Chassis: 13797

I bought this Volvo 1800S in October, 2001. The previous owner got it as a restoration project in 1979. Prior to this car, he had rebuilt several Volvo 140s, but this was his first 1800. He started by rebuilding the engine and removing the interior and exterior trim. After reinstalling the engine, he repainted the car in 1980. So the paint is older and not perfect, with some minor scratches and small cracks, but still bright and shiny and looks good even up close. He never finished reinstalling the trim or interior, never drove the car apart from the lot at the paint shop, and stored the car in a garage for 20 years. After he passed away, I bought the car from his son. It was missing the passenger seat, and some miscelleneous bits, but had several extra sets of bumpers and such.

Unfortunately the 20 years of storage took its toll. First, it was left with gas in the tank, causing rust and leaving a nasty turpintine substance remaining. I have thus cleaned, derusted, and resealed the tank. Worse, there was sufficient moisture below the car to rust out the subframe components of the unibody construction. While the body and floorboards are solid, the subframe is structurally unsound. The project has been held up waiting for my body man to replace the entire bottom of the car, but I've given up on him after 3 years.

What has been done so far:

The following list is everything that has been done to the car seen in the photos:

-Rebuilt and Repainted Engine with less than 100 miles since rebuild.

-Rebuilt and Synchronized Carburetors

-Adjusted Valves, New Points, Rotor, Plugs and Plug Wires

-New Fuel Pump, Water Pump, Thermostat and Clutch Master Cylinder

-Rebuilt Gas Tank (cleaned and checked for leaks, relined & sealed, repainted)

-Rebuilt Heater (cleaned and pressure checked, repainted, new foam and rubber gaskets)

-Rebuilt Radiator (cleaned and pressure checked, stripped, polished and laquered, new cap and rubber mounts)

-All New Coolant Hoses

-All Fresh Fluids, New Air and Oil Filters

-Brand New Optima Gel Battery, also new main power and grounding cables.

-All New Brakes (new front calipers and pads, machined and painted rear drums, new drum shoes, new rear slave cylinders, new master cylinder, new stainless steel braided brake lines, new high-performance brake fluid, new parking/emergency brake cables)

What needs to be done:

The major stumbling block for this project was a slow body man--I'm not a welder myself. Unfortunately, when the car was stored 20 years after its 1980's restoration, there was some moisture under the car, which caused rusting in the framerails of the subframe. While the floorboards themselves are largely entact, the subframe needs to be replaced. I have all of the pieces to replace the entire bottom of the car: right/left floorboards, right/left inner/outer rocker panels, right/left framerails, right/left jackpoints, right/left rear crossmembers. These parts cost me over $600. But the guy who promised to install these has been "too busy" for the past three years.

The car also needs the interior replaced. I have the original dash and interior panels and armrests, but all in poor condition. I have stripped the armrests down, so they just need to be covered with vinyl and maybe add some foam. The whole interior can be purchased new, or recovered by an upholstery specialist.

Peter 10/07/04