volvoclearinghouse continues to live up to his screen name...Amazon/ 122 content

I stumbled across this 2 month old craigslist ad the other day for a '67 Volvo Amazon, 4 door, in light blue, for a pretty decent price. Figuring the car had sold and the poster hadn't taken the ad down yet, I left a message at the number not expecting to hear back.

But I did hear back, and this morning the Mrs. and I were truckin' down to Clemson, SC to make a deal on what may become her future driver:

Pretty solid little car, some rot in the usual places but not the worst I've seen. Engine doesn't run, but does turn over by hand. Gas tank smells foul. Interior was all there, not molested, and in usable condition. The seller was a bit nostalgic about the car- he'd bought it in 1971, having traded an Oldsmobile and $700 for the car, and drove it up until about 10 years ago. The car had lived its whole life between Charleston, SC and the upstate region. We are now the third caretakers of this old Swedish girl, and hope to have her putting around Greenville soon!

From the title I thought you were selling cheap 122s.

Nice score!

EvanB wrote: From the title I thought you were selling cheap 122s.

IT'S OUR BIGGEST VOLVO CLEARANCE SALE EVER! SAVE 30, 40, EVEN 50 PERCENT ON AMAZONS, 1800s, 145s! THEY'VE GOTTA GO!

Yeah, nice buy. Don't forget to post progress photos as you tidy it up.

oh very cool.. seems that amazons are crawling out of the woodwork on GRM all of the sudden

mad_machine wrote: oh very cool.. seems that amazons are crawling out of the woodwork on GRM all of the sudden

That's exactly what I was thinking. Not that that's a bad thing.

Feedyurhed wrote:

mad_machine wrote: oh very cool.. seems that amazons are crawling out of the woodwork on GRM all of the sudden

That's exactly what I was thinking. Not that that's a bad thing.

"Ladies, please. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised."

EvanB wrote: From the title I thought you were selling cheap 122s.

No, but this car makes nine Amazons in my stable. Not to mention a barn full of parts. If anyone needs anything 122-related, chances are I've got at least one of them. At least 3 of the Amazons I have are certified as "parts cars"

Well, it's been about a month. After getting the old girl home, I swapped on a known good set of SU carbs, hooked up an auxiliary gas tank, dropped in a fresh battery, and she fired right up. Amazing. Hibernation for 10 years, and running like a Swedish sewing machine.

I swapped the old, crusty gas tank for a better one I had, bled out the brakes and put in fresh DOT 4 synthetic fluid. Replaced the front right caliper (which had a broken bleeder screw) with a good one I had on hand. The gearbox fluid got replaced with Redline synthetic manny tranny fluid, and I topped off the rear diff with gear oil. Greased everything that could be greased, changed the oil and filter, cleaned the plugs, and slapped on a set of 14" steelies wrapped in Falken Azenis (front) and Hankook Ventus (rear) that I just happened to have lying around. After a cursory wash to clean off the mold and dirt, it looks much better:

Three of the 4 windows didn't work, which required varying degrees of repair, but luckily the 1980's vintage Alpine cassette deck and Clarion speakers in the back deck still sound great. The odometer, trip odo, and gas gauge are inop, and the speedo reads where it wants to, so I have no idea how far I've gone, how fast I'm getting there, or whether I'll get there on the fuel available. But, I've been driving it for 3 days, probably about 100 miles so far, and knock on wood it's been running great and earning a ton of thumbs up and approving nods.

Speaking of thumbs up and approving nods, what's the green and white car in the background? I want to say circa 1952 GM, but I'm totally prepared to be wrong.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's black and white, and while you're close on the year (it's a '51) the make is a Plymouth. It actually runs and moves under its own power (flathead sixes are good like that) but it's a total rust bucket. The registration hails from NY, 10 years ago, so somehow it worked its way down to SC in the past ten years, though I have no title on it. I got it in trade for a '74 Plymouth I had no more need for, and the mechanical bits from the '51 should help with my '49 I'm trying to make roadworthy.

Cool! Thanks for the info. It would be fun to compare the fuel consumption and performance of the '51 (pre-high compression) with that of the '74 (pre-knowing WTH to do about emission controls.) Anyway, neat projects! Enjoy.

Jealous.

Time to "drive it like you hate it"?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DE9c2Y8_2TH4&v=E9c2Y8_2TH4&gl=US

The Falken Azenis I had on the car on those white wheels were about worn down to the cord. I had a set of nearly-new BFG 185/75R14 laying around, $40 later and they were mounted and balanced on another set of wheels:

These were a rusty set of American Racing wagon wheels I got on a parts 122 I bought a few years back. Some wire wheel action and a few cans of primer and Rustoleum Wildflower Blue later and we have what you see above. I'm not 100% sure about it, but it is different. My wife thinks it's pretty, and she has been driving the car some.

I also replaced the brake pads and flex hoses. The front brakes were hardly stopping at all...as it turns out, it seems that the pads that were on there, while they still had some "meat" left, were badly glazed. I'd never seen this before, but the new pads (just regular old organics from Rock Auto, $24.99) work MUCH better.

So far, between the initial purchase price and all the parts I've put into it so far to make it roadworthy, I'm under a grand for this sweet little ride. Not too shabby, I don't think.

This is an awesome thread! Thanks for putting her back on the road (the car, not your wife). Ive always loved those and thought a pepped up straight 6 and flared fenders with big meats underneath would be a hoot in one of those.

Great looking car...aside from the wheels. gunmetal or white would be fitting, IMO. Nice score!!!

I'm a sucker for wagon wheels, and I like the two-tone blue. Great car, great thread, great job.

semi-gloss black on the wagon wheels would do it for me. i can not tolerate blue on blue crime.

If you dont mind my asking, what did you pay for it?
I've been jonesing for an Amazon or 1800 for a long time now.

I was going back and forth between gray and a contrasting blue, and decided to be daring. I think when these tires wear out I'll try out a satin gray.

DrBoost, the Amazon is one of the most under-valued collector cars out there, IMO. 1800's command higher prices, probably due to their styling and relative rarity, but the underpinnings are largely identical between the two cars. I've picked up 9 Amazons over the past 10 years, and the most I've paid for a running, driving, decent 2 door car was $2000. Four door values are in the basement, especially. And the cool thing about the 4 doors is that the wheelbase and roofline are identical to the 2 doors'. They simply shortened the front doors and added a second set of doors in back. So the 4 door only weighs about 100 pounds more than the 2 door.

Parts supply is good, and the cars are laughably simple to work on. I've taken a non-running, sat-for-15-years example and had a driver in a long Saturday's worth of work. And they're some decent tires and a few quick suspension mods away from being a fun little corner tosser. You'll never win any drag races, but that's not what they're for.

I actually quite like the blue wheels. It's different. Different is good, usually.

procainestart wrote: Jealous. Time to "drive it like you hate it"? http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DE9c2Y8_2TH4&v=E9c2Y8_2TH4&gl=US

Non-mobile link

Makes me want one now. So cool.

...heading to ebay right now. I might be in trouble...I need an intervention.

DrBoost wrote: ...heading to ebay right now. I might be in trouble...I need an intervention.

Only one there, and it's safely out of price range. (for me)

Yup. But one day....