It's like holding on to a wild beast.
-[Mike voice-over] I'm Mike Brewer... -Oh.
[Mike voice-over] ...and I've been buying and selling cars
for nearly 40 years.
It's rattle-y, smelly, and it's brilliant.
Now, I have... in Britain's motoring heritage heartland.
You can see the back of the Volvo and there it is.
Very nice.
-[Mike voice-over] Along with ex-Formula 1 mechanic... -[both laughing]
[Mike voice-over] ...Marc 'Elvis' Priestley.
So, that engine management light never put you off ,then?
[Mike] Together, we go to buy.
-I think you're the right man for it. -What's up, man?
[Mike voice-over] And fix up...
[Marc] Are you actually pushing?
[Mike] Of course, I am pushing.
[Mike voice-over] ...the most iconic and exciting cars
on the market.
This is gonna be epic.
Bolt a super charger to it,
and you end up with a car that does this!
[Mike voice-over] With Elvis's engineering skills...
[Marc] ...Sleeping Beauty, isn't it?
Apart from the beauty bit.
[Mike voice-over] ...and my car-dealing clout...
He's gonna be over the moon, isn't he?
Elvis better get the particles ready.
[Mike voice-over] ...we should be able to make ourselves a tiny profit.
'Cause this is my job and I blimming love it.
[theme music playing]
[thuds]
Hey, you can stop all that.
Ah, my box of wages.
-It is not your box of wages... -[Marc snickers]
...it is anything but you wages.
But it got me thinking on the way back,
I can remember doing all these kind of stuff
in the back of an Estate car, do you remember them?
[laughing softly] Yeah, I do, yeah,
but you're right, you know? 'Cause they've sort of almost disappeared, haven't they?
SUVs have become so popular now,
everyone's got 'em because they're big, they're practical.
But, actually, an Estate car did all of that
but it was also a bit more efficient.
Yet every manufacturer out there today has an SUV in its offering,
but back in the day, it was the Estate car that ruled the roads,
I used to sell 'em by the bucket-load.
In fact, there was one particular Estate car, that I used to sell a lot of,
and it was a vehicle that offered space, safety, and security.
-You remember what it was? -I do,
-Volvo Estate. -Volvo Estate car, yeah.
Listen, we should think about doing one of those, you know?
Because they are classic, they're an iconic shape.
Well, there's not really a shape to it,
-it's just like a big brick, Elvis. -[laughs]
I think you're right, you know?
I think there's a market for classic Estate cars out there,
if we was to find the right Volvo 240,
fix it up and sell it, I reckon we can make a profit.
Yeah, have a look, mate, yeah.
-Oh, we'll have a look, right. -Yeah.
Give us a hand with this. It is heavy.
-It is my wages in here. -It's not your wages.
[Mike] It just so happens, after an online search,
I found a Volvo Estate, which might just fit the bill.
I need to go and take a look.
I wanna celebrate the Volvo Estate and what it meant to us.
People loved them.
They loved them because if you needed to put your family
inside a seven-seater and you wanted your family a bit safe,
then do it in a Volvo.
Plus, if you was an antiques dealer, it'd become your best friend
because you can fit a double wardrobe in the back of one them
once you've folded all the seats down,
they were so durable and enduring.
For me, back in the' 80s,
the Volvo 240 was the best Estate car on the market.
It began production in 1973 and prove the world-wide sensation,
popular as a reliable and tough family car.
In 1991, they released the Torslanda model
named after the factory in Sweden.
It was the final hurrah, special edition of the Volvo 240
and it was exclusively released in the UK.
Nowadays, it's SUVs which dominate the family car market
but give me an Estate any day,
they're more petrol-efficient and at an average, 10% more room in the boot.
I'm hoping that even after 40 years,
the Torslanda I'm seeing today,
will still be close to the incredible car it was
when it first rolled out, out the factory all those years ago.
So, I'm on my way to go and see a car that belongs to a guy named Pedro.
Now, with these cars, you need to keep your wits about it, they do rust
around the arches, mechanically, they need to be strong,
uh, bullet-proof, so I need to really dig deep inside this car
because anything, really, that he's doing will eat into profit.
It is a nice, little neighborhood round here.
We can see the back of the Volvo and there it is,
the Torslanda.
Very nice.
You, sir, must be Pedro, nice to see ya.
-Nice to meet you. -This is the car, is it?
-Yes. -Let's go have a look.
Wow, she's the thing, isn't it?
So, um, how long have you had it?
-More or less like one year or something like that. -About a year?
What have you done with it in that year?
[Pedro] In last summer, we went to Spain,
We did all the French coast and the north coast of Spain.
-[Mike] Wow. -[Pedro] And we came--
We went there and we came back.
See, I'd have thought young man like you,
you'd go for a camper van or something but you... in an Estate car.
[Pedro] Yeah, I think, it's funny, it's fast,
-[Mike] Yeah... -[Pedro] And it's a funny way to travel around.
Well, it's a, a very cool way to travel around
and then there's acres of space in the back of one of these.
Um, okay, well, listen, it looks good on the face of it,
I can see somebody's had a go at the rear, the rear quarter.
Um, and rather uniquely, they haven't removed the sticker.
They've just painted straight over the top of it.
It's got the nice upgraded wheels on it for the Torslanda
which is, uh, it's good and it's all blacked out, which is lovely,
it hasn't got the chrome details on the windows,
-it's got the black details, I like that. -Mmm-hmm.
Okay, well, let's have a look around the front, then.
-[Mike] Wow, look at that. -[Paul laughs softly]
That is fantastic.
[Mike] The inner panels are all original,
I mean, other than the cobwebs and the dead leaves.
What's it drive like, then? Does it drive well?
You have to be careful with the first gear, it's not going very well.
-What, you say the first gear is a little bit sticky? -Yeah.
[Mike] Okay, well, that's a problem that needs sorting.
All right, let's have a look inside the cockpit, shall we?
Okay, so, around here, Pedro, okay, look inside.
Well, the only problem I can see is that crack out there on the dashboard.
Right, let's have a look in the rear.
Right, this is what it's all about.
-That is huge. -It's big, eh?
Yeah, you can get a double wardrobe in there easily.
Absolutely lovely, so, what did you carry in the back?
When we went to Spain, I built, like, a structure,
-and then I put, like, a mattress on the top. -Wow.
So, we had our bed on the top
and underneath we had a bicycle, a surf board
and all the luggage that we carried.
You had a bicycle, a surf board and a bed?
Yeah, underneath.
-In the back of a Volvo Estate? -Yeah.
Well, listen, Pedro, I love the car,
-uh, I want to try that first gear out. -Yeah.
-Can I take it for a test drive? -Yeah, of course.
Thank you very much.
All right, then, here we go.
It all feels familiar.
It's like jumping into an old friend, jumping into a Volvo Estate.
They're big, boomy and boxy
but they sit on the road so nicely, they really do.
This has got the two liter, eight valve, good for about 112 horsepower.
It's never gonna pull your skin off the rice pudding,
but it doesn't matter, this is the perfect cruising vehicle.
Oh, there you go, there is that problem.
Rather than it just fall into first gear, you push it into first gear.
That is a little bit of an issue with this car.
Second gear's lovely, nice and second.
It is feeling a little bit sluggish in the high gears
and we need to look at what might be causing that.
He wants three grand for it.
I believe the target price for this car is a little bit lower than that.
It needs to be around two-two, two-three, maybe two-four.
That way it gives me and Elvis a little bit of room
to really do a nice job on this car.
So, there you go, look, I've spoken meself into it already.
Yes, I feel really good about this car
and I do believe it should come back to the workshop with us.
And when we go back, I'll have a little arm wrestle with Pedro
and see if I can get us his Volvo Torslanda.
-How was it? -Uh, well, it was actually all right.
I like the car, you know, it's got its problems,
but it doesn't detract from the fact that I love this car.
You don't have to sell it to me but would you take £2,000 for it?
-I don't think so. -Two-one.
Mmm, a little bit far from where, what I'm asking for.
Two-two?
Mmm, £2,300 and that's it.
£2,300?
Yeah, I think so. Fair price?
I'd... I think, I can make that work.
-Thank you, yeah. -You like that?
Uh, well, there you have it.
Just pulled meself a little slice of Sweden,
or dare I say, a big slice of Sweden?
A Torslanda.
[Mike] I bought the car.
£2,300 for this beautiful, great big chunk of Sweden,
this Volvo Estate.
And I think Elvis is gonna be over the moon.
There's some nice, meaty things we can do to it,
including that fabrication on the rear,
sorting the clutch out and we can turn this car around
and I reckon we'll have something we can push into the market place
that we can both be really, really proud of.
[car honks]
[laughing softly] You bought it?
Yeah.
Yes, I got us not only a Volvo Estate,
so, I got us the top of the range, the Torslanda.
[Marc] Whoa, look at that, it's enormous, isn't it?
-[Mike] Yeah, fantastic. -[Marc] Look at that.
[Mike] It is cavernous, isn't it?
Nice and wide, low, as well as you can load up stuff
and you can live in the back of this.
-In fact, a couple have been living in the back of this. -[Marc laughs]
How does it drive?
Well, funny, you should mention that
because as I said earlier, this couple traveled
about 5,000 kilometers, 3,500 miles,
they went all around Europe in this car and it survived.
It does run, though, dare I say, a little rough,
I reckon it could do with a bit of a tune up.
-Okay. -But look at it,
-look, it's nice and straight underneath. -[Marc] Not bad, is it?
[Mike] It's all original.
Uh, no, the only other thing is the clutch.
I would say, after a 145,000 miles, could possibly need changing.
-Yeah. -The reason being is the buying point is really low
and it makes it really difficult to get in the first gear.
Yeah, okay, I mean, these things have an auto-adjusting clutch
it's, uh, it's hydraulic, so, there's no adjustment for us to do on it,
almost certainly, that would need new ones,
particularly, if it's done a lot of miles.
-Battery's missing something, isn't it? -[Mike laughing]
[Marc] It's held in with a ratchet strap.
-It's not gonna fall out or get nicked. -Yeah.
-[Marc laughing] -...for that matter.
Or buy the interior.
Mate, you're gonna love this.
Because it is the Torslanda, it comes with a load of optional extras.
this is top of the range.
-Awesome. -Are you ready for the list?
-There's a list? Go on, then, what's on it? -Yeah.
-Right, heated seats. -Wow, that's amazing, yeah.
-[Marc chuckling] -That's it, that's as far as we go.
It's got keep fit windows, it's got keep fit mirrors,
it's got 5-speed gearbox and power steering.
off the market radio.
The only thing I can find wrong, actually, is the dashboard's cracked.
[Marc] Oh, yeah, honestly, yeah, that's not good.
Well, uh, I reckon that's repairable
and, actually, there's a couple of little techniques and tricks
-that I could try, if you're happy for me to experiment... -[Mike] Yes.
-[Marc] ...I reckon, I can get that for you. -[Mike] You go for it.
The previous owner had taken it upon himself to do a little patch-repair
on the rear wheel arches on both sides.
I'm not sure you can see that, but it's actually painted over the graphic.
[Marc] Why would anyone do that?
Don't know but they have put a lot of filler in here, so the arches have gone.
It's gone right through as well, the inner wing's not good as well.
That's gonna need some work
-That is-- -But, but if we get it right, mate,
and we do it right, we're in to a good profit with this car.
Why, what did you pay for it?
Well, this whole car, and let's face it, there's a lot of it,
-it's a lot of real estate. -[Marc laughs]
2,300 quid.
Yeah, I mean, that sounds pretty good,
'cause these things do, surprisingly, go for a lot of money.
Should we see if it's practical for us
-in the workshop, though? -Yeah, that's if it'll fit.
-That's what I mean, yeah. -[Marc laughs]
There's clearly something about the Volvo 240 Estate that made it so popular.
It was a practical car, it was a reliable car, it was a safe car,
it had features like crumple zones
that meant the engine and gear box literally folded underneath the car
in the event of an impact, keeping the occupants safe.
Side lights that stayed on all the time, so, it was always visible.
Centrally mounted fuel tank with an automatic shuttle valve,
so, if you had a crash, you don't spill fuel everywhere.
But I think it was this,
I think it was mostly about the sheer, enormous load capacity
that this vehicle has, making it so practical for so many different people.
But it might've also been that same feature that caused some of its problems.
Because this car was so big, it simply wouldn't fit in most people's garages
and that meant it had to be stored outside
and that could be the reason why so many suffered with rust issues
like this one.
If we're gonna show how awesome this Estate was and could be again,
I better get to work.
First job is the wheel arches
and as it looks like they've been botched,
this job could end up being a big one.
There's clearly been a bit of a DIY repair job on this side,
absolutely full of filler, that painted over the decals
and it looks a bit nasty.
Blimey.
Oh, my goodness, it's worse on this side than it is on the outside.
The outside wing is completely rotten, filled with filler,
in here, that looks like...
[scoffs] That's polystyrene, you know, expanding foam.
It's an absolute disaster zone.
My goodness, it's the same on that side.
I mean, that really is a disaster
because I'll be amazed if you can buy an inner wing for a Volvo 240 Estate today.
And if you can't...
Well, it means they probably don't make one.
And that is an absolute nightmare.
In fact, not one, probably, two.
Mike said it felt a bit sluggish in the high gears
when he drove it, so, I need to try and identify the issue.
First thing I'm gonna check is the spark plugs.
The spark plugs, actually, look brand new, they're all in really good condition,
the only little red flag is the spark plug in cylinder number one,
which is much darker in color,
it's actually wetter [sniffs] and smells of fuel.
It could be that it's running rich or being over-fueled somehow,
so the next part for me to check would be the fuel system.
In days gone by, the fuel going into the... of an engine
was controlled by carburetors.
They were wonderful, we could take them apart, we could fix them,
we could play with them till our heart's content
because they were mechanical systems.
Today, though, that's all been replaced.
Cars like this and almost everyone on the road
now uses electronic fuel injection systems.
Now, there are four injectors
sitting here on the inlet manifold and via a system of sensors
and the car's ECU,
very efficiently, they spray the required amount of fuel into each cylinder directly.
Before I get into the black heart of the car's deep electronics,
the first thing I'm gonna check,
is one of the only mechanical parts of the system,
other than the fuel pump itself,
and that is the injectors.
There we go, and all of this just so I can perform a little experiment.
With the injectors disconnected from the engine,
all I need is this piece of paper to do a quick test.
This will help me identify if any of them are dodgy.
[engine sputtering]
Oh.
[laughs] Wow.
Look at that, I mean, what I was hoping for,
there were four very even and uniform spray patterns
coming out of the four injectors
but very clearly, injector number one has got a problem
because it's not spraying in the right direction,
it looks like a very different pattern to the rest,
so, there's definitely an issue with that one.
I think what I need to do is take them out
and then I might go and give it to Mike, see if he can deal with that
while I crack on with the wheel arches.
-Hey, mate. -Yes.
-You know the Volvo was running lumpy? -It was, yeah.
Yeah, well, that is your reason.
Ah, injectors.
Yeah, that one, definitely something wrong with it
and I was hoping that you might be... and sort it out
'cause I've got plenty to be getting on by meself.
Well, actually, these... we can just buy online
but I do know a company. based in Midlands, that can refurbish injectors,
-so, uh, I'll give 'em a call. -Yeah, see if you can save us some cash.
While Mike finds a fix for the injectors,
I can get on with repairing the rusty wheel arches
which I'm gonna fabricate in the workshop.
Now, as you can see, I've taken the paint off the bodywork here
which has revealed a few more horror stories.
There is filler pretty much all the way round
plus a couple of previous repairs,
one here and one here.
Now, I have managed to find myself a couple of repair panels here
at 36lbs each,
I've already marks on there where I want to cut it down.
If I hold it in place,
you can actually see that the repair on this part of the wheel arch
has been done badly,
it doesn't even follow the original Volvo lines.
So, what I'm gonna do, is once I've cut this down,
I'm gonna offer this up to the car
and use it as a template to mark the bodywork before I cut that out
and, then, weld this into place.
[Marc] After I've cut out the replacement wheel arch panels for both sides,
I'll have the tricky task of matching them seamlessly with the existing bodywork.
I've cut this repair panel down as small as I can get away with
because what I wanna do is keep as much of the car's original metal
that's in good condition in there.
It's always gonna be better than any repair panel.
And, the, by holding this
firmly in place, lining up all the joints
I can then use it as a template
to mark on to the car's bodywork itself
to give me enough room to overlap the two pieces of metal
and get a nice, clean weld between them.
An easy way to get a nice, consistent line
inside the line that I've already marked, using my template,
is to run around it with this masking tape
and, then, draw around the inside of that
and that should give me exactly the measurement that I need.
By marking out one centimeter inside my guideline,
it means I can be sure or have enough of an overlap
to fit the replacement panel safely and securely.
So, Elvis has diagnosed a problem with the injectors.
Now, the injectors are an item,
truthfully, that I could just sit on the internet, click away,
and I could have a new set delivered to the workshop but where's the fun in that?
Plus, I'm all in favor of not throwing something away in landfill.
So, I do know this company they're based up in Shrewsbury,
it's family-run, they're called United Performance
and they've got all the equipment I would need
to, hopefully, turn the injectors round,
so, we're gonna give that a try first and hopefully we can fix 'em.
-[Mike] There he is. -[Keith] Hey, how are you, Mike?
-I'm all right, Keith, how are you? -Very, very good, thank you.
-And yourself all right? -Yeah, not bad at all except for this.
That's the [indistinct]. The others are in here.
-Okay. -I was hoping you can, uh, save it for me.
[Keith] We can certainly help you there, Mike.
We can put on the machine,
um, and we can spray-angle, atomization, the whole lot.
-Could we have a go now? -We certainly can.
[Mike whooping] Love it.
Come through.
[giggling] Your workshop, eh?
-It is so clean in here. -Thanks, mate.
Is this where we are on here?
-[Keith speaks indistinctly] -[Mike] There you go.
[Mike voiceover] To find the fault, Keith will use a stimulator
to recreate how that would work in an engine.
This will confirm if Elvis's mini test was spot on.
All right, it's working now. That's the fuel delivery.
-So, that's the petrol and these are the... -The electrical.
Electrical connectors for the injectors.
-That's it. -Got it.
Only thing is we're not using petrol because it's too flammable.
We use a special fluid,
uh, that makes the same sort of combustion as it would do in an engine.
-[Mike] Gotcha. -[Keith] Let me put it on
and you can tell me if you see something happening.
[Mike laughs] Well, it's pretty descriptive, isn't it?
So, these three injectors are working perfectly,
that one, well, that's all over the place, isn't it?
So, that's definitely at fault.
So, what's going on there?
Mike, what's probably happening there,
is we've got, uh, the injector's mouth shutting off,
as you can see there.
And what tends to happen, if you've got any
contamination under that actual seat,
it's not gonna switch the injector off.
Right, so that means that even when
the engine is switched off,
because the needle is stuck open,
because of contamination, it could be dropping fuel
into the bowl of the engine
and when you start, I'll be getting a rough starting,
-rough running. -Absolutely.
[Mike] So, can we see and test the flow rate then?
We certainly can. We'll put 'em onto these tubes here,
go through a testing process, and then have a look and see
if that injector is overfueling.
[Mike] Even flow is critical to the smooth performance.
If an injector is overfueling, it causes the car
to sputter and run badly.
[Keith] And as you can see straight away,
that this particular cylinder is delivering a lot more,
which indicates that the injector is stuck over.
I mean, that's twice as much is there.
It's a lot more fuel uh, which is gonna cause
all sorts of issues on the actual engine.
Can you fix it?
We can certainly put it through
-the ultrasonic cleaning... -Yeah.
...uh, and hopefully we will be able to clean that for you, Mike.
Okay, good.
Well, after that, we're gonna put new seals on, new filters,
because the filters need to be replaced.
Um, and then, see how they test again.
[Mike] All right. No worries.
With the new O-ring seals and filter fitted,
it is time to see if the ultrasonic cleaner
is worth this magic.
Running Keith, so we all ready to go? Moment of truth.
Let's see what happens.
[buzzing]
[Keith] That looks better already, Mike.
That looks even all the way across the ball doesn't it.
Look at that.
[Keith] Now, you should have absolutely very smooth running
-[Mike] All right. -[Keith] I mean, that's gonna be fantastic.
-[Mike] Well done mate. All right. -[Keith] Thank you.
[Mike] See, how good was that?
That's why I come to see you.
All you got to do is just bag 'em up
and I can get back to the workshop.
Okay, we can do that.
[Mike] Four new injectors would have cost us around £240.
But for just 100 quid, ours have been refurbished
and they should see our Volvo engine running,
as smoothly as the day it rolled out of the factory.
Job done.
[Elvis] Back in the workshop, I'm onto the next stage
of the mammoth wheel arch repair job.
Now, I've cut the wheel arch out of the back of the car
and as you can see here on the bench,
it's so corroded and full of filler,
it actually broke in two when I took it out.
The most interesting part, is actually on the other side
because although I've got myself a replacement
external wheel arch,
the inner arch itself is so heavily corroded,
that is too far gone to repair,
and you can't get new ones, so I have to make myself one.
I'm using traditional panel beating tools to gradually,
bend the edge of the metal sheet into a right angle.
Yeah, that's looking good.
Got a nice crisp corner, 90 degree return,
so the next thing,
will be to try our replacement external wheel arch
over our homemade internal wheel arch,
and see how the two line up.
Right, that's a really nice crisp fit between the two pieces,
which is exactly what I need when I go and offer it up to the car.
And that's actually the next phase.
So, for now, I'm gonna park that piece,
the piece that I'm making,
and take this, the external wheel arch,
which I need to put a few holes in,
but that's gonna allow me to plug weld it,
in exactly the right place.
And then I can come back to that.
The inner wheel arch is already cut to the right size,
but to get the right curve in it,
I've cut some vertical slits,
which will allow me to bend it to fit inside the other arch.
Yes. [chuckles softly]
Perfect. I'm really happy with that.
It's a really good fit.
It fits nice and snug, exactly as it should do.
I mean, there's still a long way to go here.
Because I've still gotta put holes all the way
around the inside of the arch and plug weld it.
The inside face of here,
that needs continuously,
seam welding all around the inside as well.
And then I've got to grind back all of those welds,
fill them, paint them, and of course,
I've still got to do the other side.
I mean, like the car, this job is turning out to be, massive.
[Elvis] We're on a mission
to prove that the humble estate car is every bit as good, if not better,
than the SUVs that dominate today's market.
And to make the point,
we've bought one of the best ever made,
the Volvo 240 Torslanda.
My next big job, is tackling the clutch.
Changing the clutch in a car that's done 145,000 miles,
especially one like this,
it's got no sign of it ever being done before,
it's not really a major surprise.
Mike did say that it struggled to get into first gear
and the bite point felt a bit weird so,
I'm gonna take it out and change it.
There we go, now this is the clutch secondary cylinder,
and if you're not careful,
this little shaft or piston in the end,
can on occasions fall out and if that happens,
well, you're into a bit of a mess.
You gotta start making sure it's fully cleaned up.
You're gonna start losing hydraulic fluid
which is gonna mean bleeding again,
So, it's much safer and easier just to pop a little tie wrap
or something like that around it to carry it in place,
and make sure it stays there.
I've already disconnected the battery,
and unbuttoned the gear lever inside the car,
so now, I can get to work underneath it.
This here is the main gear box mount,
or support cross member.
By taking it off,
it's gonna give me access to the prop shaft,
which also I need to get rid of.
Removing the prop shaft reveals the heavy bell housing
surrounding the clutch,
making it really hard to get at.
[chuckles] I know I know it's ridiculous.
It's every extension bar I've got in my tool box,
plus an 18 mil socket on the end.
I think it's the only way I've got any chance,
of getting these top two gear box bell housing bolts on them.
There you go.
Another very difficult to reach part,
is right up here on top of the bell housing,
is the flywheel positioning sensor.
It's pretty important because what it does is,
measure exactly where the crank shaft is
on any given rotation and then the car's ECU
exactly when to deliver fuel,
and to fire the spark in the engine.
I just need to get it out of the bell housing,
using a tiny little 10 mm spanner and a big stretch.
I'll just lift it out of the way,
before I ... the gear box out completely.
With the gear box out of the way, I'm getting closer
to finding out what was causing that sticky first gear selection.
And all of that work to remove the gear box,
was to get to this, the clutch.
And it does look like it's done a fair few miles.
It's got heavy wear, around the fingers
on the clutch cover, and it's covered in dust.
But either way, for £130, I'll put a new in.
Inside the clutch housing, is the clutch friction plate,
which could be worn down.
It's all got to come out.
All right. Let's have a look at just how worn it is.
Yeah, that's quite heavily worn.
In fact, if I show you next to a new one,
you can see just how worn that friction plate is.
There's not a huge amount of material left on this one.
And it's covered in dust, which is a sign of wear.
It's also got these burn marks, these bluish coloring
around the center of the friction plate show, to that it's overheated.
And what happens is, as the material
wears away on the friction plate,
the springs inside the clutch cover here,
take up that wear by moving.
But because the springs are pivoted,
down here at the outside,
that also has the effect of changing the angle of those.
Now, at this point here, the clutch release bearing sits,
because that then moves, that has the effect
that Mike would have felt of changing the bite point
from inside the car.
That one definitely has to go and all those issues,
should be cured by putting a new one in.
I need to tighten the cover plate evenly,
so I position it using a sensoring tool.
Well, there we go.
That's the bolts torqued up to 24 pounds on a clutch,
that should now give this Volvo
many more years of happy motoring.
And all I need to do is give that gear box a good clean-up,
and get the whole thing back together.
-Mate, come and have a look at this. -Uh-huh.
-I'm back from my travels, to the midlands. -And?
-Right, our injectors all in there. -[Elvis] Oh nice.
-Uh, same ones back. -Same ones back.
They've all been solidly cleaned.
There was a tiny speck of dirt
-at the end of this injector... -That's all it was.
...which they got rid of. New O-rings, [indistinct].
Oh, well done mate. We'll leave them in there,
-because I'm almost ready to stick 'em back in the car. -Top work.
[Elvis] Before I can get the engine going
with the refurbed injectors,
I still got to give the dashboard a makeover.
And, I've got a trick up my sleeve to make those
nasty cracks disappear.
Now, in an ideal world, what I'd do is,
I'd pop the windscreen out, to give me access,
to all three of these little cracks.
There's a big one in the middle and two on either side.
However, this is a bonded-in screen.
So, whilst I could do that, it's quite a lot of work,
and it's risky because you could end up
splitting it or cracking it.
Now, what I do need to do, is take a very sharp blade,
and work around the screen being in place.
I'm gonna cut a V-shape down either side
of each of the three cracks, so that I can put some
bonding agent in, glue it together,
and then when the eventual repair goes off,
it'll be flat all across the top of the dash.
Opening up the crack may seem like I'm making it worse,
but it'll give more space for the bonding agent to fill,
which will make the repair stronger.
But having dug out a V-shape groove,
on either side of the crack,
I'm now going to start by filling it this,
a high viscosity super-glue.
Comes out like a gel.
And then we activate it,
with this, a little spray activator.
Once it's done that, it goes hard,
and then over the top, I can put a flexible filler,
which will be our top coating.
Right, now that the glue is in and going hard,
it not only bonds the two halves of that dashboard,
either side of that crack together,
but it also gives us a solid base
over which, we can apply this,
which is a flexible, plastic filler.
It's the same sort of stuff you use for bumper repairs
and it has to be flexible because,
as that car goes over lumps and bumps in the road,
or around the corners,
the whole chassis and therefore the dashboard,
just flexes and twists by a tiny amount.
And the last thing we want is that crack opening up again.
All I need to do is combine the filler with this hardener,
and it's ready to go.
All right. I'm only mixing up a very small quantity because,
this stuff goes off really quickly.
So, I can put one layer on and if it's not enough,
I'll come back, mix up some more
and put that on afterwards.
An hour later, the filler has hardened,
and I can smooth it off using sand paper.
The next step is to use a spray-on plastic coating
to cover the filler.
I've cleaned the surface of the dashboard,
and I'm masking the screen to protect it.
Right.
Here we go.
[can hissing]
To make sure it completely blends into the
existing dashboard as good as we can possibly make it,
I'm gonna give it a dusting over the whole thing,
with this matte black paint.
Oh, I've got to say, that's amazing.
If you didn't know that had been repaired,
well, I challenge anyone to notice,
that there's any difference there.
And the best thing about it, it's taken me what,
a couple of hours' work.
And potentially might have saved us
a whole load of hassle, and a load of money,
if we had to take this whole thing out and replace it.
My newly fabricated wheel arch panels have been resprayed
and I have one job left to do,
replacing the decals on the side of the car.
Now, when we got this car, somebody had done,
a terrible repair job, on this rear wheel arch.
And top of that, they painted over the decals over there.
I don't know what happened, whether they'd
run out of masking tape,
but either way, they need replacing,
so I've had some new ones printed,
and am about to stick them on, and I'm gonna use this,
this laser level.
Because they have to line up the existing stickers,
and they run the full length of the car,
and it's a pretty long car,
I need to make sure they're very accurate.
I had these decals made bespoke by an online company,
so they match the original ones perfectly.
Slow and steady wins the race here.
If I pull the backing off too quickly,
I could risk tearing the decal.
All right, there you go. Loads better, isn't it.
I've got few little finishing touches and a proper clean-up,
then I'm ready to show Mike.
[laughing]
-Oh, that is like stepping into a Volvo dealership... -[chuckles]
...three decades ago. That is nuts.
It's a bit different when you dropped it off innit.
I mean, it's amazing.
I've actually enjoyed working on it, mate.
The amount of work you've done to this car,
since I've last seen it.
I just dropped off the injectors last time I see it,
[laughs]
Well listen, yeah, it was a lot of work,
but the engine's now running sweetly.
I can't believe how much room is in the back
of one of these things. It's amazing.
So, now is it ready to go?
Is it ready to face another million miles?
Uh, yeah, running sweetly, mate,
and I can't wait to get out on the road.
-Right. Let's get it out on the road. -Uh, sure.
I'll get the door.
When I bought this Volvo 240, 40 years of hard graft
have left it a bit rough around the edges.
As you could see they've actually painted over the graphic.
Why would anyone do that?
In the workshop, Elvis had to
work his magic on the body work.
I'm really happy with that. It's a really good fit.
[Mike] and dealt deep into the inner work-ins.
There's quite heavy wear around the fingers on the clutch cover.
And it's covered in dust.
[Mike] Whilst I played my part to help get the engine,
purring like a dream.
That looks even all the way across the ball, doesn't it?
Our combined efforts mean our Volvo is now ready to rock.
So, how much did we have to raid from our piggy bank?
We paid £2,300 for the car.
The wheel arch repair panels and the decals were £312.
The clutch replacement, £132.
Elvis' clever dashboard repair, cost us just 40 quid.
And I got the injectors refurbed for a hundred,
which means, our Volvo has cost us £2,884 in total.
Not bad at all.
We definitely got it look in the past,
but now it's time to see how well it drives.
What's it feel like, 'cause when I got this car,
it was a little bit down on power,
so the driving experience wasn't brilliant,
and that previous owner, he drove this car, all over Europe.
I know, yeah. I mean, it's done a lot of miles.
I've gotta say, it feels like new,
when I replaced the clutch,
which has solved all those issues of gear selection.
I gotta say the engine, been so smooth,
the engine is really quiet.
Honestly, it feels like a car of today,
not one from all this time ago.
-Yeah, I know, three decades, this car. -[Elvis] Yeah.
I mean, it's been around forever
and it's fantastic isn't it.
Listen to it, inside as well.
You got a big, boxy estate car,
can't hear a noise, can ya.
[Elvis] I mean, it's cavernous innit.
-You'd think you'd be echoing around the insides of this. -[laughing]
-Exactly. -[Elvis] 50,000 liters of boot capacity in there.
-Brilliant, isn't it. Absolutely brilliant. -[Elvis] Yeah.
[Mike] But, there is one big problem with this car.
When you got one, everyone wants to be your friend.
Hello.
Ah, hello, Catherine.
Yeah, how are you?
How... how do you know?
Everyone seems to know I got this Volvo.
Uh, well, I can ask Elvis, I mean.
I know, I know I said. I know what I said. Okay.
I'll see you in a minute.
Thanks Catherine. Bye.
[chuckling]
-Have you just promised to do a favor? -I just...
Well, you know what it's like when you got an estate car.
That's Catherine from the cafe.
-[Elvis] She wants us to move something... -It's that sofa.
She keeps asking me can you please move the sofa.
It would probably fit in here to be fair.
-It is a Chesterfield, it's a big sofa. -[laughs]
But, if we get it in here and just get it out of the way,
and then she wants me to just drop it off for her.
Well, it's not to far away.
It'll be a nice test for the car,
and I say, what we could do, it might be worth,
getting some pictures with the sofa in the back.
[indistinct] we sell it.
-Yeah, let's try it. -[Elvis chuckles]
[Mike] So, you know where it is,
uh, we're gonna go to the cafe.
Yeah, okay.
[Mike] Yes, let's go and pick up our sofa.
Let's get that job out of the way and then
we can concentrate on how good this car is.
[Elvis] I love it. We've become removal men.
[Mike] That's what happens when you got an estate car.
Hi, guys.
Thank you so much for doing this.
Well, Catherine, you have called us on a day
when we have got a good estate car.
Hopefully, it'll swallow your sofa.
And I did say that I would help you
and I'm working today, so where is it?
It's just around the corner.
-All right, no worries. Leave it with us. -Thank you.
[Mike] At almost two meters long, it would be a big ask to get
Catherine's sofa in the back of just about any car.
[Mike laughs] It's a big pumped leather sofa.
Wow, are you sure?
There's not many cars this would fit into you know,
but I've got a funny feeling that our old Volvo
is gonna swallow this.
That's big.
I suppose only one way to find out.
Yep, are you ready?
-[Elvis chuckling] -[Mike] That's it.
Oh, it's heavy.
Get my end first here.
It's gonna be tight [indistinct] mate.
Have faith.
Go around your way a bit more. Keep going, keep going.
Keep going.
Stop. [straining] Let me get it wheeled down.
Twist it a bit more, that's it.
Go on, in you go.
[indistinct]
Watch this. Watch, watch, watch, watch.
-Look at that. -[chuckling]
Unbelievable.
Told ya.
Seriously impressive.
[Mike] Mate, didn't I tell ya, the sofa would fit.
I know, it's unbelievable isn't it.
I mean, it just about fits but it does.
-I don't reckon you get that in a modern SUV. -No, you wouldn't.
-We've got a Chesterfield in a Volvo Estate. -[Elvis]Yeah.
Mate, I gotta tell ya,
what you've done to this car is exceptional.
I'm really pleased of how it looks now.
You've done an exceptional job. It looks brand new.
It really does, and that
-pinstriping that you put back on... -[Elvis] Yeah.
-...it just finishes the car off, doesn't it. -[Elvis] Yeah.
This Torslanda now wears it's clothes
really, really well.
What with the polish, and the wheels all brightened up
and a dashboard repair as well.
And, when you're talking about selling a car,
no one can look past a gaping crack on the dashboard.
No, no, definitely not.
Mate, I'll tell you what. You've absolutely nailed it.
Now you know why I feel that the estate car,
the demise of the estate car is a bit of a crime.
I feel that they should bring 'em back. I really do.
Well, I gotta say, I agree with you mate.
They're efficient and nice to drive.
Just look what you can do with it.
Right, now in terms of me selling this car,
I reckon we're in a really good marketplace,
because this is a car that will attract
a lot of attention because it's a classic,
it's a modern classic,
-but it's a practical modern classic. -Yeah.
It's the nonselfish classic car.
You can take the family, the kids.
You can put a boot load of stuff in the back of it,
You can take your camping gear.
And that, is a great advert for it.
[Mike] I listed our Torslanda online,
for the very reasonable price of £4,000.
I had a few people sniffing around it,
but then a young man, called Chris from Oxford came forward.
And he seemed keen to do a deal.
So, I've invited him down to the workshop.
Right then, Chris. God, you're a tall fellow, aren't ya?
-Yeah, I get that quite a lot, Mark. -I bet you do.
So, then Chris, this is a Volvo 240 estate car.
You're a young man and I consider this
to be a sort of middle-aged person's car.
Why are you interested?
Um, well my brother had a Volvo for his first car,
and I figured where can you go wrong.
I've always wanted a 240 when I was younger.
Just in the back of my head, it's something.
-So I thought, why not? -Why not? Okay.
Do you like what we've done with this one?
-Yeah, I do. I really like it. -You do.
Well, listen I got to advertise it for a knock down price,
I'm only asking £4,000 for it.
It's cheap [indistinct] want to take any offers. What do you say?
-Yeah. -You're happy with that?
-I'm happy with that. -Hold out your hand.
-Got yourself a deal. -Done, thank you.
Cracking car there, well done.
[Mike] In a world full of SUVs,
would you consider it to be a young person's car?
it took a young person, to turn up and buy
our old Volvo Estate.
I think that's pretty cool.
If you wanna see more vehicles like this,
being turned around by me and Elvis,
then join us again soon on Wheeler Dealers.
Ta-ta.