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Time travel back to 1987.. I was in high school, and had just bought my first car. A '67 122 wagon. Being the broke high school kid that I was, new parts, available only from the dealer, were generally not an option.
So, I knocked on the door of a fellow who had a couple decrepit wagons sitting in his yard. A nice fellow who answered the door. A bit eccentric perhaps, but a nice guy. Over the next several year, many an hour was spent in his wood shop discussing Volvos and other important life subjects.
The man had some stories.
He never did let me take any parts off his two wagons, as he had future plans for them. He was gracious with his spare parts piles, and he helped keep my car on the road for many years, and I learned about old Volvos, and car work in general from him.
He passed away a few years back. So fast forward to now.. my brother recently got in touch with his partner, who has really been wanting to get these cars out of her back yard. Not that she doesn't appreciate old Volvos, but she knew she sure wouldn't get around to them. So, we bought them, figured to drag them home and evaluate.
The first is a late '67 model (dual circuit brakes, but no other '68 earmarks).. that one seemed most solid, so that's where we started. My brother actually.. went over with the usual heap of stuff.. a battery, some gas, starting fluid, some tires... Lo and behold, he got that '67 running and drove it out of there. 15-20 years of sitting, I'm really not sure.
That left the '64... it's been sitting for at least 25 years. Maybe more, nobody really knows. This was, in its day, a bit of a hot rod, though the extent is rather unknown. It's got the old IPD headers, the 3rd motor mount (busted through the rusty inner fender, of course)... ah well.
The rocker panels are gone, other cancerous rust here and there, but the floors are rock solid.. who knows, maybe not a parts car after all...
So, we put a battery in there, no key so a quick hot wire, starting fluid... Damned if the thing didn't fire up almost instantly.. sounds kind of snappy even, and not too awful much smoke, doesn't sound blown. Definitely getting oil to the rockers. We'll see.. brakes also came up. Well... the master cylinder held pressure. Not sure if the wheel cylinders moved.
I'm sure Alan would be pleased and proud of his cars!
In any event, we'll be going back for more work soon.. it would be absolutely amazing still if we're able to drive that one out of there.. but it's a lot closer than we expected it to ever be...
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Cheers!
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-Matt I ♥ my ♂
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