Though I've always changed my own oil and did most of my own basic maintenance on my cars, I'd never really considered myself a "car guy" so never really considered diving in to a classic car myself. After expanding my horizons into motorcycles a few years back, and went through a couple of progressively older models before landing my beloved 1994 BMW R100R Mystic - a bike that more or less demands an owner/mechanic in one package due to it's ease of repair. After a few months of sorting out the major flaws on that bike without getting myself (or anybody else) killed, I deemed myself almost competent enough to dive into a four wheeled version.
So began the search for a classy little two door to subject to my unrelenting wrench! Everybody I spoke to had their opinions, mostly "don't do it!!!" - save for two little devils on my shoulder. Triumphs, MGs, Fiats, old Z cars... Every one had their occasional merits and major flaws, but I always came back to the image of little old Volvo wagon I remembered seeing in the parking lot at high school. Two little round headlights, a big smiley grille, and an amazing swooping bodyline. After halfheartedly chasing some leads on Triumph Spitfires and MGBs, I bit the bullet on a 1967 Volvo 1800s the second time it came up on Craigslist:
The Volvorine as I first saw it
My friends saw an old scrap heap get rolled off a flatbed and pushed to it's initial resting place in the driveway. Mismatched front and rear wheels, a motor that wouldn't run because of "some issue with the fuel line," and brake and clutch pedals that did nothing except fall to the floor. My girlfriend saw an interior she was terrified to look at, let alone touch. I saw a solid body with very little rust, a full set of good chrome and glass, and a complete engine bay.
The Volvorine as everybody else first saw it
So it begins...
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