I collected Aunt Maud from David's house today. I really enjoyed the drive back home - it was about 30 miles along the A6 and A14, so mixed single and dual carriageways with few villages thrown in for good measure. It was very much the 1960s driving experience, but none the worse for that. Everything works more or less the way it should - the brakes could probably do with a bit of improvement (probably just the drums need taking apart and putting back together properly - and maybe the hydraulics bleeding), the front suspension and steering need a bit of a refresh and a set of new tyres might be a good idea. Apart from those things everything is pretty good.
The Amazon looks pretty cool next to the RB - I would be really hard pushed to choose between them (which is a strong statement - I really like the RB):
David kindly donated some really useful spares to the project. I need to get a new tyre for the spare (I think a 165/80R15 will be the nearest modern equivalent that will fit) - probably tomorrow. The spares pile also included a rear hub puller, so I'll be able to check out those drums.
Aunt Maud is a mighty fine looking motor car:
... I'm still a bit concerned about the rust in the OS front chassis leg. I had a quick look around before it got dark and regret to report that hole is quite significant. I'll probably end up replacing about 6" of the horizontal surface but I think the vertical walls may be okay. In that case I think I'll get away with a welded patch plus a bit of reinforcing. I'll have a better look with it up on some ramps tomorrow.
There is a bit of rust appearing just behind the OS wheel arch:
... I'll scrub that down and give it a good coat of Hamerite paint for the time being. As Dave said above, I'll wait until all the repairs are done then paint everything that needs doing at the same time.
I really like the interior of the motor car, almost everything is in really good order:
... the only exception is the dash pad which is split in a few places. Brookhouse Volvo sells a replacement for about £250, which is a bit steep for some foam and vinyl plus a tube of glue. I'm tending to think I may leave it as part of the vehicle's patina.
So far my list of jobs to do on GAM (more or less in order) is:
1. Fix the chassis rail.
2. Get a spare tyre fitted.
3. Fix the windscreen seal with some black silicone (see how effective it is).
4. Fit a Bluetooth receiver/amplifier module and some speakers hidden under the dash - the motor car has never had a radio fitted and still has the original delete plate. To fit a radio now would ruin it.
5. Check the fuel sender and float - the gauge jumps around a bit at the moment.
6. Fix the oil leak - although strangely I couldn't find much oil under the engine this eve. I've left a sheet of cardboard underneath to see if it has indeed fixed itself. I rather suspect the rubber seal on the oil filler cap may need changing (that solved the problem on Delores - the P1800ES).
7. Oil/filters/plugs/points/coolant service.
8. Check out the rear brakes.
9. Rebuild the front suspension.
10. Patch paint any rusty bodywork with Hamerite - until I decide what to do about redecoration.
I really like this Amazon - I think it will be a really interesting project.
Alan