Looking better all the time, Sion!

MP...still want that mesh 'Volvo Sound' grille I found...?

cheers

James

Yes Foggy. Cheers.

Time for a 2014 update!

The weekend was warm, so I took the car out of its winter hibernation. I was delighted that it started first time and drove straight out of the garage with no problems.

Over winter, I had ordered a new radiator for the car. We'd discussed earlier in the thread about refurbishing, but that would have cost three times the cost of the new radiator! So Sunday, was radiator fitting day. It actually was very easy - I was expecting a minor disaster, but it didn't happen.

New radiator:


Old radiator:


The only snag is, the top hose join is still leaking! But I can see why, which is that the new hose is slightly too wide, and needs a bit of force to clamp it down. Unfortunately, as the rubber is so tough, the jubilee clip just isn't having much of an effect. It just won't tighten, either the screw starts to round off or the metal strip begins to fail under the pressure.


You can see, the old-fashioned original clips on the other end of the hose work as they should:


So I have ordered a better clip, and hope that makes a proper seal.

So ultimately, it was a bit pointless replacing the radiator as the old one wasn't in fact cracked, but I think it was still worth doing, and it means that I have a spare one for the future.

Is it that time of year already?

Er, right. Haven't forgotten about this clicky-clack wotsit. I'll refocus on this. Just have to pop out and do some errands, including picking up a head gasket set...

The one that failed, wasn't a halfords per chance was it? Proper Jubilee clips (with "I am a proper real life Jubilee clip made by Jubilee" on it) take a much greater load before failure!

Hi Sion.
Great looking rad. When i bought the Banana 10 years ago, goodness, is it that long.
A brand new rad came up for sale over at VOC for a few quid so i snapped it up
Last time i looked, it was still there
Cheers Mark.

The clip which failed was from Wilco, it was a 'Pearly What Not'. It looks identical to the Halfords one which I also tried.

Chris_C wrote:The one that failed, wasn't a halfords per chance was it?

I've had some perfectly good "Halfords" ones - *goes to man cave, checks* - I think they were the QH stamped ones, which I assume are Quinton Hazell. I suppose it all depends which supplier they are buying from this week.

Chris_C wrote:Proper Jubilee clips (with "I am a proper real life Jubilee clip made by Jubilee" on it) take a much greater load before failure!

I agree with Chris, they are the perfect cure for dripsomania. Got a load of them in the past in Stainless. Supplies running low in the cave though. NORMA ones are all right too.

Hi-grip are another one that work quite well. I used to use a lot of Norma clips but I've had some recently that have not been so good.

On Mac's recommendation, I ordered some of these: http://www.autosiliconehoses.com/ash-t- ... -clip.html

I think that they have done the trick!

The new heavy duty clip properly grips and squashes the rubber, and I have gone for several drives this afternoon and no leaks can be detected. Hurrah!

Now that is a substantial clip!

Time for another little update. I have just returned from a fun three day Volvo 300 adventure in the Netherlands and Belgium, collecting some interesting parts.

Whilst in Born, I stopped by at the factory to take some pictures:


Thanks to RJ, I finally have a working Hazard Warning light



New interior courtesy light (yes, I know I am still missing the switch):


Boot light cover and accessory brown boot boxes:


And the pièce de résistance is a new interior mirror. The one that was on the car when I bought it is a generic one, not the correct Volvo part. At Dafhobby, I managed to source a correct brown mirror, but the brown plastic surrounding the glass had become brittle and was completely smashed.


So at the same time, I found a black one too, so I have made a slightly hybrid brown/black mirror:



It's not perfect, but makes me a lot happier than the incorrect generic modern mirror which it replaces!

S10NPH wrote:but the brown plastic surrounding the glass had become brittle and was completely smashed.

Must be enough bits in a bag to help print one out?

All very, very brown.

I found a good match for the brown when I had my old car, ford mexico brown spray can, I resprayed a small number of plastic parts which had faded. It stuck fine to the plastic, rigid parts only though, I'd imagine it would flake off anything bendy.

Glad to see you tracking down some items. I still have my old metal backed parcel shelf like that one!

The holes in the boot wheel arch panels are for a small rubber luggage straps with a metal hook, they used to perisg and break off!

I see the plastic mouldings over under the seat rails are cracked.......it's all coming back to me now!!

macplaxton wrote:Must be enough bits in a bag to help print one out?

I should have taken a picture before I dismantled it, but there was only about 25% of the surrounding plastic remaining, and it was cracked every few cms. As soon as I removed the glass the plastic lost all semblance of integrity and disintegrated. The black plastic surround was completely fine, so maybe one day I will bravely paint it brown!

Hell Driver wrote:I see the plastic mouldings over under the seat rails are cracked.......it's all coming back to me now!!

Yes, they are indeed cracked, not looking forward to the mess I'd need to fix if I remove the seats! I found out over the weekend that the rail securing the carpet in place under each door should in fact be plastic, but as I saw in the flesh, they crack and fall apart, so I'm quite glad to have had replacement metal ones fitted at some stage. They're still brown, so I'm not too unhappy

Hell Driver wrote:The holes in the boot wheel arch panels are for a small rubber luggage straps with a metal hook, they used to perisg and break off!

I've not been brave enough to try hanging anything off the hook, given your experience, perhaps that was wise.

Hell Driver wrote:Glad to see you tracking down some items. I still have my old metal backed parcel shelf like that one!

Thanks, it requires a bit of searching though! What I am still in need of is an MPH orange speedometer, as otherwise I'm stuck using my sat-nav to make sure I don't set off any speed cameras. Some better seats or seat covers would also be nice, but finding some will be extremely difficult. I will keep looking!