Project Chloe - 1974 145 rebuild

Major Ledfoot

Meet Chloe, the third 140 in The Fleet -

Yes; this is the beginning of an ongoing project thread.

By Any Other Name

Okay, so (I hear you ask), how did this 145 get the nickname Chloe? Well, the first 140 I'd owned in many years was christened 'Xoe' by her previous owner (after the letters on the original registration plate). The second car to join the fleet, a white 142 from Queensland, copped the nickname 'Clyde' during its long journey from the sea to the mountains, due to the intermittent nature of its indicators just after purchase. Which reminded me somewhat of this phrase -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=i98QrSSHxo4&feature=youtu.be&t=46s

With the addition of another '74 140 to a collection consisting of a 'Xoe' and a 'Clyde', and without any plates to suggest another nickname, by the power vested in me by.... me, I guess... I thereby christened her 'Chloe' (an amalgam of Xoe and Clyde).

All In The Family

Clyde and Xoe....

... and Chloe makes three.

<p>

Genesis of Chloe

The Place: Goteburg, Sweden. Time: sometime in 1974:
A blue wagon trundles down the production line, and chassis number 250459 is driven out to the holding yard, where it awaits shipment to Australia.

The Place: Albion, Queensland. Date: August 9, 1974
R.L. and N. Johnson take delivery of their new car at the Albion Car Centre.

The Place: Albion, Queensland. Date: January 13, 1975
Chloe (who will not be named Chloe for another 40 years) gets her very first regular 10K service at Albion Car Centre - the first of many.

The Place: Bowen Hills, Queensland. Date: March 21, 2002
Chloe now appears to be owned by a guy named Andrew, and Bazz at Swedish Auto Spares sold him a water pump and some filters for Chloe.

The Place: Mountain Creek, Queensland. Date: January 20, 2005
Some 30 years and 417,892 km after her first 10K service, Chloe was at Sovereign Vehicle Specialists for another one that day.

The Place: somewhere in Queensland. Date: June 16, 2006
A failure to proceed raised the need for a receipt to Andrew from a towie for Chloe.

The Place: good question Date: sometime between June 16, 2006 and March 2014
Chloe changes owners from Andrew and end up in the hands of David.

The Place: the telephone network. Date: March, 2014
@egads (she/her) does a deal over the phone with David, the car's owner, to transfer that happy condition. Chloe is trailered to @Rob's place, where Chloe poses for pix under a tree.

The Place: Plainland, Queensland. Date: June 6, 2014, 12:30pm
On this day, @egads (she/her) flies north so he can drive south. An unregistered vehicle permit is created for Chloe, and he begins an epic five-day cross-country trip to bring her home. The duo get as far as Armidale with a bunch of pain and towing. An exhausted @egads (she/her) then rests on @PaddlerEd 's floor. Thanks to @jonbot being rad, Chloe then got trailered to Yass.

The Place: Yass, NSW. Date: March 10, 2015
A deal is done, and Chloe is mine, all mine! (cue evil laugh)
But I... lacked Faith, and had second thoughts about driving Chloe back that day.

The Place: Hume Highway, NSW. Date: May 11, 2015
Feeling the bravery inspired by packing a Power-All portable power bank, a trunk-full of tools, and a can of 'Start Yer Barstid', the wife and I head south to pick up and retrieve Chloe.
The dramas began with my wife's VW Golf - we were short of fuel, and the Check Engine Light came on just before we got into Sutton Forest to fill up - lots of misfiring. (I checked the engine - it was still there). But then we filled it up and it went okay. Phew!
As the sun was setting, we picked up Chloe, and away we went... momentarily.
And then, Chloe stopped. Twice. On the Hume Highway. On some uphill sections. Great! (Yes, it did...)
The first time it stopped, the fuel gauge said I still had plenty of fuel (halfway into Reserve) but it's clear now that the pump wasn't pumping it. So it would cough on hills, and then while going up a slight incline, it stalled. Then all the lights went out ....
I was worried about that temp gauge that was in the red since we left Yass. Had I lunched the engine? Opening the bonnet with a degree of trepidation, and found....
Loose battery terminals.
Problem part solved!
So we got going again and got about 3 kays... and it stopped in an even worse place than the first time. After that, we decided the fuel gauge be damned, it needs more gas. So into Gunning we go at 7:30pm - and found all the servos were shut. :( But the pub at Gunning keeps jerry cans of gas behind the bar. Who would've guessed? So I got her going again with a lot of hesitation and surge until we filled her up at Goulburn. She took 45 litres but she didn't miss a beat after that.
And then finally, at about 11:45pm, Chloe finally arrived at @Bennigee's place (phew!) where some MIG magic is to be performed.

Chloe is (at present) powered by a B20E equipped with K-Jetronic and a BW35, the ubiquitous 3-speed auto that's been fitted to damn-near every model of car at some point since Grandpa was a lad.

The Chloe Masterplan

The goal is to make Chloe an enhanced, but classic daily driver - meaning reliable, comfortable, practical, and reasonably low maintenance.

Parts of the interior trim have held up okay; others, not so. The dash will of course get the Dashboard Recovering Services treatment. I have a mini tacho ready to go into the instrument cluster, and a good set of spare door cards and carpet from a 164 which are the same colour, so they can have a new home. However it appears the heater fan has sung its last song to the Choir Invisible, so it's a good excuse to rip out the whole HVAC unit, give it some new seals, clean 40 years' worth of dust and crap out of it, and add aircon while I'm at it.

After 420,000+ km, it will also be high time to check out the state of the suspension. Nothing very radical is planned there - a polly rebush, slightly lowered springs, new shocks, a bigger front sway, and a little rear bar ought to be sufficient.

Since Chloe is going to be a DD, and since having an engine buzzing away at 3500 RPM is silly at highway cruising speed, and since my wife will also drive it and it therefore must have an auto-tragic, the BW35 is to go adios and get replaced with a slushy-something-else. A rebuilt AW71 seems like the go; they are known to do duty for many moons.

But what do I do about fitting an AW71 behind a B20? I've heard there are adapter plates around in Europe, but the asking price from one supplier is outta this world. Another solution is to get one made locally, I guess. Or maybe do an engine swap...

There's a school of thought which says the engine should be kept original. However, I am not seduced by K-Jet, regardless of how romantic it is said to be... and so I'm considering options, like -
* a sensible B20 rebuild with a K- or F- cam, and replacing the K-Jet with Megasquirt ... or
* dropping in a B230 with a 16V head and leaving it NA with chipped LH2.4 ... or
* swapping to a basically blueprinted and balanced B230FT set up for quick spool and low boost.

All of those decisions are a while off yet. The first step is to deal with the rust, of which Chloe has her fair share. Here's a diagram of where the rust has been found, so far.

It's possible more corrosion will be found, once the carpets and interior are removed.

To be continued....

egads (she/her)

@Rob bought it back from further north to his place after I bought it down the phone from a guy called David.

Major Ledfoot

egads;51445 wrote@Rob bought it back from further north to his place after I bought it down the phone from a guy called David.

Thanks for this info (and the pix). If you have some dates, I'll put them in the timeline.

egads (she/her)

Picked up in March and here is what Rob reckoned.

Rob (@Rob) March 2014
Done Deal, safe and sound at my place.

It started and ran on 3 for a bit but didn't have enough power to get onto the trailer, had to winch it on and roll it off. I would suspect fuel is the biggest issue, if it is not empty it is probably 40% water.
Obviously noticeable issues

1. Tyres are stuffed, particularly rhf
2. Rust under rear windows and windscreen (as you would expect)
3. Drivers seat stuffed.
4. It has brakes, they are just bad.... I'd reckon a flush and bleed and they may even be ok, certainly worth a try.
5. Drivers door check strap is either broken or not there as the door opens way too far.
6. paint could use some attention.

In short, It is cool and I like it....

You are welcome to leave it here as long as you need to, I am happy to do the couple of things it needs and give it a proper check-over when it is not raining. hopefully we can get it to a state where it can be driven home..

Some photos ----- http://realm.net.au/gallery/index.php/albums/460

Cheers

Then flew up on the 6th and then got it to Armidale with a bunch of pain and towing then crashed on @paddlereds floor and then got it trailered back to Yass thanks to @jonbot being rad.

Major Ledfoot

Cheers! :) History revised.

Tree

Dayumm, epic intro, so rich in history...thanks for sharing!
I thought my intro was epic too but no interest there :( maybe it was too epic for ozvolvo >:)

Major Ledfoot

But your intro was epic! (I'm often a read-only device...)

Vee_Que

Nice story. I am also keen on working out upright aw71 mounting for the ohv engines.

Major Ledfoot

Vee_Que;51592 wroteNice story. I am also keen on working out upright aw71 mounting for the ohv engines.

Someone on Brickboard (in Michigan perhaps?) was doing them at one stage, but that was, like, about 6 or 7 years ago. Do you know anyone else over here who may be interested in them? Perhaps we could get a group buy happening.

And now, for Part 2 of our featured program...

Under The Carpets

Fortunately, Chloe's left front floor pan only has a little bit of surface corrosion, which should clean up nicely with the wire wheel and some POR15.

These bubbles on the left hand rear quarter were cause for concern. At some point in her long life, Chloe has had a respray... and not a very good one.

I moved the spare wheel out of the spare wheel well, and expected to find all sorts of nastiness inside of the left rear quarter panel. But I was pleasantly surprised - all the bubbling on the other side of the panel appeared only to be surface rust.

The left hand rear wheel arch however has a hole which will definitely require attention.

The left and right 'buttcheeks' of the wagon appear to be clear of rust... although I did find a very water-soaked rag sitting partially on top of the tailgate washer bottle.... and partly inside the well itself. It's given the well on that side a very ickky appearance.

Yes; Chloe is going to need a very through internal clean and wash.

(to be continued)

Major Ledfoot

Eight months on, and ....

Very little has happened.

Except that Chloe has recently seen a little on-road action, as she could not remain where she was and thus had to be moved.

Chloe is here in the mountains now, and today was spent cleaning and scrubbing the door jambs and inside the cargo area. The windscreen molding was also removed, which let loose much soil and a hellava lot of black Silasitc. I'm not a fan of these molds. It's been decided that once each of my 140 projects has had its glass removed for repainting, each will receive a 1990+ type 240 windscreen seal - the early types are just magnets for soil and dust (and eventually rust).

The next stage is to strip out the interior, then keep cleaning the dirt and dust out of the inside. (pix to follow)

This car has had a respray at some point in her life, and it appears not to have been done very well, since not only does the colour fail to match in a number of places, but the preparatory work wasn't executed very diligently. Which may account for the multitude of blemishes, paint runs, and rust bubbles.

Ex850R

I am jealous , love the colour , and the plans particularly the 16V built for grunt.

Ovlover

Ex850R;68918 wroteI am jealous

This. 140s are great vehicles. Makes me want to take mine for a drive

Major Ledfoot

Ex850R;68918 wroteI am jealous , love the colour , and the plans particularly the 16V built for grunt.

There's a long way to go before the engine is decided upon, as today's discovery has been something of a setback. Whoever applied that colour you like unfortunately did a really bad job of it. There is overspray all over the body molds as well as the window rubbers.

Today, I removed the right rear cargo window to check out what was underneath. Well, there was rust.

<img src="https://ozvolvo.org/uploads/FileUpload/c9/18e76a5d63b8c265a0dcc9bf10aa02.jpg" />

Lots of it.

<img src="https://ozvolvo.org/uploads/FileUpload/ab/98071b99b32b9b8dfb8852a8bba528.jpg" />

A plethora of it, in the sill area.

<img src="https://ozvolvo.org/uploads/FileUpload/d9/a4a044cae0db99d96755025fbcbdb6.jpg" />

Then there was this really cute way in which somebody had attached the right front door mold... by means of a pop rivet.
<img src="https://ozvolvo.org/uploads/FileUpload/5a/f1b0c94ace7ebc240e6b2e2bae332f.jpg" />

Hmmm. Well. I am not a fan of body molds, they trap dirt and moisture and I prefer the look of a 140 without them. So they've been removed, complete with oversprayed paint all over them,, and the holes will be welded up. <p>

Meanwhile, it's time to get busy with some old surplus body panels and do the chop-chop thing and make a few patches. If readers recall James' tale of Amy, the yellow 244 during the chapter of rust repairs, he said something along the lines of Volvo body people (in those days) only had a very limited of curves and shapes to work with.... which means (I hope!) sourcing metal of the correct shapes for patch work - and re-shaping it to fill these many holes - isn't going to be a major hassle.

Guess we'll find out...

But one major hassle is gonna be putting them in!

(to be continued)

Ovlover;68958 wrote
Ex850R;68918 wroteI am jealous
This. 140s are great vehicles. Makes me want to take mine for a drive

Heh, I'll be very pleased when any of my 140s are all fully welded and ready for road and track.

Major Ledfoot

Some inspiration for the build.

Camelot!
Camelot!
(It's only a model... shhhh!)

But I am still waiting for Clyde the 142 to return from painting before Chloe gets her turn under the gun.

The rear quarter panels removed from James' Skull Wagon Of Doom (with many thanks to Mister Bear and his trusty deWalt sawzall) will eventually find their way onto Chloe... along with some 89+ cargo window rubbers, courtesy of Mister Chair from Turbobricks. These ones have drainage dimples in them, so they don't rot the metal underneath.

Then I only have to worry about the rust in the sills and the windscreen....

(to be continued... in less than six months!)

Major Ledfoot

Chloe update:

She now has a new coolant temperature sender, so the temp gauge doesn't give readings like the engine is in DEFCON 1 any more.

Also, I had to deal with this.

With this.

Which should be sufficient to endow Clhoe with the ability for motion via the horrible BW35, until the AW7x conversion gets sorted out and goes in.

bigal

I hope Chloe made it onto the tranport truck ok.

Major Ledfoot

bigal;c-138796 wroteI hope Chloe made it onto the tranport truck ok.

@bigal, she went on there tonight.

She's on her way!
(along with a couple of others)

bigal

Are the melbourne wharfies doin doheys in yer volvos right now or have they progressed beyond that stage?

Ex850R

bigal;c-140261 wroteThe melbourne wharfies doin doheys in yer volvos right now!

And using them as mobile hoar houses!

Major Ledfoot

bigal;c-140261 wroteAre the melbourne wharfies doin doheys in yer volvos right now or have they progressed beyond that stage?

They may take a little while to cross Bass Straight.

Also, Chloe is a bit full of car parts and thus there's no room for any nethers to be twixed (to paraphase a line made famous by the lovely Jewel Staite)