B18 TV! I rather watch this channel than today’s news. Anyway, more assembly!
I removed the wiper assembly as I painted and insulated the firewall. I am sure this has not had any service since new and that would amount to sixty years.
The gears were in good shape but the grease was very dry. Some cleaning with fresh grease and it will be good for another 60 years!
Speaking of 60 years…the wiper arm shafts have not seen new lube for that amount of time as well. I am sure there is a way to press it apart but I don’t want to mess it up. I leaned the unit up against the wall and then filled the gear area with lube and left it overnight. The next morning I could see a puddle of lube on the table. That means lube traveled all the way.
Underdash insulation in place and wiper assembly in place.
The new heater valve is so pretty in copper, it will kind sad to cover it up with hoses!
Since I am going with an alternator, this relay will become obsolete. Kinda sad as I spent time detailing it! Oh well.
I’ll save it in the… “in-case-someone-want-to-put-the-car-back-to-stock”…pile!
The 1800 cars had just the oil pressure gauge to rely on for monitoring the oil pressure. It is great that you can check how the engine is doing but you don’t stare at that thing while you’re touring in your 1800 automobile, do you? A few minutes of driving without oil pressure can ruin the engine. So, I want an “idiot light” as well.
Aristotle once said: “It is OK to be an idiot but you want to be a well informed idiot”
The stock connection to the oil pressure gauge is just an elbow brass fitting. I replaced it with a “T” so I can still have the stock oil pressure gauge but also a warning light. I will put a light under the dash somewhere.
The exhaust manifold got a thermal insulation ceramic coating. Same goes for the down pipe albeit in a silver color. This should keep the under hood temperature and even the interior cooler.
Intake manifold was just cleaned and detailed.
I opted the 1967-up style radiator as it will have a closed system with a recovery bottle. Also, I am using the larger thermostat housing and hoses for better flow. There is a reason why Volvo improved these items, I might as well take advantage of better components.
This is not stock but frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! This is going to be a driver, not a show car.
That looks pretty good.
This is the vacuum line for the brake booster.
Test fit of alternator with new bracket. I used a slightly longer belt than stock, 37 inches to be exact.
Throttle linkage after zink plating.
The heat shield that mounts under the carburetors got a dip in the zink as well.
I restored these fresh air intakes earlier and they have new gaskets.
I made this tool to tighten the nut on the washer nozzle. The shallow socket holds the nut in place while you tighten the nozzle. It is hard to get a regular socket under the cowl and the nut would fall down to far.
After some detailing, the Pelle Petterson designed air intake is in place.
This component actually represents the “beginning of the end” of some of the 1800 car’s fabulous design features. As fellow club member Eric astutely pointed out, car manufacturers are in business to make money.
Once the 1800 production was moved to Sweden, it looks like the Swedish bean counters got involved. Where can we save some beans…well…kroner?
The first casualty: The Jensen cars had chrome on top of the fins of this air intake but the Swedish built car just had the whole thing painted.
The next thing to be axed by Volvo’s budget department: These nice c-pillar emblem. After only 178 cars built in Sweden it was deleted. My car is an earlier car so it still retains them. Later, the nice hockey stick door moldings, grille and other trim were changed to the simpler components.
Harness:
I thought about buying a new electrical harness but this one looks very good. Also, I have to open it up anyway as I would need to change or rewire several items.
Because of the overdrive is a J-type, it has the solenoid on the left side, the backup light is now activated via a grounding signal, I am changing to an alternator and I want to add headlight flasher. Got that??
The headlight flasher function is kind of interesting: Volvos destined for US in the 60’s had the flasher relay removed and the flashing function on the blinker stalk made inoperative. I am going to assume DOT didn’t like the idea of people flashing their lights, they should honk instead? The wire from the stalk is usually present but not connected to anything. Same on the 122 cars, you can dig the wire out of the harness and connect to a relay.
More nerd info on this subject: In 1999, the supreme court actually ruled that flashing your lights is free speech! I think the case stem from the popo getting mad at drivers warning others of a speed trap. Almost all states have restrictions on flashing but when you are using them, you are exercising your constitutional right! How about that!
Uhhhh…I really don’t want to do this.
The relays on this car are 60 years old and who knows how good they are. However, installing these modern Tyco style relays would be a felony! So what to do?
I took the guts out of an old relay.
Using 3M double sticky tape, I installed the new relay in the cavity.
These relays are all facing down so no one would be the wiser. Old style, new function. This will be secret between you, me and the internet.
More later…