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New Project! 1968 Volvo P1800 "Bullwinkle"

A little bit of progress this week. The heater controls came in. It is a pretty cool unit from Restomod Air. It has one button you push to change from fan to temp to zone and then you twist the knob to adjust the settings. It should make for a pretty clean install.
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The metal work this week was focused on two areas. The hood was fit to the body which required quite a bit of cutting and welding. The original hood opening had quite a lot of bondo to make it look right. Not any longer!

The body man also started working on the rear front fender arch. Since we eliminated the pinch weld by blending it into the rocker it left a small triangle shape void the length of the rocker.

The new opening is about 3/4" flared more than stock and extends down below the rocker slightly. This will match the modified body line on the rear quarter. Here is the modified front fender.
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Here is the other side which hasn't beeen changed yet.
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Here is a picture of the rear wheel opening to show how it matches the front.
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The front valance has been shaped to better flow with the original grill. We painted the valance with gray epoxy and the splitter black so it would better blend with the car. I think it looks better with the softer edges. It will be nice when it is back on the ground.

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The gaps have been set in the deck lid and they started working on the latch for it now.

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I have not been able to get a profile view of the car for a long time so it was nice to get a glimpse today. When I stood back I did not like the lack of a point on the front bumper so they will be reworking it to better match the rear.

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The license plate trim was made and I think it will look killer when it gets chromed!

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The gas cap has also been shaped to fit the quarter panel. It is a little high now but will be made flush after final body work is done. If you press on the top and twist slightly it will pop up then it can be twisted to remove.

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The biggest thing I am waiting on now is all the glass and then the front suspension to arrive. Once it is in we will have to gap the doors and make some modifications to the engine bay panels. It is starting to come together!

One cool thing is it looks like I may get a sponsorship from BASF. It looks like they may pay for all the materials! They have expressed some interest in having it at SEMA but that may be a long shot. Guys like Chip Foose tend to be in the paint manufacturer booths. It is pretty hard to compete with them.


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Exceptional work, with only one critique: the grill has a trim around it but the new lower doesn't. It may look better if it matched the grill above it. Just my $.02.
 
Thanks for the input. I am not sure I agree though. If we matched the trim to the top it would make the front busier and I think would detract from the sporty feel I am after. If I was building a cruiser I may have to agree with you.

The shop is still finishing up on the small items. They are about done with the trunk latch and as usual they are exceeding my expectations. They fabricated a nice metal cover that will be screwed to the latch bracket. It will hide the mechanism and will provide a mounting point for interior panels. There is still some finishing touches to do but that is mostly on the trunk lid itself.
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The bumpers are now done and the slight flare to the front edge of the rear fenders is done. I added another item to the to-do list and they have almost finished it. It was to add a turn signal to the outer valance opening. My original plan was to have the turn signals installed around the projector bulbs in the headlight. My concern now is that they would not be visible if the lights were on. The new turn signals function as daytime running lights as well as turn signals. The theme of the grill was continued to the lights. Parallel grill bars on the top and bottom but these will likely be painted black to match the splitter. This one is almost done. It needs a curved piece on the inside edge of the lense like it has on the outside.1d887f5fc71f9a55d049bacbca49770e.jpg


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I started to do the modifications to my headlights to retrofit projector headlights in them. I need to do some filing and trimming on the edges but I like the way it is going.
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Need to see more details on the headlight mod. In progress pics would be cool. Parts used, etc. It looks great btw!
 
That is a good idea. This was started in a headlight that was broken. I will have to do the same thing to 2 more headlights but I need some butyl before I can go further. I should have it next week.

I also need to build a jig to hold the headlights since I am doing this at home and the car is at the shop. I plan on doing that this weekend and also fitting the shroud into the reflector. Should be a fun project.


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You caught on to me or I mean us. LOL!

Two steps forward and one step back. I received some good news that it looks like we can eliminate the front wing window and have a plan of action on the quarter window glass. The plan is to use side safety glass from a Ford Flex for the door glass and a section from a Mazda Miata windshield to make the quarter glass. Both will take some trimming but since the door glass on the Flex is safety glass we will be able to trim it unlike if it was tempered glass.

The step back is with the lights. I fitted the projectors to the headlight buckets and when I did I wrapped everything in blue tape to protect the finish. When I had everything lined up and ready to glue I pulled off the tape and when I did it peeled the chrome off the projector shroud. Since it is all glued together I will have to start all over again. I had a few choice words when that happened. The good side is I was able to upgrade my projectors to a newer version that will provide a better beam of light. I hope to have the new parts in by this weekend and be able to start on that project again.
 
It is ready for the suspension work. It should be shipped fro Ron Sutton Race Technologies early next week. The control arm mfg accidentally shipped two of the same side upper control arms. That delayed shipment by about 3 weeks. Now I just have to wait for my chassis guy to have the time for install.
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