Fun fast and too cool for words

1965 Volvo Other Description

1965 Volvo 122S
Introduced around 1958 and running until around 1972 these cars were imported into the states from 63-70(there or about) Advertised as 'durable, long lasting, drive it like you hate it slogan, these cars lasted and ran far longer than Volvo expected them too rendering them a reputation that carries them today.This particular car was bought from a gentlemen in California. He took great care of the car and when I received it I had very little to do to make it road worthy. That did not stop me from tearing it down to the chassis and restoring the car to where it is today.
I bought the car as a stock driver, B 18, auto trans, stock interior stock brakes etc.
Since I was building the car over I decided on a few fun goodies, all bolt on application because I am not a fan or drilling welding or cutting into classic cars.
Ill start with the Motor, it now has a B 20 motor with an E head, the head was ported, over sized valves, better springs and milled down for better compression.The pistons are new bored 30 over and balanced. Same for the connecting rods, bearings, pins etc. The crank was cut and re balanced to be more precise. The cam is a custom cut for higher and faster lift. Again new bearings, new timing gears (gear driven cam, no chain). The seal are upgraded from the cloth type to the new neoprene front and rear main seals. All gaskets are new. Water pump, oil pump are new. Oil pressure ranges from 30-85 psi (typical of these engines). The distributor is electronic by 123 ignition. Alternator with 40 amps replaced the old generator. Radiator was boiled, flushed and tested and is fine. I painted the motor blue because that's what I like. I also painted the engine bay black to offset the cool new look.
The transmission. I converted from the Automatic BW 35 to a Ford T-9 five speed. The trans was rebuilt for this car. New clutch, disc and pressure plate and throwout bearing. New master and slave units, obviously converted from 2 to 3 pedals, again all bolt in as these cars were factory set to be either or. The drive shaft is fitted with a ford yoke, and balanced, The trans mount was an automatic mount converted for the new trans, perfect fit. The bell housing is a Volvo housing converted to fit the new trans. All said when done it works great.
Rear end, this is an automatic rear-end which is set with 390 gears, typical standard cars have 410. This rear is faster of course at lower rpms.Brakes, all new all around stock discs up front and drums in the rear. I converted from a single to a dual circuit master cylinder and replaced the slaves for new. Suspension, I replaced ALL the bushings for new neoprene bushings front and back. Suspension was repainted at the time of reassembly and looks great still.Exhaust, header from IPD, muffler and resonator are off the shelf custom application by a local fabricator, basically it is all new stuff.
Body, the body was taken down to near bare metal in most places. All dings and dents were fixed properly. New paint is 4 coats thick and looks great. I have driven this car about 10,000 miles so the paint is no longer 100% perfect but it does look awesome still. Glass, new front windshield, new front and rear gaskets, tinted limo black all except the front windshield. Cool look on this car. Tires, bias ply tires, plenty of tread on stock color powder coated rims. Volvo air caps.Trim, all trim is in really nice shape, new front head lamp bezels, new front indicator bezels and lenses and also the same for the rear. side trim is very nice. hod trim is new piece, hood letters are new as well and replaced with Chrome from the old gold. Rear window trim is not perfect but it still looks nice and easily replaced. Side mirror was bought new. Door handles are new as is the vent cover. New wiper blades and the wiper transmission was taken down and repacked with new grease, works perfectly.
Electrical, again with the new alternator power is no issue. I bought from Sweden a brand new wiring harness, this was the easiest replacement harness because it was a genuine brand new harness for this car. Front to back all new wiring. Everything electrical works from the horn right down to the lighter. Interior, custom carpet, you either love it or hate but its cool either way, print by Picasso I wanted it to be different and there ya go.Seats, front seats are by Scat out of California, reclining all black buckets with head rest. Rear seat, this is the stock frame with a new cover built to match the front Scat seats. Awesome job by my Pro Ron. Head liner is new, piping around doors is new, seat belts are retractable and are new. Dash board, check that thing out, all custom built for the Auto Meter Ultra light series to look like a real race car application.All gauges work, fuel sending unit is also from auto meter and works perfectly. Tach and Speedo are electronic as is the oil and water temp. Clock is also auto meter.This dash was a morph of the Volvo P-1800 and the 122S. conjoined and finished to look as good as it does and function was no easy task and cost allot of time and moolah to make it happen.
That's a pretty god description I think. I have some residual parts to go with the car and all receipts to anyone interested in them.Now all that being said the car was completed just 2 years ago and has been driven occasionally to shows and into town. Fun car, gets all the attention, easy to work on and fun to drive.
What the car needs; to be finished, the center console is not complete, the rear dash needs to be put together (very simple).This car has so much potential to be enjoyed. You can throw on some super cool wheels and tires, lower it 2 inches, shave the trim etc to make it your own.I am moving onto another project so I need the room in my garage. Plus it is time for someone else to enjoy this gorgeous ride. Thanks for reading and enjoy the ride my Friends.