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I had a fun day yesterday... decided to move the '65 1800... Pulled the carbs off to clean them (hasn't had air filters in about 50k miles, and they were almost full of dust/dirt). Did them, re-installed the coil I'd stolen. Strapped a small gas can under the hood... put an alternator in... tied the muffler back up..
Damned if she didn't start right up and pretty much run just like it did when I parked her about 7 years ago... all the same delightful quirks that she had back then. Was like riding a bicycle.. I had thought of selling that car, but figured the car and I were so worn into each other, anyone else wouldn't be able to keep it running for more than a couple months....
Now to drain the water out of the gas tank.. maybe pull it and have it re-lined depending on how bad it is (probably totally rusty with that fuel filler issue)... put in an alternator that works (I just stuck one in there so's to get the water pump to spin)... she'd be a driver again. Rusty as hell, but a pretty tight little car overall. This car always has amazed me in that regard. The body has over 750k miles, and nearly 300k of abusive miles (10 years full time pizza delivery, no air filters or oil changes in the past 50k miles) since the engine was last out, but it feels like a newish engine still.
Ah Volvos. Fun day, and my wife got to be involved at every step. (starting with one of the carbs... I did one and let her do the other :-) ) The car had been parked there about 3 years before we met... She's been wanting to fix and drive my old 544, so this little bit of experience was a good start.
Pictured is the car about 10 years ago... she's lost some paint and bondo since.. but looks about the same now.
Cheers!
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-Matt I ♥ my ♂
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