Volvo repair

Another Volvo arrived this morning! If this was my replacement from the Corgi Model Club then that is surely remarkable customer service and many thanks to the team there. The latest is fine with good suspension.

So that leaves me with the less healthy one. I couldn't resist having a look inside and reckoned I could easily fix whatever was wrong. Here you can see the components, all very similar to an original 228 or 258. The interior unit is much more solid than the very flimsy piece of vacuum-formed plastic of the originals and, whilst I could detach Mr Templar and the steering wheel they're much more firmly held than the old ones were. I also quite like the idea of the interior fitting over the two posts in a solid manner - the underside of the interior (not shown) has two holes for the metal posts on the base to fit into. The suspension is provided by two wires which should be firmly clamped in the middle. You'll see that one of them isn't.

It is only partially held in that slot and this has left one end sitting high and permitting lots of axle movement.

Here you can see that the other end of the wire lays quite nicely flat across the axle, so providing the suspension.

It is clear that the manufacturing proces has not closed one clamp sufficiently and the wire is not fully embedded in it either.

The unwanted movement is obvious from this angle.

So what needs to be done is to open the clamp slightly to allow the wire to drop in completely and then tighten it up like the other one. All would then be well with the world, and the Saint's Volvo.

Unfortunately . . .

. . . one side of the clamp broke away when I tried to open the gap. I have had to resort to the less satisfactory solution of reattaching that small piece of metal and the wire with some glue and, no, you're not getting a photo of that. I am also not sure whether it will work. Soldering it back together would be a better idea but I have neither the kit nor the experience.

Once it is back together and looks like it will stay in place then this will be a gift for my brother, Rupert, who is 80 in a couple of weeks and was a big fan of the original TV series and has driven Volvos since the 1960s in one shape or another, most often a 240 shape rather than this one!