December to May/June's accomplishments
NEXT
- painted and reassemble ; ~ )
December to May/June's accomplishments
NEXT
- painted and reassemble ; ~ )
After storing the Amazon for the winter, the hunt began for many missing and replacement parts. The sources where eBay, Vintage Import Parts, V44 parts store and a new found source, CVI Automotive in DELSBO Sweden (moved to Hudiksvall in January 2003). The eBay parts included a radiator hose and cap, accelerator bellows, another new water pump, M4 speedometer cable, braided fuel line, SU rebuild kits, a complete set of B16 gaskets, a European kilometer speedometer (from Germany), an Amazon fender emblem, new rear mud flaps, the Volvo 122 green manual, a glove box 1960 manual, a 1957 1:43 RobEddie Amazon and 4 Volvo 122-S fender emblems. The V44 parts include a gray cloth headliner, matching gray piping, front signal lenses, rubber trim, front bumper overrider, fuel pump repair kit, pitman arm bearings, missing oil filter components and many other miscellaneous parts. The CVI parts include new rubber signal housings, hubcap decals, headlight stone guards, a new interior light, proper rear tail lights and door reflective emblems.
I traveled back to Europe in March on business, then returned
to Amsterdam for a short visit with Ed and Yvonne van der Zee. Ed
and Yvonne picked me up at Schiphol in their green Amazon, returning
from a get together of Volvo friends at André Korstanje's
in Zeeland. On Monday we visited a zoo in Arnhem containing a rain
forest, aquarium and Arizona desert. I found the layout and themes
very similar to the Toronto Zoo. On Monday afternoon, Ed and I biked
into Arnhem, along the Airborne Trail, successfully crossing the John Frost
Bridge over the Rhine River (A Bridge Too Far). On Tuesday we drove
to The Netherlands Open Air Museum (Openluchtmuseum) an outdoor museum,
that contains many historic buildings gathered from all parts of Holland,
including at least 6 molen (windmills). An Arnhem trolley car, rebuilt
after being destroyed during the war, was impeccably restored and fully
functional, taking us around the entire site. I had sent a list of
parts I needed to Ed, so I picked these up at the V44 parts store on Tuesday
evening. On Wednesday, coincidentally Ed's birthday, I returned regrettably
to North America (sigh).
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1. Zoo in Arnhem |
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2. Colonel John Frost Bridge over Rhine River |
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3. Ed and I made it across the bridge safely |
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4. Ed and Wytse building a Volvo truck |
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5. Merchant's house at The Open Air Museum |
The weekend following Easter, I took my wife's 262C out of winter storage
on April 13th. After performing some routine maintenance, I exchanged
the Amazon for the Bertone on May 4th. The following week I visited
Fix Auto Collision, Gloucester, an automotive body shop, that encouraged
me to do the preparation work, to help reduce the overall costs. In
preparation, I started to remove the tar coating inside the front hood,
remove the interior door coverings, headliner, dash and the front/rear
bumpers. This took 3 weekends, ready for the colour change. After
driving to the body shop, I spent the first day removing all door locks
and window cranks, windows and guide rails. I removed the headlights,
signal lights and rear trunk lock and tail lights.
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6. Cleaned #42 white engine compartment |
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7. Interior gutted, empty dash preparation |
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8. Door locks removed day one at body shop |
)
9. End of first day, windows out and lights removed |
Day 2 saw the car ready for external sand blasting. Following
this procedure, I spent the afternoon sanding and preparing the engine
compartment for painting. All electrical connections were moved
off the fender wells and the remaining gray paint and rust was sanded smooth.
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10. Mike Jr. taping windows before sand blasting |
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11. Sand blasting rear wheel fender rim |
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12. Hole in bottom front door |
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13. Small spot on hood brace |
On day 3 the body work began with the welding of metal patches
over any rusted areas uncovered with the sand blasting. The left
rear wheel arch seemed to be in the worst condition, having been previously
repaired. The body shop called this a "hidden treasure"! The
bottom front corner of the right door and fender bottom needed a metal
patch and the right rear quarter panel as well. On day 4 I finished
sanding the engine compartment, removing all traces of the previous coating
of silver paint. I completed sanding all four doors and removing the
adhesive from the dashboard.
)
14. Left rear wheel arch |
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15. Right door corner |
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16. Right quarter panel |
)
17. Sanded white engine compartment |
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18. Will it ever run again? |
Work on the body will continue on day 5. I will sand the
upper door panels at home and commence the cleaning of all inner door
components. I acquired new window padded tracts and gray cardboard
at
Automotive Restoration Supply
in Prescott. Helga really knows her business and was most helpful,
along with Todd who filled my order. I purchased a vinyl coating product
called SEM
to help restore the interior colour. Also, I will attempt
to repair some rips in the rear seat, using a vinyl repair product called
Magic Mender
.
In week 2, the various body imperfections and patches were covered with
body filler. This was applied in several stages, then filed and
sanded to match the body contours. Meanwhile I thoroughly removed
all adhesives and previous paint layers from the doors. I decided
to completely remove the dash, to facilitate a better paint job - inside
and out. My new tires arrived, 5.90 X 15 bias-ply and in preparation,
the old tires were removed. I was given the job of sand blasting the
wheels down to bare metal. Changing a car's colour is a long and tedious
job if done correctly. Back at home, various trim pieces were re-painted,
the hub caps cleaned and new decals installed. The door and window
mechanisms will be cleaned and new window scrapers installed.
)
19. Mike and Fai-hung work on rear fender |
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20. Front end detail work |
)
21. Ready for final work, then primer coat |
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22. Dash out and firewall exposed |
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23. Wheels sandblasted to bare metal |
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24. Masking prior to primer coat |
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25. Mike starts to prime the repaired areas |
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26. Primer just applied and still wet |
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27. Haze from primer and nearing completion |
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28. All primed and let to dry - looking great! |
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29. Allan static balances the wheels |
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30. Weights are installed on inside only |
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31. Wheels are like new with whitewalls |
)
32. Back at Fix Auto trial install |
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33. Closeup of 5.90 X 15 bias-ply tire |
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34. Fai-hung removes old rocker panel |
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35. Fai-hung fixes previous job overlap |
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36. Rocker panel as good as new |
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37. Winshield masked prior to interior paint |
)
38. Engine and heater masked last time white! |
Work continues.........
Contact me at Cameron@cvolvo.com
More to come....... NEXT - painted and reassemble ; ~ )
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