• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

R32rennsport's Amazon Thread

Looks like a great setup. Moto Lita also had adapters and wheels for these cars. They are also a bit more expensive than the grant setup but less than the 123GT stuff.

I bought the Moto-Lita stuff to put on my 123. that way I could stash the original wheel. but it looks the steering wheel being original will disintegrate if I try to take it off.

Those American Racing wheels are the Classic Torque Thrust D if I recall correctly. Lots of Amazon racers and performance enthusiasts have used them since the 60s to put a lot more tire on their cars.
 
Looks like a great setup. Moto Lita also had adapters and wheels for these cars. They are also a bit more expensive than the grant setup but less than the 123GT stuff.

I bought the Moto-Lita stuff to put on my 123. that way I could stash the original wheel. but it looks the steering wheel being original will disintegrate if I try to take it off.

Those American Racing wheels are the Classic Torque Thrust D if I recall correctly. Lots of Amazon racers and performance enthusiasts have used them since the 60s to put a lot more tire on their cars.

I looked into Moto Lita and others but this was significantly cheaper with just as classy a look in my opinion, but there is the matter of making it work which requires a little more time and effort then a direct bolt on. Also, I'm not fond of the gigantic centers of the Moto Lita's.

The idea for the rims came from my love of old vintage race cars which this will definitely lean toward when it's done. Definitely thinking about a removable half cage, side exit exhaust and race graphics to go for a period 60's Trans Am look.
 
The idea for the rims came from my love of old vintage race cars which this will definitely lean toward when it's done. Definitely thinking about a removable half cage, side exit exhaust and race graphics to go for a period 60's Trans Am look.

Steven, your car is coming along nicely.

A couple of things to keep in mind if you do build a side exhaust like the one I built:

It will be LOUD when the engine is under a load and as there is only room for one muffler for street or track use if one is required for racing. You will need to build a baffle to insert in the end of the pipe. I am making one up for the street and for driving to and back from VSCCA race meets so I don't have to spend all the time needed to load it into trailer and get the rig all set up and ready to go.

Since your wife and kids will likely ride w/you at times, when you are stuck in traffic or moving slowly, at times exhaust fumes will come thru both the the drivers and passenger side windows.

Because of this issue systems like this are illegal for road use through out the country and you could get ticketed.

Will be building a baffle as soon as I get back from the last race of the season at Lime Rock this upcoming weekend. If it does not quiet down the side pipe enough for street use I am planning to build an easily removable under the axle rear exhaust with a resonator this fall or over the winter for use on longer trips.
 
I had a Moto Lita on my last Amazon. Let me know if the info isn't on TB and I'll post it up. Wooden wheels look great in these cars.


<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/exim-cars/40936277305/in/album-72157684871160630/" title="m12a%p7iRXa1ymT9SxP4kQ"><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/865/40936277305_d77590588d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="m12a%p7iRXa1ymT9SxP4kQ"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Steven, your car is coming along nicely.

A couple of things to keep in mind if you do build a side exhaust like the one I built:

It will be LOUD when the engine is under a load and as there is only room for one muffler for street or track use if one is required for racing. You will need to build a baffle to insert in the end of the pipe. I am making one up for the street and for driving to and back from VSCCA race meets so I don't have to spend all the time needed to load it into trailer and get the rig all set up and ready to go.

Since your wife and kids will likely ride w/you at times, when you are stuck in traffic or moving slowly, at times exhaust fumes will come thru both the the drivers and passenger side windows.

Because of this issue systems like this are illegal for road use through out the country and you could get ticketed.

Will be building a baffle as soon as I get back from the last race of the season at Lime Rock this upcoming weekend. If it does not quiet down the side pipe enough for street use I am planning to build an easily removable under the axle rear exhaust with a resonator this fall or over the winter for use on longer trips.

David, thanks for the sound advice ;-)

I'm a bit away from the exhaust being made up but my plan was similar to yours in that I'm probably going to flange the exhaust in a few places to make it configurable for my various needs.
 
So when shimming the front for more caster it makes more sense to do it from the subframe and not at the upper arms. My car originally had these shims at the front, x2 2mm shims on the driver side and x1 3mm shim on the passenger side. I'm thinking that just deleting these on their own will give me a degree or so more as the idea is to rock the subframe back to add caster.

Yes I know what caster does and yes I know there will be a slight increase in low speed steering effort.
 
So when shimming the front for more caster it makes more sense to do it from the subframe and not at the upper arms. My car originally had these shims at the front, x2 2mm shims on the driver side and x1 3mm shim on the passenger side. I'm thinking that just deleting these on their own will give me a degree or so more as the idea is to rock the subframe back to add caster.

Yes I know what caster does and yes I know there will be a slight increase in low speed steering effort.

Tried this w/the 1800s by removing the two thinner shims and it bound up the front suspension somewhat when it had the specified castor angle. Had to put one back in to rectify the problem and less than specified caster has not been a problem as long as the rear of the car is level w/the front. If it is higher in the rear the frontend will have less caster angle.

Drilling and tapping the crossmember holes that the upper control cross shaft attaches to from 7/16" to 1/2" will assure the larger bolts will not break or the threads will not pull out of the crossmember under very hard driving or racing.
 
No big updates here. This project is still alive and kicking but with the time change and colder nights (and no heat in the workshop) progress has slowed to molasses. My biggest project at the moment is getting the steering linkage on and the car back on the ground so I can move it from my main garage into my smaller workshop. Indirectly related I spent a whole Saturday organizing the workshop in preparation, putting old parts in bins and laying out new parts on rolling racks. As we all know when it comes to projects, organization is just as important as the work itself to keep the efficiency and motivation on track. In fact it might even save some money on the project as I came across quite a few parts that I had bought twice because I had counted them lost. I promise more regular updates going forward.
 
Attempted to make some progress over the holiday, but my laziness bit me in the butt as you will see in the last picture.

Assembling and packing the hubs and wheel bearings was pretty straight forward though it's been years since I've done this it was pretty therapeutic.





With the brakes on the car I could, for the first time, test fit the new AR Torq Trusts (15x7 ET -6mm, BS 3.75) that I've had sitting in the corner for the past two years. I'm going for a vintage period look but I'm still not sold on them, it's the shiny machined lip that is too over done in my opinion. I'm still toying with the idea of powder coating the whole wheel, I've poured over period pictures of other cars on alloys and I still keep coming back to GT40's and 330 P4s on bronzish gold wheels as I'm partial to this color scheme already. I'm not a fan of polished lips or two tone wheels.



With the brakes assembled I assembled the steering shaft and steering box, pulled and lubed the steering column with fresh grease. I found out that I can't properly access the steering drag link for torquing with the subframe on the car (you tend to forget process of assembly after two years of having something apart) so off came the subframe, luckily only 6 bolts and I hadn't bent the lock tabs quite yet. If you'll recall I meticulously rebuilt the steering box about six months ago but my laziness reared it's ugly head as I was assembly the steering linkage and drag link...



Yup, forgot to chase the threads on the steering shaft after all that work. Got the nut threaded in about 1/2 inch before it seized. It was a bear to get off and I knew by the time that I got it off that there wasn't much hope. Luckily there is enough threads left that I think I can salvage it with a castle nut and drilling a cotter pin hole in it's place. I ordered a die from Amazon and hardened castle nut this morning so we'll see how this goes. 3/4 inch UNF if anyone is curious on the spec., not the most common size down at the local hardware store unfortunately. Wish me luck! I just want to get this thing on the ground by the end of the year!

 
Backdated my trunk today. Always loved the look of the bigger handles on the early cars and this will tie right in with my early nose panel swap.

The process is fairly straightforward if you are swapping complete lids. A bit more effort goes into modifying your existing late model lid. Volvo so kindly only made changes to the handles so all lower linkage and latch are nearly identical. I say nearly because the locking latch portions are mechanically similar but physically different. It's essential to have the correct matching handle and latch! (On the early handles the latch actually completes the aesthetic design). Lock cylinder design is the same and easily swaps over so you can keep your existing trunk key. Time wise it took me about 5 hours with air and power tools. Take note of the three holes that are identical on all model years as these are your template reference points!!!

Older trunk handles pop up on Ebay from time to time and gaskets are still available directly from Volvo!

Pictures to follow.
 
Digging the handle. If you want to clean it up without re-chroming it, try this stuff: Quick Glo

I cleaned up the gauges on my P1800 that way and I think I've thrown some stuff on IG with before and after pics. I like it a lot.

Were you able to salvage the steering box ? I had a similar issue happen and it was a simple fix.
 
Thanks for the tip. I'm not trying overly restore the car cosmetically, this is more of a mechanical restoration. The car has too many rust issues for me to consider spending large quantities of money on the body and trim. Just keep it looking good from across the street ya know?

The steering box was saved pretty easily. I've learned to hit everything with a tap or die if I'm going to reuse it and then use a plenty of anti seize.
 
Following your labor of love with interest and appreciation...

Here's what an original early trunk lid looks like, hand-cut (like yours) by Sven or Helga in '62:
image_zpsgv22khnt.jpeg


And a nice original shiny unpitted handle:
image_zps42baf297.jpg

I believe you'll want to get yours rechromed and repainted, or replaced.

And keep you eyes out for a red interior; no better Amazon color combo IMHO.
image_zpsabdc5a70.jpg


Continued good luck and excellent choices.
 
Great reference pictures, thanks! The chrome is half way decent on my piece so I'll leave it be for now but I will detail the Volvo logo with black paint like the original.

My car originally had the dark red interior but I prefer the dark tan 123GT interior that I replaced it with. I'm really bummed that the rubber mats are currently out of production pending a new source per VP Autoparts so I'll have to settle for carpet for the time being. I used to own a 1956 VW Type 1 that was black and red, so I count myself as getting my fill of that.

Sure do miss that car...
 
Small update. Got the rear and the front of the car undercoated, I'll be tackling the mid section this weekend. Using both brush on and aerosol products. Not fun in the least.

Next big hurdle is to get the interior floors sealed up. Any advice out there? I've scrapped up all the sound deadening, wire wheeled all the flaky rust and hit it with an abrasive 3 inch scotch brite disc. Next is seam sealing everything. Debating weather to go Rustoleum route or POR15 or maybe a combo of both. Everything will get a layer of Dynamat or equivalent once done. I'm still super bummer OE rubber floor coverings aren't currently available, I really dread putting carpet in.

Would have welded the tunnel in but that came well after the floors were patched, and that was time generously donated by a friend with a shop and truck/trailer. I really have no means or time to do it the "right" way so it is what it is. Honestly the whole car needs torn down to bare metal, at this point I just want to get it buttoned up and back on the road.

Call it project complacency at this point.

 
Last edited:
My first Amazon was done in POR15, the stuff is amazing. I only owned the car for a few years but POR15 + Dynamat was amazing. It was quiet, especially when it comes to rocks being kicked up onto the undercarriage.
 
Back
Top