Removing 164 back seat?

[Lesky]

This came up whilst chatting about Volvos with a friend. Since I would like to keep the car operational while I do some rust repair, would it be possible to weld on the car by just draining the gas tank and letting it dry? Or is it best to remove it all together. After some thought, I can't imagine it to be safe to weld on the car with fuel in the tank due to short circuits or possible arcing.

I'm leaning towards taking the tank out when I get to that stage, but I'm curious if anyone has done any welding with the tank still on the car?

[john h]

If you mean the welding on the C-pillar (sill/rear door opening) then it's your choice but I would weld that with the tank in the car, no problem. It is far enough away.

If you're doing welding elsewhere (eg sill/floor) you need to check where the fuel pipes run under the car.

If using electric welding, remember to disconnect the battery first.

John

[Lesky]

Wow, I was under the impression that you couldn't weld on a car with the tank in. This is good news!

Made a little more progress on the 164. Finished stripping out the door cards and seats. Turns out that I don't have to remove the ECU to pull out the carpet, but I may do it just to have a look at the entire floor before reassembling.

Does anyone know how to remove this panel? I'm referring to the black, plastic one on the right side just before the door hinges.


And the plastic sill cover?


My green book doesn't touch on it.

[john h]

The plastic side panel is mainly held on by the edge-strip around the door opening. Pull that off and the panel can be pulled away, there may be some glue as well, so pull it carefully.

The plastic sill cover also just pulls off. It is held by spring clips, which might be tight, but keep pulling and it sould come off!

John

[940_Turbo]

Originally Posted by Lesky

This came up whilst chatting about Volvos with a friend. Since I would like to keep the car operational while I do some rust repair, would it be possible to weld on the car by just draining the gas tank and letting it dry? Or is it best to remove it all together. After some thought, I can't imagine it to be safe to weld on the car with fuel in the tank due to short circuits or possible arcing.

I'm leaning towards taking the tank out when I get to that stage, but I'm curious if anyone has done any welding with the tank still on the car?

Strangely it is safer to weld with a full tank than an empty one, petrol fumes are highly explosive, a container full of liquid fuel less so.

I've actually seen someone weld up a fuel tank full of fuel with an oxy acetylene torch. I am however not mad enough to try that trick myself and I stood at a very safe distance!

[john h]

Originally Posted by 940_Turbo

Strangely it is safer to weld with a full tank than an empty one, petrol fumes are highly explosive, a container full of liquid fuel less so.

I've actually seen someone weld up a fuel tank full of fuel with an oxy acetylene torch. I am however not mad enough to try that trick myself and I stood at a very safe distance!

Wow.

I am not risk averse, but that I'd be running away from!

John

[Lesky]

Originally Posted by 940_Turbo

Strangely it is safer to weld with a full tank than an empty one, petrol fumes are highly explosive, a container full of liquid fuel less so.

I've actually seen someone weld up a fuel tank full of fuel with an oxy acetylene torch. I am however not mad enough to try that trick myself and I stood at a very safe distance!

Yikes. Well, I guess I'll save myself the trouble of pulling the tank when I am ready to weld up the C pillar or anything on the floor.

[Lesky]

A bit more progress on my 164. Since it is too cold to be outside working on the car, I took to practicing rust removal and painting on my front license plate holder. Some issues I ran into were: Dremels are lousy for wire wheeling. The wires all break off and don't remove paint very well. Also, I need more practice!

I started by wire wheeling to remove what I could and sanded the rest with 320 grit. Then, I treated both sides with two coats of rust killer. I used 320 grit to sand the whole piece before applying primer. The primer went on well; However, I botched it up with my wet sanding. I used 400 grit to wet sand but went through the primer in a few spots. Also, my paint did not stick to the primer very well.

I also did a little bit of fog reconditioning but haven't gotten very far because of the lousy Dremel wire wheel bits.

So, how does everyone like to prep for priming and painting? By painting, I don't mean a total respray. Rather, putting on some paint that will hold off the water for a few more years till I have enough experience to redo it properly.

I will post a picture of my attempt with the license plate holder for feedback tomorrow.

[john h]

Dremmel is good for awkward detail work. But in all other situations, for prep you need an angle grinder with a heavy duty wire wheel attachment. Wear goggles, because they do spit out bits of wire travelling very fast!

Post up photos and I can advise further.

John

[arcturus]

If you are using "rust removing" chemical Use fertan Much better than others. Non acidic and can remain unpainted for a few months
http://www.fertan.co.uk/