Volvo P1800ES...kinda

Yup - tan/beige/saddle or (50 shades of grey) with the blue should be just loverly.

and y'all wear white socks with black shoes BWahahahaaaaaa....better ask yur better half(nohome) what she might like....beige????

Spent yesterday making the bottom rack into the top rack. SWMBO declared that manual steering would be her choice, so I de-powered a rack as per the Flying Miata tutorial. I am aware of the spindle free play and the welding option to get rid of it, but after reading a bunch of debate about the safety of the weld and if done it has to be done by NASA level welders, decided to try it au-natural.

This could have been a two hour job if the rack I started with did not look exactly like the one at the bottom of the picture.

109 days left

NOHOME wrote: SWMBO declared that manual steering would be her choice, so I de-powered a rack as per the Flying Miata tutorial.

Mental note: don't get into a bar-room brawl with NOHOME's wife...

In reply to Ian F:she knows how to hurt people.she's a professional.

They all do. Men are amateurs.

huh? what? where did that left hook come from?!?!???

3/4" between the fuel lines and the exhaust pipe.

brake line on the bottom does not bother me too much, but not sure how effectively a piece of aluminum shield is going to protect the fuel line. Any thoughts on what a reasonable distance would be?

The pipe is currently hung 1.5" below the lowest section of the frame. Not sure if I want to go lower than that.

Oval the tube?

oval tube si

Radiant is the issue - as long as there's air gap on the alum heat shield it'll work fine. Remember - the aluminum may get warm, but it has virtually no mass so radiation is minimal. The fuel line lines will be recirculating cool (relatively) fuel up and back while the motor is running. They'll stay cooler than the brake line will....

In my humble opinion, with 100 +/- days left, you should consider a functional but temporary seat/ upholstery choice. I love the dedication to the idea of building what you want, doing it right, and so on. Get the mechanical and body right, and then refocus on an appropriate high end interior. Maybe teach yourself to do it (sorry don't know if you already have the skills). Rolled buffalo hide, alcantara, wool, polished aluminum, or whatever.

coexist wrote: In my humble opinion, with 100 +/- days left, you should consider a functional but temporary seat/ upholstery choice. I love the dedication to the idea of building what you want, doing it right, and so on. Get the mechanical and body right, and then refocus on an appropriate high end interior. Maybe teach yourself to do it (sorry don't know if you already have the skills). Rolled buffalo hide, alcantara, wool, polished aluminum, or whatever.

The beauty of this project is that all that work is done. The stock Miata seat bolts into the stock Miata frame mounts and is the proper distance from the stock Miata steering wheels and pedals.

I don't need the interior to be done to win my bet, it just has to drive out under its own power and back up into the shop where I will proceed to dismantle the thing once more so that I can do the bodywork and interior on the rotisserie. Not a lot of interior experience, but I did manage to get the Bugeye interior sorted.

I just found your build log here and have been making my way through it for the last week or so. Reading everything after the fact makes everything seem so quick and easy, but now I'm with everyone else and I'll be waiting for updates. This is going to be a seriously cool little car, and you've got me eyeing up all sorts of old station wagons now. As far as I'm concerned, it's right up there with Project Binky. Also not helping is that I've been getting the itch for another project for a while now.

Kristian

turbo_bird wrote: I just found your build log here and have been making my way through it for the last week or so. Reading everything after the fact makes everything seem so quick and easy, but now I'm with everyone else and I'll be waiting for updates. This is going to be a seriously cool little car, and you've got me eyeing up all sorts of old station wagons now. As far as I'm concerned, it's right up there with Project Binky. Also not helping is that I've been getting the itch for another project for a while now. Kristian

Thank you for the compliment. Not sure Binky level project, but at least I try to update more often than they do!

Word from the trenches for anyone who might be tempted to follow...pick a donor chassis with a matching wheelbase and skip the engine swap. Had I done that by say, putting the Miata under my MGB as originally planed and used the Miata drive-train, I would have been driving the car a year ago.

A Ford Falcon wagon with a Lexus chassis and a 1UZ V8 would be something to consider.

In reply to NOHOME:

I'd like to get my hands on an Aussie Ford 4.0 dohc straight 6 to put in a Falcon. Keep it all in the family and it's basically what the original sixes in the Falcons turned into. Kristian

NOHOME wrote:

Thank you for the compliment. Not sure Binky level project, but at least I try to update more often than they do! Word from the trenches for anyone who might be tempted to follow...pick a donor chassis with a matching wheelbase and skip the engine swap. Had I done that by say, putting the Miata under my MGB as originally planed and used the Miata drive-train, I would have been driving the car a year ago. A Ford Falcon wagon with a Lexus chassis and a 1UZ V8 would be something to consider.

Or 240 body over C5 Corvette (.2" difference) - 'course, firewall, track and trans/diff space to create...

Every time I start to get comfortable with some aspect of car building, it seems that the job gets done and/or I have to switch to something else that I have no experience with.

Last few days have been exhaust. I have been mentally scheming and measuring and ploting how it is all going to work out. Went so far as to buy a bunch of part$ that arrived on Friday. Myself and the Minion poked and prodded on Friday,and took a more serious charge at it today. Turns out the Minion has an eye for cutting curved tubes.

Made it this far.

Made my first cross-over pipe.

I removed it before I took the pictures, but there was a ton more scaffolding holding the components in place.

I will bet you anything that before this is all done, I am going to be short one U-bend or one 45degree bend that will be needed to finish the job. Still a lot of work before it is done, but I am confident that the spatial/technical risk have been retired.

In reply to NOHOME: Are the Cats necessary cuz of a)Canadian regs. b)Mazda tub/title ???? Definitely like how this is playing out. Do you have a separate thread on your rotisserie?

759NRNG wrote: In reply to NOHOME: Are the Cats necessary cuz of a)Canadian regs. b)Mazda tub/title ???? Definitely like how this is playing out. Do you have a separate thread on your rotisserie?

The cats are not mandatory since this is going to be registered as a 1973 Volvo. However, I have noticed that I don't drive my 1967 MGB as much as I used to because it leaves me smelling of exhaust whenever I go somewhere. My plan is to run a Fitech throttle body injection system and cats in order to avoid this with the Volvo. Remember, this is the wife units ride and women-units don't like stinky stuff.

The rotisserie was just some Jazz that I did a year or so ago. The only unique bit about it is the use of threaded rod to lift the car up rather than the traditional hydraulic cylinders. If you don't need the rotisserie to have a lift, then a rotisserie from 2 engine stands is fine.

I agree with you on the cats. They are nice to have. Even the Rice Rod will have a cat.

With the high flow options available there's no good reason not to have cats on a street car anyway. And no, being cheap isn't a good reason. LOL

Have you decided on what fuel tank you're going to use?

I finally settled on a 2 door Blazer tank. 19 gallons, and only 10.5" tall. They're intended for driver side fill, but are more or less symmetrical and can be flipped backward to make the filler point to the right side. 96+ use a plastic sender with those stupid quick release plastic lines but 95 and earlier use a metal sending unit with metric IF connections.

Rock Auto has the tank, bare sender, and straps individually for $180 US +s/h. DIY brick and mortar prices are only a little more expensive so I imagine you can probably find them from a GWN supplier for comparable prices.

That and a Walbro will be feeding Uncle Ben and being a new tank I will be fearlessly modifying it to reorient the sender to simplify line routing as long as baffles don't interfere with sender location. (And even then )

Actually, as I type this I'm pretty sure the sender is actually the notched part on this vintage GM which could simplify it even more....

Surely I must be wrong about that. LOL

Crackers wrote: Have you decided on what fuel tank you're going to use? I finally settled on a 2 door Blazer tank. 19 gallons, and only 10.5" tall. They're intended for driver side fill, but are more or less symmetrical and can be flipped backward to make the filler point to the right side. 96+ use a plastic sender with those stupid quick release plastic lines but 95 and earlier use a metal sending unit with metric IF connections. Rock Auto has the tank, bare sender, and straps individually for $180 US +s/h. DIY brick and mortar prices are only a little more expensive so I imagine you can probably find them from a GWN supplier for comparable prices. That and a Walbro will be feeding Uncle Ben and being a new tank I will be fearlessly modifying it to reorient the sender to simplify line routing as long as baffles don't interfere with sender location. (And even then ) Actually, as I type this I'm pretty sure the sender is actually the notched part on this vintage GM which could simplify it even more.... Surely I must be wrong about that. LOL

Funny you should mention the tank. It will be the final part of the equation. Shooting for 16 gallon and while I have a few on the list to consider, I was waiting until the mufflers had claimed their final resting spot before I decide.

Seeing your exhaust routing and the conspicuous gap in the floor had me wondering.

I'm still hoping you have a cleaner/better idea, but I doubt it will be <$200 lol.

Ok I'm going to be the E36M3bird here, nohome, maschinebau, crackers, if using Fitech TB and say perhaps O2's to dial in the 'tune' why bother with the cats?