores carried them.

I ended up ordering all the upgrades online from various sources and am now waiting for the parts to arrive, hopefully in time for the weekend. I got the NGK standard spark plugs (Part No. BP7HS) and a chrome ignition coil bracket from JEGS. I decided on wires by MSD Ignition: I'll be building my own custom spark plug wires using the MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Spark Plug Wire Set (part no. 31159) and coil wire is MSD's 8.5mm Replacement Coil Wire (part no. 84049). I decided on these as they're red, and have the lowest resistance without electronic interference. They do cost twice as much though, but I'd rather do it once right and never deal with it again.

I also bought the PerTronix Ignitor electronic ignition system and the PerTronix Flame-Thrower Coil because they're a popular upgrade from points-type ignition systems amongst classic Volvo enthusiasts, therefore there's lots of support available if things go wrong ... and they have the ignition coil in chrome! The Flame-Thrower Coil has a 40,000V rating which is a substantially higher output potential than an OEM coil - sounds like it'll light a pretty big fire ... must be good, right?!! As for the PerTronix Ignitor, their sales literature states "never adjust or change points again". I don't even know what points are, but the fact that I don't have to mess with them got me sold - hey, one less thing to worry about right?!! Here's a Volvo specific application chart from Retro Rockets, a distributor of PerTronix Ignition Systems. All these components can be purchased directly from the manufacturer's websites, but I got mine from a much cheaper source at Summit Racing Equipment.

The PerTronix Ignitor points-to-electronic conversion seems like a simple enough install that even I can't screw-up, but it does involve resetting the timing and adjusting the idle which is way over my head, so this is one upgrade that I'll have my mechanic perform for me as part of the much needed tune-up. Now, all I have to do is find a mechanic ... and get the Volvo working so that I can drive it to the shop without stalling out and leaving me stranded. To make life easier for the mechanic, I also forked out $10 for a custom Diode Wire Kit from IPD that is used to "bypass the original armored coil without having to cut into the armored cable". Once again, I don't know what an "armored coil" is, but the "no cutting into" sounds like a darn good idea.

In summary, phase 1 is to get the engine firing. Phase 2 is to get it to purr like a kitten. At the rate that everything is shutting down, hopefully I'll be able to fix the problem before it causes a chain reaction leading to a complete catastrophic failure. On second thought - the car is already stalled-out in the garage, so it can't get any worse that that. Yay - good times! Somebody quick ... scissor kick me in the back of the head!

Cooling System Update

2010-01-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

The specifications for the 1800E states that the cooling system has a capacity of about 2.2 gallons. My car took about 1.5 gallons of coolant after the heater and radiator install, which can only mean there's still some air in the system that needs to be expelled. My car's manual did mention that it may take a long while of normal driving to completely bleed the system. I took the car out for a spin around the neighborhood this evening to get coolant circulating and to test the heater. Idle is still rough and erratic, presumably from condensation in the fuel system - so I dumped a bottle of iso-HEET water remover into the fuel tank, and hopefully that problem will go away after awhile. Oh, and I also bought a bottle of Chevron Techron to clean the fuel system and fuel injectors. The boys on the 1800List forum seem to go ape-shit on the stuff, so I thought "what the heck" - can't hurt right?

The good news is the heater works great, the blower is strong, and it's now pleasant to drive in the winter. The bad news - I discovered that once the engine reaches normal operating temperatures, it'll stall once my foot is off the gas pedal! Everything is fine when I'm driving except for when I take my foot of the gas pedal to slow down or stop at an intersection, the engine idles low and eventually stalls. This happened twice when I was driving around this evening. On the second time, the engine refused to start. Luckily, I was only 50 yards away from my driveway, so I pushed it the rest of the way home.

About a couple of hours later, the car started again on the first try. I suspect a bad thermostat - the one thing I didn't change when I overhauled the entire cooling system. The engine however, didn't show any signs of overheating - temmperature gauge normal, oil pressure normal, no steam or smoke from the engine. Who knows? I'll try replicating the problem another day.

Heater Reinstalled

2010-01-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

It's ALIVE!!! The rebuilt heater is back in the Volvo. I filled the cooling system with the first gallon of antifreeze and water, fired the engine up, and everything worked! The heater blower works ... on both speeds, high and low. The little green light in the heater control housing works! The car started up - which I'm extremely happy about ... although it's been idling rough. I might have let the fuel sit for a little too long without any fuel preservatives. It's either that or perhaps its idling rough because of a partially filled cooling system? I'm not sure if there is a "correct" method of replenishing coolant - I did what seemed logical to me. First, I set the heater temperature control to high (lever all the way down) to ensure that coolant gets into the heater core. Next, the initial fill was done via the radiator. Once the radiator was full, I then filled the coolant overflow bottle to the "Max" line, removed it from the mount and held it above the radiator to fill the hose connecting it to the radiator with coolant. The coolant overflow bottle was then reattached to its mount and recapped along with the radiator. Finally, the engine was started and the water pump did the rest. As the engine takes up coolant from the radiator, by some miracle of fluid dynamics and pressure, the radiator just sucks what it needs from the coolant overflow bottle. Subsequent refills are then done via the coolant overflow bottle as the the entire system gradually fills up on coolant.

Before:

After:

So far, I've completed 2 rounds of filling coolant, setting the heater temperature to high, and running the engine to normal operating temperature to flood the cooling system (radiator, engine, heater core) with coolant. By days end, I've used up 1.5 gallons of premixed antifreeze and water, but I'll give it another go tomorrow to see if it'll take more. The following are some before-and-after photos of the bottom half of the heater box from the interior of the car:

Before:	After:
Before:	After:

Here's a photo of the heater controls with the lights on. This light comes on when the parking or headlamps are on. They were not working before - in fact I didn't even know they existed! All I did was clean up the bulb housing and ensured that it was properly grounded. This bulb does not have a separate "ground wire". It only has a single "hot" lead. Grounding is done by ensuring proper contact with the heater control housing. From the research I've done, this green light only existed in the 1972 onwards ES models, which leads me to believe that some previous owner must have swapped out the heater control housing - bonus for me!

Heater Controls With Light:

All Pieces Back In Order:

Radiator Reinstalled

2009-12-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to get all of the heating and cooling components back into the engine bay this weekend, fill the system with coolant and start the engine up, but ran out of time and daylight. What did get reinstalled was the radiator, radiator fan shroud, coolant overflow bottle and mount, and the heater control valve - all with brand new mounting hardware and new hose clamps. At one point, while I was contorting my 6 foot frame under the dash to reinstall the heater control valve, I got my head stuck between the steering wheel and the shifter, and took the opportunity to remove the heater control unit and cables to have them cleaned since they were at "eye level" ... and I was waiting for the fire department to bring the "jaws of life" to dislodge me.

To my surprise, I found that there's a little 5W light bulb that goes into the heater control housing ... bonus! I know it doesn't seem like anything to get excited about, but the only lights that work in the interior of my car are those from the instrumentation panel on the dash, and the dome lights in the rear which were designed to work manually, or automatically when the doors are opened. Well ... mine don't work when the doors are open (another future project). Manual control works, but I can count that out as it's impractical to reach over to the back seats and flip them on. Anyways, when working, this little bulb is supposed to emit green light (via a green plastic filter in the heater control housing) down on the heater controls, presumably when the headlights are on so you can see where they are in the dark. The bulb looked intact, so I just cleaned the electrical housing and electrical contacts and plugged it back in. I'm not going to get my hopes up as it obviously wasn't working before, and the problem is most likely electrical, but hey - at least I found another non-working light source to add to the collection! FYI - map light aka tiny light bulb under passenger-side dash does not work, interior dome lights don't work when doors are ajar, left & right turn signal dash indicators only blink once when engaged (is this normal?), are there any other interior lights that I don't know about?

Engine Bay - Red & Chrome!

2009-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

I took it easy this weekend. No major overhaul, just slowly reinstalling components that have been worked on the weeks before back into the engine bay. In order to get the heater back into the car, everything else that I removed has to be reinstalled in reverse order, starting with the repainted radiator fan and the chromed fan-belt pulley. The newly polished water outlet pipe was also reattached to the engine block.

Radiator Fan + Pulley - Before:	Radiator Fan + Pulley - After:
Radiator Fan + Water Outlet Pipe - Before:	Radiator Fan + Water Outlet Pipe - After:

Here's the front view of the red radiator fan and a bird's eye view of the engine compartment showing the freshly painted battery support arm.

Repainted Radiator Fan:

Reinstalled Battery Support Arm:

Hood Support

2009-12-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Spent a week slowly chipping away at the hood support with the Dremel rotary tool, a half-hour each night grinding, deburring, and polishing until finally all the dirt and discoloration were gone. I've reattached it to the Volvo today, which means the hood can now stay open, thus paving the way for the rest of the stuff to be placed back into the engine bay.

Before:

After:

Heater Rebuilt

2009-12-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

At long last, the heater box has finally been pieced back together after being removed from the Volvo for almost 2 months! In summary, the entire unit has been sandblasted to remove old paint and rust, coated with POR-15 rust preventative paint, heater core flushed and checked for leaks, blower motor rebuilt, have all hardware replaced, and finished off with new seals and gaskets. Below are the before-and-after photos. Notice in this 1st series of 4 photos, the metal plate housing the defrost outlet has been repainted cast iron grey.

Heater Front - Before:	Heater Front - After:
Heater Front - Before:	Heater Front - After:

This next series of 4 photos show the rear of the heater box. All hardware have been replace with new ones (screws, washers, etc.)

Heater Back - Before:	Heater Back - After:
Heater Back - Before:	Heater Back - After:

The following photos show more detail work. The first shows the condition of the floor vent (before restoration) from the inside of the heater box. Here you'll notice the rust on the inside walls of the heater box as well as the corroded vent latch. The 2nd photo shows the defrost vent with new seal and restored vent latch. 3rd photo is the same floor vent in closed position. 4th photo shows the new drain tube which diverts any condensation from the heater out of the car via a drain hole in the floor panel.

Heater Floor Vent - Before:	Defrost Vent - New Seal:
Defrost Vent - Reconditioned Latch:	New Drain Tube:

In this final series of photos glorifying the heater box, the 1st shows the heater core being reinstalled. Later, the edges of the heater box was given an application of high temperature silicone gasket maker before the two halves were reattached. The 2nd is of the repainted plastic defrost outlet. The metal plate surrounding the defrost outlet has also been repainted cast iron grey. 3rd photo shows a vent spindle painted in POR-15 silver and reattached with new hardware. 4th photo - shows a new "D" style clamp washer securing the vent spindle on the opposite end.

Heater Core Reinstalled:	Repainted Defrost Outlet:
Vent Spindle With New Hardware:	D-Style Clamp Washer:

New Colors

2009-12-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

I've got lots of photos to share after spending the entire weekend with a facemask on and a couple of aerosol cans of paint. The first series of photos below are of the air duct which directs fresh air to the heater unit. The color scheme that I've picked for the engine compartment is black, cast iron grey, silver (or light gray), red, with some chrome highlights. The first photo below shows the air duct in its original black color. The second photo shows bare metal after sandblasting. The third is after 2 coats of POR-15 rust preventative paint followed by 3 coats of their tie-coat primer wet sanded down to a smooth finish. The fourth photo is of the finished air duct spray painted in cast iron grey.

Air Duct in Original Condition:	Air Duct After Sandblasting:
Air Duct With POR-15 + Primer:	Air Duct With Final Color:

The following series of photos are before-and-after shots of the radiator fan and the support arm for the battery. They've both been sandblasted to remove any rust and old paint, coated with POR-15 rust preventative paint, and coated with primer before the final application of red paint. I think the red accents against the black, silver, and cast iron grey of the other components in the engine compartment will add some dimension to the overall pallette. I call this the "Peacekeeper Color Scheme" from the farscape television series ... it's a sci-fi thing ... nevermind! I'm sure some P1800 purists will be screaming bloody murder because I changed the original color of some of the components - they can call me on this toll-free number to "express" themselves: 1-800-EAT-SHIT. Operators are standing by.

Radiator Fan - Before:	Radiator Fan - After:
Battery Support Arm - Before:	Battery Support Arm - After:

This final series of photos depict the process of getting one of these components from its initial banged-up condition to the final painted stage. Pictured below is the mount for the coolant overflow bottle. I meant for this to be painted in POR-15 silver initially and left as is without any top-coat because it won't be seen once the coolant overflow bottle is reattached, but as luck would have it, the silver POR-15 dried up in the can, so I had to work with black instead and top-coat with cast iron grey. After sandblasting to remove the rust, 2 coats of POR-15 were applied (2 hours between coats) followed by 2 coats of their tie-coat primer (which I would never buy again). The first coat of primer was applied 4 hours after the final coat of POR-15, when it was dry to the touch, but tacky with a slight finger drag. I found through experimentation that this is the only way to get that 1st coat of primer to adhere. The 2nd coat of primer was applied 12 hours later (after the 1st coat dried). After yet another 12 hours of curing, the primer was wet-sanded down to a smooth finish. All of this was done days or weeks prior to this weekend's paint job of course, as there is a lot of "down time" involved waiting for stuff to dry and only being able to do one side at the time for most components. The spray painting process is fairly simple. I like to start with 2 very light coats of paint with 10 minutes between each coat. 10 minutes after the 2nd light coat, I then blast it with a medium-wet coat of paint to get that smooth shiny finish.

Coolant Overflow Bottle Mount - Before:	After Sandblasting, POR-15 & Primer:
With 2 Light Coats of Paint:	Final Coat of Paint:

Painting Over POR-15

2009-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

... was not a rewarding experience! The POR-15 rust preventative paint comes in black, semi-gloss black, grey, silver, and clear. Therefore, if the finished project is to be in any color other than the ones listed, it has to be primed and top coated. Enter "tie-coat primer" by POR-15. This is a special interlocking primer that was made specifically to adhere to cured POR-15. Well not really ... as I found out the hard way! In practice, I found that it does not "adhere" to cured POR-15 ... even after sanding the POR-15 finish! In addition, I had to build on whatever little of the first coat that did manage to adhere to the POR-15 finish with a second, and third coat ... with 12 hours of drying time between coats! What a bloody waste of time! On top of that the whole thing had to be sanded down to a smooth finish before final application of paint. In short, this product does not work as advertised. In fact, the instructions that came with it suggests that the best method for applying the primer over cured POR-15 is to first pre-prime it with their "self etching primer!!!" A primer for the primer? Does not compute! In experimentation however, I did find that the best way to get the tie-coat primer to take, is to slap it on 2 - 6 hours after the final coat of POR-15 - that is before it is cured, tacky with a slight finger drag. The first coat doesn't have to be pretty, just a base to get the second coat on. That way, all you need is 2 coats of the primer instead of the 4 to 10 if attempted over cured POR-15! I should have just gone with their spray on self-etching primer that supposedly works on cured POR-15 too and can be topcoated within 30 minutes. I've had nothing but positive experience with their POR-15 rust preventative paint, but this tie-coat primer really lost some major points with me. Next time, I'll just send stuff to the shop to have them powder-coated right after sandblasting instead of screwing around with this stuff. While struggling to get the tie-coat primer on, I had to fanangle-up this applicator using a piece cut out from a foam brush and some wooden coffee stirrers from Starbucks. This "modified" applicator was used to get primer onto areas not feasible with a traditional foam brush:

Modified Foam Applicator:	Folds in Half For Dipping:
A Few Twists to Wring Out Paint:	Goes Where No Other Foam Brush Goes:

Air Intake Grille

2009-11-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of the Thanksgiving weekend painting, priming, eating turkey, watching paint dry, sanding, repeat ... none of it worth any pictures. I thought I had the whole weekend planned out - sanding primer down on some components and spray painting a fresh coat of paint, when a neighbor caught me in the process of sanding and said "You know ... you'll get a much smoother surface by wet sanding that." Huh? Wet sanding? So now I'm back to square one, repriming, and googling "wet sanding." Well, at least I have these photos to put up. Somewhere between the 4th helping of turkey and watching paint dry, I busted out the Dremel rotary tool and went to town on the clips and fasteners for the air intake grille. Both the air intake baffle which has a fresh coat of paint from last week and the polished grille are now back in the Volvo.

Air Intake Baffle:

Air Intake Grille:

Heater Blower Motor

2009-11-27T12:53:00.000-08:00

The final piece for the heater blower motor is done! I've been waiting for the back plate of the blower to be returned from the sandblasting facility, and now it has 2 coats of the black POR-15 rust preventative paint on it to match the rest of the heater box. I'm just waiting for one more component of the heater box to be completed before reassembling the whole contraption. See the big difference in the before-after photos below:

Before:	After:
Before:	After:

Heater Control Valve & Heater Fan Motor

2009-11-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

I finally have the heater control valve and the heater fan motor sorted out. I've been working on these two components for weeks, a half-hour here, a half-hour there - just whenever I have the time. The foam gasket had melted all over the heater control valve causing a tremendous mess, and the pipes had been painted over. Quick work with the Dremel rotary tool revealed a pleasant surprise - copper pipes on the heater control valve! All the moving parts and internals were also cleaned up using electronic contact cleaner and Q-tips. Why the electronic contact cleaner? There are no electrical parts in the heater control valve, but the electronic contact cleaner was all I had so I decided to give it a try. It works great, especially in dissolving the melted foam away. All it needs now is some machine oil on the moving parts and it's good to go.

Heater Control Valve - Before:

Heater Control Valve - After:

A few weeks ago, while disassembling the heater core, I discovered that the capillary sensor cable from the heater control valve was broken. Turns out that this heater control valve must have been a replacement unit at some point in the Volvo's life as it has a capillary sensor that is still in tact. The first photo above shows this capillary sensor cable with the "bulb" on the end. The theory is, the capillary cable has ether in it which expands as it exposed to heat, and thereby toggling the valves to open or close slightly to regulate the flow of heated coolant through the heater core. Well ... I've read some feedback on the 1800list that this whole contraption never really worked that well anyway in "automatically" regulating heat, and you're better off just regulating it manually via the heater control cables. I decided to put this to the test and submerged the capillary sensor cable into a pot of water over the stove and slowly heating the water to a boil. Yup - doesn't work at all! Don't bother routing it back inside the heater box where it originally belongs. Just roll the capillary sensor cable up into a neat coil, and tuck it out of sight when replacing or reinstalling the heater control valve. You'll pass out from heat exposure long before the heater control valve decides to work auomatically - case closed!

Heater Fan Motor - Before:

Heater Fan Motor - After:

The heater fan motor - now this thing was a piece of work! Everything had siezed up! The fan would not rotate and there was a thick layer of dirt on everything. I emptied half a spray can of electronic contact cleaner into this sucker before things started moving again. Q-tips ... lots and lots of Q-tips - that's all I have to say. I need to get some machine oil in it to lubricate the moving parts and I won't know for sure if it's going to work until I hook it back up to the car, but I have a feeling this one's going to be a winner!

Chrome!

2009-11-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

I just got back some pieces from the electro-plating shop. Since I have the radiator out and a clear shot at the fan and pulley system, I decided to yank those out to have the fan re-painted and the fan-belt pulley chromed. Pictured below clockwise from top is the water outlet pipe from the engine to the radiator, spacer between the fan and the pulley, and the fan-belt pulley. Both the water outlet pipe and the spacer are made of aluminium, and therefore cannot be chrome plated. The shop polished them the best they could instead. The fan-belt pulley however ended up with 4 layers of plating: 2 layers of copper, followed by nickel, and finally chromium. This thing looks like a piece of jewelry now ... I'm considering not putting it back on the engine and wearing it around my neck instead! The cowl intake grille is another piece that is made of aluminium, but the polishing process rendered it looking as good as chrome anyway. All of these were done for $60 - Not bad Kimosabe ... not bad.

Engine Components - Before:	Engine Components - After:
Cowl Intake Grille - Before:	Cowl Intake Grille - After:

Who's The Sucker Now?

2009-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

I've been visiting the Volvo 1800 Picture Gallery website for months now to admire photos that other proud owners of Volvo 1800s have submitted of their cars. This site has a huge database of Volvo 1800 photos by model year from all over the world, and the cars are all well maintained, modified, or fully restored - except for this one train wreck found in the 1971 gallery (pictured below).

Each time I come across this car, I'd laugh and wonder "Who's the sucker who bought this junk?" Why would anyone post photos of a wreck like that? Everyone else proudly displays their well-kept or restored 1800, but this one specimen is left to rot in a pile of leaf litter so large that Sasquatch made a nest there - who own's this masterpiece? Well ... I think you know where I'm going with this. Yup! Turns out, yours truly is the sucker! It was quite a sobering night when I was looking at the photos for the 20th time and decided to zoom-in on the registration plates.

Karma - that's what I get for laughing at others! It's sad to see my beauty in such a degraded state. The previous owners must have spent a fortune to get it into the condition it was in before I took over. Click here to see more photos of the Volvo before I bought it.

Heater Screws, Nuts, And Bolts

2009-11-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Bought a whole bunch of stainless steel screws, nuts, bolts, washers, and radiator hose clamps for the heater box from the neighborhood Ace Hardware store. This store is turning out to be a great source for miscellaneous restoration hardware! I was even able to find replacements for the nylon bushings that I lost. The original nylon bushings were used to secure the heater vent spindle to the heater box ... and I didn't actually lose them, as I know exactly where they went - disintegrated during the sandblasting process when I left them attached! The original bushings are no longer produced of course, but the replacements that I found for them are called "expansion nuts". They are made of rubber with the metal "nut" part embedded in one end as depicted in the photo below on the right. I found that the size 8-32 were a perfect fit both on the outer diameter for the holes in the heater box as well as the inner diameter for the spindle. The nut part had to be cut away from the expansion nut, leaving only the rubber sleeve for the vent spindle to freely thread through.

New Hardware for Heater & Radiator:

Customizing New Spindle Bushings:

Pictured below is the half-painted heater box showing the 2 holes on both ends for the vent spindle. The photo on the right shows the installed modified expansion nut with the spindle threaded through. With some new flat washers and "D" style clamp washer to hold it all in place, it should be good to go!

Holes for Heater Vent Spindle:

Retrofitted Replacement Bushing :

Painting The Heater Box

2009-11-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

The following are before-and-after photos of the heater box after sandblasting. The POR-15 rust preventative paint adheres best to bare metal so instead of wasting weekends sandpapering the old paint by hand, I paid a shop in town $30 bucks to sandblast the heater box and the air intake duct. That grey finish on the heater box after sandblasting isn't any kind of coating - it's what the bare metal looks like.

Heater Box Before Sandblasting:

Heater Box After Sandblasting:

The night before, I had to "MacGyver-up" some home-made daubers to paint the insides of both the hinges for the defrost and floor heater vents. Cannibalizing the foam from a regular foam brush, I glued the smaller strips of foam to a bunch of wooden coffee stirrers from Starbucks, clamped the ends with clothes pegs and allowed them to cure overnight. Worked like a charm! The photos below show one of the vent hinges, the donor foam brush, a dauber being cured, and a finished bunch of daubers.

Home-Made Daubers:

Home-Made Dauber in Action:

During the sandblasting process, I left the nylon bushings for the heater vents on the heater box, and these ... I found out the hard way, disintegrated in the process! I'll have to fashion up some sort of replacement to get the vents to work properly as the original parts are no longer available ... and have been for a long while! I was only able to paint the insides of the heater box this weekend as I have to wait for them to dry before I do the outsides. Besides, I'm running out of POR-15 and have to order a fresh batch. The good thing is they sell the stuff in a "starter kit" that has a 4 oz. can of POR-15, 2 small bottles of marine clean and metal-ready, a couple of brushes and a pair of latex gloves - just enough product to do the entire 3-step rust-stopping process for the small jobs that I've been tackling.

Nylon Bushing for Heater Vent:

POR-15 Curing in the Backyard:

Air Intake Baffle & Radiator Fan Shroud

2009-11-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

I started this weekend's project by repainting the plastic air intake baffle (that diverts air via the cowl vent from the hood of the Volvo to the heater box) and the radiator fan shroud.

Air Intake Baffle - Before:	Air Intake Baffle - After:
Radiator Fan Shroud - Before:	Radiator Fan Shroud - After:

Remember This Guy?

2009-11-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Mr. Bizarro really did a number in my garage this week. He snuck into the garage when I came home from work late last night and spent the night there. This morning, I was greeted by the stench of his greatest hits that he left me - a big pile of crap, cat vomit, and a couple puddles of cat pee just for color. Good lord! The stench was unbearable! The burning and watering of the eyes was worse. Each time I stepped into the garage, I'd start to feel nauseous, followed by sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate. A couple of seconds later, my eyes would begin to bleed and shortness of breath would follow. That's about all I could endure before I start blacking out in the garage. Thanks Mr. B! I guess I'll be trading in some of the quality time with the Volvo this weekend to do damage control. There's just no way that cat pee is coming off the concrete floor once its had a night to marinade! Not cool, Mr. B! Not cool!

Heater Seals & Gaskets

2009-11-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is what $85 bucks worth of rubber seals and foam gaskets look like. On the left, from top to bottom is the heater flap gasket, defrost flap gasket, gasket for heater control valve, and the drain tube for the heater box. Right down the center are the three rubber bushings for the radiator mounts. On the right, from top to bottom is the seal for the cowl air intake duct, seal between the heater box and cowl intake duct, and lastly the gasket for the blower motor. The heater box and cowl air duct are currently in the shop being sandblasted to stip off the old paint. I'm hoping they'll be ready by tomorrow so that I can have them repainted this weekend.

Radiator & Heater Core Restored

2009-11-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Just got the radiator and heater core back from the shop. They were cleaned, checked for leaks, and painted. Aside from being rather clogged up, there were no leaks. Here are some before-and-after shots. I even bought a new cap for the radiator.

Heater Core - Before:	Heater Core - After:
Radiator - Before:	Radiator - After:

Do Dats & What Nots!

2009-11-01T15:06:00.000-08:00

I'm still in a holding pattern with the heater box, as it needs to be sent out for sandblasting to remove the old paint. I did however, manage to keep myself amused with the rotary tool for a couple of hours working on the clips for the heater control cables and the latches that hold the defrost and heater flaps in place. Here's a before-and-after photo along with the 4 most used attachments that I rely on for this kind of work. First from left-to-right is the sanding bit that I always start with to remove surface corrosion, followed by the grinding tip to get into areas not feasible with the sanding bit. Next, is the stainless steel rotary brush to get into the nooks and crannies, and finally the rubber polishing wheel to bring metal to a shine.

Before:

After:

The coolant overflow bottle also got some attention this weekend. If you recall, the cap for the bottle had already been restored back in September. As seen in these photos above, the inside of the bottle started out pretty nasty. For the cleaning process, I "borrowed" a handful of gravel from the fish pond, dumped it into the bottle, added some water, a slice of lime, and shook it like a martini. See ... I did learn something in college! The fish pond has also been very handy in the restoration process ... that's 2 saves in 2 weekends! If you don't have a fish pond, use a brush instead - that usually works.

Radiator Removal

2009-10-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

I was about to send the heater core to the shop to have it cleaned, tested for leaks, and rebuilt if need be when it occured to me that it was on the same fluid system as the radiator. It'll be a shame to have the heater core cleaned only to have crude flushed back in from the radiator, so I decided to pull it and have it sent to the shop together with the heater core. Besides, I've already spilled most of the coolant all over the garage floor last week, so there can't be much more of it left to make too big of a mess! The radiator is mounted on with 2 bolts, but removing it isn't as straighforward as one might think. First, the plastic fan shroud had to be removed ... or rather detached from the radiator, since it can't actually be removed until the radiator is out of the engine bay as the fan is in the way. However, in order to get to the bolts for the fan shroud, the coolant overflow bottle had to be removed from one side and the air intake hose removed from the other side.

Radiator In:

Radiator Not Home:

Once the fan shroud was out of the way though, it was a matter of removing the 2 bolts securing the radiator, detaching the hoses, and pulling the radiator from the engine bay. With the radiator out of the way, and easy access to fan, I'm planning to remove that too to have it repainted. "One thing leads to another" - that's the theme here! At this rate the Volvo will be out of commission for weeks.

Heater Box - Assessing The Damage

2009-10-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is how the heater unit looks like removed from the Volvo (pictured below). Separating the two halves of the box revealed the heater core, blower motor, and about 2 acres of leaf matter. There's some rust on the inside walls of the box and the rubber seals for both the front and rear vents as well as the gasket for the blower housing have long disintegrated. In addition, the blower motor has seized up - even turning it by hand was difficult. So ... lets see, broken capillary sensor cable to the heater core, plus all of the above ... I've yet to send out the heater core to the radiator shop to have it pressure tested, but it probably has leaks too - pretty much everything is shot!

Heater Box:

Two Halves Separated:

My initial thought of feeding the remaining capillary sensor cable into the heater unit in replacement of the broken-off piece is probably not feasible either, as the very definition of capillary means that it has an internal diameter to hold liquid. This could only mean, broken capillary sensor cable = no more internal liquid = can't un-ring this bell! The entire heater control valve will need to be replaced if my assessment is correct. I'll have to do more research to find out. Well ... on the bright side, I had enough leaf matter from inside the heater box to make compost for the garden. I probably shoudn't have thrown those out as there might have been some seeds of exotic plant species that went extinct 3 decades ago.

Heater Core Exposed:

Is This a Rat's Nest?

Removing The Heater Box

2009-10-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

After spending much of last weekend eyeballing the heater unit and formulating a gameplan, it was go time! I figured since the heater doesn't work anyway, I coudn't wreck it any further! Besides, if I was in "way over my head", I could always revert to plan A which is to send it to the shop. Before commiting to the destruction derby, I invested some time in taking lots of photos and labeling everything so that I'd know how to put everything back together. In my experience with the Volvo thus far, there's always that one screw or one nut that's not with the program - that just refuses to budge or have the threads all worn down. Well ... it was no different in this case, but I was prepared for it this time as I quickly singled it out while eyeballing the battle field last weekend. As this could be the deal breaker, I made the removal of this one problem nut the first step. This sucker is out of 4 nuts that secures the heater box to the firewall in the engine compartment - and it's just a pain to get to! Tucked right between the firewall and the heater box, and under the air intake duct, there's just not enough room to work a wrench from either direction. After about 20 minutes, I finally did get a couple of good turns of the wrench to loosen up the nut. It was another 10 minutes of turning the nut with my fingers before I got it out! Good thing I spent those 2 weeks in the Shaolin Temple as a young boy strengthening my fingers studying the sacred art of "Slouching Tiger Squatting Dog." Note to self: replace this nut with wing nut in case I have to do this again in the future.

Defroster Hoses Under Dash:

After Removal of Defroster Hoses:

My heater removal check-list pretty much went as follows:

Label and photograph everything - check
Disconnect electric cables from blower motor - check
Remove heater defroster hoses from under the dash - check
Disconnect floor and defrost control cables from heater box (car interior) - check
Disconnect temperature control cable from heater control valve (under dash) - check
Remove radiator cap and coolant overflow bottle cap in preperation for draining the heater core - check
Line the garage floor with spill trays to catch runaway coolant while draining the heater core - check
Have plastic bottle ready to hold drained coolant from heater core - check
Pull hoses from heater core and drain coolant all over engine compartment and garage floor while carefully avoiding the plastic bottle - check

I ended up "borrowing" the aquarium gravel siphon from my fish pond to catch the remaining 3 or 4 drops of coolant from the heater core and to funnel the flow to the spill trays on the ground.

Heater Control Valve:

Draining Coolant From Heater Core:

While I was under the dash labeling components, I noticed that the heater control valve had this long copper-like wire that was just dangling freely and leading to nowhere. I later found the "other" half of the wire coiled in an "S" shape inside the heater box right next to the heater core. Turns out that this is the capillary sensor cable from the temperature sensor in the heater control valve to the heater core in the heater box - yes mine was already broken. If it wasn't, the heater control valve would have to be removed from under the dash and the entire contraption - heater box, attached capillary sensor wire, and heater control valve would be removed as a single unit when pulled from the engine compartment. It doesn't seem that bad as I think the heater control valve has enough of the capillary sensor wire left to just run what's remaining back into the heater box. If this thing is supposed to regulate the heated air temperature by sensing the ambient air and automatically regulating the flow of hot antifreeze through the heater core via the heater control valve, shouldn't it be placed outside of the heater box like where I found the broken-off piece instead of inside the heater box, right next to the core where the temperature is much greater that the ambient air inside the car? Answers anybody? Scientists? Master Yoda? Anyone?

Before:

After:

Upon removel of the heater box from the Volvo, my initial assessment is that all the external rubber seals are toast and need to be replaced, all screws and nuts need to be replaced, the box needs to be repainted, the blower motor needs to be fixed, and the heater core needs to be flushed and checked for leaks. We'll see what lies in store tomorrow as I crack the heater box open. Oh yeah - since I'll be repainting stuff, I think I'll also repaint the part of the heater control valve that sicks out of the firewall into the engine bay. Should I keep everything at the standard black, or should I dare go with a splash of color ... say red or yellow?

New Toys!

2009-10-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well ... I went ahead and sprung for Kobalt's 7-Piece Ratcheting Wrench Set. It's about time I graduated to some serious tools! No kidding - everything I've done on the Volvo thus far has been with a screwdriver, a single wrench that I've owned since my college days, a swiss army knife, oh ... and the rotary tool of course! These mechanic tools by Kobalt are really nice and I can't wait to go nuts on them this weekend! They cost more than other wrenches, but hey - if I do wreck the car with them, at least I'll look good doing it! At some point in the future, I'd like to add on to the tool collection Kobalt's 40-Piece Mechanics Ratchet Tool Set.

Before:

After:

Engine Compartment Hoses

2009-10-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't really accomplish much on the Volvo this weekend as most of the time was spent working on cleaning and re-pumbling the backyard pond filter and winterizing both the main fish pond and the separate feeder fish holding pond by installing heaters - yeah ... don't ask. I did however, spend a little time cleaning the hoses in the engine compartment and restoring them to their original slick black finish with some application of Armor All rubber protectant.

Before:

After:

A small job that made a big difference! Anything to draw attention away from the "Antiques Roadshow" valve cover! At some point, I'll have to remove the valve cover to have it rechromed, but I've been a little apprehensive as I'm not sure what to expect during the removal process. Is it under pressure? Will it blow up in my face? What's under there besides valves? What's a valve? Is it full of oil waiting to leak all over the engine as I remove it? Are ninjas hiding under there? Just some of the things that keep me awake at night.

Before:

After:

Center Console Completed

2009-10-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to secure the appropriate automotive carpet to line the trays of the center console after looking high and low all over town! The first couple of days of the search were rather sobering, as the first 5 stores that I went to were out of business - courtesy of the recession. Classic Interiors in Fresno, specializes in restoring automotive interiors and tops, and they just happen to have material that closely resembled what I had in the Volvo. Rick "Stitch" Coleman, the proprietor, was gracious enough to part with a piece of remnant material for $5.

Restored Center Console:

Heater Box - Interior:

The restored center console is still not in the Volvo yet as I've decided to address the rather sad looking heater box while I have everything apart and easy access to it. As seen in these photos, some of the metal components have rust, and the internal vents have undoubtedly froze in place. Also, the blower motor is not working and the heater's radiator probably needs to be checked for leaks and possibly re-cored. After spending much of the day just "eyeballing" the contraption and formulating a gameplan, it seems that the heater box is a single unit with the top part assembled in the engine bay and the bottom extending through the firewall into the interior where all the hoses and controls are attached to it.

Heater Box - Interior:

Heater Box - Engine Bay:

Apparently, the heater unit is part number one of the Volvo 1800, hence everything else was built around it! In other words, it ain't gonna be a walk in the park and I'll need some serious tools for this job. In addition, removal of the heater box requires that the heater radiator be drained - I have no idea how this is done at the moment except for maybe start yanking at hoses? Anyways, I'll be psyching myself up for the project by researching that procedure during the week in addition to purchasing tools and some new seals and gaskets in anticipation that it might need new ones.

Restoring The Center Console

2009-10-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

In addition to the missing carpet piece from the mid-section where the shifter is housed, the center console of the Volvo had stains of what smelled like WD-40 all along the sides, presumably from residue dripping after being applied (not by me) to the heater controls directly above it. Vigorous cleaning with Armor All vinyl cleaner and protectant only served to make the dark areas surrounding the stains even darker, thus highlighting the stains even further. So, once again I'm doing this the old-fashion way ... the old blood and guts routine. Doing this proper would entail removing the center console and respraying it black with vinyl paint, refurbishing the hardware for the lock box, and installing new carpeting material in the console's trays. I had to remove both seats in order to remove the center console from the vehicle, which revealed an unpainted section of the floor panel showing the original "British Racing Green" color of the Volvo as seen here in the photo below.

Volvo 1800E Center Console:

Center Console Removed:

Some new stainless steel screws and an hour with the rotary tool while waiting for paint to dry rendered the lock box hinge looking brand new.

Lock Box Hinge - Before:

Lock Box Hinge - After:

A couple of coats of black vinyl paint and the unsightly stains were all gone from the center console. The only piece of the puzzle that's still missing are the new carpet pieces which I have yet to source. I'll be driving all over town this week visiting auto upholstery and carpet stores to see if they can match the original dark brown carpet that I had in there and if they have any remnants they would sell to me, as I'm not interested in purchasing a 10 x 12 feet piece of carpet just to get at 12 square inches! If all goes well, the console should be back in the Volvo next weekend!

Before:	After:

Rebuilding Rear Seat Frame - Part 2

2009-10-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Finally! After hours of labor polishing the old clips and mounting hardware with the rotary tool and fabricating seat webbing out of new Pirelli webbing, the rear seat frame rebuild is done and back in the car! I don't know why I even bothered since no one will ever see it and there's no way anyone can fit in the back seat.

Seat Frame with Pirelli Webbing:
Finished Seat Frame Reinstalled:	All the Hard Work Hidden ...

Rebuilding Rear Seat Frame - Part 1

2009-09-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

What started as a simple 2 hour task of replacing petrified seat webbing is turning out to be a two weekend long project! Having lost their elasticity decades ago, the webbings for the rear seat frame were stiff and crumbled to the touch. Replacing them is simple enough as the seat webbing (or Pirelli webbing) is widely used by the furniture and upholstery industry, and therefore easily attainable. Upon removing the rear seat however, I discovered some minor rust spots on the seat frame and decided to take the opportunity to address those while I had everything apart.

Seat Frame Before Restoration:

Retainers for Mounting Screws:

The preparation process involved removing the entire rear seat frame from the Volvo, removing all 4 rusty retainers so that they could be rust treated separately with the rotary tool, sanding away all rust flakes, and sanding down the smooth paint to provide a coarse surface for the rust preventative paint to adhere to.

Retainers - Before & After:

Backyard Paint Shop:

Next, the seat frame was cleaned and degreased with Marine Clean, followed by an application of Metal Ready on bare metal to chemically etch the surface for proper adhesion of the rust preventative paint. Two coats of POR-15 rust preventative paint later, and this seat frame should not rust again ... ever.

Before:	After

As I did not have enough time to complete the rebuild, I'll be working on fabricating the new seat webbing and reinstalling the rear seats next weekend.

Past & Present

2009-09-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

My annual car wash pass expired a week ago, so I got up bright and early this morning to do the deed the old fashion way. It's been about ten years since I had to wash my own cars, but in this current economic climate, one of the company perks I'll be doing away with is the annual car wash passes. Besides, it was a very rewarding morning. I got to appreciate these vehicles a little more and was even paid a visit by "Mr. Bizarro", the creepy diabetic neighborhood cat - seen here doing his morning gymnastics. He's about 15 years old ... that's what? 102 human years?

Past & Present:

Mr. Bizarro - The Creepy Diabetic Cat:

Vent Window Latch

2009-09-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

After weeks of staring at a rusty stub where the passenger-side vent window latch ought to be, I figured this weekend would be the time to address it. the only part that I had on hand from the purchase of the Volvo was the chrome latch handle.

Before:

After:

I wasn't entirely certain of the components necessary to complete the job, however I was fortunate to have Mike Dudek of iRoll Motors identify and ship the needed parts ahead of this weekend's project. Turns out, the missing components were the plunger, spring, wavy washer, lock pin, and the black plastic push-button.

Before:

After:

Ten rounds with the rotary tool rendered the used parts free of oxidization. Assembling the latch was a no-brainer 5 minute job. Now that the eyesore is gone, I can turn my head to the right without flipping my crazy switch!

Before:

After:

Coco Mats Are Finally Here!

2009-09-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

After a month-long wait, my sisal floor mats from cocomats.com have finally arrived! Custom handmade to fit the Volvo P1800, these natural auto floor mats are made from coconut fibres or fibres from the agave cactus plant (sisal). They were a bit hit in the 60's and 70's and were a popular upgrade for sport vehicles like Porsche, VW, Mercedes, BMW, Triumph and many other European cars.

One of the benefits of coco mats or sisal floor mats is that they hide dirt that is tracked into the vehicle. Dirt filters through the mat and gets trapped at the rubber bottom. A good shaking every now and then removes the trapped dirt. Not a cheap upgrade compared to regular auto floor mats, but well worth the money for that luxurious retro look. The pair that I ordered was a very well made product. The materials used were first class, and the mats felt solid - they must have weighed about 10 lbs each! It is because of this weight and the rubber nibbed bottom that the mats do not slide around and bunch up at the accelerator pedal. In addition, since these floor mats were custom made to fit my Volvo 1800E, fitment around the contours of the floor panel and around the floor mounted accelerator pedal was perfect.

An added benefit of having these new sisal floor mats in my car is the "new car smell" due to the adhesives used in the fabrication process. Ha! Ha! A win-win for me ... I win twice! Well actually, I think cocomats.com is the real winner here, as they got my $150 bucks!

Cleaning The Engine Bay

2009-09-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Spent Sunday giving the engine bay a much needed cleaning. Bought one of those spray-on foaming engine degreasers that is rinsed off with a hose after letting it sit and work its magic for 15 minutes. Well ... as you can see from the photos below, nothing magical happened here! There was absolutely no difference! Any coloration difference that you do see in these photos are due to the camera's exposure. The "before" picture was taken early in the morning when the sun was barely out, and the "after" picture was later in the day. Trust me ... nothing happened! It's gonna take way more than foam to move the 3 decades of dirt in this engine bay! As with everything else on this car that has 3 settings (lights - dim, dimmer, off), the engine bay's are greasy, greasier, greasiest. Looks like I'll have to do this the hard way ... piece-by-piece. We'll just call this morning's wasted effort the "Pre Engine Bay Detailing" exercise shall we?

Before:

After:

Small Victory! Dissatisfied with this morning's defeat. I decided to take on the engine bay again later in the day, starting with the smallest part that I could remove without much hassle - the cap for the coolant overflow reservoir. Besides, I had the rotary tool all charged up and nowhere else to go. 20 Minutes later yielded the following results. Hah ha! And that's basically me turning a frown upside down!

Before:	After:

Mmm ... I Like Them Curves

2009-09-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Rear Reflectors

2009-08-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

It's funny guys ... as kids, we used to remove the reflectors from our brand new bicycles because they looked dorky. Now, I find myself putting back the reflectors on my car because they look retro cool! So anyways, round rear reflectors were MIA from my Volvo. I didn't even realize that any were supposed to be there (they're an accessory) until I saw some photos on the web of 1800s with them ... and of course I had to have them! The parts were sourced from Mike Dudek at iRoll Motors Inc - 2 mounting brackets (used), and 2 brand new round reflectors. Now, when I say "used", I'm using the term loosely, because what arrived were a pair of rusted scrap metal that used to be mounting brackets. So it's out with the rotary tool to see some sparks flying. I was actually itching for an excuse to fire up the rotary tool anyway!

Several sanding and grinding bits later and the mounting brackets were ready for a couple of coats of POR-15 rust-preventive paint. Highly recommended among the restoration community ... coat your car in enough of this stuff and it'll float in the open sea without rusting! Rubber gloves and proper ventilation is in order here when applying this stuff because side-effects of inhalation may cause all 4 kinds of mental retardation, anal leakage, speech impairment, you know ... all the greatest hits.

Here are the before-and-after photos of the reflector install. What do you think? Retro or not?

Mud Flaps

2009-08-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend was spent installing rear mud flaps on the Volvo. I'd been sitting on the parts for about a week, slowly gathering up the courage to drill the necessary holes into the rear fenders. Having seen a few photos of the 1800s with mud flaps on the web, I was determined to give my Volvo the same treatment as nothing shouts "retro" like mud flaps! The original mud flaps were missing from my car because they were a dealer installed accessory at the time of purchase and I guess the original owner was too cheap to spring for the $1.49 each back in the 70's.

Before Mud Flaps:

As with any other project, I always emphasize safety first. Installing mud flaps involves jacking-up the rear-end. Hence, the front-end should be secured with parking blocks, bricks, or a cat. Any species would do. They are a universal fit. I used my neighbor's cat in this case. Aside from the stainless steel mounting brackets and the original Volvo mud flaps which I secured from Mike Dudek at iRoll Motors Inc. for $16.95 each (inflation), the only other tools necessary to get the job done were a jack, power drill, brand new stainless steel screws, nuts, and washers from the neighborhood ACE Hardware store, and this handy little bubble level (pictured below) that was included with the mounting hardware from some wall shelves that I bought from Pottery Barn. I thought they were cool, so I kept them thinking they might come in handy someday. Mike Dudek is a nice guy to work with by the way ... very helpful. I will continue to give him my money.

Improvised Parking Block:

Bubble Level:

Afixing the bubble level to the mounting bracket with some tape, I used it to center the position of the bracket to the inside of the rear fender, so that the brackets don't get attached cock-eyed. There is a difference between the driver and passenger-side mounting brackets, so care has to be taken to make sure that each is mounted onto the appropriate fender. Pictured below is the driver-side rear bracket with the mud flap already attached.

Rear Driver-Side Mud Flap:

According to the official Volvo P1800 Mud Flap Installation Instructions, the bracket is installed at a distance of 56mm (2.2 inches) from the base. In reality, this should only be used as a "loose" guide as the actual placement is at whatever height that the mounting bracket can successfully come in contact with both sides of the wheel well at the same time! Once the positioning is determined ... start drilling. Here are some before-and-after photos of the Volvo after mud flap installation. All I need now are some bell-bottom jeans and avaiator sunglasses to complete the "retro" look.

All done, and ready for the test-drive! Remember, safety first ... remove cat.

Stainless Steel Wiper Blades

2009-08-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Found a pair of these "New Old Stock" (NOS) Stainless Steel Trico Wiper Blades that were original equipment for '62 - '71 Volvo 1800 coupes. They were purchased from volvosolutions.com and well worth the $90 to restore the Volvo's retro look compared to the modern-day generic black wiper blades. The wiper blades arrived in brand new condition in their original packaging, which is rather rare since the manufacturer went out of business 15 - 20 years ago.

Before:

After:

Rearview Mirror

2009-08-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

The original rearview mirror was in such bad shape that it was disintergrating before my eyes. Everytime I touched it, some pieces of the white plastic enclosure would fall off. The mirror itself was in no better shape having deteriorated to a point where it's become a safety issue.

A visit to ebay and $40 bucks later, scored me this compatible rearview mirror from a Volvo 140. The mirror was in excellent shape, slightly wider than the original Volvo 1800E mirror, hence a wider field of view, and black in color - which matched the black dash better than the original I think!

Problem was, since the mounting base was attached to the roof with 2 screws, and the mirror assembly attached to the base in such a fashion that it concealed the screws, I had no idea how to remove the original mirror or even to attach the new one!

Finally, after sitting in the car for 2 days staring at the thing and breathing in fumes from the WD-40 and grease soaked car parts, I reached the final state of Nirvana, and Buddha spoke to me in the form of Bob Marley - saying "Just grab the mirror by its arm mon, and yank it like you have a pair!" Turns out, the mirror assembly is attached to the mounting base by means of a nut wedged between 2 steel compression rods that ... well, compress when force is exerted between them.

In other words, there's nothing really technical to this procedure. Simply, grab the mirror assembly by the arm and give it a good yank downwards and towards yourself. To install the new mirror - reverse the process.

Seat Restoration

2009-07-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Remove Cat.

Step 2: Remove Seats.

Step 3: Remove Seat Mounts. This is what 38 years of gunk looks like! Upon removing the seats, I discovered the condition the seat mounts were in! They were in working condition, but covered with a thick layer of grease and dirt. Although easily out of sight once the seats were put back in, my OCD was kicking into gear and I just had to do something about the mounts. I discovered that white lithium grease works great as a solvent to clean and polish up the steel parts.

Step 4: Recondition Seat Mounts. A couple of episodes of lion chasing antelope on the Discovery channel and 4 beers later, and the seat mounts were looking a whole lot better.

Before:	After:
Before:	After:

Step 5: Recondition Seats. This process involved the use of Lexol's leather cleaner and leather conditioner to clean the seats and to restore the oils originally used in the tanning process. This stuff works great! The leather feels fresh and softer to the touch after application. Although difficult to tell from the following photos in their reduced size (click to enlarge), all the old oxidized bolts attaching the seat to the seat frame were also removed and replaced with brand new stainless steel bolts ... which were easily attainable from the local ACE Hardware store. All the chrome parts also got a good polishing to restore their original shine.

Before:	After:
Step 6: Reinstall Seats.

Step 7: Reinstall Cat.

The Other Woman ...

2009-06-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

Parked in the driveway of the previous owner, these are the first photos taken of the 1971 Volvo 1800E as I found it.

The first thing I noticed was that the car was sitting way lower than it's stock height, and it left me wondering if the previous owner had installed lowering springs to decrease the ride's height. Turn's out, the tires just need air ... lot's of it!

Other problems I noticed, were the lack of air-conditioning, missing antenna, missing stereo, disintegrating rearview mirror, fuel-gauge not working, and the missing passenger-side vent-window latch. Minor issues, me thinks. Nothing that some superglue, chicken wire, dental floss, and some well-placed post-it notes won't fix!

Paint job - Aside from some minor chips along the edges of the hood, the paint looked good and still maintained a glossy finish. The odometer read 149K miles, however the engine and transmission were just fresh from a rebuilt. All 4 tires were brand new, and the alternator and voltage regulator had been replaced. The car was also 98% rust-free - a huge plus! There were some minor surface rust along the edges of the trunk, and some on the tail-pipe, but none on the body or under the chassis.

Test drive - The car started up fine (no puff of black smoke), the engine sounded strong & steady, although rather loud, and the ride was comfortable. Even, the overdrive worked - which was another huge plus! This car has an inline 4 engine with a 4-speed manual transmission, so overdrive here means "5th gear" not "turbo boost".

The Volvo 1800's are hard to come by, and to find one in this good of a condition in Fresno, California less than 15 miles from where I live - surely this must be a rare find!