I just picked up the new issue of Grassroots Racing. I was pleasantly surprised to see a feature of Cameron Lovre's 122 inside. Way to go man, that's really cool.

Christopher

A star? Me? Gawrsh.

First: thanks.

Thanks to Per for an article that left me thinking 'wow!' I could hardly believe that it was about me and my very own Volvo. I tend to think I'm just the lucky guy who gets to have stewardship of this most excellent car. Stellar.

Thanks to Shayne himself. Words fail me. The only guy in town I'd let near the 122 with a wrench without my acting as an overprotective supervisor. Shayne was there when we converted to overdrive, to rear disk brakes, to lowering springs, sway bars, shocks, bushings, stainless brakelines. All the fancy wiring and all the fancy relays are in place because Shayne knows how that cool stuff works. I believe in Shayne's abilities more than my own.

Thanks to Phil. The only guy in Washington I'd let near the 122 with a wrench. Phil offered unending moral support during every single frustrating aspect of the supercharger project (and there were plenty); rebuilt the transmission, helped with diagnosing some of the early teething pains with the first engine (I'm on the second), taught me a whole lot about Volvos, patience, and acceptance for The Way Things Are.

Thanks to Peter (Eulau), who helped pull the old engine and tranny, lent me his pressurewasher, helped Shayne and I install the tranny 4 times one long night, then helped me install the engine over and again while I fretted over which engine mounts to use. The engine went in and out of the car 11 times before it stayed in place.

Thanks to Teague Oviatt, for continual positive assertion that 'its gonna work and its gonna kick ass.' He was right.

Thanks to Corrie McCutchen, my (former) girlfriend, who accepted the fact that I pretty well lived in the garage, reminded me to eat; and who installed the starter and distributor, and was kind enough to hand me any tool I asked for (and knows what each tool is by name).

Thanks to Bob Moreno, who not only did all the body and paintwork on the car but also built the engine and ported the head. If this wasn't enough, he built the engine a second time at no charge after the first one failed at 109.6 miles.

Thanks to John Parker of Vintage Performance Developments, who sold me the second (or third?) SC kit, the first to be installed in a 122 and has provided insight, support, updates and improvements from day one.

More than anyone else: Thanks to Dave and Sandra, the former owners of the 122, who had the misfortune of being inside it when it was totaled. Without their generosity, none of this would have happened.

For anyone who doesn't get (or isn't going to get) the magazine article: there's a somewhat outdated pic here:

http://www.volvoadventures.com/122SCspec.html

.. and a few current pics here (scattered among the other attendees):

http://members5.clubphoto.com/dave352914/2754363/guest.phtml

The article is way cooler though. Per, Phil: many thanks.

Everyone: I am in your debt.

Cameron
122 Kompressor

I just, just now got to read it.

Per, well put!

Phil, nice pics!

Cam, your car is awesome! (but I knew that...and you knew that I know that...and I know that you know that I..)

Too damn cool!
CONGRATS!
S.

Cool, glad the article was appreciated. We were debating whether or not to put the car in Classic Motorsports or Grassroots Motorsports and went w/ GRM when we put together the "Old School" cover story idea.

Per

Is this on a website, or print only..? Gotta link for it if it webified?

I went to their website and signed up for a free issue.

Not only that... apart from the Grassroots Motorsports article, Cam took first in class (again) at the VCOA Western National meet last weekend, and also won the Golden Rod award for best technical innovation.

I'd say the Tancar is having a pretty good month.

8^)

So what is the technical innovation? Shouldn't this have been reported
in VClassics? I just checked and it looks to be a bit out of date.
(Have you considered raising your rates?)
Used to be one of the best sites on the net till it bogged down!
(Still is if you haven't read it.)
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US

Raise my rates? What rates might those be?

Right now anyone can click on VClassics and read everything on the site
without any subscription or payment......
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US

Yes, of course, and I think it needs to stay that way. It was always intended to be a community effort, not a commercial enterprise. Also, in the 26 months I published a printed edition by "popular demand" and tried to charge a less than break-even rate of $30/year for subscriptions, the demand turned out to be entirely unpopular.

Apart from all the life stuff that's occupied me and our once-regular contributors (and it's been a busy coupla years, believe me), the main problem is that Volvos stopped being fun. Spending a weekend bolting on an iPd or Swem kit, or spending a month rebuilding a motor, is fun, and fun to write up. Doing a show-quality restoration, or spending two years building a super-motor, is NOT fun -- it's horrible. I think Cameron would be the first to agree with this, if Shayne doesn't beat him to it.

I bet I've deleted over 20,000 words I've written about the MPPE in the past two years. I finally concluded that I can't tell anyone how to build one of these, and there are few who would want to once they realize what it costs, both financially and emotionally. Instead, I opted to write a series of semi-humorous stories about it for Rolling instead of having more technical coverage of it in VClassics.

Same with the Amazon resurrection. In a nutshell, I didn't like reading myself whining about it.

BUT... VClassics will be back with some changes. First off, much of what I do for a living these days is work on old cars for customers, with a preference for Volvos, of course. That's grist for the mill. Second, I'm developing a line building trick Volvo motors for customers who don't want to / can't get through the process themselves. So, part of VClassics will take on a commercial bent advertising those services.

The rest will come back as it originally started -- no regular staff, just whatever useful stuff I can document from working on other peoples' cars, tips and stories from readers, and occasional coverage of Volvo-related events as I manage to get to them.

Not that you asked, but there ya have it.

Since you have traveled down this road, I have a question. If you knew then what you know now, would you have built that motor and done that restoration the way you did them? I can certanily understand the un-fun part of it. What I wonder is: does the reward of owning such things compensate for the financial and emotional costs of building them? Or if you had it to do again, would you prefer to be driving around in a well maintained, semi restored, stock motored classic Volvo?
--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

Bob,

I would definitely not have undertaken the restoration and the motor at the same time.

It's not easy to say in retrospect, but I think we wouldn't have restored the Amazon at all. I would have taken all the good stuff off of it, junked the rest, and kept an eye out for a better candidate to fix up a few years down the road. Almost all the things that identified the car to us, and that added up to its sentimental value, were lost during the resto anyway.

The 1800 could use some restoring, but I'd take it in easier stages. It needs a lot less work than the Amazon did, for sure. I should take some welding classes...

I would build the MPPE again, or at least something like it. I learned a whole lot by doing it once, and I'm a lot smarter about how to streamline the process and costs. I have some ideas about how to take the MPPE further, and I definitely need to build a new motor to replace the "mule" that's in the Amazon right now. I wouldn't shoot for the same power level, but the B20E with dual Webers and a header feels like a diesel tractor in comparison.

It's not in me to be content with a respectable stocker, but that's just me. I've gotta mess with things. The main trick is keeping it fun.

Well, Phil, I for one, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, still lament the demise of the printed version. There was something celebratory about its arrival in the mail, something satisfying about handling its corporal reality, delight in the art-work/illustrations, and something quite different from sitting uncomfortably peering at a screen when, reclining on the couch, I leisurely savored pearls of wisdom, intriguing technical information, bits of humor and accounts of other readers' love affairs or ,sometimes, love/hate relationships, with their Volvos -- all in a portable format I could tote along in my back pocket to the bathroom or dentist's office. My old copies are beginning to look quite disreputable. That there was a web-site to go to for more information was just icing on the cake, to coin a phrase ;-) I miss Mark Hershoren, Brooks Townes, Dave Hueppchen and that "VolvoGirl" character.
George's hint -- perhaps, a suggestion -- is, however, worth considering. A subscription fee may help to compensate somewhat for the time you'd have to invest in keeping the site going. Although, I must admit I'm a bit peeved when I can't get at the good information that lurks on the Britisch Volvo Owners site because the once or twice a year I would go looking there doesn't justify becomming a member of the Club. Perhaps voluntary contributions would help. After all, VClassics is more than just a source of information. Its entertainment and even literary qualities make it all the more worth paying for, be it on paper or on the web.
BTW, thanks for your "Rolling" contributions. They do perk up that publication.
Bob S.

By all means! I am eagerly looking forward to it!
And maybe I didn't exactly ask for it in so many words but I was digging
for exactly the info you furnished and I am grateful.

Best regards,
GFD III
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US