As part of our 50th year celebrations we were looking for a way to 'capture the flavour' of our earlier years. One idea was to display a Volvo from the days when the Hutton brothers first began importing the cars in the late 1950's. The problem that became apparent though was that not too many examples in a suitable condition where available. The answer came in the form of an advertisement for a 1965 Volvo Amazon in need of restoration!
We must be mad! Just look at these pictures!
What decided the issue, however, was that this gem was one of our original demonstrator cars from our 'K' Cars days!
She's only done 38,530 miles from new.
The project officially started on the 19th Feb 2008 watch this space for up-dates........
Monday 25th Feb 2008...attempted to start engine. replaced spark plugs, ht leads and powered up starter motor...nothing!
Tuesday 26th Feb 2008...fitted temporary coil and some creative wiring, primed fuel pump and cranked...again nothing. filled carb float with fuel and primed fuel again and....PRESTO!! we have a surprisingly sweet sounding engine, no major knocks and firing on all cylinders. not bad considering the car hasn't run for the best part of 30 years!
Thursday 28th Feb 2008...engine now removed and starting to strip panels off and electrics, ancillaries etc all out in order to get at the rot! Pictures below show the state of play at the moment - looks horrendous but there is a lot of very good metal in areas that are traditionally very poor. The wings, inner wings etc all have some rot but can be 'easily' repaired/replaced. Keep watching! Wednesday 19th March 2008....very busy in the workshops lately so haven't had as much time as we would like on the project but Ken Hutton has driven things forward by repairing one of the doors and we have just received the brand new inner wings which will form much of the strength of the front sections. Thursday 27th March 2008....we've now entered the next phase of the re-build which has seen the shell of the car go over to Ken Hutton's own workshop where he will spend many hours cutting away poor steel and replacing with new sectioned which will be fabricated on site in his workshop. What a way to spend your retirement! Tuesday 22nd April 2008......some of the major restoration work under the bonnet and front inner wings has been carried out. First the rotten metal and rust is removed and the new metal is welded into place. Thankfully there is lots of very good, strong metal to fasten the new metal to! The pictures below show the transformation! Friday 16th May 2008....most of the major 'topside' work has been completed and the car has been trailered back to Slingsby and covered in preparation of the next stage. When time allows we will remove the axles for grit blasting and reconditioning and prepare the undersides for re-construction and painting/sealing. Wednesday 11th June 2008....having had a lull in the rebuild process due to the workshops being incredibly busy the Amazon has finally been pulled back into the workshop at Slingsby for the undersides to be renovated. The front wings have been repaired by Ken and are waiting re-fitting (not for a while yet!). December 2008....The undersides of our car are now better than new! The car was never as well protected now as the day it left Volvo's factory all them years ago. All the new steel has been formed and sealed and all the original steelwork has been painstakingly cleaned back to fresh metal then re-sealed. It really does look like new under there! The next quiet spell we have will see our Amazon prepared for painting.....watch this space. December 2009/January 2010....The best laid plans! After our roaring start to the project 2009 proved to be the busiest year we have had for decades! Unable to spare any technicians the work on our project has ground to a halt....until now. Recent snow and terrible driving conditions have allowed us to take a breath and get back onto our restoration. This stage revolves around sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding......I think you get the message. We are currently getting the body ready for re-spraying which involves lots and lots of preparation - this is where the quality of the finished product will be determined! January 2010....The rebuild is gathering pace. Our Amazon is getting its first coats of primer. This will be followed by lots of 'flatting' which will ensure the final coat has as smooth a finish as possible. The door inside edges, boot and engine edges will then be sprayed before masking off for the final coats of colour. December 2010. Following another busy year the extreme cold and snowy conditions finally allowed us to take a breath and get back to our Amazon! Final rubbing down and masking before a step-by-step approach to spraying the final coats....
Thursday 28th Feb 2008...engine now removed and starting to strip panels off and electrics, ancillaries etc all out in order to get at the rot! Pictures below show the state of play at the moment - looks horrendous but there is a lot of very good metal in areas that are traditionally very poor. The wings, inner wings etc all have some rot but can be 'easily' repaired/replaced. Keep watching!
Wednesday 19th March 2008....very busy in the workshops lately so haven't had as much time as we would like on the project but Ken Hutton has driven things forward by repairing one of the doors and we have just received the brand new inner wings which will form much of the strength of the front sections.
Thursday 27th March 2008....we've now entered the next phase of the re-build which has seen the shell of the car go over to Ken Hutton's own workshop where he will spend many hours cutting away poor steel and replacing with new sectioned which will be fabricated on site in his workshop. What a way to spend your retirement!
Tuesday 22nd April 2008......some of the major restoration work under the bonnet and front inner wings has been carried out. First the rotten metal and rust is removed and the new metal is welded into place. Thankfully there is lots of very good, strong metal to fasten the new metal to! The pictures below show the transformation!
Friday 16th May 2008....most of the major 'topside' work has been completed and the car has been trailered back to Slingsby and covered in preparation of the next stage. When time allows we will remove the axles for grit blasting and reconditioning and prepare the undersides for re-construction and painting/sealing.
Wednesday 11th June 2008....having had a lull in the rebuild process due to the workshops being incredibly busy the Amazon has finally been pulled back into the workshop at Slingsby for the undersides to be renovated. The front wings have been repaired by Ken and are waiting re-fitting (not for a while yet!).
December 2008....The undersides of our car are now better than new! The car was never as well protected now as the day it left Volvo's factory all them years ago. All the new steel has been formed and sealed and all the original steelwork has been painstakingly cleaned back to fresh metal then re-sealed. It really does look like new under there! The next quiet spell we have will see our Amazon prepared for painting.....watch this space.
December 2009/January 2010....The best laid plans! After our roaring start to the project 2009 proved to be the busiest year we have had for decades! Unable to spare any technicians the work on our project has ground to a halt....until now. Recent snow and terrible driving conditions have allowed us to take a breath and get back onto our restoration. This stage revolves around sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding......I think you get the message. We are currently getting the body ready for re-spraying which involves lots and lots of preparation - this is where the quality of the finished product will be determined!
January 2010....The rebuild is gathering pace. Our Amazon is getting its first coats of primer. This will be followed by lots of 'flatting' which will ensure the final coat has as smooth a finish as possible. The door inside edges, boot and engine edges will then be sprayed before masking off for the final coats of colour. December 2010. Following another busy year the extreme cold and snowy conditions finally allowed us to take a breath and get back to our Amazon! Final rubbing down and masking before a step-by-step approach to spraying the final coats....
