Volvo C304 (4x4) Restore and fitout - WR7002

22 September2017

3 days work on the Volvo coming up.

Friday public holiday - our 7th of the month.

Oh there's a catch my wife is away I'm informed I have to return home each night to feed the fur kids each morning and night. I have to return to Kuala Lumpur each night and drive back up each morning.

Wake up late for the long drive to IPOH. The 190k takes me 90 minutes there is not much traffic people have no money left to travel lol.

The factory is open and working when I arrive at 8.10am.

My goals for the next 3 days are the knee pads finish. The speaker panels mount and sand and ready for powder coating. The door panels mount and ready for powder coating.

First the kneepads. Damn one has gone missing. The template is found and the old kneepad but the alloy cutout is gone I hav e to make another. Fark no guillotine its been under repair for some 4 weeks. I cut it out by hand and then the old console plate and the gear lever cover.

I then get help with the bender and they bend up the speaker panels and the knee pads.

Then the knee pads are welded up.

At the end of the day I also get given the air conditioning compressor the air cond workshop gave it back to them unable to get the parts to make it work can I get the parts. What sort of air cond shop is this?

The left side kneepage welded up ready to mount.


The right side knee pad is ready to mount I had to chop the steering wheel part out and make it 2 parts instead.


Old console cover cut out. However the rivnuts are IMPERIAL I cannot find nice bolts to fit. I might have to drill and retap.


I have the door panel the little end cap bent and need to file it down still down.


I have the other door panel the little end cap it bent and filed down and now it fits perfectly.


I have the rear door locks to sand down and some welding needs to be added there is stress cracks in the alloy from over bending.


The speaker panels are bent up ready to trial fit.




The centre console has been alkaline cleaned and powdercoated and looks ace.




Then the long drive home. I floor it and arrive in KL 80 minutes later including a refuel lol.

The smallest furkid gets her special food with guard on the ironing board to stop the others stealing it.

23 September 2017

The day starts of bad the new phone's alarm sucks and would notwake me up. Damn I leave late after packing the kit I need for today the padding for the knee pads. Feed the furkids etc.

I make it (the 190k) in very good time and get to have breakfast and arrive in time for hte factory to be opened at 9am.

I spend the morning buying RIVNUTS and RIVNUT tool as the workshop one does not do 4mm rivnutz.


I work on the door panels and then realise I have to go do the air conditioning compressor. The hydraulic shop points me to a little hole in the wall air conditioning supplier shop and they are very helpful and replace the complete cylinder head with commonly available parts. Made my day

The repaired compressor ready to back into the Volvo.


Back to the door panels one is almost finished I have 3-4 little cuts to make to make it perfect and work out the spacer needed for the door handle. If only I could find the inside door handles.


The other door panel is also nearing completion.


The knee pads are now bolted in awaiting the padding.




The state of the old Kneepads


Mr Brown did not want his photo taken he wanted to fool around.


Home time 7pm - step on it I'm hungry the 190k whizzes by real fast.

Feed the cats have a meal then gotta do it all again tomorrow. The Isuzu trip meter shows 846k for the weekend when I roll up at the gate.

24 September 2017

Wake up late again - feed the furkids and head off 190k to go. I arrive at 8am and then fall asleep in the car I'm so tired.9.30am I eventually start work. The arduous task of mounting the speaker panels by myself.

The speaker panels marked ready to mount.


Takes me till 1pm to mount the first speaker but its up and looks cool.


Another 3 hiurs and I have the second speaker panel mounted.


At the end of the 3 day weekend what do I have.

Kneepads bolted in


Centre console base bolted in.


Door panels almost ready but they are bolted down




The first foam pad gluing to the alloy kneepad base.


I have to remember the big picture yes its getting there.


Mr Brown finally sat still for 10 seconds on his favourite workbench.


Home time 6.30pm the workshop is clean. 3 and a 1/4 hours home it's a nightmare of traffic accidents and nothing over 120k.

Arrive home after 10pm needing a meal and rest. The poor Isuzu has 1250k on the weekends trip meter.

30 September 2017

Oh my have to do some urgent stuff at 5am when I wake up. Typing up documents at 5am is not fun. 6.30am on the road for the 190k trip, this time I have the boat on the back it needs some surgery so I can load up the boat myself when on the boat ramp.

Arrive IPOH 9am.

My only focus get the first layer of pads onto the rest of the kneepad pieces.


Cutting the foam to shape takes ages.


Then the disaster I needed to get my car fridge checked so off to get some bolts and the air cond shop. Fridge they have no idea. The Isuzu air cond needs attention it ain't blowing cold air out. However, my Isuzu air conditioning they need to pull the radiator out. 5 hours later i'm back in the workshop air cond in the Isuzu fixed and the broken light bulbs replaced.



The day is ruined. I shut up shop at 7.15pm just before sunset.

1 October 2017

Progress is good the first layer of padding is all done. One of the pieces is finished and sanded and looks pretty good and is ready for PVC covering once I work out how to get clean holes drilled in them.


The speaker panels are all bolted up all holes drilled and rivnuts finished. However 2 rivnuts need to be redone I have pulled the thread - crap.




I have the old console hole covered and bolted in. However it exxposes the bumps and marks in the top of the tunnel. Now I need to weld an alloy cover to the console cover to cover the top of the tunnel also.


Home 1.15pm to attend the kids kayaking adventure presentation BBQ. I get 13 new kids from the Orphanage volunteer to join next years 2 kayaking adventures. The 15 kids from this years trips well they have all changed. Confident. Cheeky. Assertive. Grown. Achievement. One of them brings her new friend for me to vet and see if I approve - touching.

The deadline of 15 November can I make it to be able to take the Volvo to the RFC2017.

7 October 2017

I wake up late 6.30am I'm supposed to have left 6am I have to be at workshop 8.30am. Its raining as I load up alloy sheet to take to IPOH for special work today. 7.30am on the road I tip toe the mightly little Isuzu up the highway at 140k in the rain its dicey and dangerous the 2 big multi car accidents on the other side off the road tell me to slow down I cannot gotta get to IOPH 190k away. The road stays wet for 130k then slowly dries out.

Arrive workshop 9.00am Mr Brown is elated to see me and lets me know.

Worked on the second layer of gluing for the kneepads one took me 3 separate pieces to get right.

Brett came in and worked on the new console starting to mount switches for a few hours.

We sort out a new way of mounting the kneepads so the are bolted from behnd. If this fails I will have to make new ones from steel plate. It's going to be a overhauling Mr Foose type mounting lol.

All glued by 3pm time for a break and I cut out the new shelf for fishing cabinet no 2 as part of the keep Mrs me quite campaign.


Then move onto making the new fridge/cooler box cooling cover assistant from alloy and sponge to keep the direct sunlight off the fridge or cooler in the boat. The Volvo spare tire is the perfect weight to keep the pressure on the foam.


Meantime the kneepads are drying.

8 October 2017

By Sunday lunchtime they are the kneepads both completed. WAshed and left to dry more.


The free labour turns up and gets the left side panel to correct the mounting point and bolt up.


Template for the left side of the dash made since the previous one has gone missing it had to be remade due to the new centre console from 2mm alloy. No time to cut it out as its 7pm.


Kneepad sits underneath will trim it up before making the dash cover.


Mr Brown lets me know its dinner time by holding my hand gently with his teeth/

So what was achieved in the weekend,

SPeaker panels all rebolted in some errant rivnuts redone. Sanded and ready for more sanding.

Kneepads finished gluing.
Old Console piece sanded - needs a lot more to remove the guillotine marks.
Right floor cut another for volvo 2 ready for the Volvo 2 shop to use
Left floor paper template made for Volvo 2 shop to use for Volvo 2.
Gearlever panel was designed and a large piece of alloy cut out this is going to be a lot of work to fix. Graft in a steel piece and cover with an alloy sheet.

29 items left to do only

I'm back on 19th October for a weeks attack on the Volvo after a weeks inland fishing and camping on the boat and kayak.

The trip back was hell with the boat in tow with its newly fixed suspension - 2 in lift and new guides to make self loading a breeze and new heavy duty tires. Accidents rain etc make it a 3 hour hell trip.

23 October 2017

Back on the Volvo after 7 days of living on the lake with the boat drinking beer and swimming in 29c water, kayaking, fishing and sleeping in the hammock man it was tough leaving I can tell you. Then the clutch started dying on the long return journey home - left the boat in the boat factory in Penang for surgery 220hp inboard engine and jet propulsion conversion.



2 days at home and then the loud early morning 5.40am call to pray rings out over the valley waking me up I realise i'm late for the IPOH 190k run. The ISUZU is in the shop getting the gearbox pulled. I have the RED jungle truck instead - stereo dissappears at 20kph replaced by howling tires, Engine and gearbox noise. 2 hours 15 mins of torture later I arrive in IPOH at 8.00am 1 hour late.

So todays progress is sanded down all the knee pad edges then started on the left dash panel it all must match.

spent 2 hours trying to get a air cond contractor to turn up since the last one has gone missing for 2 months and closed his shop doors.

Mr Brown was really happy to see me and would not get off the workbench.


The left kneepad and new dash panel are starting to become seemless. Drilling the holes for mounting is the most difficult part.


Then the sky's opened and a huge storm came through at 4pm we could not work rain was blowing through the workshop wall panels and water running down the inside walls so all electric tool work stopped. I moved onto the switch panel and fitted all the switches except the 2 air cond switches.


2 more days of my holiday remain lets see what I can finish on the Volvo.

24 October 2017

Day 2 of the Volvo visit.

Make the dreaded template for 3 covers in one takes me all morning to prepare this. Finally I have something I can use. Also fix the gear lever over the handbrake issue by extending the gear lever linkage 30mm with a uick cut and weld in an extension.


By 4pm it's cut out and with the assistance of one of the staff we complete the tricky double bends to match the Volvo's "form". I make a ring for the gear lever skirt with a soft hammer and a 4" pipe.


Near the end of the day the ring is welded to the cover.


Then I drill out the hole and a test fit proves it all works. More finishing and fitting tomorrow inclusing the tricky getting the holes drilled to match the existing mess.


Meantime Brett did some work on the switch panel and mated the lid to the body and strarted the relay connection.




At home time the big picture is staring to look more and more complete every day.


The factory doors close 6pm. I run of and get my cut finger treated.

Progress is looking good..

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26 October 2017

Last day of my long holiday. Half day - then return the 20hp engine to the boat factory in Penang 165k from the IPOH factory. Mr Brown greets me at the gate he knows the howl of the jungle trucks turbo.

My goal is to get the knee pads mounted and down to the "cushion" "kussen" (Bahasa Malayu spelling) shop. The spelling took me ages to find a shop lol.

Mid morning the first goal is done the left new passenger dash panel is fitted and bent properly with some assistance from the ever helpful expert bender Mr Yap.


Then the knee pads are mounted using RIVNUTS from behind. Taped up the gear lever cover so it doesn't get scratched.


Drivers side with the split knee pads due to the new mid column power steering unit is mounted.


Scrubbed the panels and cleaned up and went down to the "Kussen" shop. The nice couple called their daughter down to speak English to me as they only spoke Cantonese and my cantonese is limited to ordering food and bartering and directions, so they gave me stitching options etc and we agreed on the work and it will be ready Saturday lunchtime.

Headed up to IPOH in the Jungle TRUCK - god the noise I forgot how bad it was dropped the engine off and headed back the 385k home not without dramas when the new turbo in the jungle truck decided for 80k to leap the EGT gauge to 900 every time I put the foot down. It all settled down as it got to dusk and I arrived home 8.57pm. Only good new is Isuzu is being dropped back home in the morning with a new clutch.

Roll on Saturday where I have the old gear lever cover to bolt in and trim up and a ever deceasing amount of work left for me to do.

RFC 2017 in the Volvo is gone so maybe we will finish it by XMAS. Maybe.

That would be a great Christmas present for you

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5 November 2017

Work on Volvo stopped for last weekend and yesterday due to that Apple Iphone x launch which caused a bit of chaos resulting in me working 8 days straight.


Long drive to IPOH god im starting hate it 6.08am I depart home and its raining. I limit myself to 140k even that is dangerous. The overturned bus 15 minutes later which crossed 6 lanes of highway and 4 barriers ending up on its roof is a gentle reminder to slow down as I cruise past the wreck.

Arrive IPOH 95 minutes later, it rained all but for 30k on the way up with a few slippery moments to remind me of my New Zealand superbike back country touring bad days.

Share a load of butterscotch bread and a yoghurt drink with Mr Brown.

Workshop is opened for me and I commence the days work.

Takes me 3.5 hours to line up and drill the 10 holes to bolt in the gear lever cover. But they all line up and it looks ok. Next weekend I will prepare it with the vaccum switches for the PTO levers. Trim it more then it can be sanded for powdercoating.

First a visit to Volvo 2 Chassis shop on Friday night after the Apple x launch on the way home and they unveil the new guard dog. Man he is cute 2 months old I wanna adopt him.


The paper template which took me hours to get the holes lined up correctly.


For a break I decided to try and fit the LED headlights one LED light was fitted into the old headlight ring. The other no hope WD40 would not free up the screws. More work is needed as nothing is ever simple. I need to mount a new tab for the bottom of the headlight to bolt to the other has been half ripped out during strip down. An hours work has just turned into 3-4 hours work or more.


Drilling the holes fopr the left dash proved harder than I thought when I got 1 hole 4mm out of alignment resulting in it having to be welded up so I can redrill it. Damn SOB.


The gear lever bolted down looks ok.


Further inspection of the LED light Monday reveals I need to make a internal bracket to stop the wiring flopping around and a broken bracket I also need to repair. I'm going to order new headlight rings from Sweden instead. The arrow indicate the issues.


Home time the traffix chaos yet again and 2.5 hours go by before I can stop at the bar near home and have a burger and a beer.

12 November 2017

After losing 3 weekends of my life to Apple x launch and then the Alipay 11.11 Sale. I finally got a day to work on Volvo 1.

Stupid me decides to watch the All Blacks play France at 3.45am then drive to IPOH straight after By 5.30am

I realise the game will spill into my driving time and breakfast time.

6.15am Leave home and refuel and then sit on 140k the whole way to IPOH another 190K gone a nice dry clear road. Arrive in IPOH with enough time to have a 20 minute breakfast and start work as the door is unlocked for me.

I have to cleanup all the Volvo stuff to enable the huge trailer order to start Monday. I fit the 4 shocks

to get rid of more boxes and then start cleaning up by 7pm it's home time and I have everything cleaned up in and around the VOlvo and biffed a lot of rubbish stuff out.

Some work has been done on the centre console looks about 50% wired up.


I find the old centre console - huge difference now in Quality and presentation.


The cleaned out Volvo.


The new spare tire covers.


The left side headlight I need to sort out how to bolt in the headlight bolt.


The right side headlight I need to sort out how to weld in the missing half of the clip.


The cleaned up parts table and the rear of the Volvo except for the window glass.


Hometime yet another 2.5 hour drive for the 190k find the local bar have a beer and meal realising even XMAS is looking difficult to finish the Volvo.

geckoadventure said:

12 November 2017

After losing 3 weekends of my life to Apple x launch and then the Alipay 11.11 Sale. I finally got a day to work on Volvo 1.

Stupid me decides to watch the All Blacks play France at 3.45am then drive to IPOH straight after By 5.30am

I realise the game will spill into my driving time and breakfast time.

6.15am Leave home and refuel and then sit on 140k the whole way to IPOH another 190K gone a nice dry clear road. Arrive in IPOH with enough time to have a 20 minute breakfast and start work as the door is unlocked for me.

I have to cleanup all the Volvo stuff to enable the huge trailer order to start Monday. I fit the 4 shocks

to get rid of more boxes and then start cleaning up by 7pm it's home time and I have everything cleaned up in and around the VOlvo and biffed a lot of rubbish stuff out.

Some work has been done on the centre console looks about 50% wired up.

I find the old centre console - huge difference now in Quality and presentation.

The cleaned out Volvo.

The new spare tire covers.

The left side headlight I need to sort out how to bolt in the headlight bolt.

The right side headlight I need to sort out how to weld in the missing half of the clip.

The cleaned up parts table and the rear of the Volvo except for the window glass.

Hometime yet another 2.5 hour drive for the 190k find the local bar have a beer and meal realising even XMAS is looking difficult to finish the Volvo.

Click to expand...

Looking forward to seeing you getting closer to the end

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