What's up with thething, anyway?

Hey!

Your 122 sounds like my PV-544, aka the Toad, as in "Great Red Toad"!! Stock appearing from the outside, except for shaved hood and no emblems to spoil it's bright red paint. A B-20, with the FI head, K cam, dual 40 DCOE Webers, MDS ignition, header, all for MORE POWER. Talk about scaring BMWs! They go into shock! 45 in first! With a 4:11. Excuse me? It also has the IPD bars, with AR Torque Thrust D wheels and AVS inter. tires, 185/75x15.

Lovely car, have owned since 1975, will probably take it to the Nursing Home with me to frighten the other oldsters when the time comes. Volvos are fun. Found that out years ago when I bought my first one in 1960.

Take care,

John Switzer
VOLVAMUS

P.S.: "Beemers drool; Volvos rule!"

Check out the Washington DC Volvo Club at http://members.aol.com/VOLVODC/index.html. --Ed.

Your site is terrific! Well organized and fun to read, except those pages with the highly graphic wallpaper...

The author of the humorous essay on tool uses is Peter Egan of Road & Track, and was printed in the magazine last spring ('96), I believe.

Hope to be able to send you some stuff to include in your online magazine. I will keep tuning in!

We Roll!

Russell Hibbard

Thank you! Sorry. Thank you again. Please do. Indeed we do! --Ed.

Hey!

I'm writing from northern Finland, just 200 km south from the artic circle. The city I live in is called Oulu. I'm building up a 1965 Amazon/122S for historic circuit racing, and a friend of mine has a 122S also (raced several years already). Has anyone knowledge how to make a 122S handle like a race car should? There's absolutely too much humping up and down in the front, and the rear of the car wants to roll over too.

I read your story about sway bars -- fascinating! Perhaps ipd will make my dream true. I already signed a request for a catalog.

I think these 28mm front/22mm rear bars maybe aren't just enough for really hard racing. How do you feel, or has any one experience?

Thanks for your interesting pages.

Regards,

Rauno Teppola
Oulu, Finland

Volvo-sponsored racecars used bars of the identical size, and the poly-U bushings supplied with the ipd bars are better than what they had back then. Check in future issues for reviews of other ipd suspension mods. Differing opinions are solicited . . . --Ed.

Dear Phil,

Thank you very much for putting this together. I think the VSA club members will be forever grateful for your hard work. This site will definitely help people get together to help each other. I have some questions & ideas for you:

QUESTION:
1. How many pictures can you use per article? (I don't want to send three or four only to find out you can only use one.)

ANSWER:
As many as you like (well, maybe not twenty or thirty). We'll find a place to publish any material that might interest other Volvo fans. The format and size of the magazine will "bend to fit" the material available.

IDEA:
I think a roster [of VSA members] would be a positive benefit to the members. This directory would ESPECIALLY be helpful for a club like the VSA which does not have a lot of meets where people can see each other. Would you be open to establishing a list that is optional for people to put their names on? Perhaps, to keep some anonymity, you could list just the Names and the City only with no street address. Then, I would like to see what type of car they own and a Phone Number. Finally, some clubs I belong to alphabetize this list by the "City," allowing you to quickly see how many people live in your area. For all I know, there could be 20 members in my neighborhood, but I'll never know.

Will you consider setting up a page for members to optionally sign up?

Frank Hall
Thousand Oaks, CA
WK: (818) 407-9100 x250
(1971 P1800E, Blue)

Yes, that's a fine idea. However, it would not be a listing of just Volvo Sports America members (this site is not affiliated with VSA, even though the editor is a member), but of anyone who cares to sign up and provide contact information of some sort -- a list of Volvo fans who wish to be found by others. An opportunity will be provided for those who consider themselves expert on a particular model or area to list themselves as such. Look for this in the next issue towards the end of March (we hope). Thanks for a great idea! --Ed.

Dear Friends,

How is the sun and warmth of California? Up here in Michigan the sun is appearing for its usual one or two days per month. Snow is up to the windows of a normally suspended 122S and the 123GT is safely in the garage.

The new virtual magazine is a pleasant treat for this Sunday's reading. The pictures in the 122S article are a bit dark to catch all the detail but the gist of it is great.

I have found some interesting articles on the V's in Classic and Sport Cars over the last year and one-half. I don't know if their previous articles would be allowed for publication after the fact, but it might be of some interest. The particular issues which have caught my eye are: Feb. 97, 544 and 122S; Dec. 95, great long detailed article on the 120 series, and in Thoroughbred and Classic Cars, a great match up of a right-hand 123GT up against some other classics. If you want to check these out or pursue this let me know. The English are really into cars!

I hope to find time to tell my story sometime. I think each long-time Volvo lover has one and they can be very interesting. There are a few of us here in Michigan and we look forward to more contacts and support.

Thanks for your time and dedication!!!

Michael Schultz
Maple City, MI

Thanks for writing, Michael! The first issue of this magazine was put together very quickly with the materials we had on hand--the quality of the production and photos will improve, we promise. It might be possible to republish magazine articles here, but we hope to keep things interesting with original material. Speaking of which, we'd be delighted to run your Volvo story whenever you care to tell it! --Ed.

Phil,

Hello! My name is Chip Winters and I just read your response to my post with the Swedish Classics bulletin board,* and I found you and your new magazine. I think it is great--keep up the good work!!!

Well, I'll start by telling more about myself. I am a former Volvo tech., now employed as a Ford tech. (more work) because the Fords break down more than the Volvos. I have three running Volvos and roughly 10 parts cars. I repair Volvos at home. My baby is a 1968 123GT in great condition--the only thing that I am missing are the driving lights, but other than that the car looks and runs great!! I also have a 1981 242GT that I drive every day and a 1980 245 wagon that I am trying to sell (wife don't like the color "yellow"). I also have a 1986 Audi 5000S (wife's car).

I will send you a couple of photos and a complete story on the 123 and maybe the 242 also. If I can be of any help with anything, you can E-mail me at winters@csinet.net.

Thanks again,

Chip Winters
Rolling Prairie, IN

*Chip refers to info we sent confirming that his 123GT is genuine. Chip was a Volvo tech for over ten years, and it will be valuable to have him "on board" when we start an "Ask the Expert" column in the next issue. Thanks, Chip! --Ed.

Phil,

Not only did I check it out [the magazine], but I added it to my list of Volvo-related links on my Volvo page.

I must say I like the structure of your site and most enjoyed the technical article regarding the installation of IPD's 122/1800 swaybar setup. I've got the same setup in my 122S(SS) right now and I really like the way it handles. I will probably get a new set of Bilstein shocks soon, because they've been through 90,000 aggressive miles since I installed them back in 1991 and are indicating noticeable signs of needing replacement.

My next project is to get a B20F shortblock and an "F"(fuel-injected) head as well as early six-bolt forged Volvo crankshaft, and have the block/head reworked to accomodate an 86mm stroker crank and modified Chevy connecting rods which connect to custom-made 92mm pistons, yielding 2287cc of displacement. I will either have a centrifugal blower setup or Volvo CI injection with a compression ratio of around 11:1. Horsepower ought to be in the mid to high 200's with the blower setup and around 210 or so with the fuel injection. Either way, the complete powerplant will cost in the neighborhood of around $4000.00, but I wanna be able to do the 1/4 mile in around 12 seconds in my angry little Volvo. Wheelie bars, anyone?

The only thing I'm having trouble researching is finding a transmission solution that will be able to handle gobs of torque and h.p. Obviously, the M41 J-type overdrive I've got now wouldn't last a week with 200+ H.P.!! I believe I would have to get a good condition Pontiac Firebird 5-speed transmission and have a custom flywheel/clutch setup fabricated (fabrication will cost around $2000.00, but cheaper than the amount of money I've spent over time replacing the 5 transmissions I've managed to destroy with "only" 160 h.p). Horsepower hurts the pocketbook but not one's euphoria.

Brett Kelley

For more on Brett's ambitious project, check out his site at http://www.best.com/~trayrace/volvo.html. Brett is also a talented 3-D artist and we hope to see some of his work here soon. --Ed.

I saw the article on your 1966 Amazon, and have one question. Do you have driveline problems? I have a B20E in my '67 122s, with the SUs from the original B18. It also has a street/performance cam, double springs, etc. The performance of this engine is wonderful. The problem is, all that extra torque is not nice to the drive line. Even with new U-joints and center-support, I still get a "clunkety-clunk" from the driveline tunnel, and it gets worse fast as the parts deteriorate. Right now it has been 28k miles since the last change, and it is way past time to replace the parts again.

I guess my question is, have you done any driveline modifications? Are there stronger than stock U-joints and/or center supports available?

One thing I didn't mention is that I do have an M41 from a `75 240. That makes everything under the car a little more cramped than usual, and this probably exacerbates the problem.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Thomas E. Payne
Eugene, OR

The only mod we have in this area is U-joints from ipd, claimed to be far stronger than the stock ones. We installed these with the new motor about 50,000 miles ago and have had no trouble. Any ideas? Chip? Brett? --Ed.

Hello Phil

Looks like a great job. I appreciate the link to Rolf's Virtual Garage. Pending time, I work to keep it more dynamic also. Will add some tech tips, i.e. overdrive installation in 122, alternator, etc. I will add your E-zine to links at my site.

Regards,

Rolf Astrom

Thanks, Rolf! Now, those "tech tips" look like just the sort of things we need for the "Shop Talk" feature. Care to share them with us? --Ed.

I have added a link to your magazine from our link-page. Best of luck!

Volvo has privatized all spares for PV, P1800 and Amazon (sold them to a private company, including manufacturing tools). Does that affect you in the States in any way? (prices, availability etc.)? In our case, it means that Danish dealers buy from us rather that official channels, as we deliver from day to day.

Enjoy!

Claus Levinsen
Address: Volvo Veteranerne, B.O.Box 53, DK-6300 Graasten
Phone (+45) 74 65 26 50 Mobile (+45) 40 53 04 83
Fax (+45) 74 65 26 10 E-mail:

Can we start bugging you about when the next issue is going to come out? :-)

Geoff and Maggi McCausland

No. But seriously folks, we are shooting for a whole new issue every two months at least, which puts it towards the end of March. -- Ed.

Volvo P1800 Club of Sweden

Volvo Owner's Club (UK)

Per Petterson

Robert & Marion

Gertjan van den Brink

"Black Text on Asphalt"
a note from the editor

A number of people wrote politely complaining of unreadable pages. It is our mistake, and we apologize!

Although we checked our pages on a variety of browsers, we fell into a hole. In order to give the different pages a unified, visually interesting look while permitting maximum legibility, we designed them to look like a white sheet of paper against a colored background, and with black text against the white. The formatting instructions used to create the "white sheet" cannot be executed by some older browsers, producing disastrous results:

Most saw this . . .

. . . but some saw this!

An alternate page may be selected from any problem page and from the Contents Menu. As the design of this magazine evolves in future issues, we'll be sure to avoid this problem!

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