Volvo 1800ES: Engineering a Resurrection

On some automotive TV show somewhere last night, I'm willing to lay odds that, inside of an hour, a gang of in-fighting Maury Povich rejects dragged a forlorn Chevelle out of the weeds behind a barn in Kentucky, dropped in a crate motor, tossed in some seats, splashed on some paint, and then proceeded to sell it at Mecum for $30,000.

Meanwhile, in a small garage in rural Maryland, I managed to tack about 12" of replacement frame to the bottom of a 1973 Volvo.

And I'm not really happy with the alignment; after checking it against the driver's side it's off by about 3mm.  So tonight I'll cut the tacks and try again.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

When the rejects are done all they have is another Chevelle, just another belly button, no matter how you dress it up. You on the other hand have a Plymford

How are you checking the alignment of the repair piece? I would think that the crossmember, bolted into the good side, would dictate the location of the repair panel on the other side.

Pete

Love the penny Volvo story, and feel better about my own part hoarding problem knowing you do the same.  Can't throw that stuff out, might be worth it's weight in gold at a later date!

NOHOME said:

How are you checking the alignment of the repair piece? I would think that the crossmember, bolted into the good side, would dictate the location of the repair panel on the other side.

 

Pete

Original plan was to mate up the cross member to check.  But then I forgot about that and started modifying the crossmember.    I do have a spare cross member, but it's fully "dressed", and I'd have to disassemble the whole thing to use it as a template for the frame.  Barring that, I've been taking measurements and comparing them side-side; seems pretty symmetrical.  I'll also check the diagonals across the cross member mounting points.  

I don't pretend to be the world's greatest welder.  The Genesis of my welding career occurred my freshman year of college, at the machine shop class I took.  I still recall that poor instructor, tasked with getting a group of aspiring young mechanical engineers to get their hands dirty.  I won't say I was his prize student (I believe my final project, a small model cannon, ended up something like 7/8 scale due to my misreading the print) but at least I was eager to learn.  And the next year, when I was finally able to get an off-campus apartment, I bought my own welder.

Which is the very same welder I'm still using.  

After realigning the frame member and taking roughly a score of different measurements side to side, back and forth, up and down, and diagonally, I was satisfied.  It was "Good 'Nuff".  'Twas time to put together what the plasma cutter had rent apart.  It was time to join metal with fire.  

There may be more grinding to do, depending on which holes I end up using for the eventual steering conversion.  But at least now it's ready to bolt a cross member up to.  

I'd better get back to work on that.  

Made a mirror image of the suspension mount relocation plate on the cross member:

And the flip side, which has the upwards-facing cross member mounting bolts, has been sliced to allow lowering of the mounting plates.  

The eagle-eyed observer will note the little odd trapezoidal plate with the hole in it on the lower left.  This is one of the new mounting plates, fabbed out of 1/8" steel plate.  The observationally-enhanced will also note that I've started cutting through the crossmember to begin enwidening it.

Steady as she goes...

The internals of the member are not only well-populated with mouse nests, but also well-reinforced with braces.  This will be fun to stretch and maintain the structural integrity.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I do seem to recall the front suspension of the P1800 being about as heavy as a brick house when I was carting it off to the scrapyard. I think it was meant to serve double duty as a skid plate in some of the third world markets.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

Those cross members actually have some value.  I saved 'em off all the 122's and 1800's I've parted.  I can usually get $100 for a decent, unbent, solid one, and stripped of all the rest of the suspension they're not too bad to ship.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

When you have two Miatas and two P1800s disassembled in the garage, shop space suddenly becomes more important than $$$.

Looking forward to seeing how you graft the crossmember. I know how I would do it if I had a spare one kicking around.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

How I would do it: Cut a section out of the donor cross member, split the metal into it's individual components, tack a couple of braces to keep the two halves in alignment, then weld the metal in from the inside working out. 

In reply to Ian F :

That's sort of my plan.  

Last night I decided to bolt up the brackets that are to be welded to the new crossmember to the frame of the car, and then devise a way to get the crossmember into place so the brackets could be welded to it.  After some thought, I walked out to where I've been building Mrs. VCH's new chicken coop and came back with some chunks of pressure treated 2 x 8.

I'm still fiddling around with it to figure out where everything wants to live, but this jig makes getting everything aligned a lot easier than my previous method, which was lying uderneath the car and bench-pressing crossmember halves into place.  

Now, though, a critical decision point has been reached.  Do I weld the crossmember halves together with a filler piece first, then raise it into the car and weld it to the brackets, or weld it to the brackets and then insert the piece of filler crossmember?  Both ways have plusses and negatives, though just typing it out now I'm leaning towards one way....and I'll tell you which later.  

Small progress to report last night.  Jacked the car up on 4 stands, got it level(ish) side-to-side and fore-and-aft.  Swept out underneath and took the remainder of the exhaust system off.  The exhaust seems to be stainless, and in very good shape, so if anyone needs that, I don't think I do.  

The rest of the story is, it was 28 degrees last night, my hat was damp from having been left in the rain and then frozen, and a baseball cap is a poor substitute for a stocking hat.  So I came in early and got warm by the fire, had some wine, and went to bed.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Not that I have room for it, but I may be interested in the stainless exhaust. The full system from the manifold back?

In reply to Ian F :

Mostly.  I say that because it was clamped onto the OEM downpipe from the B20, and I had to cut it off with the angle grinder.  SO it may be missing 2 or 3 inches from the front section.  I also had to cut it off at the muffler right before the over-the-axle bit of the tailpipe, so it would have to be welded back together there.  I will verify its stainless-ness with a magnet, too, and get back to you, but it's suspiciously free of any corrosion and looks like it would polish up nicely.  If you want the Manifold downpipe I have that, but it's not stainless, just regular steel.

I'll take some pics tonight.  If you want it, I'll hold it for you until we can meet sometime, as shipping will be somewhat cumbersome and you're not too far away.  I can get it to Baltimore, or you'd be welcome to come right to my place.  Plus if you come see it, and don't want it for some reason, there's no hassle with return shipping or whatever.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Cool.  My car is a very long ways from needing an exhaust system, so no rush. Unfortunately, at this time I cannot give any estimates on when I can get down to MD.  But I do occasionally get down to the Fredrick area to do mtn bike rides with my friends from DC.  

Not that you ask or don't have a plan, but as a socially climbing post whore I feel obliged...

I would find me the biggest diameter roll bar tube that fit inside the triangle and using a hole saw slide it all the way across the cross member.

I would then drill some 1/8" plate with the same hole saw and use the plate to cap the two ends of the cut cross member. Drill hole first and trim plate to fit after, cause easier to locate hole. Then weld the lot together. Use some radially arranged filler pieces across the gap. Cap with an outer piece of sheet steel if you are so inclined.

NOHOME said:

Not that you ask or don't have a plan, but as a socially climbing post whore I feel obliged...

That's OK, I feel like some of my activities could be construed as post-whoring too.  I appreciate the suggestions.  

Since I have a whole bloody backyard full of 122s, I figured scabbing in a section of x-member from an Amazon would be the most expeditious route to what I was trying to achieve.  In my mind I had a hazy recollection of a 122 member sitting on a shelf in one of my sheds, already stripped of the suspension bits.  And after about 5 minutes of searching, I found it.

Buried under a mountain of other Amazon parts.

Which necessitated about 10 minutes of clearing a space to move said parts to, in order to excavate said cross member.  I'm pretty sure this came from The Penny Volvo, too.  I'm certainly getting my money's worth out of that car, if only one piece at a time.  

The 122 cross member differs a bit from the 1800 one; I knew that.  The arrangement in which it attaches to the frame is different, for example.  

But, the center portion looked to be the same, which is the bit that matters.  And so, armed with a cut-off disc-equipped angle grinder, I sliced out a 2.5" wide segment from the 122 cross member.  

Um.  Wait.

Well, fudge.  

So, it's not an exact match.  Interestingly, though, the ribbing along the bottom bit aligns perfectly.  Rather than waste the stuff I'd already cut up, I decided to make it work.  After carefully aligning the two halves of the 1800 cross member on the jig, I sliced out the bottom section of the extension piece and fitted it in. 

I didn't weld anything in last night; I figured I'd just spend some time thinking and planning, measuring and trimming.  I decided to go with a 2.5" widening on the member after measuring the distance between the UCA mounting points on the crossmember and the frame rail width (25-7/8", if you care) on the 1800ES.  The UCA's mount via a bar that bolts to the x-member, and because of the length of the bar, it needs to reside in between those frame rails.  Unless major surgery (that I didn't want to attempt) were to be performed on the frame rails, that was the practical limit for widening the track.  

Lined up and ready to tack in place...

volvoclearinghouse said:

NOHOME said:

Not that you ask or don't have a plan, but as a socially climbing post whore I feel obliged...

That's OK, I feel like some of my activities could be construed as post-whoring too.  I appreciate the suggestions.  

Since I have a whole bloody backyard full of 122s, I figured scabbing in a section of x-member from an Amazon would be the most expeditious route to what I was trying to achieve.  In my mind I had a hazy recollection of a 122 member sitting on a shelf in one of my sheds, already stripped of the suspension bits.  And after about 5 minutes of searching, I found it.

Buried under a mountain of other Amazon parts.

Which necessitated about 10 minutes of clearing a space to move said parts to, in order to excavate said cross member.  I'm pretty sure this came from The Penny Volvo, too.  I'm certainly getting my money's worth out of that car, if only one piece at a time.  

And it didn't cost you a dime.

It cost you a penny.

In reply to tuna55 :

That would be hilarious to budget if I were doing this car for The Challenge.

1. Cross Member widening: 1/100 of 1 cent
2. Frame Repair: 1/250 of 1 cent
3. etc.

I should try to use as much from The Penny Volvo in this project as I can.  

After a bowl-sized goblet full of Manhattan and a few mugs of mulled wine, dinner, and tucking the little VCHs to bed with a story, I decided to hit the shop for a bit and Tinker with the crossmember.  It was around 20 past 9 when I went out...and I just got back in. Mrs. VCH is sitting next to me, making jewelry, and there's another mug of hot, spiced wine between us.

Before welding the bottom plate in, I bent up a little trapeze to slide into the x-member. Then, once the inside of the bottom was welded up, I slid the trapeze out to bridge the gap. Like so.

The little hole is to indicate the center of the plate, and give me something to position it with- a screwdriver fits into the hole.

I measured the distance between the LCA mounting points front and rear pre- weld, and got 17-25/32" on each side. As the welding progressed, I checked periodically and made small tweaks as needed. It currently sits at 17-25/32" still. Once that trapezoid is welded in it'll be really solid.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

Buried under a mountain of other Amazon parts.

 I had a vision of an Amazon cross member under a mountain of Amazon shipping boxes.  LOL

Sorry for the delay in posting. Progress stalled due to a biological disturbance in my immune system. I.E. I had a cold. The sniffles haven't quite abated, but it was a nice November evening (I.E. it was above 40 degrees) so I went out and plugged away for a couple of hours.

At some point in welding in that trapezoid of steel (which would be a pretty decent name for a band) the crossmember, like my sense of humor, warped. I'd been doing spot welds and trying to keep the heat down, but it was twisted about the lateral axis to the tune of about 1/4" on one end. My first thought- let's use some heat, and try to bend it back.

When that didn't work, I resorted to drastic measures and the plasma cutter.

The picture above shows the member post-twist. My implements of force-generation were a few long pipes, a cinder block, a stout metal workbench, and my 185 pound ass.

When everything was aligned back to my satisfaction, a SLOWLY and CAREFULLY started welding it back together. After successfully rejoining the trapezoid, I mated up the final, cover piece and gave it the business with the Lincoln.

Now that -that's- done, the fitting back up to the car bit can begin.

This is at my local Pick n Pull, do you need any parts?

In reply to EvanB :

Yes.

How much for the whole car?