Volvo 745 Pickup + 4.8l V8 conversion

Chipping away. Set up the new MIG - wanted to try it on the tub seam

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Practise butt weld. This was with the recommended setting for gauge steel. Lower the voltage slightly to avoid the blow through. Will need to get good at this for things like the door handle shaving.

I don't like the way the weld has so much substance on top of the panel, compared to using the TIG. Maybe I need to move faster, or lower the wire speed. Have to figure out the shield settings also, as I really can't see the puddle as I would with the TIG

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Used the tack setting to work on the tub seam - works like a charm

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welded & primed....

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Decided to cut the extra 1/4" off the skin. I can play with the depth on the roof cut as needed from here

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from 6.5
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to 6.25, 5 7/8" exposed, the rest will be the weld lip. If I can cut the roof lip down to 1.25", I'll be at 7.25" off the sunroof opening.

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flange forming is clean, the paint cracked is all

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note: hinge bolt offset from beam

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Also tested spot welding a weld flange with fusor 208b panel bond. looks like it will work exactly as desired. Seals the weld from corrosion, and adds extra bond strength. Should mean minimal cleanup & filler on the finished panel.

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Busy day today. Took some hours to get the D section to align properly with the forward section. I cut an inch off the forward section first, then about another 1/8" to get it right. Had to cut off about 1/4" of the underside reinforcement for weld clearance. Once I had it where it seemed even side to side, I stripped the weld flanges.

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cut back the underside

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Pics of the difference in roof line contour at the junction

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This piece had to be cut off the door frame to allow the D pillar glass seam to clear

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Not enough room for the hinge bolts - the bolts I used for the sunroof endcap are in the way, so cut those off

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Looks OK!

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Looks OK to me

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stripped for seam bond/ spot welding

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test clamp

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After that, I applied the bond skim to both panels, and a 1/4" bead before assembling, clamping & welding the main section

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Then I cut the roofline on both sides to taper the main panel, following the A-Traktor video

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MIG welded these, more welding needed to finish them up, had to pack up before the sunset

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Looks like it's not going to need crazy work to clean it up

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It's really on there now

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discrepancy in drip rail offset - that I will have to taper. I think I'm going to slot the forward and rear sections just inside the "T", so I can pull out the rear rail, and push in the front over 4 inches or so to balance it out

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Quick photoshop edit - slice rear section of drip rail about 3" back & pull it out to get gentle taper, fill gap, Be easier than cutting fore & aft

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also photoshop removal of rear door handle
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Worked on the B & C pillar reworking. Cut the skins off the original C pillar and the spare set of D pillars

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If possible I want to keep the curvature at the base of the skin

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Possibly stepped out like this - a little inboard from the outer ridge

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or inset about an inch

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If I keep the lower stepped ridge, I will have to run that forward into the B pillar base

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...it may not make sense to do so, as that is essentially where the cover molding would need to go.

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For the "B pillar, I want to remove the rear door vertical, and skin the B with the original C skin, inverted to make use of the lip for the 1/4 glass

I'll have to fabricate a top section to tie it into the existing pillar top

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Compared to most Swedish tractor builds it looks like you have a lot of space behind the seats. Are you planning to have a rear "kids" seat as well? Or a twin 18" subwoofer😆?
 
Compared to most Swedish tractor builds it looks like you have a lot of space behind the seats. Are you planning to have a rear "kids" seat as well? Or a twin 18" subwoofer😆?

The sunroof opening dictated the rear cab depth - without a sunroof you can pull it up another 2 inches or so, as with the A-Traktor builds. Since I have no legal regulations to follow, I can do what I want with the cab. I will likely just have/make some sort of storage box low down in the rear seat well. Once I can hang the gate, I can start to figure out what will take place in the rear seat area. Definitely not overblown stereo 🤪 . I only have the original head unit in there, and don't plan on changing it out.
 
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Worked on the B pillar today. Chopped off the outer portion of the window frame, the inner part will eventually be welded to the new skin

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stripped the lower edge so I can tack the skin to the base of the window frame.

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Tacked to the pinch welds, it's not going to be welded to the B pillar for a while - I still need to open the door for a while

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pinch weld / glass seating lip lines up nicely at the top . I have to make a union to tie the top back under the drip rail

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Stock molding will work with this, slightly modded

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I like the way it looks, vs. the thinner door post

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This edge will be welded to the B pillar, once I don't need to open the door

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MIG welder is great for this sort of one-handed work

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I'd like to use the stock moldings. The door molding will be cut where the C pillar will meet the door.

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The base of the old C pillar, I'll modify to use as one of the 2x4 post inserts, That way I can leave the outer skin & use the stock molding. I'll revise the plan if it doesn't look OK when I get to the rail cap

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Photoshopped the extension of the C pillar into the door, to see if this idea makes sense

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Had an hour today, so I got the driver's side pillar cover trimmed, door post cut & fitted

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This is what I have in mind for the stake posts, so I can carry larger junk & not worry about it coming out. I don't think the bed walls are as tall as your average pickup, even the old small Toyota & VW's.

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After finish this, You could make a hard top for the bed, that would look like this caddy which looks like 740 😅
I could, but then I might as well leave it a wagon :D - The vehicles I see with those caps, they NEVER remove them🤪

Only had a little time today, and it was bloody cold 😫

Spent some time making a continuation of the 1/4 pinch weld - this is to support the rail cap. Needs to run down the center of the old glass channel

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In order to retain the stock molding, there has to be a gap by the outer channel lip, so this really won't work.

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level with the rear existing pinch weld

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So, I'm just going to weld an angle section that will fit in the channel. chopped off the rear section I had shaped, as that will cap the C pillar cutoff

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The rail cap will overhang along these lines, so the indent where the pillar was is really not going to matter. To make it flush & then make a one piece molding for the length of the bed just doesn't seem worth it. I may of course change my mind.

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The 1/4 molding can push up tight to the door molding, so no real gap should be evident

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Productive day today. I'll add some pics later.

Short video showing gate operation & lower valance temporarily screwed to doors to set height /offset, etc.


setting up C pillar cap
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playing with the stock molding, rail cap placement relative to C pillar

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OK - so started with a good friend helping me bolt the tailgate back into the roof. That was more difficult than I thought it would be - the gate has to be fully elevated for the hinges to tuck into the recessed mounts in the roof tub, and the harness needed to be in place first. After some finagling it was in!

George holding the lower valance that was cut from a parts car

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roof alignment looks good

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inside

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only place the gate contacts the wheel wells - so I can beat that into submission. No tailgate cutting required!

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Yay!

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The next part took me quite some time to sort out. The opening between the door skins is 58", and the latch needs to sit approx 7" off the rear floor so I needed to chop some bits off

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back & forth about a dozen times, marking & trimming small areas to get the height, width & fore/aft offset correct

base is too shallow to weld to floor, so I will be making a filler section to mate it to the floor

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Ends will be welded to doors, and a joiner section to reunite the pillar with the base

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An exterior panel will cover this area, joining the pillar to the door frame at the rear

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Gate seal in place, gate latch adjusted

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Yesterday I also took the wagon downtown - to visit another friend....

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....who, it turns out has an 8' metal brake

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So, I was able to revert to my earlier plan of making the rails out of stainless, with a softer radius than the square tube would provide. Made them taller & wider than originally planned. 2.75" off the pinch weld base, 1.5" wide, 1.25" outer lip, with .5" hem

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with them 2.75" tall, that gives me a better height to tie in to the front of the car

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Made them out of 2 pieces, I didn't have any lengths over 3' left. No worries, I'm confident I can carefully butt weld that.

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This connection will be fiddly - I'm planning on tucking the rail in so it doesn't protrude past the C pillar

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Post cover will need to sit pretty far out on the ledge

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tucked edge ties in nicely to the cross plate/gate frame

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plan is still to cut the stock molding & make it work

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molding along these lines - have to define Pillar contour into outer panel below

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definitely work to do to make it flow & have clean lines

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...and ran out of daylight

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Feeling under the weather today, so only futzed with a couple things I wanted to work out.

tweaked the backside of the panel so it will align with the molding

EDIT: Link to Volvo Parts catalog with bodyside moldings & clips

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So ultimately it will be along these lines

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Will need a fill panel to close off the bed side of the rear door

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can make this in 2 parts, so it will provide the lip to weld the rail to on top. It will tuck under (and follow the rounded inner fender contour) the rounded horizontal base of the pillar.

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pulled all the wiring from the rear, that I need for the relocated gate & the power antenna

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I have to figure out what I'm going to do on the cab side of the door. I may try to cut down the door panel & make it work.

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Still really sick, so only a small amount of work today. Removed the seats, carpeting & lower trim

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Gap that will need a fill panel. Gonna be fun to make a template that follows the floor pan

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Re wired the power antenna harness (Junior Power Timer, female) for the new motor location; it will get set into the door, just have to remove part of the inner skin & make a mount bracket.Antenna cable runs up the cab side of the pillar, then passes through to the outer skin for the top 8" or so. Also have to add 2 M6 rivnuts to the C pillar for the harness grounds

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Drilled the 2" hole for the rear harness pass-through - I will cut the rear harness (lights, fuel pump/sender, ABS, need to add trailer & lic plate lights) on the cabin side & add connectors so it can go through & be elevated against any water ingress

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misc pics of cab side of gate frame, all require figuring out proper connections/ unification, to make sure it is sound.

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