PRICE: $10,000
LOCATION: Omaha, Nebraska
Backstory: I purchased this a guy in Mississippi and had the car shipped to Omaha. From what I can tell, the car spent the first couple decades in Kentucky, then was sold to a man in Mississippi, and resided there until I purchased it in 2022. The car has some paperwork, but not a lot. I have been slowly fixing it up, with the hopes of fully restoring it, however with the coming addition of our 5th kid, time is becoming more limited and I have too many projects. The car is reliable, and I will often commute it to work when the weather is nice (20 miles each way). Otherwise it stays in the garage hooked to a battery tender.
The car comes with a ton of extra parts, including a box of all NEW suspension pieces, and a fully printed manual that is bound. Below is everything that I can think of right now (I am probably forgetting things and may come back to add stuff):
ENGINE: Original Volvo B18B with dual SU Carbs. During the winter of 2023 I did the following in the engine bay:
– SU carbs rebuilt (including new bushings) by XXX (January 2023) with new filters and gaskets;
– Compression check (dry) and full valve lash adjustment. One cylinder was around 10% lower than the others however all values were within acceptable range (and a wet test on the one cylinder resulted in an increased compression indicating it was just wear);
– Replaced all fuel/vent hoses in the engine bay with made in USA gates hose;
– Replaced all heater hoses and clamps with VP Autoparts;
– New mechanical fuel pump;
– New oil pressure sensor unit;
– New thermostat with housing;
– Changed out ALL the fluids: Oil w/ filter, coolant flush with OEM Volvo coolant, transmission fluid (Redline), rear differential fluid (Redline);
– Refurbished sport intake exhaust manifold (no more power robbing record butterfly valves);
– 2” sport exhaust system from CVR (sounds great!).
– Fabricated new battery box as the old one had a hole in it;
– re-painted the engine bay satin black (it had already been painted black for some reason). As I put it all back together, I replaced all rubber bushings.
– At some point the steering column was upgraded to the later break away type;
– Electric engine fan installed with the mechanical fan removed (have original in spare parts box) – fan has a switch on the dash board;
– New spark plugs and wires from IPD;
– New Air Filters and fuel filters;
– Replaced distributor from VW NOS (new old stock) that was proper to the 1967 B18B – 0 231 153 003. Also replaced cap, cap arm, and capacitor. In the 1970’s, the Volvo distributor had retrofitted a 0 231 170 085 distributor with the vacuum advance for environmental reasons – the old distributor is included in the spare parts box.
BRAKES: the front calipers were fully disassembled, cleaned, painted, and reassembled including all new pistons (I think from VP Autoparts). While reassembling the brakes, I put in new timken wheel bearings and new rotors. Rubber brake lines were replaced with new, and the whole system was bled with new fluid. Rear brakes have not been opened up yet, but work fine and the parking brake is good. Dual master cylinder works perfectly and appears to have been replaced at some point (OEM replacement).
SUSPENSION: Tires were put on just before I purchased the car, so they have around 500 miles on them. The car looks to have been lowered at some point. The suspension is a little soft. I had hoped to replace it all this last winter, but didn’t have time. Car comes with a box from CVR with everything needed to refresh the suspension including: coil spring sport kit, KYB shock absorber kit, front bushing kit, rear bushing kit, tie rod kit, 2x lower ball joints, and 2x upper ball joints.
WIRING: New fuse block in engine bay, and all wiring cleaned up to match with original wiring (including correct wire color). New foot dipper switch. Everything works except for the brake failure warning light, which stays on as the ground for the parking brake switch has disappeared.
Interior Misc: Overall the interior is in decent shape (the front two seats have had the vinyl replaced at some point. The Front vent windows have all new seals, as well as the front door windows. Both door handles have been rebuilt, and both door handles and trunk operate on one key (just did the kit from VP Autoparts last month). Since I regularly bring 1-3 kids with me on drives, last winter I installed 3-point seat belts front and back from VP Autoparts (original front seatbelts and 70’s retrofit rear seatbelts provided in spare parts box). Walnut knob is new old stock that I found – old knob is in the parts box. I now have a radio blank plate installed (still need to upload pictures with this installed) and repainted the arm rests using paint from CVR. The original stereo is in the spare parts box (not sure if it works). I also wired in a tachometer and mounted to the dash; it works well and doesn’t look out of place.
Paint/Body: Honestly, this is the one thing holding this car back. The previous owner did not prep the original paint correctly when he repainted it (green color is similar, just with a metallic flake in it). This has resulted in the new paint cracking in several places as it didn’t bond properly and pulling away. In nearly all cases, it is just cosmetic and there are no rust issues as the old paint is still underneath. This car is a southern car, so it isn’t a rusted out midwest car, however it does have a couple spots. The passenger door has a small hole in the corner that was neutralized and had body filler to fill the hole. The pan on the back has a spot where the body filler failed and is showing the steel (just surface rust – see pictures), and a couple of the floor pans had some rusting (the previous owner neutralized the rust, then covered the top with aluminum sheet metal on top and spray foamed the bottom; not the cleanest or best fix, but it stabilized everything. I was going to replace the pans this winter if I still have the car). The car still cleans up nicely.
Spare Parts: Comes with a lot of spare parts, including tools (timing light, carb flow meter, door handle remover, etc.) and a full printed manual. See the album below for more photos.
Photo-album of all the photos I took are here. Note – I took these last fall before putting the car away, so the radio blank plate is not in them:
If you have any questions or would like to see the car, send me a message.
Marcus