I like that wagon. Keep posting updates as you make progress.
I like that wagon. Keep posting updates as you make progress.
I got the tank back from Carolina Chem Strip and it looks amazing!
The inside is nearly spotless.
But the pickup tube lost something important. The tube is about 1.5” shorter than before which means it will only draw gas if the tank is at least 20% full instead of 2%. Additionally, looking at the top of the tube, there may be more pinholes which would reduce the effectiveness and life of fuel pump.
Now I’m exploring two new options: 1) Figure out how to remove the tube, mend it, and reinstall it 2) Plug the tube at the fitting and have a sump welded on to the bottom
Wow wish I would have done that with my luv tank it looks amazing!
Semi Jealous, would love to own an old volvo wagon again. Keep up the progress.
Any updates? It's been a week. 
After some consideration I realized a sump would be too low and unsafe given the tank location. I'm trying to catch up with a friend later this week about cutting the tube out, replacing it, and welding it back in. After that I'll be able to use the POR-15.
Sine_Qua_Non wrote: Any updates? It's been a week.
True Machine in Raleigh, NC was willing to do some welding/fabrication work on the gas tank. The rusted and rotted feed tube has been replaced and is ready for POR 15 coating!
The weather this weekend was amazing. It was warm enough to do the final metal prep, coat the inside with POR15, prime the exterior and put some finish coats on.
The tub had tons of petrified sealant, weird rubber goop, and filth. Here it is sanded and prepped:
Here's a reminder of what the tank looked like when I first pulled it from the car.
The inside of the tank was amazing thanks to Carolina Chem-Strip, but I went further with cleaning and etching. Here it is ready for POR15.
POR15 is covered in warning about not getting it on your skin. Take my word, they're there for a reason. Here's the inside of the tank, sealed with POR15, after drying for a few hours. I'll have to way 72 hours before I can put gas in it though.
The exterior of the tank was cleaned and prepped before receiving two coats of primer.
The tub got the same cleaning and prep treatment before getting many layers of primer.
After the primer set up I gave the tank two coats of gloss black.
No surprises on the test fit. Next I need to get some new bolts to hold everything in place and a new filler hose.
Sweet!
Since the tank doesn't have the typical strainer/filter at the fuel pick-up, might consider a larger filter just outside of the tank. You want that filter to be large to avoid making to much of a restriction prior to the pump.
Yes your correct about any POR-15 product, it sticks to skin really well. About the only way to get it off, lots of hand lotion and time, figure 3 days on average. It's easier to just use some gloves, I always have a box of gloves, one day I will learn when they should be used....
In reply to EvanR:
Mercedes does this, too. And I think Jaguar. Something about respecting heritage, yadda yadda yadda...
I'll be curious to see your experience with the tank sealer. Gasoline (especially with the Ethanols) is a really, really good solvent. I had a Volvo 122 once that kept sticking valves- turned out it was some black E36 M3 a P/O had used to "seal" the gas tank with, dissolving and working its way through the fuel system. I ended up swapping tanks and never had another problem.
I'll keep you posted on how it handles the ethanol. I'm also slightly nervous about it because I couldn't find any real information on long-term usage/issues.
volvoclearinghouse wrote: I'll be curious to see your experience with the tank sealer. Gasoline (especially with the Ethanols) is a really, really good solvent. I had a Volvo 122 once that kept sticking valves- turned out it was some black E36 M3 a P/O had used to "seal" the gas tank with, dissolving and working its way through the fuel system. I ended up swapping tanks and never had another problem.
The Volvo only has a pusher filter between the fuel pump and the carb. I think a filter between the pump and tank makes sense. I've read that a pre-pump filter should be 50-400 microns; enough to catch silt and anything larger (think coffee ground size) without restricting flow. A large coarse filter is probably a great idea.
TED_fiestaHP wrote: Since the tank doesn't have the typical strainer/filter at the fuel pick-up, might consider a larger filter just outside of the tank. You want that filter to be large to avoid making to much of a restriction prior to the pump. Yes your correct about any POR-15 product, it sticks to skin really well. About the only way to get it off, lots of hand lotion and time, figure 3 days on average. It's easier to just use some gloves, I always have a box of gloves, one day I will learn when they should be used....
In reply to nharperc:
I've never run a pre-pump filter. Its generally considered a bad idea. You want the pump to suck against as little head as possible. That said, if you have a course pre-pump filter, basically a screen or sock like they sometimes do have in the tank, it would probably be fine.
True the pump wants as little restriction in the inlet as possible, also should mount the pump as low as possible. My Maserati had a intank filter that restricted flow even when fairly clean. I removed that, It already had a filter before the pump and one before the carb. With the intank filter removed, it ran so much better. If it seems to run out of fuel while driving, slow constant spend ok but has a hard to accelerating from there and seems to be speed limited. That could be limited fuel flow, or many other things.....
I'm still struggling with the fuel filler neck hose. The original hose was moulded in a very specific shape and I've exhausted my options for sourcing a replacement. Instead I bought 2 inch inner diameter "soft" fuel hose from FillerNeckSupply and I'm working on a custom 2 inch outer diameter tube to make the hard bend as an adapter.
I have a possible line on your fuel hose, but I would need to know if your chassis number is before or after #119842. That's the number after which the part number for your hose changes.
It's a 1970, so I'm before chassis 119842. It should be part # 677924-3.
EvanR wrote: I have a possible line on your fuel hose, but I would need to know if your chassis number is before or after #119842. That's the number after which the part number for your hose changes.
nharperc wrote: It's a 1970, so I'm before chassis 119842. It should be part # 677924-3.EvanR wrote: I have a possible line on your fuel hose, but I would need to know if your chassis number is before or after #119842. That's the number after which the part number for your hose changes.
Thanks. The feelers are out. If it exists, the people to whom I've reached out will find one!
Here's my current solution for the fuel filler neck. I got a couple of exhaust bends and had them welded up to recreate the correct angles. I'll fill it with fuel later today and check for leaks.
Nice!
Well hot damn, no leaks and it started right up. The open header make it quite loud, but the engine runs and the fuel system is DTF, for now. Unfortunately a new issue sidelined the day…electrical!
Here's the lead from the ignition switch to the coil. It was shorting on the lip above the firewall and toasted the wire.
I need to replace that wire and do a lot of other electrical cleanup. You can see how many additional connections the fuse block has (A/C, CB, voltmeter, the list goes on).
I ended up stripping a few unused items out while also removing the dead and mostly missing A/C system. Lots of electrical left to sort out, thankfully the wiring diagram is dead simple.
Make yourself familiar with all of the articles on The Swedish Embassy website. That site has gobs of good electrical information on Volvos of that era.
This weekend I got back to addressing the wiring situation. I made a new primary ignition wire from the switch to the coil and left the old dead one in the wiring harness because I wasn't about to unwrap that. The new wire is insulated on both ends to prevent unintentional shorting in the future. It fired right up again but ran rough. I need to redo the static timing because the distributor is loose as hell.
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