It should be OK. I had my truck undercoated about this time two years ago and then did a bunch of this stuff called Monstaliner on the rockers, door seams, pinch welds etc. I was like 22 hours into the 48hr cure in my heated garage and we got a 6” snowstorm lol. It was my only plow truck, I was cringing the whole time.
Beater Volvo 240 and it's quest against the odds to visit all 50 states
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As arduous as that was, I'm looking back shocked because "Before" was only a week ago.Before:
After:
I still worked 32 hours, and used only stuff I had sitting around and whatever I could scoop up at local part stores. I'm pretty proud, but I'm extremely excited to move on. Haha
Haha that's exactly how I am with the other Volvo. Changing oil in that thing is such a nuisance. Like I have to undo this splash shield which is fastened to a bunch of stripped plastic nuts. It would only take me a few minutes and a couple bucks to fix, but F that. That car is such a reliable, fuel efficient, and comfortable piece of SHIT and I hate it!
But really. I think I'm just so spoiled by that car being so good to me that I'm wildly offended every time it needs something.
. All four of the timing belt changes I've done have been "the last one" because I'm selling it. Lmao
I started reading through this, shit what years were you at Southern? Class of 07 here, did my 5.5 years. 
Looks like you did a good job with the base materials you had on hand. I've got a set of Astro Rockers sitting up in my attic rafters for a reason, I've always heard that replacement sheet metal is sketchy dimensionally.
Looks like you did a good job with the base materials you had on hand. I've got a set of Astro Rockers sitting up in my attic rafters for a reason, I've always heard that replacement sheet metal is sketchy dimensionally.
Nice! I'm class of 2014. Were you an Auto Tech major?
Thanks! Yeah, it was a bit tough, but I'm satisfied. At least an Astro rocker should be straight and relatively easy to section up and reshape how you need it. I had to have rust on the only round parts of a brick. Two dissimilar arches will never line up properly. If I were to do it all over again, I would have had a quarter cut off a rust-free parts car.
Thanks! Yeah, it was a bit tough, but I'm satisfied. At least an Astro rocker should be straight and relatively easy to section up and reshape how you need it. I had to have rust on the only round parts of a brick.
Two dissimilar arches will never line up properly. If I were to do it all over again, I would have had a quarter cut off a rust-free parts car.
Nah, I went for EET. Wound up in computers but that's an aside. Cars are strictly a hobby for me, especially now that I told my in laws I'm not working on their shit any more.
From a metal choice I could see how doing wheel arches would suck. I bet you're right on just getting a quarter because there's just too many curves to efficiently make a new piece for that.
It's good for the winter now, you can always come back later. Keeping everything water tight (and rust free) is the important part.
From a metal choice I could see how doing wheel arches would suck. I bet you're right on just getting a quarter because there's just too many curves to efficiently make a new piece for that.
It's good for the winter now, you can always come back later. Keeping everything water tight (and rust free) is the important part.
You should feel proud you tackled this and got it done in short amount of time. That is no easy feat trying to do metalwork, bodywork and paint in a week
I'm so glad that's over. I'm gonna let the clear flash for a few days. Then I'll wash, buff, and wax. It's super satisfying to see this corner all rust-free even with all it's imperfections. I'm ready for more road trips!
I washed, lightly wet sanded, and polished the spot yesterday. I didn't want to get too aggressive because it normally ends in all the rattle can clear coming off. There's only so much shine you're going to get out of it, and that's fine. It's what you get for ultra cheap. I mainly just wanted to smooth the transition between stock single stage and my rattle can job anyway. No more primer overspray can be seen! It looks it's best with water beaded up like this. Maybe I'll gain the courage to send a dry pic later. Anyway, this car got officially kicked out of the garage last night! On to Camaro stuff.
Anyway, this car got officially kicked out of the garage last night! On to Camaro stuff.
This car is really getting on my nerves.
Yesterday started off good though. I replaced the broken oil pressure sender connector. Now the dummy light works as it's supposed to.
Then I replaced one of the rear door switches since the dome light wouldn't come on if I opened it. I could make it flicker if I messed with the switch though. Easy fix. The new switches don't come with the rubber dust cover. I didn't know that they were so easy to swap over. I'll be saving these from now on!
That stuff was too easy. Plus, it was actually pretty nice out with lots of day light. I wanted to start figuring out the heated seat problem. Surely this will have something to do with it right? Note the dangling un connected wires and tar for some reason. ?‍
Started by cleaning that mess up, rebuilding connectors, and crimping a couple new terminals. Notice something else really odd about this seat? I didn't know until yesterday that there was another adjustment for these that could only be accessed from the back door! That's silly, Volvo. Why you do that?
Then I pulled the center console and all it's "contents". I think I'm immune to the rona now.
Bonus! I found a bad ground to the seat belt lights. That would explain their intermittent function. I just drilled a new hole for the self tapping screw.
I did some poking around with the multimeter and fixed a couple loose grounds, but unfortunately the main issue lies somewhere in the seat, because I have no continuity across its connector. Everything else checked out. It looks like I'll be pulling seat covers at some point to find a broken wire (super common) or something else that's dumb as hell because that would be more in-line with Moose's theme. No worries. I figured that was going to be the case. On the other hand, it still makes no sense that the switches don't illuminate. Oh well. I'll worry about what I know is bad first. It started to get dark, so I put things back together.
At least it looks nicer. This minor fail wasn't why I got irritated though. I went to run a quick errand and wouldn't you fucking know it?
The
damn
odometer
quit
AGAIN
I give up. If I ever get the rest of this car sorted out (heated seats, courtesy lights, heater valve) with the rest of the car behaving as it should, I'll spring the $500 or whatever it is to have the cluster completely refreshed. I'm not dicking with it anymore because I've officially exhausted all my knowledge and skills on that issue.
Yesterday started off good though. I replaced the broken oil pressure sender connector. Now the dummy light works as it's supposed to.
Then I replaced one of the rear door switches since the dome light wouldn't come on if I opened it. I could make it flicker if I messed with the switch though. Easy fix. The new switches don't come with the rubber dust cover. I didn't know that they were so easy to swap over. I'll be saving these from now on!
That stuff was too easy. Plus, it was actually pretty nice out with lots of day light. I wanted to start figuring out the heated seat problem. Surely this will have something to do with it right? Note the dangling un connected wires and tar for some reason. ?‍
Started by cleaning that mess up, rebuilding connectors, and crimping a couple new terminals. Notice something else really odd about this seat? I didn't know until yesterday that there was another adjustment for these that could only be accessed from the back door! That's silly, Volvo. Why you do that?
Then I pulled the center console and all it's "contents". I think I'm immune to the rona now.
Bonus! I found a bad ground to the seat belt lights. That would explain their intermittent function. I just drilled a new hole for the self tapping screw.
I did some poking around with the multimeter and fixed a couple loose grounds, but unfortunately the main issue lies somewhere in the seat, because I have no continuity across its connector. Everything else checked out. It looks like I'll be pulling seat covers at some point to find a broken wire (super common) or something else that's dumb as hell because that would be more in-line with Moose's theme. No worries. I figured that was going to be the case. On the other hand, it still makes no sense that the switches don't illuminate. Oh well. I'll worry about what I know is bad first. It started to get dark, so I put things back together.
At least it looks nicer. This minor fail wasn't why I got irritated though. I went to run a quick errand and wouldn't you fucking know it?
The
damn
odometer
quit
AGAIN
I give up. If I ever get the rest of this car sorted out (heated seats, courtesy lights, heater valve) with the rest of the car behaving as it should, I'll spring the $500 or whatever it is to have the cluster completely refreshed. I'm not dicking with it anymore because I've officially exhausted all my knowledge and skills on that issue.
That's why I'm so irritated. I don't actually believe that the car will make it to a million, but an inoperable odometer on an otherwise fully functional vehicle is like doing your homework on time without putting your name on it! I need some credit!
Yep. Luckily this never melted into the carpet like it does on some cars. I just pulled on it and it came off clean and in one piece like some sort of miracle.
What exactly are your symptoms? Mine doesn't like to start rolling after sitting overnight. After a few miles it just fires up. It's usually fine on my way home from work though. Really strange.
Battery light on the dash is intermittent with KOEO. Also intermittent (matching with the light's state) is the V+ at the exciter post on the alternator. I am replacing the alternator soon, but it seems like this behavior would indicate there's a break somewhere else in the exciter circuit. I've been too lazy to take the DMM to the points on the cluster and ignition, but I have a feeling it's in the cluster which I've fucked with many times over the past few years.
Ahhh yes. I battled the battery light for a long time in my first 240. It was always on really dim, but my dumbass kept testing voltage at the battery and calling the alternator bad. It turned out that the 4g wire was corroded so bad that there was a massive drop causing these little bitty 60-70A alternators to work twice as hard.
Good ole Autozone kept giving me new ones under warranty anyway. My diagnostic skills have improved a bit since then.
Ahhh yes. I battled the battery light for a long time in my first 240. It was always on really dim, but my dumbass kept testing voltage at the battery and calling the alternator bad. It turned out that the 4g wire was corroded so bad that there was a massive drop causing these little bitty 60-70A alternators to work twice as hard.
wait till your dash light shorts out so your alternator doesn't kick on.
There a bolt in upgrade?
lol!
For alternators? There is a 100A Bosch unit that I think comes in the 940s. It's not 100% plug and play, but it's pretty simple IIRC.
It allows the whole seat to tilt on a hinge at the front of the seat track. The front lever does the same except in the rear. Very strange. Mine also happens to be totally jacked up because there are supposed to be three spots to choose from. One side insists to be one position higher than the other, so I only have two possible choices. ?‍Damn odometer!!
And wtf does that lever adjust on the seat?
I'll have to figure out whats up with that when I take it out again. If you force it to be even on both sides, the fore/aft sliders get jammed. W.T.F.A light bulb kicked on earlier today. I have seats from my first wagon in the basement! I can toss those suckers in there while I take my time repairing these. The seats from the old wagon are pretty beat up, but they aren't much worse than the ones in the car.
It doesn't move like that. It only adjusts an inch or two. Now that I know it exists, I'm super happy though. It will actually be a lot more comfortable in a different setting. I'll have to make a video to demonstrate some time.
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