During the time the car was being painted, I amused myself by falling in love with a really rough 1800E, buying it from a kid in Berkeley, and starting the process again. While working on the 1800, I met Carlo Gardin, who owns our local Volvo shop, CRO imports in San Rafael. I liked Carlo right away and told him about my ongoing 122 project. Carlo raced a 122 in SCCA races, and along with his sidekick Keith Tenny, a drag bike racer, BMW hot rodder and all-around innovative guy, convinced me we should go for the ultimate 122 street hot rod. It wasn't a hard sell.

Carlo thought we should go for a B20F with the IPD big bore kit, CIS fuel injection, a M41 transmission with the short shifter, and a whole bunch more stuff. I realized my puny expertise was not up to this level of technical competence, so I resigned myself to wrench fetcher and doer of small tasks like running wires. We got a B20F from Revolvstore in Tucson and took it apart. The cylinder head went out to Huffaker Engineering at Sears Point for porting, polishing and combustion chamber work, while the bottom end was bored by a local performance machine shop.

We began to put the engine together. Carlo insisted on a D-grind camshaft and racing valve springs. He just doesn't like the hotter cams in street cars. About this time the painter finished with the car, and we had it hauled on a flatbed to Carlo's shop. We dug

Photo: Gary Ramstad

around and came up with all the CIS fuel injection parts we would need and began trying to fit that system into the limited space in the 122 engine compartment.

During this time I read an article that said it was impossible to adapt the CIS system to a 122. I didn't show that to Carlo. We relocated the battery to the trunk and mounted the fuel distributor in the battery well. Keith was staying up nights at this point thinking about how we would work out all the details. He was really remarkable in his ability to adapt and engineer great solutions. One great day, we installed the engine and transmission. Getting the M41 transmission in required us to cut the transmission tunnel to allow room for the short shift linkage. Volvo still makes a sheet metal part that adapts the transmission tunnel to fit the M41. We bought one and pop riveted it in place.

The car now ran, and you could tell it was very powerful, but every time you took a left turn the engine would die. We determined it was surge in the fuel tank starving the high pressure fuel pump the CIS system requires. We pulled out the gas tank, got a tank from a 240, cut the baffle system and pre-pump mount out of the 240 tank and welded it in. The 122 tank had to be made taller to accommodate the pre-pump, so that added a complication or two. We added a Jacobs electronic ignition system, an IPD header, an electric fan, and all sorts of other performance stuff. We think the engine makes about 160-170 HP. It is a little quirky because with the cylinder head modifications, header, and free flow exhaust (it is a little noisy) the power band is really in the top end of the rev range. The car is very quick, goes to 100 MPH easily and is still pulling strong, and with the overdrive cruises at freeway speed at about 3000 RPM.

We finished the car off with a pair of Recaro seats, new aftermarket instruments and tach. We did not put the rear seat back in, instead carpeting the floor all the way to the rear shelf. I added a nice stereo system with a CD Player. The only remaining project is to install an 1800E or ES rear end in the car to give it 4-wheel disc brakes and positraction. Carlo found us a positraction unit, and I pulled the differential out of an old ES a friend was parting out. I bought new rotors and calipers. Andy Mehren is cross drilling the rotors so they'll look like Brembo stuff. The only regret here is that when we finish, my wheels won't fit because the lug pattern is different on the new rear end. I really like the wheels that are on the car, but I'll probably sell them and use the opportunity to go to some 16 or 17 inch wheels and low profile tires.

The car works very well. We drove it to Portland last summer for the VSA meet and it ran flawlessly. It is very fragile because of its lack of bumpers and chrome "ding" strips on the side. I don't usually drive it unless I know exactly where I am going to park, and I don't leave it in parking lots or parked on the street.

With those limitations, I really have a ball with it. People surround it whenever we take it out, and holler compliments as we drive down the street. We entered it in the May Madness classic car show and parade here in San Rafael, and were one of two foreign cars of the 250 entries. When it was our turn to drive by the announcer's stand in the parade, the whole crowd was yelling Volvo! Volvo! Volvo! Marin county is the Volvo wagon capital of the world and everyone seemed really thrilled to see an old one fixed up. My wife wasn't nearly as excited as I was about this. From her position, curled up in the passenger foot well, she said, "Somehow this isn't how I pictured living my life." I couldn't really hear her above the crowd noise.

My son now wants to buy the car back. We have yet to agree on a price. He is thinking in terms of what I paid him for it four years ago and I would like to recoup 50% of what I have sunk in it. We are a long ways apart. Yeah, I spent more money than I will ever get back. This isn't an investment, it is just fun.