My toys (Alfa and Volvo) Holliday times

And then there is (bright) light!




Dash and gauges are in again and the relays for the lights (to avoid running the full current over the light switch as it was OEM) and petrol pump nicely sit on the under dash parcel shelve. The green and yellow cable rolled in front are speaker cables currently not in use but I saved them (they are connected to the door speakers) if I do change my mind in the future and fit a radio again.

Now fighting to refit the 15 years old inox manifold (4 into 2 into 1 2"bore from Alfaholics) and exhaust which does not want to go in again tension free. I asked a mate to help tomorrow with this as it is a pig of a job to do on your own.
Next will be firing up and test drive.
Thom

MOT failure...

First got a call that the defrosting was not working. Explained them that they had to close the flap which allows air to the feet manually instead of pushing a button. Solved! ;-)

Then the right main beam was pointing too much to the middle of the street. One screwdriver and 1 minute later solved.

Last one was unfortunately not so fast to solve as being a steering joint under the steering box having a bit of play and a nasty crack in the grommet (= failure) which you only can see if the wheels are hanging free in the air (like they do during MOT front axle test...).

So, I have to order a new joint, but first have to take it out as they are used with normal and left turning treat and I will otherwise for 100% sure order the wrong one... ;-).

Thom

APK (Dutch MOT done!) So legal again for the next two years. The Alfa is built in 1973 and the Dutch government is discussing (too long already) the MOT stop for cars older than 50 years so hopefully only one more time in two years.


The Alfa is now in (decent weather) daily service again and met an Polish/Italian soulmate on a Supermarket parking lot. ;-)

With the Alfa fit again I moved attention over to the Volvo Duett which is currently still parked in my dads garage. Before we moved to our new house (3 years ago) all the welding had been done and the body was prepared for painting but only the white part was painted.
It should get this color combination (Picture from the web, not my car)


This combination of light grey and dark blue is correct for the model but not for the model year but I really do not want to paint it bright orange as it was originally.

It looks like this now:


The painter is always very busy but happens to drive a 74" Dodge Coronet with some electric problems. I made a deal that I will have a look at the Dodge electrics and he will take care about the painting of the Volvo somewhere in the next two months (so bypassing his ques of waiting vehicles) and giving me a hefty discount on labour but off course I have to pay the materials and the cabin rent (he has to pay his boss some hourly rate for the energy use).

Which means I have to hurry with the fitting of my disk brake conversion on the front axle to get it rolling again.
Shock absorber lower mounting modified (otherwise the car will have a turning circle like an oil tanker) and Amazon brake anchor plate modified to fit the Duet/PV hubbs.
This is fun!


Thom

The Alfa is running faultless.

Some progress made to the Volvo, Brakes now fitted (bar lines).



I found a nice NOS Smiths mechanical oil thermometer in my dads garage so now looking for a matching mechanical Oil Pressure gauge (one with a tube connection to the engine). Would be anice touch under the dash.



forum.retro-rides.org/thread/215611/looking-smiths-mechanical-pressure-manometer

My neighbour is also a car nut and parked his Volvo outside today. Nice motivation push ;-).



Thom

It has had a functioning water temp gauge for the last 55 years.. The scale of a water temp gauge is different from scale (for oil it will always stand at least at 3/4 scale).
Thom

Good luck with e job search
It’s not fun. I know since my wife is in a similar position.
I like the hose arrangement. Porsche?

I see, 
Ive not been into the Alfa scene for quite some time (used to drive a 75 when I was young as well as a Bertone 1750 GTV)
Nowdays it’s more Volvo cars.

Last week was a combination of one live and two online job interviews. No feedback yet.
I helped my dad with getting an engine from his attic (see other topic)


Thought just about making some more progress on the Duett but..
I enjoyed the Alfa for a bit more than 1000 Km. after it's open hard surgery but when I started it yesterday to take it for a spun (after weeks of rain the temperature has dropped slightly and we have nice open sunny weather) it ran on 3 pots!!
I checked the spark plugs and they all show nice dark brown (not one wet or black). After that checked the compression and found nice equal measurements between 12 and 13 bar each..
Head scratching! Decided to first try other (new) plugs,then a spare set of cables etc..
Will be continued...



Thom

The Alfa is in good health again! Dodgy (only 2 years old) spark plug cable was the culprit..
Today was a lovely day over here and I went to my parents place where my Volvo Duett lives until I get a permit to built a carport behind my garage.
I used the Italian diva for the relaxed 8 Km. drive and pushed the Duett outside for some work.


Removed some obsolete filler from the inner fenders and floor and turned myself into a snowman (my hair is grey but not so grey normally...).




Thom