BHX recommissioning thread - 1979 Volvo 343 DL

[Chris_C]

http://popularclassics.forumcircle.com/ ... hp?t=15309

Thats the thread. Stunning work.

[S10NPH]

She looks awesome bud! On the above, just be super careful that they are going to do a "proper job". If you can, take it to a classic car restorer rather than a bodyshop, get them to show you other work they've done (even better if it's 3 years old) just to see.

It's a minefield, getting people who care isn't easy. There was a chap on another forum who was doing a *lot* of work on a customers 200, no idea where in the country he was though. I'll have a look at least.

Thanks! Yes, I'm chuffed, although I kinda wish it wasn't red, just for some variety!

I've had a small amount of welding done to the sill of the 345 at a local bodyshop, and I was very impressed with his work. The patch is totally hidden, and he does seem to care as I've been back for a couple of other small jobs too. But as you say, he's not a classic car restorer, and may not be up for this amount of work. I guess it's hard to see how much needs doing until I poke about properly. I forgot to take pictures of a couple of small areas on the passenger door under the window trim near the mirror and the same place on the passenger rear window. You can just about see them on the first set of pictures, and they look a little fiddly.

[macplaxton]

Some of Gray's work on his Bedford CF
http://popularclassics.forumcircle.com/ ... hp?t=17068 (phwoooar look at the weld beads on that!)

no idea where in the country he was though.

Gray (Graeme) the welding god is in Leigh, Lancastercestershire. http://www.autofusion-uk.co.uk/

(And you spend more time on there than I do!)

[Chris_C]

Cheers mate! I'd missed the CF stuff completely however... off for a read (this is when I'll find I've posted on the thread isn't it...)

When I saw the thread on the 240 I was just blown away. Truely stunning work.

[trabitom99]

Lovely car! I like the '79s too, with the old style wheels and the wing decals, but with the Volvo 200-style dash already fitted.

Cheers

Tom

[S10NPH]

Well, we have worked all day on the car today, so I thought this thread deserved an update.

First, some daylight pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, and today before we started:






Spare instrument cluster:


Locking fuel cap...:

...with its original box FTW:


Halfway through some t-cutting of the bonnet (can you tell where hasn't been done yet?):

And finished:



Next to Bjorn (they are actually different shades of red if you look closely):


Some crunchy bits:







With PGH this morning:




Then the 'fun' started...


For psychological reasons, we decided to rub down and paint the wheels, so we did the preparation today and we'll paint tomorrow. I'm planning to have them shotblasted eventually, but they should help make the car look less sorry for itself in the short term.



Here is what's left of some of the rust areas I found. Oh dear! We're going to rub them down tomorrow.






From first impressions of the wings, do people think they might be salvageable? I would rather keep them if possible, but if someone does have a pair of MK1 wings they'd be willing to part with, then please let me know. I also need a MK1 radio - again, please let me know if anyone has one.

And here are some repairs that we're starting to do on the minor rust. Due to the expected welding costs for the structural repairs, we're trying to deal with the minor bodywork issues ourselves.




I also spent quite a bit of time carefully sewing the driver's seat back together where it had developed a tear, I'm quite pleased with the result. The seat also had the entire contents of a spray bottle of Vanish upholstery stuff sprayed onto it and sponged off, so it's much less grubby than it was.


We've also managed to push out the dent in the rear off-side quarter, which doesn't look too bad for free (apart from blood and swearing).
Before:

After:


Oliver has also shined up the centre caps ready to go on the newly painted wheels tomorrow.
Before:

After:


And finally, I thought this was rather sweet:


Until tomorrow! Hope you enjoy.

[macplaxton]

Thanks for the update Sion.

Spare instrument cluster:

Sans clock too I've got a spare somewhere.

From first impressions of the wings, do people think they might be salvageable? I would rather keep them if possible, but if someone does have a pair of MK1 wings they'd be willing to part with, then please let me know.

I don't have. I don't know. But I may be able to find out more.

I also need a MK1 radio - again, please let me know if anyone has one.

Now you need to purge your mind of these "MK" ideas Sion.
I'll call if you want to find out more about radios as there are plenty of MY76-MY82 radios to choose from.

[V6 Man]

I also need a MK1 radio - again, please let me know if anyone has one.

Now you need to purge your mind of these "MK" ideas Sion.
I'll call if you want to find out more about radios as there are plenty of MY76-MY82 radios to choose from.

HA!!

Caught you out there, you should have said MY76-MY81 as MY82 got the new style dash.

Now you need to purge your mind of these "MY" ideas MacP

[macplaxton]

HA!!

Caught you out there, you should have said MY76-MY81 as MY82 got the new style dash.

Now you need to purge your mind of these "MY" ideas MacP

I don't think so, here's my MY82 that VND keeps pestering me to sell (the answer's still no btw)



and inside:



MY83 got a revised Smiths dash

[V6 Man]

I'll admit defeat only if you show that you 'MY82' car was built in Oct '82 or later. If it's a Sept '82 on a 'Y' then it's still MY81. All other Y plates I've seen have had the later dash, yours is the first I've ever seen with the old dash. I went to the launch of the 'revised' 300 back in Oct 1982 as it was jointly held with the launch of the 760 and one of the main features they went on about was the revised interior in the 300.

[macplaxton]

The car was registered in August 1982.

You must have went to the launch of the 'revised' 1983 model year 300 then . The model year runs from the Sept the previous year to the August of the actual model year.

"MY82" runs from September 1981 to August 1982.
"MY83" runs from September 1982 to August 1983.

Hope this helps.

[V6 Man]

Balls, dammit and buggeration!

I was basing this on my 345 that was a 'Mk2 with Mk1 dash' and thought it was a W reg. Having dug out the paperwork it wasn't, it was an X reg (Nov '81) and thus a 1982MY so you are right.

That being said, your Y plate car must have been one of the very last to have had the old style dash which makes it even rarer. I can't imagine that many would have been sold given the new model was on the way a month later.

[jtbo]

I have XLB343 (like any 3dr 300 series cars, I believe) then 3 numbers and CC then 6 numbers. First C of CC is year code, C is 1982 add letter to add year or subract letter to subract a year, MY1981 car is BC most likely.

Only problem is that my car is registered at spring of 1981 according to registration documents and it is very much alike to macplaxton's car, only colours are different I believe, oh and he has opening rear windows in that one...

I did see 1982 model on sale that has grey interior and old style dash, it was spring/summer 1982 model, I thought that grey interior did came only after swapped to MY1983 or was it some sort of option for certain colours?

That was in metallic green car and such I'm certain I have seen with green interior.

Not very big fan of colour interiors myself to be honest, but I like the 1st type of dahboard best, with orange needles and some dials at center of dashboard, that combinet to grey interior should be a winner.

[trabitom99]

From first impressions of the wings, do people think they might be salvageable? I would rather keep them if possible, but if someone does have a pair of MK1 wings they'd be willing to part with, then please let me know.

About the wings, this is how my MY80 wings were repaired:




and this is what they look like now (from a distance):



Have you got a close-up of the rust on yours? New wings will need a complete respray, and it can be hard to get the colour to blend in, if you don't start doing the whole lot while you're at it.

If you're not phased, let me know, I might be able to help with wings.

I also need a MK1 radio - again, please let me know if anyone has one.

I'll give it some thought ...

Cheers

Tom

PS I'm all for MY terminage rather than "Mks"

[SteveP]

Good effort! It does look a bit crusty in places but I really like the overall look of this one