1967 Volvo 122S/Amazon - Vintage Rally Project

[DeathBy240]

Picked up a Volvo 122S this weekend, which I'm planning on building into a long-distance rally and road trip car. These cars dominated many grueling rallies in the '60s because they are tough as nails and super reliable. I was hoping to find a Canadian version that was built in Halifax, but every one I found was too rusty. So I came upon this one, which spent its entire life in California until 2010 when it was imported to Canada.

It was running last year, but I've got some maintenance to do before I get it started up. Shouldn't take too much - new battery cables, an oil pan gasket, fresh fuel and a new fuel filter to start.

Powered by a 1.8L with SU carbs a 4 spd. Should get 27-30 MPG!

Photos!

Bringing it home
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Volvo-1.jpg
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Volvo-3.jpg
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Vovlo-5.jpg
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Volvo-4.jpg
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Volvo-2.jpg
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Volvo-6.jpg

Had to move my Lotus Europa body to make room for the Volvo.
http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Vovlo-9.jpg

[xnvy]

Oh shizzle. This gonna be good. Subscribed.

[Shlade]

Wow!! Being a crazy volvo fanatic I can't wait to see this!! What a pick up

[Hallowed_point]

Very very cool!

[never]

Originally posted by Hallowed_point
Very very cool!

Yeah, awesome little car!

[ekguy]

Tres awesome!!!

[roll_over]

Saw this on speed hunters

[DeathBy240]

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Over the last few days, I set out to restore a set of $20 seats that I had bought for my 122S. I cleaned them up, stitched up where they had split, and painted them with Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric coating. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the finished product, especially since I only spent an additional $24 repairing them. I wrote up a how-to with all my photos on MyAutoProject.

You can read the step-by-step process here and see all the photos here:
http://www.myautoproject.com/2014/11/bringing-new-life-old-vinyl-volvo-amazon-seats/

And here's one photo of the front seat bases:
http://www.myautoproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Volvo-amazon-front-seats.jpg

[flipstah]

Son of a bitch.

Subscribed! :bigpimp:

[never]

Wow, the seats look pretty good. How will that stuff wear?

[DeathBy240]

I've read that it actually holds up pretty well. Time will tell though. I'll definitely do a follow up post down the road as I plan on racking up the miles on this car.

[DeathBy240]

Thanks for all the comments guys. It's less that 2 months before I depart on my crazy 5000-mile cross Canada rally. You can read more about my rally at www.Canada5000.ca, but basically I'm taking 50-year-old rally roads all the way from Vancouver to Halifax in the Volvo and raising money for Alzheimer's along the way. The website has all the details :D

So it's crunch time! So far I've stripped the front suspension and brakes and started rebuilding. On Saturday, we pulled the engine out, cut out and replaced the rusty bits of the engine bay and painted it all up. I still have to finish putting the front suspension back together, disassemble the rear brakes and suspension then reassemble, pick up and install the newly rebuilt engine, get the car painted, and get the interior sorted out. In two months! So lots to do!

Here's a shot from Saturday:

http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/volvo-amazon-engine-removal.jpg

[ekguy]

Originally posted by never
Wow, the seats look pretty good. How will that stuff wear?

I was thinking the same thing!

Only thing would worry me would be the stuff rubbing off on clothes. But if it holds up fine thats awesome!!!

I love projects like this.

Can't wait to see the end result!!!!

:bigpimp: :bigpimp:

[ekguy]

As far as donations I will see what I can come up with. I just lost my dad to dementia in october and I don't feel anyone and I mean ANYONE should see any of their loved ones pass that way...

Good luck with your trip Deathby240!!! Awesome project and an even better cause!!!

Hope it goes swimmingly :thumbsup:

[DeathBy240]

Haven't updated this thread in a while!

The Cross-Canada rally was a huge success! Here is the recap:

http://traveldriverace.com/2015/canada-5000-volvo-amazon-huge-success/

http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Kananaskis-Mountain-Road-Volvo-Amazon-1024x682.jpg

And last weekend, I took it on the Northern Loon Rally, which was hosted by the Edmonton Rally Club. It was a blast. You can read about it here:
http://traveldriverace.com/2016/mud-rain-hail-and-a-torrent-of-fun-northern-loon-rally-recap/

http://traveldriverace.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/volvo-amazon-rally-car-tsd.jpg

[flipstah]

SHE'S ALIVE

[DeathBy240]

Originally posted by flipstah
SHE'S ALIVE

WAS alive. Under the knife again now to fix a fuel leak, a U-joint, a bent exhaust and a few minor little issues. Always going to have something to fix though.