Hi Chaps,
well today I removed the front wings with the idea of replacing or repairing them, your opinions would be very welcome!

When the wings were removed unexpected badness was found on the inner wings, dont know how Ill go about repairing them, but does look like there is a seam between the rusty bottom half and the sound top half, is this something that can be bought?

There are rust holes on the front valance, the passenger side sill does appear to need replacing, though the steel behind is still in good condition, the drivers side sill seems fine!

Looking at the wings would you replace or repair ( the passanger side wing also has a crease in it) !

Please comment and advise
cheers Jason

pics here http://photobucket.com/jaspersilusurl

Hello

it is a really lovely car, and the photos have an element of deja vu about them (see below) so I would just bite the bullet, give yourself a couple of years and get on with it....

Good luck. Bests, bogbasic.

Yup, looks similar to Fake too...

I'd start with taking out most of the interior (seats, carpet, boot side panels and boot carpet) If my hunch is right, the side where the sill is gone will also have a few issues in the floor pan/seat mounts, as the tiny "L" section that joins the floor to the sill is nearly completely missing in those photos. Secondly, check the rear damper top mount behind those boot plastics, I've a tiny feeling that might be making a bit for freedom too. Last place to check is the cross member under the car nearly above the axle, though I can't remember in a 360 how that varies with the different boot floor.

It's doable, myself and a mate got mine done in three non stop weeks from a position worse in the wings but better in the sills to what you have there, plus floor and rear damper mounts doing.

Pictures from mine are in here volvo.chriscardwell.co.uk though they are mixed up some. Ignore the welding of inner wing, that's on my other one, but then there is a set of sills then a break then a set of the wings as you are doing and sills etc.

Yep looks pretty similar to mine, only maybe not quite as bad. I'd say it needs major restoration work, which you can do.

Strip the car out, support the engine+gearbox weight off the chassis (eg prop up with jacks and wood). and remove the doors. Cover the windows inside and out to prevent damage from angle grinder sparks.

Put the car on axle stands on suspension parts.

Remove sills, and rebuild the inner parts, paying special attention to the jacking points, adding strengthening to the original design.
Add new outer sills (available).

Put the rear axle stands on the new rear jacking points.

Strip out the drive and fuel tank and repair the rear box sections and suspensions mounts. Then work round to the front of the car rebuilding the front valence and inner guards.

It will be probably much worse than that it looks, so be prepared, have plenty of rust removal tools and materials as well as breathing, eye and ear protection.

Having said that, it would probably be a much better idea to start with a better shell, like a garaged 340 and use the 360 to rebuild it. They still may need work, but maybe 10% the work, even if you still have to replace the sills, you probably won't have to rebuild the inners.

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... 3&start=15

Oh God,
cheers guys for the input, if its as bad as you all suspect ( with experience, god damn you ) then I may just start saving up for a minter and spend extra on complete waxoyl!
Ill spend this weekend searching out rust from all areas and will post pics of every bit I find, Im hoping to find no more, but you re probably right!

I have a limit of about £500 and 5 months to get it done including cost of tools, I have no angle grinder, no welder, no ramps, no axle stands( I reckon about £250 for these)

Can I cut a small section of the sill out with out bracing the car first just to have a sneak peak behind?

Also I have never ever welded anything or cut and shaped sheet metal, engine, steering and suspension I can usually figure out!
Lastly are the bottom sections of the inner wings available anywhere?

Cheers Chaps

The front wing inners are not available, and quite difficult to rebuild if the outer edge is lost, I use parts cut from a good car. Still difficult to marry it up.

Many cosmetic rust repair are available (Sills, wheel archs, window corners, door skins), but not front valence or inner sills (often needed). If you are very lucky you might pick a valence/front panel up on ebay.

Without experience of major welding work you probably do not want to put alot of effort into a car that may not turn out that well. I had a few failed attempts at major work before this car, luckily at the time there were plenty of good cheap 360s around, so I stopped wasting my time. To be honest on this car I am now starting to correct some of my early work. I pretty much had to repair every typical rust spot.

Yes mate,
lots of the outer edge is rusted away, so Ill have to find a donor car, may even have have to employ someone to weld it for me, maybe cheaper than buying all the welding gear anyway?
But will strip the car further this weekend to find more rust!
Cheers Jason

FWIW, when I did that same part, I took a cornflake packet, ran it down the passenger side (which still had the piece that I was missing on the drivers side of that outer edge) then cut it from the box, flipped it and offered it up. I then cut it out of 0.8mm, tacked it in place to the edge of the rust (not pretty, but it'll hold). Then build up from the inside of the car to the new bit of metal so it's supported, then cut the rust off it each side, every time following the process of:

cardboard template
cut out rusty bit
transfer template to metal
make metal fit hole
make metal fit hole again
still make metal fit hole

If your patch is spot on to your air gap, you need a lot less ninja skill in the welding department. In all three dimensions too.

Cheers Chris,
I think that will be my only option, I can deal with it in time, just hoping that the weekends rust finding is a failure cos when I pulled it out of the barn 2 weeks ago I thought my jobs would be new springs, new shocks, new brake pipes/lines and calipers, new bushes and perhaps some new steering parts
but now the big issue is rust I didnt suspect, apart from the front wings and sunroof I thought all was good, its not
Cheers Jason

Most "mint" car's I've seen have a lot hidden. Just be methodical, and take pictures along the way. You can be doing what feels like the same bit for a day and not feel to have got anywhere, but looking at a before and after reminds you just how much you have done.