1970 Volvo 145S – Back from the brink

This is the start of my journey to resurrect a 1970 Volvo 145S.

I had seen a Craigslist ad for this Volvo wagon a few times during 2016. Listed as a complete car with a spare engine, transmission, body panels, and all sorts of extras, my interest was piqued. After stalking it for 9 months I finally pulled the trigger and made the journey to Suffolk, VA with $500. I split the cost with a friend who needed a spare engine and transmission.

Man, that's pretty!

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Sweet! These early models with the split rear glass and chrome grille are my favorites.

We made some rookie mistakes picking the car up. The truck and trailer were great but we didn't have a winch. Having made a 3.5 hour drive to get this car, I wasn't leaving without it. A pair of 3" ratchet straps helped us pull it out of the grass, with two flat tires, onto the trailer for the ride home.

Unloading the Volvo at home was just as difficult. My driveway was too steep and the street too narrow to back the trailer in so we dumped the car in the street. I borrowed a battery from my friend's car and got the Volvo to crank. The previous owner told us the fuel system was shot so we skipped forward and fashioned an empty water bottle into a mini gas tank. My friend poured gas into the Weber downdraft while I cranked the engine. To our astonishment it fired right up. It took a few attempts to feel out the condition of the clutch and brakes, but I managed to drive it up my driveway and into my garage while my friend walked next to it pouring gas into the carb. Victory!

Fuel System I pulled the fuel sender to have a look into the fuel tank and oh man is there a lot of crud. There's a convenient drain plug on the bottom of the tank so I drained the remaining varnish and unhooked all hoses for ventilation. The tank will come out completely this weekend and head off to SAPPS Radiator & Welding in Garner, NC for some blasting and resealing.

I'll need to replace the fill neck rubber line because it's shot.

The fuel sender was covered in rust and debris and the float arm was frozen solid. I thought it was dead but let it soak in some PB blaster for a few hours until I could move the float arm. Then I put ohms meter on it and saw a full range of resistance when moving the arm. I disassembled it and soaked individual pieces in vinegar to dissolve the deposits and rust. It came out pretty clean and the resistance readouts are great. Hopefully this quick refurb will give it a few more years of service.

One of the most amazing things about restoring or repairing an old Volvo is that you can still get parts for a 50-year-old car... from the DEALER.

Volvo opened a sub-corporation called Genuine Classic Parts. You can visit their website at www.gcp.se (don't worry, there's an English version) and look at all the parts you can still get directly from Volvo.

You can order online, of course, but you can also take part numbers from the website to your local Volvo dealer and they will get them for you.

Try that with a 50-year-old Buick!

Thanks for the link. Their search doesn't seem to be turning up anything that I need, but the PDF parts catalogs are priceless. This will help tremendously.

EvanR wrote: Volvo opened a sub-corporation called Genuine Classic Parts. You can visit their website at www.gcp.se (don't worry, there's an English version) and look at all the parts you can still get directly from Volvo.

when do we get to see it at a rallyx??

That's amazing! European manufacturers seem to be really good about that. I can't find a darn thing for my '89 Chevy though, unless it's one of the (admittedly many) parts shared with a dozen other cars.

EvanR wrote: One of the most amazing things about restoring or repairing an old Volvo is that you can still get parts for a 50-year-old car... from the DEALER. Volvo opened a sub-corporation called Genuine Classic Parts. You can visit their website at www.gcp.se (don't worry, there's an English version) and look at all the parts you can still get directly from Volvo. You can order online, of course, but you can also take part numbers from the website to your local Volvo dealer and they will get them for you. Try that with a 50-year-old Buick!

yep this is a good thing.....

What are your plans for it? Let's have some inspiration from the peanut gallery while we're at it!

My 1st car was a 71 145. Me and my dad pulled it out of a barn. If you want a rear door chrome trim peice lmk I have one side left.

That's a long way off. But I did find a Getrag 240 if that's any indication of where this is going. I want to keep this a street car though, maybe an occasional autocross. I plan on keeping the RX action with the E30.

bluej wrote: when do we get to see it at a rallyx??

Just great, I'll end up getting beat by ANOTHER 4 cylinder BMW motor..

Are you talking about the trim on the back doors, or the back hatch? I'm missing some trim on both.

79rex wrote: My 1st car was a 71 145. Me and my dad pulled it out of a barn. If you want a rear door chrome trim peice lmk I have one side left.

Its for the side door. Looks like your missing it in the picture. Id like to see it go to use instead of sitting in my garage

Thanksgiving Updates

-Hood is off

-Gas tank is out and ready for cleaning

-Gas hard line has been cleaned with gas and compressed air

-Mechanical fuel pump needs to be replaced, it has a torn diaphragm

-Oil changed

-Engine bay is a wiring mess

Gas tank progress! With the tank out of the car I was able to fully assess its condition. The exterior is in great shape but the interior leaves a lot of room for improvement. I filled it with vinegar over night and did the first pour out this morning. Another 10 rounds of this before we get to to the POR-15 tank sealer kit.

How much vinegar do you plan to use and what do you do with the pour out? (Might want to use this method in the near future).

Watching with great interest. Missed out on a 142 earlier this year...

Stan

stan wrote: How much vinegar do you plan to use and what do you do with the pour out? (Might want to use this method in the near future). Watching with great interest. Missed out on a 142 earlier this year... Stan

More importantly, where do you buy vinegar in that kind of quantity?

I bought 2 gallons at Walmart for $2.50/gal. With the second gallon I added some nuts and bolts to agitate the surface and breakup any stubborn bits. I used a wire mesh strainer to filter out the large debris, everything else went down the drain with the vinegar. I'll keep doing it until the vinegar runs out clear-ish, then I'll set up to a metal etcher.

jimbob_racing wrote:

stan wrote: How much vinegar do you plan to use and what do you do with the pour out? (Might want to use this method in the near future). Watching with great interest. Missed out on a 142 earlier this year... Stan

More importantly, where do you buy vinegar in that kind of quantity?

Vinegar works better than expected on rust, though I think it's ideally suited to surface-medium rust rather than full on flakey scale rust. Yesterday I dropped the tank off with Carolina Chem-Strip in Burlington, NC for full chemical stripping. I'll have POR-15 metal etcher and gas tank sealer ready for coating the inside next week, then it'll go back in the car!

I've tackled a few other things:

• New fuel pump

• New fuel filter

• New fuel lines

• New vacuum hoses

• New lift gate struts

If I feed the fuel line to a small cup of gas the filter fills up and the engine fires! I'm looking forward to running it off a tank again.

Hurray! More progress.

I haven't seen one of these before. Kudos for sparing yet another obscure wagon from oblivion.