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1967 Volvo 1800s - The Second Time Around

How is your 1800E coming along at the body shop?

That's a good question; it was supposed to be in paint "in 2-3 weeks" about a month ago. But to be fair I told them that I still need to clear out room in my barn for it and not to hurry.

It's the eternal project at this point. I was supposed to have crated up the engine bits and pieces and shipped them off to Eric & Ian in March but I've got a lot of family stuff going on and the engine still sits in pieces in the basement of my barn. Maybe it will be on the road in 2019 (I've said that for the past 2-3 years).
 


The 1967 1800S covered 275 trouble free miles after being put back on the road for the season and driven on Friday, Sunday, and Monday. In the off season the front axle and front brakes, were rebuilt and restored.

The crossmember and welds are in excellent condition w/out cracks and the original paint on the front and rear was cleaned up and left as original because the car has newer suffered from any rust ever.

All the control arms were re-bushed, and new ball joints, tie rod ends and outer steering arms were installed.



The ends of the crossmember which get sandblasted by the wheels were repainted. The shock mounts were reinforced with carbon steel stampings I used to manufacture and sell (may have another run of stampings done from the dies and sell them once again.)



The calipers had been split and rebuilt a few years ago with new old stock Volvo pistons and only needed to be cleaned. The uncut original rotors only have a max of .005" runout and only needed cleaning and repainting. New nickel-copper lines replaced the original ones to the calipers.

Learned from other mechanics and drivers that run newer cars (post-WWII) at vintage races I work at and also drive in some of the time that EBC yellow racing pads made in the UK work extremely well. Also the EBC Green Stuff kevlar pads work better than most on the street and offer 15% more stopping power. Have been using them for a while and they work super well.

For this car the green paint was cleaned, scuffed up, the faces of the pads masked and the sides and steel backing was painted w/heat resistant black paint. After the break-in-period was over ended up with the best stopping power of any of the 122s and 1800s I have owned and driven.

 
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Yeah, most people here poopoo the ebc green pads but I have used them for several years and am very happy with their performance. They make a bit of dust but it's also easy to clean. For daily street use they only lasted about 20k miles but it was well worth it to me.

You've got one of the finest 1800s. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful car here. I really enjoy seeing how things are going with it.
 
Yeah, most people here poopoo the ebc green pads but I have used them for several years and am very happy with their performance. They make a bit of dust but it's also easy to clean. For daily street use they only lasted about 20k miles but it was well worth it to me.

You've got one of the finest 1800s. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful car here. I really enjoy seeing how things are going with it.

I've been using the Green Stuff pads on the shop truck for a year as a test, it's a one ton and my enclosed car trailer can weigh up to about 8,000 lbs. loaded with a heavy old car, it also stops better than it ever did with a big load. I only put about 5000 miles on it a year and, probably about the 7500 miles on the 1800s so the pads will hopefully last me a long time.

Thanks for the complement on the car, I was lucky to find a never rusted or hit example like this where most of the restoration had been done. I'm in the old car resto business and know that it is less expensive in the long run to buy a good car that has already been correctly done.

Because of your picture I assume you used to have a 120 series car? If so what did you have and was it stock or modified?
 
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Are those Girling 3 puck calipers in the photo with the knock offs? If so do you have a part # for the greenstuff pads? Are you using 2000, 6000 or 7000 series pads?
Tanks!!
 
Are those Girling 3 puck calipers in the photo with the knock offs? If so do you have a part # for the greenstuff pads? Are you using 2000, 6000 or 7000 series pads?
Tanks!!

After the 200 mile break in and the final bedding in, my seat of the pants feeling is telling me there is more braking power than the Volvo OEM semi-metallic pads that the PO had installed.

Hope you have the same experience if you try them on your car.
 


Eight days on the road as a daily driver and over 500 miles later the '67 1800s is doing quite well for itself and has been a pleasure to drive.

Two non-Volvo components have failed over that period:

The three or four-year-old Interstate battery the PO installed died due to a bad cell (I was able to bump start it and make it back to the shop.) It was early on a Sunday evening and all the parts stores were closed.

The only batteries kicking around in the shop were 6V units and this small 450 cranking amp Optima. It was installed in a 1914 Mercer Raceabout just before I shipped to Monterey, CA in 2012 for the Pebble Beach Concours and the Montery Historic races and used only for the two events for a client. When the car was shipped back it was pickled and stored. The battery was only used for one more race meet in 2013 in 1914 Duesenberg racing car and since then has been sitting around and now presumed to be DOA.

It checked out to still have 12.6 volts in it so it was put in the car, which then amazingly started right up, and after a charge has been in service. Have been using these batteries for years on clients cars and never cease to be impressed with the staying power and long life that Optima packs into them. Please EXCUSE the bungee cords - will make up some shorter J-hooks for the holder, tidy things up a bit and use this battery for the rest of the season.

The right angle speedo drive on the back of the OD was missing when the car was purchased last year and this repro unit was just added to replace it. Only 375-miles later the knurled end on the tube and drive connection to the trans and the die-cast body that houses the gear set parted company due to not having a tight enough press fit at the connection. There was some slack in the cable when it was installed so the failure was not caused by the cable pulling on it.

When it fell off and started bouncing on the road, the driveshaft and dragging, it sounded like a small bell going on and off repeatedly, and I was able to quickly pull over to see what the problem was. The angled section and the cable were found laying on the ground under the car. Just the cable itself was reinstalled to keep oil from leaking out and a good original unit will be installed when one is found.

 
Volvo still sells an angle drive made by VDO, part # 666756.

FYI, the original angle drive Volvo used to sell had a shorter connecting tube.
 
Because of your picture I assume you used to have a 120 series car? If so what did you have and was it stock or modified?

I still have that car! It is my barn stored 67 123GT. I've stored it after not driving it for many years. It only had a few changes. IPD bar on the front. Some engine upgrades like a cam and head work. The engine was rebuilt by the previous owner but it sat too long and after using it for awhile back in the 90s to the early 00s. It needed a lot of work so I have stored the car since then. The previous owner put a green interior in it from another 123 that he had and it didn't have the aux lights when I bought it. Other than that it's all there waiting in the barn. (sigh). Thanks for asking about it.

Sorry for a bit of a thread jack. Now back to our regularly scheduled 1800 conversation.
 
https://flic.kr/p/27MbGNJ

Meanwhile after a four-wheel alignment, 1150 miles of Vermont paved and gravel roads, dust, dirt, raindrops, and more than a few perished bugs later…….it was a delightful drive and most of everything is working well. It then enjoyed a good wash and wax.
 
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Was able to get another smaller job almost finished over the weekend. The previous owner of the 1800s had removed the original package tray and rear seat backing and replaced it with a taller one to showcase a set of speakers for an added sound system.

After getting the original Volvo optional AM-FM mono radio rebuilt and restored, a correct new plywood rear seat back and package tray was in order. Using the original carpet that covers this area and a scaled drawing with dimensions supplied thanks to chrsvo a member of the UK Volvo Club Forum I was able to convert the measurements into inch size and fab the two pieces out of the correct-sized 3/8" thick plywood.

The photo shows it installed in place to check the fit. Two machine screws hold and locate the bottom piece in place on two brackets and on either side are four wood nuts that the folding seat back hinges attach to. The top piece is held in place by four machine screws and the chromed pieces that hold the leather luggage straps used when the seat back is down attach to a pair of brackets w/caged nuts are under this piece of wood.

A few details still need finishing and at this point either a rare period Blaupunkt speaker and housing or the original Volvo speaker and the grille seen on the top will be used. The car still has all of its original carpeting is in good condition and the piece that covers this will be re-installed.
 
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Haven't posted for a while because of a decision to use all of my spare time to get the 1800s ready for its first competition event. All of the work over the winter and spring is now paying off.

I'm a member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA) https://www.vscca.org and entered and drove The Old Motor Volvo 1800s in the 2018 VSCCA Mt Equinox Hill Climb held on August 11 & 12th, 2018.

Got in 11 timed runs over the weekend up the challenging access road that is 5.2 miles long, has 40 turns and 20 switchbacks, and climbs to 3140 feet over the distance. The average grade is a quite steep 12% grade and many of the switchbacks and the steeper areas are 30% and over.

The car did great and was competitive with other cars of its type and was quicker than most.

I'll add in more info soon. Next stop in the Series is Lime Rock Park Raceway Sept 27,28, and 29. http://limerock.com





 
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