So I called up VP-Autoparts and ordered a couple of items.

58880143076__41946AB7-F4FC-4625-98DD-02A6ED325A67 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

You can see 6501 on a rotisserie next to it, it had taken so long to get 1311 from CA that I had started work on 6501 with the help of a friend who's a more experienced welder than I am.

We started the long, loud process of cutting out the bad metal from 1311 and replaced it with good metal.

%nv7YXywSjCDhAdMYOgpBQ by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The rear floors came from Wolf Steel in Canada, everything else is from VP.

97oQP7oPRY2HfYJp2HinPA by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

It wasn't just the body that needed love. The early calipers for the Jensen cars have a different set of spindles, rotors and offset than the later cars. So saving the calipers was important and after soaking them both in Evaporust for days, I was able to get them apart.

IMG_0113 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Bleeder valve had other ideas. Extracting it was an exercise in patience and persistence.

IMG_0114 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

IMG_0116 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Finally, without damage to the threads!

IMG_0117 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

You say OCD, I say organized.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Ready for many more years of service:

IMG_0109 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

 

Some of the frame rails and frame rail extensions were rough and simply couldn't be kept as-is.

Surprise!!
1hlGPRDAReW9edokUsfQFQ by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

All better
58949253700__2EC0F7D5-B4E8-4D94-A1A0-E3665D402DC9 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Battery tray was a mess, so a fresh unit from VP was installed in its place.

JmSXOaZiTGOjex1+yr4guA by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Pulled the rear quarter on the DS and found damage from the wheel well.

7Y3aBF2MRkGYvIPM6k5lCA by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

58992315709__1E2D0094-8096-4DF1-84C0-B92D1FBF4A0B by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Filled it. I didn't want to TIG it since I knew that rocks could hit that area fairly hard. So MIG welder is was. Not as pretty but solid.

jPrpJdUwTBihAX9QCk4TMg by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Panel fitment:

Yr5HdXDfQp++KNzFLdvmPw by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Prep for the panel, an etch primer, a filler primer and a couple of coats of the original Volvo 70 red paint

IMG_0131 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

IMG_0133 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

 

WOW!

 

That is an ambitious level of body work. Nice to have somebody who has a good touch with a MIG / TIG welder. I gave up on that part. My welding fell to much into the snot-ball weld bead category.

So, is 6501 going to be a second restoration project or do you plan to sell it as is?

Definition of a P1800 restoration candidate - a pile of rust held together by patches of metal.

 

6501 will be my personal car, my daily when temps aren't brutal in AZ. It's pretty far along, I should be able to jump back on it this coming week.

So 1311 was now partially fixed but much more needed to be done. Trunks are a mess on these early cars. This one was no exception:

The outer panel had been on the receiving end of a rear end collision.

IMG_0123 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The gas tank was full of fun stuff. Whatever that was, I wasn't keeping it.

IMG_0124 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

We started stripping the trunk

Oi2NW58BRwaOX0aKp90yXw by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

We used a trunk panel from VP, there are unfortunately no panels for the early cars so some of the shapes on this one aren't correct for the year. Small compromise when you're trying to have a functioning car.

Vuk4x4gzThiPc+LGhNv4%g by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Outer panel was replaced too, along with the recessed areas for the tail lights

IMG_0138 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The car was ready for final body work and paint. I was due for surgery on my ear drums (not related to the noise level associated with metal work, we wear HD ear protection)

59251833787__CA4DB8C2-BBE5-4B89-A6D1-F6C539861028 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

 

Local shop started on it in October.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

They moved quick, that was nice

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

And then bam! RED

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Early December, the car was back from paint. We had worked on 6501 a little more and since we weren't really at a stopping point we kept going on 6501's floors.
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f7 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

I wanted 1311 to be historically accurate as a restoration. It would have been easy to do a one wire alternator like I used to run on the Amazons but I got the generator rebuilt locally. Not disappointed.

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f2 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Chrome.... That cost as much as the paint work on this car, or very close to it....

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f5 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The top of the engine cradle/subframe was re enforced and the engine was back from its rebuild. (0.030")

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ea by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

One of the happiest moments of the process, installing the drivetrain

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_db by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Vent windows coming together

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Carbs and radiator, both are thought to be original to the car. Island Automotion (I highly, highly recommend them) identified the SU's are being early 2 hole carbs based on their numbers. And the rad's date matches the approximate production date of the car.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Based on info I found on the P1800 registry and Volvo literature from that era, I painted the fresh air intake grill.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

I may be wrong on it, but I have spares.

The car was coming together nicely. I genuinely wished for more hours in the day.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

One of the nicest features on these, the Volvo badge on the C pillar

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The interior was insulated as well, I don't like a car that sounds like a tin can

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

I had a local woodworked make a headliner frame. The car should have had a metal one (?) but had been in the process of being changed over to a later model interior.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Fitment isn't perfect

IMG_6762 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

This made me smile

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

More interior work

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Test fitting everything

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

 

That is looking very nice. Restoration to original where you have things like the generator rebuilt by specialists or have original pieces re chromed after the base metal is restored is expensive.

Is you headliner original or a reproduction? Either way, it is really hard to get the headliner back on without some wrinkles. I gave up on mine after a couple of tries. There must have been a headliner specialist on the production line. There is a reason why modern cars used a headliner with fabric / flock / whatever applied over a molded form of some kind. Much faster and less skill required to install.

 

The headliner came from VP-Autoparts. Their stuff is stellar, I think the issue is the installer (me) and a poor fit for the frame. It's not horrible, but it's not as nice as the rest of the car.

So mid February the car was almost running. I had purchased a rebuilt distributor which was getting power from the coil but wasn't firing to the plugs. Changed parts off of it, except the cap since it was obviously brand new and seemed fine.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

After throwing the old distributor back in and getting the car to run for the recommended cam break in period, we figured out that the cap on the new distributor wasn't making contact with the rotor. The center contact is normally spring loaded and this one was junk.

I had waited the recommended amount of time for the paint to fully cured and wanted to make sure the car could be enjoyed on the road. So I applied 3M undercarriage coating to all wheel wells.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

With that same mindset, I also changed the flange yoke on the rear end to the more modern one. U-joints of that size are NLA and they weren't a great set up to beging with.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The car had holes for fender mirrors. They were long gone but rather than fill the holes, I sourced some mirrors with Moss Motors.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The car was a factory M40 car so I patched a dash as best as I could and used it (the one in the car came from a later vehicle)

IMG_6761 by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

The original tach decided that this would be a fine time to kick the bucket and pegged itself at 5K rpm.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

So in went a later style tach while the original went to Nisonger Instruments for a rebuild.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Sourced some original hubcaps and added some vinyl squares to mimic the black painted squares from the factory:

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

And since then, I've been driving and enjoying the car:

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

I'm trying to sell this one so I can focus on 6501 and another early car (696). Time and space are limited so selling 1311 makes a lot more sense than parking outside in the AZ sun while I work on the others.

Untitled by Matt Bonaime, on Flickr

Hope you enjoyed its story. Any feedback is appreciated, good or bad.

 

Matt;

The car looks great, and your picture record shows that you've done a first class restoration on it...so I still can't understand why you would want to move it on...be prepared to wallow in a sea of regret!! I also can't really believe that U-Joints of a particular size are NLA.

Cheers

 

Matt;

The car looks great, and your picture record shows that you've done a first class restoration on it...so I still can't understand why you would want to move it on...be prepared to wallow in a sea of regret!! I also can't really believe that U-Joints of a particular size are NLA.

Cheers

I enjoy driving it now, it's not going anywhere in these crazy times of pandemic and social distancing. 6501 will be just as nice and will be enjoyed a lot, I like to make some small changes like dual Webers, slightly wider wheels, lowered suspension (noting crazy, only a mild drop), etc... and this car was too unique to have that done to it. I haven't seen another P18394 VA car, meaning another car with an M40 from the factory.

The U-joint thing is puzzling. I have a set of them from another car, I have called Summit Racing, I have asked my local drive shaft place, I have check with Moss Motors and various other sources and there doesn't seem to be anything out there. I could use some threaded rod and make some but I like knowing that the DS isn't going to give me any hassles.

 

Beautiful work Matt! Mightily impressed.

 

Beautiful car... nice work all the way through.

 

Nice work, Matt. My ES is coming along slowly, across town from you.

 

Nice! I'm driving the 61 70+ miles on Saturday to get out for a bit. A friend will be driving his MG.

I've started back up on the 63, engine bay is almost done. Quarters and trunk are next.

 

Just WOW! Fantastic workmanship - duly impressed!

 

Good looking rebuild.

Where did you find these milk white courtesy light lenses?

 

Maybe LED replacement bulb? I think they are available in the "festoon" format of the original bulb.

 

Beautiful restoration. Could I ask the approximate cost for the rebuild?

 

Great work!

 

Sorry, I have the LED bulbs, what I'm looking for the cover for the light, the suppliers only carry the clear crystal ones, not the milky white plastic and yours look new.

 

Matt,

Is that Noico sound deadening you used on the floor and top? How do you like the result?

 

I used a generic sound deadener similar to Dynamat, etc... The car went to a private collection so moisture, etc... won't be an issue with dry storage but I would not recommend that type of insulation on a car that will see extensive use. It can trap moisture unless it's sealed perfectly during installation.

The small lenses for the courtesy lights are NLA from Volvo so we had sourced replacements on that car. I am trying to have some reproduced but it's low on the priority list since the later style (fluted lenses) fit the lights.

 

Incredibly cool restoration project bro...

...cool to see the original 1800 bull nose bumpers

cool to see the original instruments (Smiths I believe)

call me old school...but cool to see the original wheels

And...incredibly cool...are those roof base V-logos...are they original too?

...unreal bro.

 

Thanks. It's funny, because I go back to these pics and I find small details that are incorrect. Given the low VIN number of the car (1311), the gas gauge should have been the earlier type.

We've since had a few more early cars come through my shop and it's been fun to reminisce about this car. The guy who bought it is in touch with me on a regular basis and it's been nice to keep up with it.

 

nice job. I'm the one that ended up with Rolf's 61' Is this FlashGordon?

 

Hi Tom, glad you bought Rolf's car. If you need help, just let me know. It's going to be a great project for sure!