VOLVO P1800 | PART 10 | WHY WE DIDN’T FILL IT

The 1970 Volvo P1800 restoration continues, and this one starts with the reason the factory spot welds are still visible under the paint. Fill a car and you bury them. Leaving them on show is the proof of how little filler is on this body. Dave, our lead engineer, goes back over how it got there. The metal was treated, re-sanded, and the undulations hammered out rather than skimmed over – months of work to avoid a job that would have taken days. We didn’t want to fill this car, we wanted to show its lines, so we took the time. Also in this part: the final fit of the engine components, and the heater box we designed and built here, with integrated air conditioning and heating. It starts with the air conditioning unit – you work out where everything has to sit, then the box is made around it from flat sheets of metal. As Dave puts it, they’re always overlooked, and they’re the unsung hero that keeps you toasty, or cool in summer. The wiring is at ninety per cent and still looks messy – it always does until everything is plugged in and tidied. Next: the interior, the seats, the heater going in, and a centre console we’re particularly pleased with. The car: 1970 Volvo P1800 Part 10 of the build Bodywork, custom heater fabrication, engine component fit, wiring Chapters: 0:00 Where the build is up to 0:36 The preparation paint depends on 0:55 Why we didn’t fill this car 1:30 Final fit of the engine components 1:40 Building the heater from scratch 2:34 The wiring at ninety per cent 3:04 What’s coming next If you’ve got a project in mind, book a workshop visit and see what we do first hand, or find us at https://thetoyshop.co.nz/restorations/ #volvop1800 #classicrestoration #bodywork #thetoyshopnz