What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[scot850]

Yes they rust. I am trying to help a young guy I have been helping on the the mechanical side of his 96 850, to get the rocker panels welded up. They have a few holes but not terrible. The biggest pain is the rust along the pinch weld and the mounting points for the plastic clips that have mostly rusted away.

Neil.

[jsrnsis]

Yes they rust. I am trying to help a young guy I have been helping on the the mechanical side of his 96 850, to get the rocker panels welded up. They have a few holes but not terrible. The biggest pain is the rust along the pinch weld and the mounting points for the plastic clips that have mostly rusted away.

Neil.

I'm scared to take the plastic covers off my other cars now, but I want to get in there with a spray wand and some woolwax. I don't know what I'm going to do about those mounting points, Hopefully the remaining ones are enough. I'm ok with doing a good amount of things mechanically and have learned to accept rusty bolts and some cracked plastic, but bodywork and paint are a bit beyond my skills and money I'm willing to put in to the car.
I know at the other side of a fresh paint job, a stray shopping cart or careless car door opening is waiting.

[scot850]

I too hate doing body work as I don't have the patience.

I'm thinking there is possibly enough left that even drilling some holes and riveting a strip of aluminum or thin steel maybe the way forward, even if it is not all of them. While I have the covers off, I might see if the holes for the top clips are wide enough to get a wand from some Bilt Hamber rust prevention wax into the rockers and hopefully slow down the rate of decay! The product comes with a 2 ft lance of flexible tubing.

https://carzilla.ca/collections/brand-b ... -s50-750ml

Neil.

[duke1]

Has anyone taken their plastic rocker covers off recently? I was under the impression that p80+ Volvos were pretty resistant to rusting, despite being ~25 years old. I thought being able to push my hand through the rocker panel on one of my cars was a fluke, but after searching for a good panel to cut out, I found 3/4 parts car rockers to be in terrible shape, with one the pinch weld crumbled with just finger pressure.
The one strong panel I found to cut out even had a bit of surface rust on the inside, and after poking at what looked to be good clean metal under some paint bubbles on another panel, it was weak enough to stick a screwdriver right through.

hi the reason i think near all will be rusty is the plastic covers trap moisture and it causes rusting and being hidden means often it has spread a lot before its found,mine had a single 4inch square hole which i cut out back to clean metal and welded in new clean metal carefully sealed and is good as new now,some plastics hide all manner of sins. good luck

[abscate]

I’ve blown out two of the metal oil filters on P80s from rust out on the top

Shaggs was 12-24 months (?) old and looked nasty

Take home message. In wet climates these need annual replacement regardless of mileage

[scot850]

Again as suggested to someone else regarding rust on our cars, once you have fitted the metal can, spray it with lanolin wax up around the top of it with one of those red long nozzles. It may reduce this issue and also prevent water and salt gathering up there in the first place.

Neil.

[abscate]

Got Abby’s AC snicked in with a perfect charge and 40F cooling delta. It tosses ice cubes into the cabin

Changed oil in Shagg. Still waiting on clamps to finish cooling group refresh.

Changed oil on Bismarka, the 2013 Golf 5 speed

[jsrnsis]

Got Abby’s AC snicked in with a perfect charge and 40F cooling delta. It tosses ice cubes into the cabin

Changed oil in Shagg. Still waiting on clamps to finish cooling group refresh.

Changed oil on Bismarka, the 2013 Golf 5 speed

What's your basic procedure for AC? I have a manifold gauge, I charge it to around 35 psi with the AC on full blast, and then when I actually drive the car, it eventually cuts out until I put the fan on max speed, and then cuts out completely and doesn't come back on when I go highway speeds to surface streets and stoplights. I cleaned the condenser with coil cleaner.

I’ve blown out two of the metal oil filters on P80s from rust out on the top

Shaggs was 12-24 months (?) old and looked nasty

Take home message. In wet climates these need annual replacement regardless of mileage

I can't pierce them cleanly with a screwdriver to drain them though, the metal is too thick.

[foggydogg]

Got Abby’s AC snicked in with a perfect charge and 40F cooling delta. It tosses ice cubes into the cabin

What's your basic procedure for AC? I have a manifold gauge, I charge it to around 35 psi with the AC on full blast, and then when I actually drive the car, it eventually cuts out until I put the fan on max speed, and then cuts out completely and doesn't come back on when I go highway speeds to surface streets and stoplights. I cleaned the condenser with coil cleaner.

Check the air gap on the compressor pulley clutch, you may need to do the bread clip/wire tie fix.

[FireFox31]

Has anyone taken their plastic rocker covers off recently?

Could someone post a picture of the area to check? What are the rocker panels and what must come off to check them for rust.

Because if any car has rust, it's my poor neglected Geronimo. I want to know now before installing the $2000 in parts I've recently purchased for it.