Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

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Fred
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Today she got new wheels/tyres. I will no longer feel scared towing it (the old tyres were hard as nails, and tough as a paper bag), and it will match the 740 once I get a tow bar fitted (picked up and in the garage as of tonight) and start towing it with the 16v car :-)

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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Fred wrote:No idea when, but there's a 240 sedan waiting to come home that needs this spot.
Five days from now! Well, that's the plan. Numerous things could go wrong. Nevertheless, I'm
working toward making it happen this week along with some other even more urgent chores.

Spent 2.5 hours today and nailed a few of these:
Fred wrote:
  • Wing mirror holes/covers/trim
  • All other trim back in
  • Dash back in
  • Handbrake relocate
  • Buy trailer lock(s)
  • Clean up pair of new wheels
  • Fit new tyres to new wheels (max PSI)
  • Fit new wheels to caravan
  • Put on the street, probably behind the 740 with freshly installed tow bar setup.
That list didn't have an item for securing the scuttle panel in it, but that does need doing. It's too lose right now.

Also, I tucked some wiring up under the dash, but it's not secured and will fall back down the instant it's towed.

Chucked a couple of speaker grills back on/where they belong. And installed the glove box post dash install.

The only trim that needs to go back in is:
  • Driver's kick panel (may be in my storage, couldn't find it here)
  • Driver's A-pillar cover panel (glue is drying as we speak, later or tomorrow)
  • Screw clip on cover panels along the two sill covers (couldn't find these, either, but they're not important...)
The wing mirror locations still have into-door holes, however the cabin is blocked by the interior covers.

However with those three minor things aside, she looks pretty presentable now! :-D

Tweet tweet:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4038701056
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9912522752
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6876566529
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5895654400
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9435422721
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9580069888
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6748702720

Inline inline:

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And a couple of TODOs:

Attach scuttle panel properly (2 more fixing points at each end): https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0352279553
Relocate the pretty handbrake to the rear pillar above the wheels: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2628130816

Image

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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

At long last, she's united with her evil euro-gangster cousin:

Image





Clearly needs to be height matched for full effect, but the wheels matching is nice, and the colour is close enough. :-)
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Put a note on the number plate for inspectors today:

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Skirting the law like a wild child :-D

And stuck a bit of clear urethane glue under for parts of the scuttle panel to keep it still until I can do something better there.

Likely to go out on the street in public for a while starting tomorrow. Hmmmm. Hopefully no vandals find it, or the 740 which will be firmly attached.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Didn't happen Monday, but did happen today. Into the wild they both went. I hope they're safe where I left them. Gave them both a wash first to ensure they are presentable for the nosy people in the neighbourhood. Fed the chain through the handle of the latch and cranked up three shackles about as tight as I could. It ought to be suitably difficult to unlatch and remove it. Not that anyone would want to. The handbrake is hard on, too, in case someone decides they like the look of the 740 more than I do, too.

All clean and ready to go:

Image
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Wife is disappearing overseas this XMAS so I'll have to have a little holiday by myself... probably not
worth towing this around just for me, wagon would do fine, but on the other hand, I want to.

Thus list:

1) Handbrake relocate to rear seat back mounting points. Make a plate to bolt on there, drill out the welds
that hold the handbrake frame in place, weld (or rivet?) it onto the plate in such a way that the tension
doesn't try to lever it off. Unscrew the cable from it first, pull that out the bottom, find a workable route
from where it is now to where it needs to go, make a new hole. Bolt it on and connect it back up, and test.

2) Modify rear suspension to use less space and be less stiff to the chassis. The existing "sub frame" has two
"torque rods" and mounts pretty far forward. The forward mounting needs to be ditched and it likely doesn't
need both torque rods. Not sure how I'll approach this. Lots of options. Probably the least work is to cut the
front off, weld on the same mount in a different place, and give it somewhere to attach that's not in the way.
It does still need to be strong if/when I hook up the hydraulic brakes to the hitch, this is what holds the axle.

3) Initial floor flattening attempt, not replaced with a composite floor, yet. Just slice the tall bits out
and replace with some flat sheet of some sort. Stiff enough to not push through it with 90kg on one
foot = good enough. Anything will do. Maybe rivet in some alloy. This will save a good bit of weight
as there's a fair bit of steel in the tunnel. Possibly level the surface with some expanding foam?

4) Find a reasonable choice for a comfy queen size mattress to stuff in there. Load the
back up with chairs and bbq and chilly bin and sunshades etc and bail somewhere. Or
maybe just throw the king single in there for now, if it fits. No cost in doing that, and
no need for a wider mattress if I'm going it alone this year.

5) Weld up a tow hitch extension to get the thing more level with the 740
sedan and make it look better - less ground clearance could be an issue.

6) Try again to seal the small trickle in the left front corner.

7) Better secure the scuttle panel with some welded or riveted on
tabs and bolts, currently just weakly glued with one central bolt.

Depends where I end up over the break, though. If I'm around home I'd be better off working on the fleet and the
firmware and the software. If I'm away I can only do the latter parts of that list, the fleet will suffer. And the fleet
needs at least a little love starting pretty soon. I should update my spreadsheet and see what the story is.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Then of course the final phases:

1) Restructure/lighten the floor and redo the entire front end towing structure.

2) Build it a sweet kitchen with amenities and maximally rear ballast of minimal weight.

Then it's "done".
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Bastards: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6902754304

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In particular, completely incompetent idiot bastards. That road is 5 or 6 cars wide, 100m long, with max 30 houses. They must have been reversing to turn around or something like that. Use a driveway, numb nuts! :-/
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Finally bought a trailer wheel lock for it! https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6300727296

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Yet to fit it up, but I will pretty soon... Needs a mod to prevent it scratching the pretty s/s hubcaps, though.
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Re: Volvo 940 GLE Caravan Project - Underway!

Post by Fred »

Last night I modified that to fit 205 width tyres, as it was designed only for up to 195 tyres: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5965898752

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And installed it on the vehicle this evening: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9818884096

Image





Next up, handbrake relocate!
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