1971 Volvo Other

Coupe

B23

184353

Clear

Gasoline

I purchased this Volvo with never the intent of selling it.  However, as old age has crept upon me I find ingress and egress more and more difficult.  Additionally, I have spotted one of my favorite Peugeot Diesels which may be more suited to my needs.  Don't get me wrong.  The Volvo is a fantastic road machine with a new set of Michelins, including the spare.  It will be described to the best of my ability. Purchased a year ago in July I have not done much but work on it.  It has been a work of joy, but doing something you love can get old.  It is an extremely good base for a complete restoration.  The engine was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago according to the previous owner and there is paperwork to verify that by some Volvo expert down in Houston, Texas.  It was incorrectly repainted and a fair job it was, but some areas around the doors had begun to peel.  Additionally, the red paint had begun to fade to a rather pleasant Orange, hence the present color.  I liked the faded color and had an industrial paint matched to Georgia Clay.  It looks good, but everybody thinks it is primer.  My intentions are to go back to the original No. 42 White. I received a new windshield and upper vinyl dash cover which is presently being installed.  The lower portion of the dash has not been purchased.  The seats show very little wear, but have come apart at the seams.  Both the front and rear seats have been reupholstered in some shade of red to match the outside color.  A new hood was purchased as the old one was good, but the hinges had frozen due to long time storage which resulted in breakage of the attaching area. This is a fault of most of the 1800 Volvos.   The engine is fuel injected and, in general, starts with the first stroke.  The cold start valves works and all the injectors work.  The controller is out of a Type 3 Volkswagen Fastback as they are the same.  The fuel pump is also identical to the Type 3, but the original worked just fine after disassembly, cleaning and reassembly.  The fuel tank, however, caused lots of problems.  Someone had cut a hole in the top and poured some kind of a coating into the tank which had come loosel  I cut the top off the tank, recoated with Alumina and Fibreglass and reassembled.  I still have a couple of minor leaks near the top where it was resealed.  It is on schedule to be welded.  I left it unwelded just in case there was another problem.  It could probably use a new tank, but the present one is giving no trouble.  The fuel tank was another weakness of this series Volvo.  Like, how long have we been building cars and fuel tanks? This is my third 1800 series having purchased a new one off the showroom floor in Chicago in 1967.  It actually had trouble with the speedometer before I got it home to New Castle, Indiana.  It was 240 miles and the odometer showed 2400 miles.  I don't know how long it should take to get these things right, but overall the 1800 series are very pleasant driving vehicles and this one is a real cruiser.  And, the looks just never go out of date.  It is a good looking vehicle. The pictures show some of the trim missing, but it is all there, just not installed.   Volvo has played around with the location of the Overdrive switch and this one is on the right side of the steering wheel, though I kinda preferred the 1967 with the switch on the upper left of the dash.  That is simply a preference. This Volvo also had an Air Conditioner installed, but I have removed the compressor as it was much too large.  I have a smaller, more compatible unit to install.  The unit did not work in its present state as the vehicle had been setting for several years.  This is an option that you may want to use or discard, but all the parts, including the original compressor go with it. Ask what questions you will and I will provide answers to the best of my ability and knowledge.  This Volvo may, or may not, remain on auction for the full term because if that Peugeot gets sold before the Volvo does it will be removed.  I do not know the true value of this particular Volvo, but the 2011 Old Car Guide puts it at around $25,000 in full restoration.  This one is much more than halfway there, but that does not reflect the reserve.  It is much less.