LocostUSA.com

Good eyes guys.

There were 2 Giulietta SZs, a Coda Tonda (round tail) and a Coda Tronca (Kamm tail). The Coda Tronca was an attempt to enhance the aerodynamics a bit and along with the Kamm tail they cleaned up the front some. Like reducing and dropping the grille opening and covering the headlights.

Always have been an Alfisti.

_________________
Larry in Seattle

Thank you Jonathon for thinking to put that way-cool pic here ...and thank you to everyone else to help identify the other cars in the frame.. I was having a hard time with a few of them..

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Update: December 11, 2019

Several car/build related developments lately.. my old Honda N600 build was top of mind this last month as it was selected to go to SEMA (November 2019)... the story of how that happened is on my build log here: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... &start=630

Almost a year ago, in early 2019, progress on my Berkeley builds (here: http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397 ) came to a grinding halt when I got into a fender-bender with this Volvo 1800... at that point, the Volvo got all of the attention (repair/repaint/returned to daily service), and the Berkeleys haven't been touched since.. Also, in the interim, we moved and got new jobs, and life's been out of balance ever since..

Last month, this site (locostusa) had an issue with data loss... basically pictures from the last 2 years were lost for everyone here .. this didn't much affect my stagnant old Honda build, but it's knocked a huge hole into this Volvo build, and it virtually wiped out all of the pics on my Berkeley build..

So moving forward.. I've caught the Honda build back up (the easiest one).. I'll next go after catching the Berkeley build back up by replacing old missing pics the best I can, and posting the current status on the car.. Finally, I'm dreading it, but I'll then go back and replace all of the missing Volvo pics.. this will take awhile..

In January 2020 (next month), I'm putting a huge focus on the Berkeley build.. I haven't really 'made' anything for almost a year (the Volvo's been all R&R), and for too long now my obsessive personality hasn't had a passion over which to obsess.. I have not been a pleasant person.. I know myself well enough to know that I NEED to go back into the garage and engage in a creative build..

So this Volvo continues to be the daily driver, and big ideas and plans are in queue for my tiniest of builds- the Berkeley.. life goes on

*below is a pic of my little sweetie Volvo with her seasonal nose ring

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

December 2019

Stock steering wheel mods... The two-spoke OEM wheel is a ribbon-thin, 16" OD affair, and I like the looks of it very much. My overall goal on this car is that when I mod it that you either can't tell, or that it's done in such a way that Volvo may have done it (the rear panel mods for example).

The steering wheel has been altered for 2 different reasons; fit and function. Most importantly, I modded it so that I could better fit in the car.. At stock size (16"), it is right down on my legs, and as I'm tall and drive with the seat pushed quite far back, it's a bit of a reach for it up tight on the dash with it's mild stock dish. The other thing that allowed me to run a smaller wheel is the car now has EPS, and I no longer need the leverage of the big hoop.

I've cut and shaped it in two ways; the first is to reduce it's outside diameter by 1.5" down to 14.5, and the second change was to increase the depth of the dish by +.75"..

I ran out of time to get finish the job, but in the end I intend to paint it gloss black and have it appear stock to the casual observer.. I didn't take any more pics (yet), but as of today (Dec 16, 2019), I've rough-sanded in the repair epoxy and have returned the wheel to service.. I'll get some pics up soon, but I'm now driving with the somewhat repaired and modded wheel, and driving with it feels great..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Last few that I have now.. more soon..

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Question number 723?
How did you form, or make a mold for the plastic in the open spaces of the wheel rim?
Davew

Steering wheel mod is a nice little project that will give you years of comfort. Can you please show how you extended the 2 spokes? It looks like you cut them free from the center and rewelded. Maybe I missed something in the photos.

Did you re-arc the remaining pieces of the rim before re-welding or just accept the minor variation from perfection?

I would have suggested that you undercut and possibly add some notches to the old plastic rim material to give your epoxy a "key" and more surface area to bond to. Maybe you did that.

I started a similar wheel OD reduction on an MGA steering wheel years back with the intention of finishing the rim with wood. . I never finished it. I can appreciated the work that it takes.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Dave and Chuck... I didn't take pics of the epoxy process, although now in hindsight I should have.. Dave.. I used POR15 2-part epoxy putty (#49033) on this wheel, and it proved to be well suited for the task.. once kneaded/mixed together, it feels a bit like play-doh and pretty much acts as such.. You form it to the shape you want- it's so viscous/clay-like that it will easily hold the shape you give it- no formal mold needed.. In preparation, you do in fact have to grind-back the wheel's stock plastic a bit and give this epoxy something to bite onto.. In the pic below, you see my rough sanding/shaping using 36 grit paper... I haven't spent much time on it at this point as getting it straight enough for gloss black paint will be a bit tedious- something I may do over winter break from school..

The spokes were not extended, but in fact once I cut the spokes from the hoop, in the jig I raised the wheel center .75" and then re-arced the spokes to fall/droop into place and 'meet' the now-smaller hoop.. the spoke angle was changed by nearly cutting them off (weakening them) at the base (center of the wheel), and changing/bending their angle, then re-welding them at the new dish/angle.. The welds needed to take place on the extreme ends of the spokes (at the wheel center and out at the hoop) so as to hide the welds under the epoxy and under the center cap..) Because I reduced the hoop, the wheel took on it's new, smaller shape nicely.. it's probably not perfect, but it's quite close.. this might not work so well if I went up in size, as the circle would not take well to increasing it's radius- in that case I think you'd need to source a bigger existing wheel, and graft it onto your project to keep the wheel truly round (I hope that makes sense).

Without a side-by-side of before and after, it's hard to see the sizing difference in what I've done, but now the wheel just 'falls' in the right place for relaxed, extended driving.. nice to have it up off of my legs...

If you're an 1800 owner, there's a guy in Europe that sells a smaller-than-stock 2-spoke wheel that looks really nice, but he's up over $800.00 USD on his ask, which inspired thrifty me to try this on my own.. I'm not done, but it looks like it will come together nicely..

*bottom pic is just an on the way to work pic.. she's a dirty girl

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Thanx for the reply.
I'm watching to much West Coast Customs, and their steering wheel mold.
Epoxy putty, nice to know. Davew

Great job on the steering wheel!

If you have a minute, it would be fun to see some pictures of the rear of the car ;=)

Absolutely Mathsci... I'll get some rear pics up in the next few days..

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

X-mas break, 2019

Not much done to the Volvo over the recent break... I went back in and swapped out the rear springs for a set of QA1 coils that are 10" long, 2.5 dia, 200lb.. had to rework the upper mount because of the now longer coils..

With the old set I was down on the bump stops too often.. Now at 200lbs I may have oversprung it, but just driving it this last week and a half it feels nice.. The new springs seem to be settling a little bit, so I may go back later and raise her another .5" ..easy enough with coil overs..

The other task I chased was to change my IRS mounts from rubber to solid mount (the black disc on the right is a cut-down solid body-lift block).. This is more of an experiment than anything.. I worried that it might introduce noise, but that has not happened.. I also got my desired effect, which was to make things feel tighter (particularly during shifting), and that is now the case- no more wallow/slop... nice

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Here are a few Mathsci.. there will be 6 total (they're slow to load- I'll add them as I can..)

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

Jan 13, 2020

I had the car painted last July (2019), and I haven't been happy with the outcome.. debris (dust/'nibs') fell into the paint during process, and when I went to pick it up I was so furious with the painter that I didn't want my car in that shop for one more minute.. For the price of that paint job, it should have come out like a show car, which it did not- not by a long shot..

So I took it upon myself to do the paint correction last summer (2019), and still it didn't turn out as well as it should have.. I often say this is not a 'show car,' but in reality it slowly seems to be becoming one..

So I've come to realize that my OCD will not let me rest until I get this paint right.. I've stripped all of the chrome back off, and I'm sending it to a local pro to be color sanded/cut/buffed to realize her full potential.. Once she comes back, I'm going to apply a ceramic coating to protect what should be a near flawless paint job..

Next I need to address my fear of mussing up this pretty car, and I need to resolve that she's still under insured.. One thing at a time- let's see how she looks after 'professional' paint correction...

--ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

I really, really like what you have done here!

My PE coach in Jr High had a P1800 and I always admired it. Keep thinking about looking for one as my next project!

Thom

_________________
Thom

The rear end looks great! Like the bumper position.

Really sorry to hear about your painful paint experience. It's always hard when you pay a premium for a product and don't get what you pay for. Guess the good news is that it looks like the bodywork was done well...