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Mike K? ruin another volvo. 945 pickup build

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Working with these pieces this weekend. The short piece got shorter and had some lightness added.

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Bed mounted machine gun?

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Alright, let's explain this then. The problem was that we needed ~6' of bed length to carry a dirt bike. That means the tailgate needs to extend out. The next problem is that the long gate puts too much force on the hatch/tail light area where the hinges mount. We talked about limiting straps/lanyards to carry the load, but that gets to be a pain when the tailgate slides out like a drawer. Also, there would be nothing stopping the gate from slamming forward since it's mounted on slides.

The solution was the 'machine gun'. The piece mounted in the tail gate will be hidden behind a hinge-mounted license plate. The long male piece was made into a hitch mounted support for the tailgate when I need to carry the bike or something else heavy on it.

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This allows for the load to be taken off the hinge and is easily hidden and removed for daily use.

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I think this is the best thing about the car :)

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Even I'm a little surprised at how well it worked out!
Having a lot of fun figuring things out that haven't been done before.

On to the next issue, quarter windows....
 
Did some testing out of the quarter windows today. Original plan was to glue the window in, but then we started looking at locking window gaskets so it would be removable and maybe a little cleaner. I ended up buying 25' of Trim-Lok brand gasket.

Here is a cross section:
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It was very pliable and easy to work with, cuts like butter with a razor blade.
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It would be easier if all of the corners were rounded off like the upper left, but I think it would look to much like a porthole.
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We, literally, dug out a big piece of 1/4" thick plexiglass from the backyard and made a test piece. It takes some finesse to get the window in, the $10 locking gasket tool I bought off Amazon earned it's keep. The window was a bit too big in the opening on the first try which made it more of a fight, and I'll make the final piece just a bit smaller still. Once everything is in place it works well, holds the window very firmly and will definitely be waterproof.

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Plan is to try and use a combo of trimmed up window moulding pieces around the frame to blend it all in. The final window will be 3/16" grey tinted Lexan.
 
The engineering and fabrication skills here are strong, looks like Volvo's answer to an El Camino and Ranchero. I personally wouldn't care to own either, but this, this is bad ass.
 
Could you have glued in with urethane like factory glass?

Yup, one of the benefits of having taken the time to make a proper window frame. I could see using urethane for the final installation. We wanted to experiment with the gasket because I'm going to run the car around this summer in primer. When I want to finish the body and paint it I can unlock the gasket, pop out the window and be off and running. Something held in with urethane would turn that into a whole big production.
 

Maybe you can imagine by looking at the reflection that we were able to curve the .250 Lexan to match the curve of the door glass, which is the same as the long quarter glass on the wagon.

The curved opening is the only reason why we're not cutting laminated glass (windshield), and went to plastic. Despite some beliefs to the contrary, you cannot cut tempered glass without annealing it first (cost prohibitive) - which would have been our first choice (and the original plan), just make the quarter windows out of old door or rear glass and glue them in.
 
Maybe you can imagine by looking at the reflection that we were able to curve the .250 Lexan to match the curve of the door glass, which is the same as the long quarter glass on the wagon.

The curved opening is the only reason why we're not cutting laminated glass (windshield), and went to plastic. Despite some beliefs to the contrary, you cannot cut tempered glass without annealing it first (cost prohibitive) - which would have been our first choice (and the original plan), just make the quarter windows out of old door or rear glass and glue them in.

ah yes, the smooth and subtle curves of the Volvo 940

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