Hello All:

1967 Volvo 122S Wagon. The interior push-down buttons that activate the door locks are very stiff, particularly the driver's door. Does anyone have a suggestions about how to loosen them up a bit? If it entails going into the door itself I will need some guidance for that procedure as well.

In other latch-related news: within the latch on the rear hatch of the wagon resides a plastic piece as indicated in the attached graphic. It is white in color and it broke. I cannot quite figure out what purpose it serves because the latch still closes and locks even without it. Does this piece get activated by the interior hatch release button? I can repair the piece since it is a clean break but I am having some trouble getting the latch assembly off the door. There are two screws but it seems to be "tucked" into the metal and I do not want to force anything. Any insight here would also be appreciated.

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo

You said you would need guidance on getting into the door. I don't know how much guidance you need, and I haven't done this in a while, but here is what I recall:

First you have to remove all the bits that hold the inner panel in place.
--Unscrew the lock button\
--Remove the metal trim that goes across the inner top of the door. This can be tricky, particularly getting it out from under the vent window seal. Just take your time and it will come out.
--Take off the window and door opener handles. The best thing is to use the proper tool for this. It is pretty cheap, under $10 if I recall, and if you keep the car you will need it from time to time.

The panel is now ready to come off. It is held on the door by clips of spring metal. The metal rusts to the door itself, and the clips are held into the panel only by the press board material of the panel. This means it is very easy to tear out big holes in the panel while leaving the clip still in the door. To avoid this use a putty knife or, better, a 5-in-1 tool. Slide it behind the panel to find the clips then gently pry them out.

You can now see the guts, and should consider several things while in there.
--Use a spray brake cleaner to remove the old grease, the lube with a spray moly grease. Don't use WD40; it is not a true lubricant.
--Inspect the cable used to raise and lower the window. If it is rusty or worn you might want to replace it. You can buy generic cable from the hardware store and make that work with a bit of finagling.
--Clean all the crap out of the bottom of the door and be sure all the weep holes are open. If you find any rust you might want to do a good rust treatment while in there. A coat of POR 15 or the equivalent can safe a lot of future headaches (provided you don't clog the weep holes with the coating material).
--If you are getting really serious about the car you can buy a modern sound dampening material and line the interior of the door. Might cut down on road noise, but probably will have minimal benefit unless you do the entire floor and firewall as well.
--As was already mentioned, trash the old paper that was between the door and the inner panel and replace it with a good solid sheet of plastic.

If your inner panel has suffered from serious water damage you can replace the panel itself and re-cover it with the original vinyl. Just need to make a template. You can use thin masonite or can buy the original stuff from an online site such as http://www.restorationspecialties.com/ This is a bit of a fussy job, but easily do-able with a little care.

Everything goes back in reverse. To re-attach the handles put the locking omega clip (you will see what I mean when you take it off) back in place, line up the handle on the shaft and give it a good smack with the heel of your palm. You will need to fiddle with the top metal piece a bit to feed it back under the vent window seal, but it will go without too much trouble.

Good luck, and I hope that helps.

Regarding the latch... that broken white platic piece is indeed activated by the botton inside, to release the window only. And it is the only thing that keep the window latched. Are you sure it is? Or is it just sticky.

The chrome twist handle/lock activates different latches for the lower tailgate section only, and it locks independantly of the window. I have a strong hunch that if you close and lock it all up, then pull on the window grab, it'll open right up, exposing all your goodies to theft.

As for the doors... Yup, probably gonna have to pull the door panels and lube things up. Clean with wd40 fine, then lubricate with a light machine oil.

You might get lucky just twisting off the lock tabs, and put some oil on the steel rods in hopes that it'll run down there and get where it needs to go.



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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC

Pooch

Door locks is next on my list. My guess is, dose em with WD and work em loose . . My passenger side is the stiff one! Maybe a little light moly grease on the hinge points once freed up. Moly grease has excellent anti-corrosion properties. Upper door molding and panels will have to come off, but access looks OK with that done. Replace the plastic covers over the holes in the inner door panel while you are at it and your door panels will last longer.

A good repair for the tailgate latch is here:

http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx?CategoryID=1481&NodeID=4713&RootID=629Tailgate

Very reasonably priced and it will never fail again. Designed by our very own Shayne and tested on the the "Red Rider" itself. Haven't taken mine apart since I installed the IPD repair kit, but as I recall it just comes out with the removal of the the two screws in the assembly. If it is broke but all parts are still in place it should work... It will break further though, these little devils are notorious. Shaynes fix is Aluminum and comes with a new spring too. The original plastic becomes brittle with age and returns to it's roots so to speak.

Hello Twombo:

Thanks for the tip. I cannot tell from IPD's website whether the repair kit consists of simply the formerly plastic piece now rendered in aluminum plus the spring or if it is the entire latch assembly.

Also, does anyone have an exploded diagram of the 122 doors? The last door I went into was a 1967 Mustang back in 1984 and I seem to remember the panels are held on by clips that were rather fragile. How does one get into the Volvo doors, and what are the pitfalls for getting it back together?

By the way, what does "Twombo" mean? I am sure it is something clever.

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo

You'll find the doors to be quite simple inside... Yes, you do have the clips that tend to tear out the door panel, so be careful there. The hardest part is getting the damn clips that hold the window and door handle on.. You'll need to make or get the appropriate tool for them, though I've had good success using two darts...

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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC