I have been reading these 𖔴-544] forums for awhile now but finally decided to register and just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Andrew Janeshek. I have a 1958 Volvo 444 that is currently undergoing a rebuild. The car originally belonged to my grandfather and was the car that my mother learned to drive with when she was in high school. I was given possesion of the car in 2000 and my father, mother, and I dug it out from under a shed where it had been sitting for approximately 30 years. It was in very bad condition, but my father and I had planned to restore it ourselves, with the exception of body work, as a project. Unfortunately I went off to college and his company (Carbide Chemical) was bought out, leaving him with the workload of about 3 people (after all of the layoffs) and he was transferred to TX. Needless to say, our project never really got off the ground.

Over the winter of 2003-04, we finally sat down and made some plans to get it running. Neither of us had the time to do any real work ourselves, especially since we spend 98% of the year about 2,000 miles apart, but we found a local mechanic whom we were confident with to do the work for us. With the amount of work that we were already going to have to do because of the condition of the car, we decided to do a nearly complete overhaul and modernization of the vehicle. We chose to swap in a 5-speed transmission and 2.9L V6 EFI engine from an '88 Ford Ranger. The Ranger had belonged to a friend who took exceptional care of the truck, but the truck had been hit in a manner which essentially totalled the truck while leaving the engine and drivetrain untouched. The progress has been slow, and there have been many many unanticipated issues and problems that arose resulting in almost as many changes made along the way. The car is finally nearing completion, though it may still not be entirely "road-ready" until this summer.

I know that some of you might see this as the mangling a classic car--and to some extent, I agree (my affectionate nickname for the car is Forderick Von Frankenvolvo)--but given the condition of the car when I took possession of it, a full original restoration would have been even less practical and at least as expensive as the route that we have chosen to take. If anyone would care to see it, I have some pics of the car and the progess that I can probably post for you. I will also try to answer any questions that you may have to the best of my knowledge as well.

I look forward to participating more actively in this community. Have a great day!