I’ve been around this forum for years, but have never made a proper thread for my car. I’m doing enough stuff with it now, that I think it’s time for one!
A little history on the ol girl.. Way back in 1998, my mom bought a brand new V70, base model NA, Nautic blue, cloth seats and hubcaps. I was about 7 years old at the time, and was a total car nerd even then. The Volvo dealer had a black/black M56 C70 coupe in the showroom then, and I was in love! Such a cool looking ride. The salesman that sold her the V70 thought it was cool how much I loved cars, and we became friends over the years, as my dad and I spent almost every Saturday going to the dealerships to collect brochures and look at new cars.
Fast forward about 9 years, and I got a call from my salesman friend.. He said he knew I’d been shopping for my first car, and he might have something for me. That something being a 1 owner, mint 34k mile C70 coupe! I’d had my heart set on a BMW, and honestly hadn’t thought of getting a Volvo at all. When he said C70, I had a flashback to that black one I sat in back in ’98, and I said ok I’ll come have a look… My dad ended up going to look at it while I was in school, and came to pick me up after school that day… Needless to say, it was love at first sight when I saw it sitting in the pickup line at school! The car was absolutely mint and perfect, and I knew I had to have it…
Fast forward again 10 years later, and I still love the car just as much as I did on that day I first saw it. It’s been my one and only car for that whole time, all sorts of fun times with friends in high school, moved me into my first college dorm, and taken me to my first real job after graduation. I had my first date with my soon to be wife in the car, had it in several car shows throughout the years, and overall just had a ton of great memories in the car.
Euro Auto Fest 2008 by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Autocross Carlisle 2009 by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Moving Day 2010 by Logan Abner, on Flickr
A couple years ago, I started to notice that the C70 was starting to show its age a bit. Obviously, I’ve kept it very nice, but it was no longer that 34k mile minter I brought home in 2007 haha. It had about 120k miles then, and was starting to need a bit of love. So I started to tear into it and replace stuff! I started by refurbing the cooling system, suspension, all new plugs and coils, and the PCV system.
PCV by Logan Abner, on Flickr
New Suspension by Logan Abner, on Flickr
All that stuff really breathed new life into the car. I was a flight instructor then, and right as I finished up those repairs, I got my first “real” flying job, flying twin Cessnas for a small regional carrier. Training was in Cape Cod, so I took off in the C70 for that long journey. After training was done, I was sent to a small town in northern Missouri to fly. So another long drive in the C70, and it performed flawlessly!
Once I got settled in there, I continued to work on the car. The mechanicals were pretty solid then, so I started working on some cosmetics. Metal door lock pins, an R gauge cluster, new grille emblem, and a thorough detail!
Aluminum door lock pins by Logan Abner, on Flickr
R cluster by Logan Abner, on Flickr
New grille logo by Logan Abner, on Flickr
2002 Volvo C70 Coupe by Logan Abner, on Flickr
2002 Volvo C70 Coupe by Logan Abner, on Flickr
2002 Volvo C70 Coupe by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Interior by Logan Abner, on Flickr
One bigger problem that cropped up in Missouri was the rear window. The weather stripping had dried up and fallen out years before. I’d never worried much about it, but I started to notice some rust forming! I don’t mess around with rust, so I took it to a local body shop that same week, and had them remove the window, file away the light surface rust, and then rustproof it and reinstall everything with new weatherstripping.
Rust around the window by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Window seal repair by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Window seal repair by Logan Abner, on Flickr
New window seal by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Fast forward again, and I’m back in Kentucky now, with a better job flying a small private jet, and the work on the C70 continues! I don’t have a garage right now, so I’m kinda limited to the work I can do. Luckily I have a good mechanic that I trust.
My goal for now is just to get it to a good driver condition again. It needs brakes badly, and has a coolant leak I believe from the turbo coolant hose. But overall it still runs great.
As I’m achieving that goal slowly but surely, I’ve also been gathering parts for the next stages of the build… I’ve got a fairly low mileage M56 and most of the parts for the swap. Got an R bumper, though it’s in poor shape and needs to be completely restored. I also found a good set of the original Propus wheels, though they’re waiting to be refinished as well. Oh, and some jewel taillights from a 2003 or 2004 C70.
Propus by Logan Abner, on Flickr
Jewel taillights by Logan Abner, on Flickr
My current project is a black interior swap! This started when I found a silver on black parts car in Tennessee. Car was pretty gross, but the seats to be in good shape under all the dirt and grime. 
New seats by Logan Abner, on Flickr
As it turns out, the car only had around 50k miles on it when it was hit on the right side! So the seats were absolutely mint underneath, and I quickly bought them, along with the dash, console, and door panels. Wow did they clean up nicely.
New seats by Logan Abner, on Flickr
New seats by Logan Abner, on Flickr
So yeah that’s my story! I hope you all will enjoy this thread as the car progresses. I bought a new car to serve as a daily driver, so the C70 is enjoying a well deserved retirement and refurbishment.
Once I get a garage, hopefully next year, the real fun will begin. I’m planning on pulling the engine to do the transmission swap, and just fire the biggest parts cannon I have at the engine bay. New and refurbed everything!! Hoping to build it up to around 300hp, which should be more than doable. I have the humble goal of making the nicest C70 in the US haha. New paint, full custom interior, just completely restored to better than new basically.
No spoiler by Logan Abner, on Flickr
It’ll be a very long term build, but that’s ok! It’s sitting in a storage unit now, patiently biding it’s time…
As she sits now by Logan Abner, on Flickr