Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Bolted the A-frame to the floor pan and did a little experiment.

Hinge point bolted up tight: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4664115200
Both hinge points from behind: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9849291776
From the front, down the tunnel: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8511328256
First time on 3 legs! https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4036982784
But I cheated: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1325680640

More soon, especially:

1) front beam and bars
2) jockey wheel brackets
3) reinforcement plates at rear

The floor didn't seem to get pulled around much by a single small lift, however trying to drive would likely rip it out all together. So the plates are mandatory before then. The plates are also just drilling and riveting and bolting, pretty easy to sort out.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Today I:

Measured the tow ball weight as it sits full of junk and not fully stripped of weight: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9871269889

Went and retrieved a LOT of ferrous material, and some lead, for ballast:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7280057344
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1875889152
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 3876610048
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2191773696

Note, this is purely a temporary measure. I want the gross tow weight down as low as possible in the end.

Fred.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Today I:
  • Removed all of the pieces of 940 wagon from the caravan and filled the Lantis with them
  • Removed the rear seat hinge bracket in the middle
  • Removed the rear seat backs
  • Removed the springs on the cover/fill panels, and fastening nuts
  • Folded the cover/fill panels backward (every gram counts! :-p)
  • Removed the seatbelts from the floor pan
  • Removed the lower seatbelt bolts for the rear belts and wound those belts up
  • Removed all of the parts in the passenger foot well and driver's foot well (screws and bits of interior/exterior)
  • Removed the rear seat back latch points from the sides
  • Removed the rear lower seat latch hooks
  • Removed the rear carpet and under-carpet foam
  • Removed the front carpets and under-carpet foams
  • Separated lower arms from struts (this did not progress the caravan project, but is good for the 740's future)
  • Drilled a 6mm hole in the lowest point of the left rear foot well (some water had gotten in)
  • Removed the shifter mechanism leaving a decent sized hole to ventilate/dry out
  • Retrieved 50x25 channel from storage container with Cam
  • Got a bit of help from Corbon to lift the blacktop 4age out of the back of the caravan and into the garage
  • Test lifted the draw bar with Corbon to get a feel for balance/weight change - seemed similar, maybe lighter!
Now it looks like this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2882911232

What I didn't do, yet:
  • Remove gas tank and fittings around it
  • Remove lower diff torque arm
  • Remove blower fan motor and other in-dash components such as steering column
  • Remove excess wiring loom
All of which will lighten the front of the caravan even more!

Tomorrow when I get home I plan to take the two struts and RB30 extractors out of the back of it and measure the ball weight again.

After that, I might remove the gas tank and torque arm and possibly a few other things and re-measure it.

Then it's time to fill it with temporary ballast to get the ball weight down to where it should be (20-70kg or so).

If there's still time, I might even dice a few pieces of steel up and prepare for welding in some fixtures! Probably not, though.

I realised earlier tonight that if I relocate the handbrake lever sooner rather than later, then I could chock a piece of plywood up off the bumpy floor and put a mattress on top of that and start using it! :-D That's not on the short term plan list, though.

Good progress! Many thanks to Corbon/Rob for his willingness to assist! Cheers! Thanks also to SlackerCam for some minor assistance and a bit of company :-)

Fred.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Today I:
  • Removed all the junk in the compartments each side of the spare tyre well
  • Removed the spare tire and make-shift stud that used to sometimes hold it
  • Removed the tow ball, shackle, and tow bar itself
  • Removed rear muffler alloy heat shield
  • Removed centre console sides
  • Removed stereo
  • Removed various bits of wiring
  • Removed heavy foam-lead(not lead, but...) sound insulation
  • Removed rear seat blower ducts
  • Cut slots into steering column bolts and removed them with impact driver
  • Failed to remove steering column, may need to partially remove dash to do that?
Resulting in: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5181676544

Weighed it with all of that stuff gone, front and back, but mostly back: 162.50kg https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8255909888

Thus likely about the same 140 150 before I pulled the stuff out. IE, the stuff I had in there was more or less balanced over the axle, lol.

Loaded in 300kg of steel/lead: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8141967360

And reweighed it: 101.85 https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7417504768

Put the two struts back into the boot, and the three spare tyres in on top of them: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2094126080

Weighed it again, down to 86.60 https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7998103552

Tried to lift it, not too bad, picked it straight up!

Fuel tank and a few other bits of stuff on the shell will remove another 10kg of weight from it. Blower motor and so forth have to weigh around 10kg all up.

Plastic front windscreen could save another 20kg or so from it.

Side impact beams are probably superfluous unless I need a replacement door for the 740 :-D

The main saving to be had is in the floor and firewall, I think. Chopping out all that heavy frame-rail material has to be a good sized saving. Replacing it with either alloy/foam sandwich, or GRP/foam sandwich won'tput much back in, aside from a couple of cross members to attach the draw bar to.

The make-shift front cross member that's sitting in there weighs a fair bit, too. The piece I weld in will be significantly lighter duty. On the other hand, the jockey wheel and brackets will add a few kg for sure.

Will do the easy/obvious items above and reweigh.

May sneak it out for a cruise tomorrow night if I get the welding/drilling/bolting done quickly enough, get some less dodgy tyres onto it, and pluck up the courage to drive with it.

Fred.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Tonight in the dark I measured the kitchen area roughly enough to start a design. This post is an attempt to capture what stuff the kitchen should have in it:
  • House battery, possibly a charger, maybe a mains lead, perhaps with caravan adaptor
  • Sink with tap, water tank, pump, and drain with hose to allow collection
  • Gas stove with cast iron hot plate and separate burner, preferably relocatable outside
  • A selection of pots, a frying pan, a cast iron pan
  • Cleaning equipment, detergent, brushes, clothes, scourers, etc
  • Salt, pepper, spices, olive oil, paper towels, etc
  • Large hardwood work surface/chopping board
  • Large chillybin/cooler/igloo/whatever you call them in your country
  • Plates, bowls, glasses, cuttlery, kitchen utensils, can opener, bottle opener, peeler, etc.
  • Dedicated luggage area between mattress and kitchenette
  • Audio device of some sort, possibly just an amp and potentiometer? Or BT receiver? Or simple head deck?
  • Relocated handbrake lever, preferably reachable from one of the rear doors
  • Spare tyre/wheel, possibly mounted outside 4x4 style
Available space is around 1 cubic meter. No worries :-D
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Dimensions, for the record: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2090862592

Though I have it all drawn out on paper. Just need to do some designing and come up with a plan :-)
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

More numbers for the record:

~425 to flat of tow bar on 740 (once I install it)
~450 to same point on 240 wagon, but...
~330 to flat of tow bar on 240 (different tow bar manufacturer, and possibly different structure/geometry, too)
~220 to flat of tow bar on Lantis, possibly less, and it may be pushed up at the moment. This is too low, period.
~320 to flat of tow bar on hotel
~360 to flat of tow bar on ute, but this may rise with larger wheels and more travel

Yet to suss out the situation with the caravan carcass, but I'd like it to sit level and sit the same height as the tow car IF it's the 740, otherwise just level.

Having it sitting a bit lower than I'd like (facing the sky slightly) until I can lighten it and/or install stiffer springs is OK. That'll actually help a little with tow ball weight, too.

On the other hand having the A-frame level with the sills would be nice, too.

Will have to measure up later before I weld on the beam... :-)
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Assuming blocks under rear tyres equal the amount of suspension sag from all of the weight in the back, then the height of the tow bar with the caravan flat to the road is 260mm. I could have gone higher, but with even less parallelism between A-frame and sill. 20mm lower was parallel, so it's approximately 2200:20 >> 110:1 gradient. To get it flat, even without the weight in it, I'll have to either install stiffer/longer springs in it, or load the crap out of the tow vehicle.

If/when I do the floor flattening and put on a permanent draw bar or reconfigure the A-frame, I could set the height differently. This iteration will be good for experimenting with how it looks/sits/aligns. From there I can make better educated changes to it.

Progress today wasn't what I had hoped, but I should finish up with most of it tomorrow, I think.

This morning I blow-torched one of the pieces of steel that I had acid soaked, and the contrast came up like this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2326820865

Tonight after being out and about most of the day I got this stuff done:

Scraped underseal from frame rails: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 3632336902 +flash: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9437522945
Wiped down with solvent to remove residues: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4137922560
Ground clean ready for welding: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7472198656
Cross member cut and fitted: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2618782721

In addition, I had an epiphany about the jockey wheel setup. It pretty much has to mount to the A-frame. Well, I wanted a castor wheel on there anyway.... so... this is going to be it. A little forward of where the bracket for the cross member tabs to bolt to will be another set of bracketry for the jockey wheel to attach to. Unsure if I have the material required, but will try to scavenge some from friends if not.

And finally, I went to put some air i the tyres, and there was only 20psi in each, so now that there is 40psi in each, they look a lot better. I'd tow it like this, briefly.

Hoping for first tow tomorrow, won't be towed far, though. Just for a photo for here :-)
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Good progress today, but still a bit more work to do before I'm done.
Tomorrow:
  • Order three pieces of steel that I need to CAD up tonight.
  • Clean up the A-frame where I need to weld it, loosen big bolts at back, first
  • Weld in the final piece and spread some zinc around.
  • Drill the reinforcement plates at the back and rivet them on.
  • Take gas tank out
  • Take suspension torque arm out
  • Take heat shield off of floor pan
  • Drill out/part off various bracketry that isn't desired or needed.
  • Remove dash in hope of saving more kgs beneath it in heater/aircon/fan/steering/loom/fusebox/insulation/etc.
  • Figure out tail light wiring and fit a socket to the front so I can use my existing trailer lead
Tonight:
  • Design the two shapes to be laser cut from 6mm plate so I can order them tomorrow.
  • Email VTNZ guy about change of vehicle class with photo
Soon:
  • Take to VTNZ to change class OR order plates from VTNZ for "Volvo 940 FC Caravan" (Fred Cooke edition), accept nothing less.
  • Swap on some wheels with decent tyre tread to pass WOF
  • Take it for its first WOF and celebrate!
  • Buy a year of registration/license for it!
  • Think about phase 2, floor/firewall flattening
  • Think about phase 3, kitchenette installation
  • Save up for a nice queen size mattress and some pillow cases... ;-)
Speaking of the kitchenette... I had a few thoughts:
  1. The main work surface needs to be one piece, solid/stiff, attractive, and hinged at the back edge so it can be flipped up to access below it.
  2. Built into this surface will be a sink, a general work area, and a cook top, done in this style: http://stuff.fredcooke.com/JetstreamTea ... oBench.jpg IE, bolted to a piece of stainless or alloy plate with some upright brackets. This means the equipment is cheap (80 or 90nzd or so) and the surface beneath it is easy to clean and resistant to heat.
  3. The main work surface needs to be up around standard working height once suspension height finalised, 700-950mm or so, refer existing research in precision table thread: viewtopic.php?p=40427#p40427
  4. There needs to be enough space below that surface for 9kg gas bottle, 20l water bottle (or 2), battery and electrical system, etc.
  5. To facilitate the full vertical lifting of the work surface on its hinges, the water tap for the sink should probably be on a fixed side panel that has a piece of 3mm alloy angle screwed to it for the main piece to rest on, and the same, minus tap, on the other side.
  6. The sink will have a fitted heavy/thick hardwood chopping board that sits in it perfectly for extra work area and safe storage.
  7. JUST above the work surface, and strongly built, a platform upon which luggage can be placed while towing, but without touching the work surface.
  8. Behind the work surface will be a small storage area full width for things like oil, salt, detergent, utensils, scrubbing brush, etc.
  9. Some sort of screen or curtain between the sleeping/luggage area and the kitchen is needed to prevent cooking smells/vapour ruining bedding and other gear.
OK, enough dreaming, back to reality.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

More stuff tonight:

Email to VTNZ guy sent.

Jockey wheel weighs 7.70kg with a little more to add to that for the brackets and welds later, probably 8kg of tow ball weight all said and done.

Jockey wheel bracket CAD work done, files here (SUPER interesting, but only if you're me):

http://stuff.fredcooke.com/JockeyWheelB ... AFrame.dxf
http://stuff.fredcooke.com/JockeyWheelB ... AFrame.dxf

Acid dipping progress:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2809616384
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4726752262

Email written for quotes, need to send that out to a couple of places any minute now... Done, to 4.
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