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'66 122S Midlife Makeover

38K views 206 replies 27 participants last post by  Csm22 
#1 ·


Greetings all… first introduced to group summer 2015 (see "1966 122S Intro Issues"); after addressing some mechanical issues (temp gauge, clutch), I wanted to start a proper build thread now that restoration has begun.

Fourth owner of this B18D/M40, car is pretty solid all around with some previous bodywork. Lowered, Skandix exhaust, KYBs, VTO wheels. Car came with plenty of extra parts, including used fenders (good shape), which will be swapped in. Runs pretty well, with occasional hiccup on acceleration, (will address after rebuild). Petrified window seals all around and peeling 20-footer paint job made the next steps pretty clear.

Removed bumpers and shiny bits…



All three layers of paint soda blasted, revealing the body rework needed.



Removed all glass…





Interior out, including upper door panels and dash (for respray)…







Off to body shop for a few months…



Target is for an early/midwinter return as a winter rebuild project.

Project has been great so far, with the best experience getting to know the Amazon and the Vintage Volvo cult. Appreciate the support to date… updates to follow as I move forward with refurb of bits and pieces in the interim!
 
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#3 ·
Looks terrific! Will you remove the movable panels to paint? Fenders, hood, trunk and doors or paint in place? Was dash tough to remove? Would love to repaint my car, originally Mist Green, now a 30 year old plus emerald green, California sun baked.
 
#4 ·
Fenders will be swapped with salvaged fenders (painted before install) from the same '63 that donated the motor and gearbox. Hood will be removed, doors & trunk left in place.

New interior on order from VP. Dash wasn't too bad once you got all the stuff disconnected (first time I've pulled a dash). Hopefully, the pics and labels will all contribute to a successful reassembly.[emoji57]
 
#5 ·
Any plans to pull heater box and inspect refurb? Good time to do it. There is a rubber drain line that goes out the tranny tunnel and a rubber/foam gasket that seals up to the intake grill area. If those are degraded, may cause some headache. Maybe it doesn't need such.
 
#6 ·
Was planning on checking it all out when I get it back from paint; how much of a refurb TBD.
 
#7 ·
Time for an update. With paint shop still in work, refurb continues for various pieces. With the dash out, one of the more glaring gotta-dos was a refinish of the instrument cluster. dcthompson's post of vintage auto master Bob Waldman's directions ("How to restore your Amazon speedo/gage cluster faceplate") is a spot-on reference… here's what it looks like...

The Before:



Removed lenses by nibbling around the edges, with same approach to separate clear acrylic from faceplate.



Paint stripper easily took off paint brushed on by previous owner, leaving clean brass. Metal-etch primer before black wrinkle paint (pictured brands worked well… recommended Krylon NLA).



Although paint can recommends use of a heat gun, I ended up with some irregular wrinkling with extra "pucker" around the creases and edges. Three paint-strip-repaint attempts led me to conclude that room-temp curing worked just fine for this brand. New Ford Gray paint for color, with gloss toned down with satin clear.

Replacing worn lettering on the "AMP" lens was accomplished with dry-transfer lettering, topped off with gloss clearcoat paint over all lenses with a freshened protective finish.



Lenses were secured in faceplate with RTV, followed by bulb hoods; faceplate reattached to acrylic with RTV. Anti-chafe/squeak tape applied per original.



Worth the effort, considering how much I'll be seeing this over the miles to come…
 
#8 ·
Among the "as long as I'm…" tasks during this restoration is the seat refurb. Full teardown was followed by sandblast/powder coat of lower seat frame, base and uprights.



Good opportunity to upgrade seat suspension and add headrest support tubes. Instead of replacing the petrified rubber straps with new ones, I took up Ron Kwas (of Swedish Embassy) on his offer to let me beta test a prototype spring seatback suspension to complement his renown lower seat suspension kit.



Once the seat springs were installed, replacement foam was stuffed into seat covers for the bottom cushion without too much effort; seatbacks were another story. The foam comes as a series of unshaped blocks glued together following the general contours of the seatback; they're of greater density than the original material, and oversized in thickness and width. Before attempting the install, I glued the foam to the seatback frame and secured the upper flap over the top rail with hog rings as per original. Coat hanger wire is in place to guide cutting of foam for headrest support tubes. To cut holes through the foam I made a tubular cutter by filing a rough, tapered cutting edge on a length of copper plumbing tube, twisting the cutter while pushing through the foam.





The oversized foam didn't stuff into the seat covers very easily, leaving excess foam at the bottom and overstressing the cover seams. Since the car was going to an upholsterer for headliner/windlace replacement, I let the pro finish up the front seatback and rear seat pieces as well as replacing the covers on the headrests sourced from eBay. A man's got to know his limitations.



Once the pieces made it home, I closed up the bottom seams with hog rings, and finished up assembly.



Went for the extra inch of legroom by reattaching seat to the rails using the "alternate" holes provided by the factory (photo taken before repaint). Basement floor ops check tells me that they were supremely comfortable and ready for the long haul.



Ready for install… all I need is a car.



You know your restoration project has gotten out of hand when you just have to refinish those nasty, rusty, ash-encrusted ashtrays. Cold galvanizing spray presents a nice finish.



 
#10 ·
Paint's done, shop is working final punch list items; car might be home later this week. Pics to follow in next post...
 
#11 ·
Car is finally home from the body shop… color is Volvo 115-1 Sea Green. Quite happy with quality work.



Now the real fun begins, starting with carpet and old sound deadening removal, then prep for sound deadening mat install.
 
#15 ·
Chiseling away the factory fiber sound deadening mat from the rear shelf was accompanied by a curious rattle soon revealed to be a little-known security option. Apparently, a previous owner slit the adhesive just enough to squirrel away an ignition key.



After the shelf, door skin interiors got sound mat, clearing the way for install of rechromed door handles, new guide channels and rubber seals followed by window glass.











Refurbed headlight buckets and new grommets followed up with H4 headlamps finished off with new rims. Refinished turn signal sockets installed in new rubber buckets with new lenses and bezels.

Rechromed OE bumper (with driving light test-fitted) reinstalled on powder coated brackets.





Refinished tail light sockets reinstalled with new lenses and bezels along with new reflectors and trunk handle. Rechromed rear bumper on powder coated brackets finish off the tail.



Moving on…
 
#16 ·
Its looking very nice.

Working on a car with new paint in a garage made me paranoid. Always concerned about whacking a door edge or dinging something as I was putting the interior back in and re installing trim and other external items.
 
#17 ·
Thanks... that paranoia is alive and well, especially when opening/closing toolboxes. Need to hang something on panels for protection.
 
#20 ·
Looking very spiff!

Tip from personal experience. When you reinstall and go to recommission your vehicle electrics do not use a car battery for testing. Use something like a smallish 12 volt lantern battery hooked up in place of the regular car battery, perhaps with an optional 10 or 15 amp fuse in series. The lantern battery will give you enough jam to briefly test the headlights and other electrical stuff (definitely not the starter and maybe not the wipers); but, won't have enough stored energy to do serious damage (especially if its fused) if there is a wiring error or short circuit in the wiring. The Amazon, 140 and other Volvos of that vintage have no fuses in the headlight circuit and ignition circuit. The Amazon only has 3 (??) fuses so there may be even more stuff that is un fused compared to my 140. Shorts on unfused circuits result in burning until the short is cleared or the battery runs out of energy. Want to avoid that!

The Amazon headlight switch has a bit of a reputation for flakey operation so you might want to take it apart and clean it up prior to installation. While you are re doing the wiring, installation of some fused auxiliary relays to operate the headlights results in brighter headlights, the installation of H4 bulbs if you care to and reduced wear and tear on the headlight switch. Easier to plan and do when the car is still apart.
 
#21 ·
Thanks... the lantern battery is a great idea which I will certainly use. Planned on incorporating several electrical upgrades once I revalidate baseline wiring function, including the headlight dimmer/turn signal relay; the headlight power relay would go well with the H4s I just installed and the driving lights that will follow. Overdrive switching hardware, SwEm pushbutton start and aux power receptacle are other mods on the way.

Thanks for the great advice.
 
#24 ·
Yes, but you can still buy the batteries for anywhere from $17 to $35, and the chargers for about $25. Still a much better deal than frying your electrical system. I now think that your solution is even more clever than I originally said. 14.4V is perfect, and the versatility of the batteries/charger gives you lots of time to correct your many mistakes and tired, 50 year old components.
 
#26 · (Edited)
An old tech trick when you think you might have a dead short. (I use it with vintage guitar amps all the time)
On a car you'd hook up one battery cable then use a 12 volt bulb (tail light or whatever) between the other battery post and the cable. If you have a short the bulb will be fully on. The bulb takes the current and nothing gets damaged.
Then simply track down the short. . . . .
 
#27 ·
Another excellent tip... looking forward to getting power back on the car, but not until I get past finishing the floors for interior install. Thanks!
 
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