Olga the Second Revised

[volvowagoon]

Your work on that bumper is impressive. I have a feeling that with the recent explosion of enthusiasm for 80/90s cars, we're going to need more people with the ability to fix stuff like that. Great job.

[Mr.Borrie]

Cool we should meet when both out SE kit cars are done!

[JerryJS8]

Originally Posted by volvowagoon

Your work on that bumper is impressive. I have a feeling that with the recent explosion of enthusiasm for 80/90s cars, we're going to need more people with the ability to fix stuff like that. Great job.

Thanks! As a community we grow in experience as our cars get older, so long we still have a deep appreciation for them.

Originally Posted by Mr.Borrie

Cool we should meet when both out SE kit cars are done!

Sounds good! We'll meet at Sander's to encourage him to get that spaceship on the road

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Unfortunately the car has taken a seat in the background as I'm still rushing to finish building a 3d-printer for a customer...



...but that doesn't mean that Olga has been put on hold

From the ashes of the sandblasting cabinet



emerges new life!



And now I've gone down the rabbit hole...













So far I haven't discovered any really bad rust or corrosion, but renewing the zinc plating can only improve longevity.

If I've taken the rebuild this far, might as well go all the way. On the other side, as soon as I start putting these shiny parts in the engine bay I'm going to feel the need to pull the motor and do the same to it at some point. Glad it's just a hobby I've got here, so no need to get that done yesterday

[skjarlie]

keep the updates comming! the project keeps getting better and better
So the doorlocks could be zink plated with the rubber parts still attached?

[JerryJS8]

Originally Posted by skjarlie

keep the updates comming! the project keeps getting better and better
So the doorlocks could be zink plated with the rubber parts still attached?

Will do! I still got a lot of things to get done, so rest assured more updates will be coming

Zink plating is more or less a cold process, so the plastic wasn't warped at all. But I was still surprised at the quality that came back. I'll be doing that again for sure

[Sander]

Originally Posted by JerryJS8

Sounds good! We'll meet at Sander's to encourage him to get that spaceship on the road

I'll fire up the BBQ Nice work on getting all the small bits and pieces like new again.

[JW240]

The fresh plating looks great!
Tempted to do the same now my car is off the road as well.

[Mr.Borrie]

Originally Posted by Sander

I'll fire up the BBQ Nice work on getting all the small bits and pieces like new again.

Lets do it! 700 crew

Originally Posted by JW240

The fresh plating looks great!
Tempted to do the same now my car is off the road as well.

Let me know if you do, looks so nice I might join in

[GrafKroete]

Der wird richtig hübsch.
Saubere Arbeit mit den Stoßstangen (und dem Rest). Also... deine Arbeit. Wenn man nicht selbst macht... Das ist echt schlimm geworden in den letzten Jahren.
Schönes Projekt. Weiter so.

[LC4CARL]

Looking good!

[JerryJS8]

Been a looooong time since the last update, been busy but still trucking along with the restoration. To say the least, it's been a painstaking endeavour cause I am being painstakingly consequent with the smallest details. In the end there are a lot of things that won't see the light of day ever again, but then that's exactly why I'm taking my time to do things right!

Sooo, where do I start....

Ah yeah... the horror from the body shop was not yet at an end...

After the third round of reclamations, and a total of 9 months, all the pieces finally came back from the body shop in November 2020. Remember the nice pictures of the chasis after it got delivered the first time? Well somehow the paint wasn't mixed right and fell in after a while to reveal a lot of imperfections. The shop blamed it on being an imported car from the USA which had been sprayed with some paint that's not compatible with their system and some other random bull****. Just absolutely ridiculous, especially when this is the official partner of the local Volvo dealership. In the end everything worked out, but just take a look at this carnage









Rear bumper where I had to restore the contours



Not a feature



Sideskirt



Quarter panel







Roof





Not a single panel, door or accessory didn't have to be sent back and polished out or repainted as the paint was still soft and didn't properly cure... But as I said, it still worked out in the end.

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This is how she stood in January



And this is a couple of weeks ago



I've been taking a lot of pictures of the restauration process, but I'm out of time to continue this update cause I have to go to my father-in-law's birthday party

Rest assured, more pictures of shiny things and progress will follow!!!!

[MadDog_945]

nice progress!

[JerryJS8]

Originally Posted by MadDog_945

nice progress!

Thanks! Finally getting things on the move

On matters totally unrelated to Volvos, but still on the topic of motorsports, everyone needs a 3D printer in their garage! Had a small issue with desintegrated bushings for my KX250 and got new rubber ones printed up in a jiffy.







Now if it weren't for the corna virus preventing me from having a track to ride at, I'd have a valid excuse for why Olga is still sitting around in pieces

[JerryJS8]

More random updates as I find the pictures on my phone...

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If you remember those 3D printed covers I got done for the front bumper cutouts, well they turned out really well!!!





I absolutely need to take pictures from afar in the daylight, but here's a glimps of the glory of my fully restored SE front.



Never did like fog lights anyway, so there's another OCD itch take care of

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Another nice thing was to be able to get the gaskets put back on the doors with new automotive grade double sided 3M 468MP tape, yay.



So they're no longer randomly laying around the shop, but that has got to have been the most bland and unexciting step so far.



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It was fun putting the spoiler back on though!





Decided to mount it with some sticky bitumen stuff instead of glueing it or using double sided tape. This makes it easier to remove without damaging the spoiler or the paint if I ever need to.



And it also helps to fill out some gaps that happened over the years as the foam warped in the hot Florida sun.

[MadDog_945]

So nice! Do you consider getting an us front?

[JerryJS8]

Originally Posted by MadDog_945

So nice! Do you consider getting an us front?

You mean with the quad headlights, or the integrated fog lights? Nah... and any rate, the euro lights are made of glass, much better than the US plastic headlights.

[MadDog_945]

But the L front is... ... Most boring

[JerryJS8]

It'll look different when the rear wheels are drifting out sideways 😋

[JerryJS8]

---> A post about milestones achieved some time ago...

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Before I could button up the exterior I had to take care of the electricals and external lighting which had suffered from both time and other... sentient lifeforms. Lucky for me, I went to a friend's garage last year to buy his spare M90 and he just gave me a B230FT longblock as well as all the brain boxes and wiring harnesses from a 940, which served as a donor for all the miscellaneous sockets and pins

From a Turbobrick perspective, this is a box of pure gold!


Not let's get to cleaing up those electricals...

Some things couldn't be cleaned, so they just had to be replaced





Other things had already been "creatively" replaced by the P.O. and had to get re-replaced



I mean, the radio suppresion relay was functional, but it was not water proof and also just looked plain funky, so it had to go if favor of a quality stock unit.





Also renewed the fan power relay on the other side since after so many years it was somewhat worn and falling apart.

A couple of years ago I had I had spliced in the EU headlight sockets in a hurry and needed to revisit that area to make them look like they belong.





In the dark recesses behind the grill is where I found the only really rusty nuts and bolts. After having zink plated everything that came off, I now always try to painstakingly protect and seal them when reinstalling them. Ain't a rusty screw gonna ever touch my pertty ride again!






After replacing a few other random sockets and cleaning up the wiring harness everything was good to start the final assembly process.

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If any of you have already reassembled a car, do you remember how painstaking it was to realign all the doors, hood, trunk and body panels??? It took me probably an entire day just to install the handles and locks to get everything lined up perfectly. But just one of those jobs where afterwards you happily and repeatedly just run around the car for an exessive amount of time opening and closing ALL THE THINGS for only the satisfaction of the typical Volvo *THUD* when you close them.

Afterwards you take a step back and think about how all that took up an entire day's work

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Anyways... more new things had to be unpacked and replaced, just because.



That'll stick!



Gotta be one of the most useless "gaskets" in the entire car....



But before mounting the quarter panels they got a fresh strip of sticky goo striping, because we no want water running down the inside and rusting up



Also the wonderful air intake screen that always falls in and generously allows leaves to enter the cabin A/C fan was hopefully fixated with enough sticky goo to keep that from happening again.



And of course more new parts, cause that upper trim came out it 10+ pieces...





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Somewhere I had the windshield wipers in hand and thought they had seen better days... but now they are back in black and almost look like new!





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So many little projects like this just keep coming, but what's the point of a project car when it's completed??!?!?!

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The stock speakers are great for grocery shopping, but I need moar sound. Somewhere I took a photo of the modified wiring harnesses, but don't know where it saved it... So here are some pictures after the install which allow some high power upgrades in the future.

I upgraded the speaker wires with some quality 14-gauge stuff and hid them in the harness for an extra clean installation.



Then I replaced the pins in the harness sockets with some beefy JPTs.







Finally we were ready for some 6.5" replacement speakers in the front and 5.25" in the rear.



Had to trim the frames a bit on the front doors, but the screen still fits.





Later I'm going to add a an old school Rockford Fosgate amp I got laying around that will push these with with 250 watts per channel, but at some point I also need to renew the foam and paint the metal screens...

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Now that things are picking up speed I'm hoping to get back on the road sometime in the forseable future.

...we'll all have to wait and see when that'll be, but at this point I'm getting really excited! Just ordered another load of OEM parts which consist of a few missing clips for the door trim pieces and a lot of interior parts. All those years in Florida really took a toll on the plastics. I might have them here within the next two weeks, but before then I still have other things to do...

[Mr.Borrie]

Originally Posted by JerryJS8

If you remember those 3D printed covers I got done for the front bumper cutouts, well they turned out really well!!!





I absolutely need to take pictures from afar in the daylight, but here's a glimps of the glory of my fully restored SE front.



Never did like fog lights anyway, so there's another OCD itch take care of

Oh well... i think i'd like that for my SE bumper too.. Willing to share the file for it?
I think it might be nice solution though i have some fogs in there now... on the fence

[JerryJS8]

Originally Posted by Mr.Borrie

Oh well... i think i'd like that for my SE bumper too.. Willing to share the file for it?
I think it might be nice solution though i have some fogs in there now... on the fence

But of course!

If you ever need a replacement tow hook cover, it's a good clip in piece. Depending on how roughly the factory cut out the bumper, you may have to sand one or two corners.

The fog covers I just ended up gluing in with some chassis power gunk.

Tow hook cover: https://a360.co/30nOvrN

Fog light covers: https://a360.co/3ex8ooP

Please post back with a picture when you've got them installed

[JerryJS8]

--> Now a current progress report

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Big project was to replace the moonroof and headliner, which kinda felt like two steps backwards, since I had to remove so much of the interior to be able to do so. On the upside, I had planed to replace so much of the plastics anyway and some of them have been paitently hanging around the garage for so long...

A-Pillars are getting replaced with new pieces, very nice!



The overhead runners are also coming in new.



And the C-pillars haven't arrived yet, but I'm glad to get the puzzle pieces taken out for good.



To get out the headliner without removing the rear window required taking out the passenger seat, but everything was pretty straightforward after that. After everything was removed I was able to get to vacuming out the inside and found another "Minty Fresh" Quarter somwhere underneath the passenger seat.



Underneath the moonroof I found a small nest of debris and some rust along the carriage.





Ain't gonna let that stand, so I removed the rust with a wire brush and hit it with a couple of coats of rust converter before continuing.

While waiting for it to dry I vacumed the interior again because of the all the rust chips that went everywhere...



Last spring I drove all the way across the country and back in one day to pick up a very nice dark grey moonroof and headliner from a 1994 940. Good thing the round trip only took 8 hours of driving, which for my german wife is a looot of driving



Old blue vs. newer grey



As I redid the blue headliner eons ago I removed the slider insert from the moonroof and have been missing that part over the past years, so that's a nice little thing to get back. Another positive is that the sunvisors, overhead light and the other plastic pieces I had spraypainted in black paint and was slowly scraping off here and there making them look somwhat trashy. Now I got everything in a durable color, which will both improve the look of the interior for the next 30 years to come.

It all went in really easily and I'm very satisfied with the results.


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Also replaced all the clips for the windshield trim pieces and got some snazzy looking trim back on.



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The door locks also look snazzy



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Even though this is a short post, still took the whole day to get the headliner replaced but I can say that the progress is real! Now I'm getting really excited about the shipment of missing parts and having her road ready by April

[JerryJS8]

In the meantime, I'm drafting up the parts list for a new exhaust and could use some imput...

If you want to join the conversation, jump over to the thread in "performance & modifications" here: Need advice on split 3" exhaust system for 740 16v Turbo

[JerryJS8]

Was in the workshop yesterday and got all the cables and speaker wires drawn so I can get the interior finalized. I had thought about doing this later, but if everything is already opened up, might as well get it done now.

Picked up this install kit some years ago while visiting my family in good ole the USofA. Always have been satisfied with the Brand, and it's not so easy to find a quality kit in blue.



Not a fan of the shiny terminal, but the clear cover will either get painted matt red or I'll find another positive pole cover to make it less obtrusive. The purist in me cried a bit on the inside when I cut the stock wires, but I need my tunes, so sacrifices must be made.



I still need to upgrade the wiring coming from the alternator and stealthisize the blue wire as well as install a proper 0AWG ground wire, but after I'm finished it'll all look more original.



4 full range + 2 sub channels run to the back from the jvc kd-db97bt head unit with an signäl strength of 4v.



Signals down the right side of the car, power down the left



All lower interior panels back on, ready to start installing the amp(s) next time I get back to the workshop.

[JerryJS8]

Last week I got an e-mail informing me that my large order of original Volvo parts had just been shipped and according to the tracking information was going to be delivered on Saturday. Since DHL repeatedly proves itself to be an unreliable service provider, it finally got delivered Monday afternoon and I was so excited as if it were Christmas morning!

And now it is time... here is a gianormous box of goodies!!!



With a LOT of bubblewrap...



As I peered inside, it seemed to be way too much bubblewrap as I pulled out only a measly 9 of the 25 ordered positions...



And that was all that was in the box!



A sizable order of over 550€ and the total of what I get is not even a third of the value in parts delivered, and there was no notice of a partial shipment.

Tried calling the service department several times yesterday to no avail. Wrote an e-mail and posted a notice on the website in my purchase history. At least I paid with PayPal, so if it all goes south I still have some kind of purchase protection.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE PROFESSIONALS IN THIS WORLD!?!?!?!?!?!!?

So I guess I'm just going to have to keep calling and writing e-mails in hopes of getting this settled...