SIDE FRONT REAR DAMAGED FENDER (RATHER HARD TO SEE)
LITTLE HISTORY OF THE VOLVO PV544 (AT LEAST AS MUCH AS I'VE FOUND)
The Volvo 544 was the second generation of the 444 (makes sense). The transition year from PV444 to PV 544 was I believe 1961 (my cars year). Minor changes, but one of the big ones was the engine. Mine seems to have been caught in the middle. Most 544 have the B18 engine, but some of the early models have the smaller (but just as much fun) B16 engine. Anyways, mine has the B16. They kind of look like a 40 something Ford coupe, but smaller. When they were first produced, they were made as family cars, but the GEAR heads found that the low gear ratio and the bullet proof (almost) engines made them great autocross racers and they won many a race in their day (do a google search), considering that the final gear is somewhere in the 4.56 range. Keeps the top speed done, but for rallys, I guess it's great. Anyways, thats a little of the history. If you want to learn more, do a search and you'll find all kinds of information on these fun, little cars.
This is a 1961 VOLVO PV544 DRIVER, This is the condition it looked like when I purchased it. From 10 feet it looked great(fair), but as you got closer and went underneath, the flaws appeared.
After finding all the surprises and needed repairs, I spent about a week trying to decide which way to go with this car. I loved the looks of it and have wanted one for over 30 years, (showing my age). Finally, I decided that a semi body on restoration/driver was what I wanted. No show car, No garage queen. A car to DRIVE IT, LIKE YOU STOLE IT. That was what these cars were made for.
The B16 engine smoked and burned oil. The seller stated it just started happening since it had sat for 5 years, but it sounded strong and was driveable with minor adjustments. Being that I've been dabbling with cars for years, I did what any good alley mechanic would do. Changed all the fluids, hoses, belts, cleaned the carbs, new wires, plugs etc. and last but not least, changed the oil added lucas oil stabilizer, added Seafoam to oil and gas and took it on the expressway and DROVE THE HELL OUT OF IT. When I got home (no breakdowns) the engine was running stronger, burning less oil and sounding like I just saved myself a complete rebuild, at least for now. Don't get me wrong, it still burns some oil, but no large smoke trails and from past experience, if I keep driving it, adding cleaners and changing the oil, it might just clear up, if not, I'll drive it till I really need to rebuild it. So I decided to do some cleaning,degreasing, adjusting and painting of the engine and good to go.
AFTER (POOR PICTURE) VERY SOLID AND LOOKS MUCH BETTER THEN PICTURE
Things were not looking so easy with the frame rail area that holds the clutch pedal in place and also controls the brake rod. I knew when I bought the car that it had something going on in that area, but untill I removed all the undercoating did I realize how bad it was. Out came the trusty gas and mig welders.
As I could not find any after market frame rails for the areas that were rusted (I found another area on the drivers side rear where the muffler hanger mounts), I had to fabricate my own parts. I am not a welder or body and fender man, but with videos, time, luck and Harber Freight tools, I was able to fabricate stronger rails then the original parts. It took a lot longer then I had expected, but I learned alot about cutting, welding and fabricating, which is good, cause I have a p1800 with similiar rust areas that have to be addressed.
THE FRONT END SAFETY REBUILD
When I was driving the car, I did notice some play and wandering in the front end. So while I was underneath poking around at the rusted frame area, took a much closer look at the A-arms, tie rods, etc. GUESS what, they all needed replacing to be SAFE. 
Looks a little cleaner and nicer now, doesn't it and much safer at 80mph. This step was just a little added enjoyment to my DRIVE IT, LIKE YOU STOLE IT attitude. I ended up rebuilding or reconditioning the whole front end, and rear end and etc. etc. etc.
While all this restoration craziness was going on, I was thinking about modern lighting and sound components, so naturally, being that this car was actually build as a 6V electrical system, what was I going to do for sound and blue lights up front. Answer, 12V conversion, remove generator and replace with Delco alt. My Volvo now has blue light headlights, Jenson sound system with 4 Pioneer speakers. To safeguard against fire, most all the wiring is new and the old fuse box was replaced with 2 boxes and each system is on it's own fuse, plus I carry 2 fire extingishers at all times.
BEFORE AFTER
The previous owner had installed new interior and headliner. I didn't want to remove the original AM radio (that doesn't work), so I had to build a mounting box for my AM/FM radio CD player, I also added new deluxe set covers ( I just like them and there comfortable. I also built/added wood flooring and carpeting inside the truck. (I really don't know what it looked like originally, but this truck was ugly)
TO BE CONTINUED.........ACTUALLY, I'M ALREADY AT THE COLOR SANDING STAGE OF THE DRIVER RESTORATION, BUT I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO POST IT ALL AT ONE TIME, PLUS I HAVE TO GET SOME ADDTIONAL PICTURES. THANKS FOR READING AND I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED IT, SO FAR.
After all the frame and mechanical work was completed, I started looking closely at the body, truly not to bad, no major rust on the body, you could see were one of the previous owners restored this car and sealed everything with undercoating. That undercoating may or may not have preserved the body, but at least it seemed mostly solid except for the front drivers side fender, which had be hit sometime in the past. I decided I was going to have to pound it out and fill it with filler (not Bondo) and paint the whole car gloss black with clearcoat.
After the fender was repaired, the body needed to be sanded. AS MENTIONED EARLIER, THIS IS GOING TO BE A DRIVER, NOT A SHOW CAR, plus I could not restore a show car, I DO NOT HAVE THE PATIENTS.
The previous owner had taken all the body moldings off and welded the mounting holes closed (and this car had many feet of body molding). He/She also added some black rubberized side molding only. I decided to paint it metallic silver before I painted the car Black to add some offsetting hylights.
After masking off and applying the basecoat enamel and clearcoat, the car was painted gloss black.
CHECK THE WHEEL RIMS, I ALSO REMOVED AND PAINTED THEM THE METALLIC SILVER
O.K., This is just a driver and from 10 feet is doesn't look to bad, but while reading up on my lack of body work and painting skills. I decided to try and make it look good from 5 feet as apposed to 10 feet. I must be a slave for punishment. After luckily not destroying the paint job while spraying it, I decided to color wet sand the whole car and go for that 5 foot look. I went to a big car show swap meet and found anyone that would talk to me about wet sanding, etc. I invested in a new buffer and a Porter/Cable DA polisher. It was hard to take a new, somewhat good looking paint job and start sanding the shiny paint with sandpaper. My wife saw the car when it was first painted and thought it was one of my better paint jobs (I've done other garage paint jobs before) and told me to leave it alone. When she come out again, she just turned around a left the garage shaking her head. I HOPE I DON'T HAVE TO SAY, SHE WAS RIGHT TO HER.
VERY FRIGHTENING, ISN'T IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Considering that I am also not a painter by trade, I applied 4 coats of enamel and 5 coats of clear. I figure I will really have to screw up to color sand into the top coat. I've only used 1500,2000 and 2500 sandpaper, it may takes me a little (lot) longer to color sand it, but I hopefully won't destroy the clearcoat.
WELL, THIS IS WHERE I'M AT THIS TIME 9/22/09 , I FIGURE THIS STAGE MY TAKE SEVERAL WEEKS, SO WISH ME LUCK AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW IT TURNS OUT. THANKS FOR READING AND REMEMBER, THEY WERE MENT TO BE DRIVEN (JUST MY OPINION)
THIS IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT....
It took me several weeks of wet sanding, buffing, and polishing and I finally said enough is enough, this is going to be a 5 footer, not a show car. So this is it and IT'S A BLAST TO DRIVE.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED VIEWING THIS CAR AND FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT MIGHT HAVE AN INTEREST IN PURCHASING ONE. DO YOUR RESEARCH AND REMEMBER, THEY ARE MENT TO BE DRIVEN.
