Volvo P1800ES...kinda

These last few posts are freeking incredible showing the amazing depth to be found in this paint job.....who needs a mirror go, look in the quarter panel......very well done my friend..

In reply to 759NRNG :

I had to go back and look; when I am in the shop all I see is a car that is getting covered in dust and feeling guilty about that!

The paint finish is "out of the gun" smooth. I have a friend who is into color sanding who will probably try and guilt me into spending 40 plus hours wet sanding the car and then polishing. Well see. I have been frantically putting chrome pieces on in hopes that that will change his mind on the subject;)

Pete

Wow, Pete!  Really coming along nice!!!

Wow..been a while since I updated. Truth is that nothing monumental will happen until I fire it up again but suffice to say I am still picking away at the thing.

The bad news is that I still need to find a "Gill"  that goes in front of the filler, for this side of the car.

Good news is that she has two Gills! Thanks CJ! Owe you a beer and a drive.

Much nicer!

The wiring is moving along, albeit slowly as I decipher what I have and figure out how to tame and adapt it to the Molvo needs. Thank god for the Miata factory wiring manual or it would be a lost cause. Even with, a rational person might have gone with an aftermarket harness, but I dont fit that bill.

The fuel points to the engine compartment are done. The fuel line runs inside the Miata frame rail under the car and snakes up at this point making for an elegant entry into the engine bay. Simple matter to connect to the FITECH using hard and braided lines from here.

Frustrating because it seems that everything I start has to stop because of something or other and then I jump around to half finish something else. Also not to be underestimated is the cash-flow for this stage of the project. Nickels and dimes for clamps and connectors and new batteries and AC pumps and hoses add up in a hurry! Regardless, driving season will be here soon and I am determined to drive it this spring.

Pete

Wow Pete, the car looks great!  Looking forward to a bev and a drive someday ;=)

Pete, who's your go-to supplier for wiring supplies/connectors/harness wrap/etc?  I've got some of that to do on the TVR, and I'd like to know your sources.

Any tricks and tips you can share?

Thanks!  Scott

In reply to TVR Scott :

I am working with the Miata harness and  a lot of the connectores are stock Mazda. Harness wrap is just split loom either braided or convoluted, no magic.  I dont like to overwrap wires to where I cant at them when trouble shooting, so tend not to do the full electrical tape wrap of everything. 

Connectors are another thing. Just got some knockoff of the weatherpacs and not all that happy with them.  Still trying to mitigate that.

A lot of the connections are just spade connectors and those are easy enough to get. 

Pete

Have you already said or are you still fussing over interior panel colors? And what page do I need to go to witness 

the miata dash flow into the 'A' pillarvolvofrontdoorpaneltransition....

Slowly making progress on the wiring install. Most of the non-used wiring has been stripped from the harnesses and the routing has been established. The good news is that everything should tuck up out of sight under the Volvo fenders.

Since I am keeping the architecture of the Miata harness what I need to sort out next is the "Circuit Opening Relay".

Obviously the three inputs from the engine control unit are gone

The plan was to run the fuel pump power from the fitech to the "1" V wire and hope that it closes the relay to the L/R fuel pump wire.  I am ASSUMING that I don't need to power the W/R that operated the airflow meter?

Pete

759NRNG said:

the miata dash flow into the 'A' pillarvolvofrontdoorpaneltransition....

yes I want to know as well :)

In reply to 759NRNG :

NOHOME said:

In reply to 759NRNG :

In the end this segue from Mazda to Volvo will be a true work of art......news at eleven .......next month 

In reply to 759NRNG :

As you can see, it  will require a bit more time and effort to blend the interfaces, but nothing that seems that daunting beyond the time requirements. At this point I am focused on getting  the car on the road this spring so that the mechanical gremlins can be sorted.No doubt there is at least a year before I get the details finished.

Maybe you could paint a couple ricotta containers...

Lots more happened, but this is the only thing that got finished this weekend.

And while not strictly original from the Volvo factory, I am thinking a pair of these to light up the plate. Not sure what the factory did for this cause it is not apparent in any pictures.

On original cars, the plate is mounted to a bracket mounted to the sheet metal under the bumper and the light is mounted on the bumper.  IIRC, the wiring is run on the left side support under the seal. I've had trouble finding a picture of the light (it's inside the center part of the bumper), but this is the bracket:

This is a picture that makes me happy.

A lot of boring non- photogenic work has been going on the last few weeks to get the Miata harness to speak Sweedish. All of the computer wiring has been stripped out.  A lot of Miata specific circuits that were not needed had to be stripped out.  Wires needed to be moved from the left side of the harness. The bundles of wires near the olumn have an identified home and a lot of the lights have been ohmed out to see if stuff is going to to work.  The HVAC components are in place and expected to stay in place from now on. Not wild about how the carpet gets trapped under the HVAC plenum, but it is what it is.

Dash should be in by end of this week-end.

Good progress.  Is that the final shifter you plan to use or is there something else in mind?  What's it from?

Very nice, amigo! Great progress!

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

The shifter is a stock Miata shifter. Fits the tunnel and the console like they were meant to go together.

The dash fits into the Volvo remarkably well, but I was wondering about the ends where it looks like it originally flowed into the Miata door panels (circled in red below).  I don't suppose there's an easy way to change their contour?  (I apologize for potentially making up more work for you just when you're on the home stretch of finishing this thing.) 

In reply to stuart in mn :

A significant amount of time can and might be put into the interior, but it can wait.

The seats will get recovered, the dash-top will be sprayed black, the white headliner will go in and the Volvo burnt-orange door panels will be popped into place. The rear gets a carpet. Then it gets driven for the season. Yeah...might look like someone who got dressed in the dark,and needs geranimals, but it will be functional and give me time to consider what I want to do interior-wise. In the short haul I suspect that I will have enough development work to do in the running department to keep me busy. Shooting for a June debut on the road and I want to have both 302 powered Volvos at the July Volvo meet.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

When you get to the point of playing with the door panels, maybe look into the earlier type of latch handle rather than the kinda odd ES handle. It may be easier to integrate into the dash end.

In reply to Ian F :

You thinking these guys? They are kinda cool.

While the dash has been in before, It has not been in to stay ( please lord let this be true) and the top has not been re-painted.

Am now on the prowl for a new instrument cluster hood since the tabs for the one I have all seem to be busted

Pete