In the paint shop

Finally - things have evolved slowly, and I have not been that busy with blogging either, but at last the paint is being done just in a few days. Got a mail from Mark with some paint samples:

It is always extremely difficult to judge precisely a color through a sample picture, so I returned the following photo found somewhere on the web of a -72 1800ES in 105 Volvo Gold Metallic as my car also had initially:

After a few days I got what I waited for - Photos of the repainted body:

This looks amazing - Reassembly remains, and I am waiting for an estimate on completion.

Bodywork nearly finished!

Got an update from Mark at Classicarco last week. Both new fenders are now welded on after repairing hidden rot underneath, and the car was taken to another workshop for sodablasting (don't ask me precisely what it is, because I couldn't answer) of some suspicious spots. A few of those were as could be expected in the windowsills, others were at some parts of the floorpans and the bottoms of the doors. The blasting revealed of course some more rot, but luckily nothing serious. Another typical minor damage was found under the rubber seals for the rear glass door. A surprising place to find rustholes was beneath the rear window on the driver's side, just behind the door. There was no indication of rust there which I had previously spotted. As the pic below shows, this was repaired but cutting out a section and weld in a new. The floorpans were not too bad, but some repair sections have been ordered to repair the weaknesses discovered after the blasting.

So next - Prepairing for the paint shop!

How to build an 1800ES body

This video, borrowed from the Swedish P1800 club, shows in a pretty detailed way how the body of the 1800 was manufactured in 1972-73 at the Olofström plant. Even if it was in a way mass production, the rate was so slow (8.048 cars in about two years) that quite a number of operations relied entirely on manual adaption and real workmanship. It was also constructed in a way which involved making a number of "invisible" weldings like at the front where the front wings meet the nose and towards the windscreen, typical for a sportscar of that time. The way it was done is shown in great detail in the video; first manual adjustment (using steel scissors), the gas welding and grinding, and finally lead sealing of the seams to make them completely invisible after painting. Amazing to watch!

Unfortunately, even if a number of measures were taken to protect the body against rust, the construction itself contained a number of hidden bombs which were almost impossible to avoid over some time. The result is that almost all 1800's which were in regular use developed serious rust problems after few years. Front crossmember, wings, sills etc. just rotted away, and when it finally became apparent, the full extent of the damage was still hidden underneath.

My car seems to have avoided the worst, even if it also showed to conceal quite some damage under a still decent surface. The reason is certainly that the worst was stopped by cleaning and surface treatment of the inner sills about 25 years ago, the fitting of inner mudguards and finally stopping using the car during winter, thus avoiding the salted roads. For those not particularly familiar with the P1800 and looking for one to buy, this should serve as a warning. A decent exterior can hide serious rot, which might in the worst cases cause the car to be dangerous to drive and even fail the inspection. There are simply no quick or cheap fixes to this, and anyone in this situation should know the risks involved and make the most to know what they actually consider buying. But I know the feeling; it's almost as taking a look at puppies even if getting one was not exactly the plan. The 1800 is simply so breathtaking in its lines that common sense can evaporate in a split second. I was definitely lucky with mine, but I know several cases of people who were not.

Update 25/5: Joyful news, as Mark has informed me that both wings are now finally fitted. They are now working on cleaning window apertures and floor pans. If nothing major is discovered during this process, then the next step will be to prepare the car for the paint shop. The doors have meanwhile been given a special treatment, involving paint stripping and dipping to eliminate any rust. Pictures promised in a few days!

At Classicarco - Time for Makeover!

It felt just Great to arrive at Classicarco's workshop in Manchester, after the events in Holland and my worries on the remaining stretches of once more loosing power on the Highway. But everything worked perfectly, and after meeting with Mark and his guys, the Volvo went in for a thorough inspection.

The car had obviously been worked at sometime around the mid eighties or early nineties in order to stop ongoing corrosion, but the budget had not allowed the already visible damage to be properly repaired. The already mentioned rough patches on the car all date from this job, and as a very efficient way to protect the already damaged front fenders, interior mudguards from Lokari had been fitted. First thing was to have them removed, and beneath everything looked perfect, dry and well covered with protective wax. This shows clearly that such mudguards can be recommended for all 1800's which do not serve as trailer queens only.

The initial inspection did not reveal any other unknown faults, but the questionmarks about the true condition of the fenders and sills would remain until the work of looking beneath could start. After this I left Manchester to visit my son who is studying in Northern Yorkshire.

A few weeks later, Mark started to send me emails about their various findings. The most worrying was that both front fenders were in fact quite severely corroded, and he therefore recommended a full replacement as the only advisable remedy. Sills were in far better shape, except for an area at the base of the A-pillars which was a quick fix after removing the outer sill. The main problem of having fenders replaced on any P1800 is just to find them. They are quite expensive, and as they require extensive visible welding after fitting it is an expert job. The left fender was available and immediately ordered, whereas the right was reported out of stock for several years. It is said that they will become available as a reproduction later this year, but timing is highly uncertain.

The breakthrough came when Mark reported back that he'd found a supplier in UK who had a NOS RH fender in stock with some surface rust and minor dents, asking for a high price. I told him to grab it quickly, and the negotiated price showed to be reasonable and the damage from storage was only superficial.

To date, and as the enclosed photos show, the bodywork has advanced to replacement of both fenders and the sills have been repaired. Next update will come when the car starts to be prepared for new paint - 105 Gold Metallic of course!

From the Firezone via Rotterdam to Hull and Manchester

After a few minutes of driving behind my now good friend in the yellow ANWB van, we stopped outside a small garage with the alarming name "Firezone" displayed. He went inside and chatted in Dutch with some mechanics, and the Volvo was immediately ordered in for a closer inspection. After a few moments checking the components, the fuel pressure and so on they concluded that the pump was now working and they could not source any replacement part because the car was simply too old. After a final discussion with my ANWB buddy, I settled my bill and we agreed that the car would most likely do it to destination with some luck, however my intention was still to see if the classic Volvo dealer closer to Rotterdam could sell me and replace the no longer trusted Bosch fuel pump. Any attempt to add something on top of the invoiced € 150 as a minor sign of my appreciation for the service was to no avail. He was just Dutch, and it seems not in their culture to take gifts or bonuses. Anyhow, outstanding service from this very clever man - Thanks ANWB!! And the guys at Firezone refused to bill me a single cent because they "had not done anything". The Dutch are amazing but very nice people indeed!

It was now soon late afternoon when we were back on the Highway, and I decided to go as far as possible towards Rotterdam and Moergestel which is the village where Scandcar is located. I had known about them for a while, as they have a good website and -shop with a lot of stuff for good old Volvos. I was of course a little bit nervous all along concerning another breakdown caused by my fuel pump, but the car hummed along as if nothing had ever been wrong at all. A while after dark I decided to leave the highway at the exit for Utrecht where I hoped to find easily a hotel for the night. Thanks again to the Garmin and my phone this went smoothly, but as the Hotel de Admiraal showed to be located in the old part of the town it took me some time to find a parking space for the Volvo. The good thing was that a nice restaurant was only minutes away by foot, and Utrecht showed to be an utterly charming town.

The next morning I called Scandcar and got the confirmation that they had the fuel pump for the 1800ES in stock and minutes after we were on our way with the Garmin leading us safely towards Moergestel. Unfortunately I forgot completely to take any pictures or video from this place, so those who are curious will have to look at their website or go there for a visit. Moergestel in itself is not likely to hold a busy outlet stuffed with goodies for some 40 year old swedish steel on wheels, but there it was. A few kilometers from the village itself on a farmlike site along a small canal by a winding road, very idyllic. Parked outside were an Amazon or 121 and some 240's and other older Volvos. Could not be missed at all. I stopped and went for the office and had my new fuel pump on the desk after a few minutes. I immediately decided to purchase some other parts as well which would be needed for the repaint, such as new side trim. Then I found on a shelf the famous Smiths clock for the dashboard of the 1800 E and ES. Mine had been replaced by a previous owner with another Volvo clock after the Smiths most likely stopped working as most probably did after some years. And this one was even repaired! I bought it on the spot - not cheap but this was a certain Must Have. I came to understand more about Scandcar after meeting the boss himself Sjef Spijkers who is at least 1000% more Volvo nut than I will ever be. A very nice and knowledgeful enthousiast, and I had to promise to stop on my way back when the 1800ES has been through in Manchester. And, with good help of Sjef I finally found the only valid replacement for my failing Auxiliary Air Valve which is the part fitted to later Volvos with K-Jetronic Bosch injection. I will blog on my experiences to fit this much later when the car has returned from Manchester. The only minor disappointment at Scandcar was that their workshop was fully engaged for the day and they could thus not help me to have the pump replaced. I therefore decided that I would try to get to Manchester with the old pump in place which should not be hazardous with the safety of having a brand new one in the trunk as a spare.

The next leg was the rather quick and boring drive to Rotterdam Europoort where the ferry terminal of P&O for Hull is located. Ghastly area with the higways leading to it packed with lorries behaving as swarming ants. After some waiting there as I arrived quite early I could check in at the terminal and then board the huge ferry for Hull where we arrived early next morning.

The remaining and final leg was absolutely hassle free despite having to drive on the left, very much thanks to the Garmin. We arrived finally and absolutely on schedule towards 11AM Wednesday March 3rd at Classicarco in Manchester.

The fuel pump dies in Holland

At about 130 km/h without any power from the engine it takes a while before the car comes to a complete stop. In Physics this is called inertia. It is a little bit more tricky when you are in the left lane with a row of lorries to your right. This calls for quick decisions and some delicate use of the steering wheel.

Anyhow. Don't ask me how, but we just managed to sneek in between the lorries to our right withouth being mashed to dust and then further onto relative safety at the right bank, and finally we stopped just meters from one of those yellow emergency telephone pole thingies that I always had wondered about how they worked. A couple of attempts to restart the engine were utterly waisted, and I had a growing suspicion that this had to be the electric fuel pump that feeds the Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection system. When you turn the key on this car, the pump is supposed to hum for a split second before the starter engages. This hum was no longer there, and a quick check of the fusebox revealed nothing unusual. The relay clicked as it should, but the pump was simply dead.

After these quick checks I got the warning triangle out of the booth and positioned some meters behind the car. Next the Yellow Telephone. It was a bit disappointing actually; just a button underneath a speaker, and I pushed the button and waited politely for someone to answer me in my distress. After some sudden bippetibop from the speaker, a Dutch voice started to speak to me and I pronounced the usual "Hello, do you speak English?". Unfortunately for me, this showed to be a recorded message for Dutch speakers only, and it told me absolutely nothing. Nada. Several attempt gave the same fruitless result. And no stickers or signs of who to call, which could have been useful in my opinion as most people these days carry a mobile phone along. So did I, but with noone to call it's not that useful.

In the car I had a 25 year old Norwegian Road Guide which also contained a page with some numbers for needs abroad. These numbers were all completely useless. I then tried to call a few friends in hope that they were in front of their computer with Google at their fingertips, but then again they were all unavailable. So again, what to do as all means at my disposal gave me no results?

I suddenly realized I had forgotten the most obvious tool at hand. My dear Garmin was still on the dash happily displaying the map of Northern Holland, indicating precisely the spot where I had stranded with, most likely, a very dead fuel pump. I quickly pressed the screen to get the "Where do you want to go" menu, and from that list I choose Car Workshops. I called the first and best, and explained in English that I needed assistance at the Highway and I did not know who to call for that. A kind person at the other end quickly informed me that I had to call the ANWB and gave me a number. I was now back in business, and ANWB informed me that this would cost me €150 (did I have it in cash please?) and that it would take about one hour to get the rescue van to my site.

As promised, after about one hour a yellow Wolkswagen Transporter slowed down and parked in front of the Volvo. A very pleasant young man came out and told me that his English was limited but he could manage. I explained to him my suspicion about the fuel pump, and the guy immediately went for a hammer and then under the car to see if the pump would respond to some kicks which it did not. He also checked that the ignition was working and a few other obvious issues, but then decided that we had to leave our dangerous parking spot on the Highway. He quickly arranged a rope, and after five minutes we were off the Highway and in the middle of a small Dutch village.

I thought initially that the ANWB would ditch me as soon as they had brought me and my precious 38 year old Volvo at the nearest workshop after claiming their price, but that was far from the truth. Very far indeed. Now; parked much safer at a quiet spot in this Dutch village he opened the grand doors of his Transporter and revealed a fully fledged rolling workshop. In some seconds the Volvo's rear end was jacked high up in the air and secured on some stands, and the guy tried once more to awake the dead pump with his hammer. It did not work as at his first attempts, and I had already started to wonder how I should manage to find parts for this old car and have it repaired in a remote place like this. But the Dutch mechanic had not given up hope. He returned to his van and came back with two rather thick cables and went again down to the dead fuel pump under the car. I suddenly heard the familiar hum for a split second. What was this?

It showed that the ANWB van was equipped to kickstart heavy trucks which usually need 24V instead of the 12V used in most smaller cars. It was the 24V cables that he had stretched to the fuel pump and used to revive the sleeping Bosch contraption, and it actually worked. He then replugged the pumps electrical connections and asked me to try the starter. The engine immediately started with its usual loose teeth purring along as if nothing had ever been wrong with any of its auxiliaries. Weird by all means!!

With the Volvo humming on idle and down from the jackstand, we discussed what to do next. I had already explained my intention to reach Rotterdam by next day for the ferry to Hull, but I also knew about a dealer in parts for classic Volvo's not far from that part of the country who probably could both sell me a new pump and have it replaced. The guy was still sceptic about rehitting the Highway, because the fuel pump had an obvious problem that could cause it to stop at any time. We then agreed to go together to another village and see a workshop that could have a more durable fix, and off we went.

To England

So then, after agreeing on terms and schedule with Mark at Classicarco, we (the Volvo and me!) booked tickets from Oslo to Kiel on February 28th, 2010 and further from Rotterdam to Hull on March 2nd. The extra day for transfer from Kiel to Rotterdam was added as a precaution, and it showed later to be wise...

I was most concerned about how to drive the 35-40 minutes stretch from my home in Lier to the ferry quai in Oslo in case of snow, because the 1800ES has only summer tyres contrary to our daily drivers. As stated in a previous post, so much salt is nowadays used on our roads during winter that with some caution they can be safely axessed with summer tyres on most days during a normal winter. However, the winter of 2009-10 in Norway was far from normal. It was a good old fashioned winter with really cold weather from December to March, and during the last two days before departure to Oslo and Kiel we had plenty of snow.

The solution was found in a car accessory shop - Autosock. I had the previous month purchased two for the transfer from the rented garage to my home, but the severe conditions the day before the departure made it obvious that I needed 4 - one for each wheel. It was a wise decision. The distance from where I live to the highway entrance is only about 3-4 km, but on Sunday February 28th it would not have been thinkable to drive them on old, hard summer tyres such as the 1800ES is equipped with at the moment. With Autosocks on all 4 wheels, respecting the recommended max speed of 50-60 km/h, it was a piece of cake. And just before entering the E18 for Oslo which was heavily salted and free of snow and ice, I just took them off. Recommended, although no substitute for real winter tyres - it's just intended as an emergency kit whenever needed.

The remaining 30 km to Color Line's terminal in Oslo went without any problems at all. Lining up for the ferry I got an XC90 behind me, and the picture reveals either 1) how small the 1800ES is or 2) how ridiculosly supersized most SUV's are. Judge for yourself.

At 11:00 sharp on March 1st the Color Fantasy berthed safely in Kiel after smooth sailing, and the Volvo landed on German soil, at least for the very first time with me behind the wheel. I had of course my faithful Garmin on the dashboard, a real blessing compared to old days fiddling with maps especially when driving solo. Destination Rotterdam was quickly plotted in, and off we went.

Driving a 48 year old car, even if it was at the time a Sports Car or Grand Touring as it was also frequently called, demands some caution when you suddenly hit the German Autobahn. Excellent roads and no speed limits are a sharp contrast to what we have in Norway, and a lot of Norwegian drivers take advantage to empty their engines of all accumulated soot as soon as they enter the Autobahn. The story goes that in the area around Hannover there are a lot of workshops that have their yearly bonanza in July as Norwegians on holiday end up with mortally damaged engines that did not appreciate the sudden change in operational conditions at full throttle on the Autobahn after years at creepy speed on Scandinavian roads. So therefore I decided to take it rather easy, by not exceeding a maximum speed of 125-130 km/h. And the Volvo purred along, seemingly without effort towards the Dutch boarder.

After a couple of stops for petrol, coffee and technical checks we entered Holland. As the car ran so well I had gradually increased my speed so that the previous maximum had become rather the average. Then, just after the boarder and while in the left lane at 135 overtaking a row of heavy trucks just seconds after praising how well everything worked, the engine just died without any warning whatsoever. WHAT TO DO???

The Pleasure of having an 1800ES

After passing inspection and registering the car, I could start to enjoy and and to know better my old dream. The 1800 ES is surprisingly "heavy" to drive, especially compared with the much older PV544. The steering needs brute force despite a fairly big steering wheel, as the setup is entirely without any assistance. The car is also relatively noisy, and the low seating and relatively small windows gives a very different feeling from the inside compared to a modern car. On the other hand, once on the road and with some speed the true character of the car slowly starts to appear. It isn't extremely powerful, yet with some 130 SAE hp and a relatively moderate wheight the performance is definitely there. It's finally when the overdrive is engaged after a good accelleration that the climax is reached! This IS driving....

Climatic conditions in Norway combined with the ever increasing use of salt on our roads during winter simply prohibits any use of a classic car from October to April. And with 4 cars and garage space for only 2, the pleasure of owning becomes mixed with the hassle of how and where to keep the old warriors tucked away. I found some rented solutions which sort of worked out.

After going through the car over time when cleaning, polishing or just inspecting it carefully, it became apparent that 1) A new paint job would have to be done, as the old was beyond salvation as it had cracked up in areas, and 2) Even if appearing to have been stable for years, the patch repairs on the wings and the sills could show up to hide some nasty surprises. Otherwise the car confirmed basically to be in the sound mechanical condition which I had concluded on prior to the purchase with only a few minor issues. One such was the famous Auxiliary Air Slide, which controls fast idling on cold starts. On the Bosch D-Jetronic, this is a purely thermo mechanical construction with a wax-filled thermostat which opens and closes for extra air to allow faster idling during engine warm-up. Mine was as probably most B20E's not working at all, and some checks at the net soon confirmed that the part needed had not been available for many years. This can however be easily dealt with, as the engine very quickly warms up after start.

When I started to work abroad from May 2007 (West Africa), I also lost most of the momentum concerning my plans to work on the car, essentially the cosmetic interior and exterior issues which I had discovered. I therefore started to investigate possibilities of having the paint and eventual bodywork job outsourced to a workshop, and for a while I considered Poland as a good place to look for possibilities. There are quite a few experiences to find on the web, and not all are success stories. During 2008-09 I therefore started to look for workshops elsewhere, and I finally discovered Classicarco in Manchester and started a discussion with them. They came up with a reasonable estimate for doing the job after some exchange of emails and photos.

It was finally the announcement during 2009 by the landlady who rented me the winter garage for the 1800ES that she had decided to sell the space from April 2010 that forced me to act. I decided to drive the car to Manchester and settle for a Total Makeover of the 1800ES by specialists of the trade!

The Acquisition

Sometime late May 2006 I spotted the ad of a Volvo 1800Es for sale only some 20 km from where I live. No picture, and reason for sale was said to be that the seller had to clean up in his garage, where the car named Robin had stayed for the last two years due to lack of time.

I called the guy, presented myself and started asking questions. The answers confirmed that this could be interesting, but I was also told that the seller had to ensure himself that the buyer would take good care of the car. We agreed to meet for a closer inspection, and on purpose I took my 1958 Volvo PV544 to show myself as somebody competent to own and take care of classic Volvo's.

We went to the garage, and found a very dusty 1800. After putting some much needed air into the tyres, the owner started it up and the B20E sounded just as it should - purring like a cat with loose teeth... The exterior and interior showed a car which was far from spotless, althought it was pretty complete and with cosmetic faults that could be amended over some time. It had been repainted sometime in the eighties in a copper brown metallic colour, whereas it orginally had the famous Volvo color 105 Gold Metallic. Some rough patches were easily visible at the typical rust areas of the 1800's like the front wings and sills, but they were not recent and appeared to have been stable.

The test trip became somewhat interesting, because the brakes would seize on the rear wheels. I first believed that this was due to rusty rotors after the long storage but it later showed to be a much more complex problem to solve. However, everything seemed to work, even the overdrive clicked effortlessly in and out of operation. We agreed on the price and everything, and I returned home happy to have at last found my dream car.

When I called him the next day, the seller had developed some second thoughts about letting his dear Volvo go. I protested of course, having already prepared the cheque for his payment. We finally agreed over the phone to sign a contract where he would keep a lifelong preemptive right to buy the car back in case I should choose to sell it.

I brought the car home and immediately started to work on the seizing brakes. I quickly had it on stands in my garage, and decided to replace both rear rotors and rebuild all four calipers, the reduction valves at the rear and the brake master cylinder. After getting parts from CVI in Sweden (Recommended!), I did as planned but to my big disappointment the brakes would still seize on the rear wheels. I could not understand the reason until I found a similar symptom described at the Brickboard forum (Also recommended!). In short, the reason showed to be that the flexible rubber hoses to the rear axle which looked flawless on the outside had swollen inside so that the brake fluid could not be evacuated fast enough after braking, thereby causing the severe seizing and overheating of both rear wheel brakes. I quickly ordered the new hoses and Voila! Since then, the brakes have worked very well on this car. This was confirmed upon the compulsory technical inspection (2-yearly in Norway), after which I could finally register the car on my name.

History

This 1972 Volvo 1800ES is most likely a Swedish sold car. It was imported to Norway in September 1996 by Erik Øyno who bought the car from a certain Staffan Mood in Norberg. He had been the owner of the car since October 1985, and the owner before that (name unknown to me) owned the car for about 10 years. Earlier history is not known. The car had Swedish plates EXK 691 as shown in the pictures to the left.

Erik cleared the car through the Norwegian customs in Oslo on Sept 6, 1996 at a cost of NOK 22.700, or roughly USD 3.000. Cars in Norway are expensive, and at that time it was less than 30 years old hence import duties had to be paid. He thereafter registered the car and got the plates DH 85073 which it still bears.

The funny thing which I discovered when I later bought the car from Erik, is that we shared precisely the same long lasting relation to the 1800 in general and particularly the ES. To realize his old dream he chose the cumbersome way of importing it by himself. Contrary to me, Erik was not too experienced in working on cars and he therefore spent quite some money on having professionals doing maintenance and upgrades over the years he owned and used the car. He told me for example that he had been using a retired Volvo mechanic to work on the injection and engine adjustments with some success. This is well documented with invoices and inspection reports going back to the two previous owners.