Hello fellow bricksters -

While my current membership is new on the Brickboard - I am not new to this site. (just with all the electronic changes these days I seem to have lost my original user email and password)


I bought my first Volvo in 1980. It was a 1972 144S (4 spd M with a non-functioning electric O/D) - a strange car - considering that there were no Volvo dealers in Northern Alberta - especially in our rural area...
With a new coat of paint, I drove that car for the next 2 years, down to Montana and back, and fell in love with Volvo engineering and ergonomics.

It was the first vehicle that could keep the windows clear of frost in -30f weather with 4 adults in it. My friends who were travelling on the trip home for Christmas were driving much newer North American iron, peering through 10" frost holes in their windshield - and forget about them seeing out the side or rear glass !!!
Bricks were engineered for winter!!!

My next purchase was in 1987 - a brown 1980 245 (4 spd + O/D)– ageless for a 7 year old vehicle – and that Brick was amazing, transporting my young family (and al our gear) in a manner that negated the need for a pickup or dreaded minivan. 2 kids bikes, or 2 strollers, and all the family camping gear … no matter what we packed in – there always seemed to be another Tetris style nook or cranny to fit another item…

1991 I picked up a 1976 242 (4 spd M) – and travelled 3 provinces with my work – and discovered how seriously capable that car was on ice and snow, with a set of studded winter grips on the rear… I travelled where some 4x4’s were scared to go – on all sorts of conditions and terrain. Being still fairly new to Volvos and not knowing of the brickboard at that time, when the clutch went out on it, it was sold to another enthusiast for the motor…

This was followed by yet another 1986 245 (Ole Blue) which subsequently protected us in a MVA. In our family discussion, I asked if the kids if they wanted to look at maybe a large SUV, and both immediately let me know that only a Volvo would have protected us as well as it did…

a 1988 245 (silver 4 spd with O/D) followed, and was the vehicle that both kids learned to drive in.

About this time I came across a 1980 242 – rusted and one (RT) bad strut – but for only a few hundred $$ - I saw potential . After gutting the interior, fiberglassing all the rusted interior seams (stopped the dust from pouring in) lining the interior with ½” foam carpet underlay, and re-installing the interior. This was one of my favourite project cars… Several long road trips were made with each of my teenage kids – to Yellowstone, and places in Montana. I added new struts up front and shocks in the rear, along with a DIY 3” lift kit (Diesel front coils up front, and 3” welded blocks under the rear coils), a DIY steel plate belly pan ended the “replace the plastic pan every so often” syndrome… then a set of alloy wheels made this Rat-Brick look mighty fine, in a rough sort of way…

The last Volvo I owned was a 1986 740 (4 cyl turbo – auto trans) – that offered new engineering, but disappointed greatly on reliability and ease of working on… I had hoped that the 740 would be a further refinement of the 240 legacy – and in features and options, maybe it was, however from a amateur mechanic’s point of view – it was a nightmare… This unit finally let me down for the last time when I spent a tidy sum to have a professional mechanic go through the mechanical side of things. I head out for a July 4th trip to the USA in balmy 90f weather… Travelling down I-15 with the sunroof open, tunes on the radio, a perfect summer day. When I noticed far too late that the tiny miniscule heat gauge was off the red!!! – Long story short – head warped – and unknown condition of water pump, bearings, etc.. I was stranded on the side of I-15 somewhere N of Great Falls… Apparently in a mosquito preserve – and I was their meal of the day…
After looking at the numbers – it simply did not make sense to put another dime in a car that I was not connected with… - can you say $142 USD at the crusher…

Over the past 20 years, Folks on the Brickboard have been hugely instrumental in offering expert layman advice, shortcuts, timesavers and wisdom – without which I would not have been able to afford to drive and enjoy Volvos all those years
(Special thanks to one Don Foster!!!)

Career and life changes have removed the need for a car from my vehicle stable – I have need of a large 4x4 for work these days, so there is no longer a Volvo in my life.

What I do have is a rather random yet basic inventory of maintenance and replacement parts for mostly the 200 series Volvo. I will sell the entire inventory at a deep, deep discount. I would think this will mainly be a benefit to another Volvo enthusiast here in Alberta, simply due to geography and shipping costs…

Rather than spam the forum section - I have posted an ad in the classified section re: the parts… If it interests a reader – I welcome inquiries

https://www.brickboard.com/CLASSADS/index.htm?id=16715

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings – and happy Brikkin to all!!

Cheers


Gord Hull