Dashboard

The dashboard turned out to be a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.  Its fairly straightforward.  However, laying on top of a large hole in the floorboard made it pretty uncomfortable.  Also, the moisture that had gotten into the car had corroded some of the thumb nuts that hold on some of the gauges resulting in them being difficult to remove.  By far the biggest issue though was the ignition switch.  If I ever find the person who designed this component, they had better run... and fast!  

The ignition switch is wired directly to the ignition coil on these cars.  In fact, its all one part and they can't be separated.  Because of this, you have to remove the ignition switch from the dash frame before the frame can be removed.  Otherwise, it will still be tethered to the car by the metal encapsulated cable that runs through the firewall to the coil.  To top it off, the coil is too large to fit through the hole in the firewall, so it must be removed from the engine side.  

At first, I tried to drill the tumbler out of the switch so I could remove the bezel that holds it into the dash frame.  No luck.  In the end, I was forced to go to plan B.  I removed the screws holding the switch to the bottom of the dash frame which gave me a little wiggle room.  Then I carefully used a flat blade screwdriver behind the bezel to give me a little space between the bezel and dash fascia.  It sounds like overkill, but I took a dremel with a cutoff wheel and cut through both sides of the switch bezel so that it could be removed thereby allowing me to remove the switch/coil assembly from the car.  Easily one of the stupidest designs I've ever seen on any car.  

After getting everything off, I removed the dash frame.  

Removing the gauges.  Lots of labelling and disconnecting to do during this step.  

Taking out more stuff

This next step is kind of a boring one... just removing more stuff from the engine compartment.  Out comes the master and clutch cylinders, heater box, bonnet support, and a bunch of other stuff.  If any of you ever need to remove your heater box, it extends through the firewall into the passenger compartment, so you may have to maneuver it out from the interior side.  Another step towards starting on the bodywork.

Firewall is mostly stripped

Engine removal

Next came removing the engine and transmission assembly.  I know some people like removing them separately, but I always like doing it as a unit on any car.  It can be a pain to access some of the bell housing bolts and you're forced to keep crawling under the car each time you rotate the engine.  The removal is fairly straightforward.  The only thing unusual is the shifter housing which most transmissions don't have.  It can cause some clearance issues when trying to get the assembly out, but if you take your time, you can maneuver it.  An engine lift leveler is a must.  

And so it begins...

And so begins the process of dismantling the car.  The plan is to strip it down to its shell and begin the bodywork.  The logical place to start the disassembly is the interior.  Since water had been getting in for years, the interior was very moldy, not to mention the other components were just wore out.

Probably due for a refresh

Also, I wanted to get a better idea of how bad the floors were.  I knew there were holes on the drivers side, but didn't know how extensive.  At the very least, I would have to remove the seats and carpeting to know.  Because of the mold and mildew, I used a respirator to get all of this stuff out.

As you can see, there's not much left to the driver's side floor.  

The driver's side was actually a little better than expected.  Of course, pretty much everything on this side will need to be replaced from the transmission tunnel outward.  The rest of the removal was pretty straightforward.  No big surprises here, but the interior has certainly seen better days.  

Whats left after removing the rear seat and shelf.

Bath time

These first few posts will be to catch you up to where I'm at on the car at this point.

First thing to do was to clean the car.  After having sat outside for years, it was filthy and I wanted to see what I was actually working with.  The car was covered in dirt and a green mildew-like stuff.  You couldn't even see through the windows.  Time to give it a much needed bath.

She actually cleaned up better than I thought.  

Finally found a car!

I've been on the hunt for a new project for a while.  Those who know me know that I tend to favor British cars, so I've looked at a fair number of old Jaguars, MGs, Triumphs, etc.  However, my tastes vary drastically, so I was open to any car I like that checked off most of my criteria.

Fortunately, after much hunting, I came across a local Craigslist ad for a 1971 Volvo 1800E.  It looked pretty rough from the pics and the price was really high, but these cars just don't come up often in the Midwest, so I decided it was worth checking into.

When I arrived at the seller's place, I was surprised to find out he not only had a 1971 1800E, but also a 1967 1800S.  He told me they were actually both for sale and was asking the same price for each.  Both cars were rough to say the least.  The 1971 would be a parts car in most people's eyes as you'd be hard pressed to find a single part on it that didn't need restoration or replacement.  The '67 was rough too, but not as bad.  Both had been sitting outside on the dirt for about 20 years, but my guess is the '67 had been outside for a few less years.  Water had gotten into the interior, so it was all moldy and the floorboards were gone.  The rest of the car was fairly solid, albeit subjectively.  It would definitely need a full restoration.

Because the '67 was more solid, had a better color combo in my eyes (green is my favorite color), and was older, I tried to work out a deal on the car.  After much negotiation, I became the proud new owner of a green 1967 1800S.

My car as it looked when I first laid eyes on it