Well, after 40 winters based here in Nova Scotia, I finally got a "WinterBeater" and have been able to take "OleReliable" off the road, so I had decided to look into stripping her to the bare bones and having her media blasted and primed .... that was until I got a price JUST to blast and prime the body shell ... Cdn$2,500. YEOUCH!!! The guy claims that the primer alone will cost HIM $1,000.. And that will not patch all the holes and straighten all the bodywork, let alone strip and reassemble the carand paint it ...... Talking to a couple of the local Volvo GURUs, they really feel that the time has come to let the old girl go .... even though basically everything except the main body has been rebuilt or replaced. I have already been offered another '65 rolling chassis for less than the cost of the blasting and primering and it is almost totally rust free having spent all it's life in California.

My son suggests that I strip Ole Reliable to the bones using all the parts and pieces on the new body and lovingly put the remaining chassis in the barn so that when I or he finally gets a few "Round Tuits" it might once more return to the highways and byways of North America sometime in the distant future. I somehow feel that by the time I get those "Round Tuits" both I and "Ole Reliable" will be nothing more than a pile of rust flakes on the floor of the barn.

It is hard for me to make this decision as the old gal has now 1,563,000 miles on her and stands #3 on the world high mileage list kept by the UK VOLVO Club, and is still running strong, but the "Metal Moth" I am afraid has finally succeeded where mileage has failed and it might just be time to put her out of her misery and use as many of her good and rebuilt parts and her IPD suspension and start anew. I would appreciate any thoughts you might have ....

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN --- WINDSOR, Nova Scotia the birthplace of HOCKEY www.ecvintagevolvo.com