and here is even ANOTHER Volvo!!

[Woodyboat]

I read through the thread entitled: "Another fricken Volvo." and i thought:

It's really sad that I have to come to a Chevrolet/GMC truck forum to see any Volvo build threads. I don't know what it is about most Volvo guys, but they just don't seem to be of the same mindset as the good ole Chevy boys.

THEREFORE... BECAUSE:

#1. Volvo people don't build cars on their forums and ...
#2. Chevy guys DO build cars and trucks and ...
#3. My family has been driving Volvos for over 50 years and ...
#4. I've been driving Chevy trucks for many decades ...
#5. This forum actually provides a place that we Chevy truck guys can post our OTHER projects, I think it's ok to put my Volvo photos up here.

I'm going to preface this with some qualifiers.

#1. I am not a pro body and fender man. In fact, I've never before used these new fangled two step paints before. Yes, I am a complete amateur.
#2. This car is OLD and has a LOT of miles on it. In fact, it has over 500,000 miles on it and it still runs just fine. It just looked like poo poo and it was really bothering me. It has given me such a wonderful service life (I bought it in 1994 when it had a mere 134,000 miles) that I just felt it was time to give the car something back, especially considering that I have no intention of retiring it anytime soon.

So, given that it's really old and with so many miles AND that it's my daily driver and I don't intend it to be a show car or trailer queen, I figure that it looks pretty darned good. Finally, I think that this was a great trail run for my tackling my Big Dually. So here are some photos of my Volvo project.

[Woodyboat]

The paint on this car is really failing.

[Woodyboat]

I also discovered that my car had the passenger's side wiped out by a previous owner. All these years I had this car and I never knew this. But the rear fender really showed some poor workmanship when I got the paint off and looked at what was underneath.

One thing that really did pay off in large dividends though was the fact that this car has been a Georgia/Tennessee car ever since it arrived from Sweden back in 1988. There was absolutely no rust ANYWHERE!

[Woodyboat]

These wheels are called "Virgos" by most Volvo guys. Mine were really rough and so, I media blasted them. Here are two photos showing primer and paint. It's amazing what some paint and clear coat can do for a set of wheels.

[Woodyboat]

And this is what the car looks like NOW:

[Woodyboat]

Yup, I think I'm ready to tackle the Big Dually!! Whatta ya think?

[crossfire84]

kinda cool, and nice work.

[SeniorVerde]

I have the wagon clone of your Volvo, and it's going to get a 350 eventually.
We might need a whole Volvo section of the forum soon.

[68Timber]

Looks good from here! How'd you paint it? In your garage/rent a booth/in your yard? What'd you spray it with, paint and gun?

[Woodyboat]

SeniorVerde, that's a nice looking 245. I guessing it's an 84?

It's not readily apparent in my photos but my car has a set of IPD sport springs, sway bars and Bilstein shocks. Because of those pieces, the car sits a little lower than stock. Often when folks look at it, they can't quite put their fingers on what is different but they agree that the stance looks very good. I think your wagon would benefit from the same look. And of course, the IPD pieces make the car handle like it's on rails. It REALLY is a hoot to drive and so, mine will eventually get a Chevy small block as well. I have the book from JTR about how to install a V8 in a Volvo. I've practically got the book memorized. I really like JTR's feeling in that it isn't enough to simply stuff in a big engine. Their goal is to get it all done while still retaining the mild manners of the stock Volvo that has power steering, nice stereo, can sit in 100 degree weather with the AC on full without overheating and still click off a 12 second quarter mile. And of course, I myself have always had a serious fondness for sleepers. So I want my car to look very nice but also very stock.

If you're not familiar with JTR, here is a link: http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Volvo_200_V-8.html

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Looks good from here! How'd you paint it? In your garage/rent a booth/in your yard? What'd you spray it with, paint and gun?

I painted it in my garage. It gave me absolute fits! I was tight for space, the garage was incredibly dirty and I simply didn't have the money for a good spray gun. I used a cheap Harbor Freight spray gun as I already had a very ancient but effective commercial sized compressor. The HF spray gun did ok, but just. The base coat gave me no real problems although I quickly learned to shoot test panels before making a lot of extra work for myself. It was reasonably easy to shoot and dried almost immediately. Of course, it's a dull finish and needs the clear for any gloss. I had terrible problems with the clear laying down right. If I didn't push the clear enough, it would give me incredible orange peel. If I pushed the clear a little harder, it would run all over the place. I actually shot the car two separate times and the clear came out so bad I simply could not live with the results. I actually painted the car twice and was so disappointed that I sanded the car down both times to get all the way back to the primer. And, I also used the wrong primer but that's another story.

I couldn't not strike a happy medium until I chucked the paints the local jobbers were selling from DuPont and Ditzler. Finally, I went down to Nashville and got BASF R-M paint and clear and that's when I started getting satisfactory results. I am sure that an experienced painter could get good results with DuPont or Ditzler and I don't want to diss their stuff. But, as I said at the beginning, I'm no pro. In the future, I will always shoot BASF R-M paints and clears. They really are quite forgiving.

One problem that I had with the HF spray gun was that, no matter how diligent I was about cleaning everything on it, I just couldn't get it all correct. As a result, the performance of the gun began to deteriorate almost from the beginning. It wouldn't be a problem for a user that wasn't looking for the level of finish that I was. In fact, the gun is quite good if all you want to do is spray lawn mowers, old BBQ grills or wrought iron furniture or something. But I was kidding myself. I really wanted a superb finish and that meant the HF gun was not going to perform to that level. In the future, I need to cough up the coins for a really high quality paint gun before I shoot the Big Dually.

Because I just couldn't keep the kamikaze bugs and the dust out of my clear, I piled on coat after coat. Then I wet sanded starting with 1000 grit and worked the grits to 2500. Then I finished by buffing it with Wizard's Mystic Cut buffing compound. I used a cheap buffer from Harbor Freight that was absolutely PERFECT for the buffing job. I would recommend this buffer for anyone. It's AWESOME! Here's a link: http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-10...her-60626.html

One of goals with this car was to get enough knowledge and experience so that I would have the courage to take on all kinds of DYI projects. My Big Dually needs far more body work than did the Volvo and so, the Volvo became my test bed. Now that it's finished, I'm raring to go to get started on the Chevy.

Also, I didn't change colors on the Volvo. I have always liked the blue and so, I stayed with it. Not so with my Dually. It's a putrid poo poo colored brown and weak gold color that I absolutely hate. I want to change the color to black with a black interior and this is going to be a lot more work. But now, I'm brave enough to try it.