*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

[adam.nonis]

That reminds me of something I just ran across.



I found a pic of our old Volvo mechanic Oddvar. He was attached to a Carrera Panamericana Volvo 122 race team as a consultant. He had a little unmarked shop called Oddvar’s Volvo in very old Ballard. No one knew he had a last name.



He was great. He was very crusty and could be rude. He swore like a sailor. Had an American-Norwegian accent. White ponytail down his back. Big tall Viking of a guy. Once rode his bicycle around Norway. His partner had a Phd and was a University of Washington administrator, as well as doing his auto shop books. She died years ago and he retired.



Didn’t much like customers but of course you need them. Would scold people about the way they took care of their cars. Always complained about “all that luxury shit” like electric windows on new cars. Had a backlog of new and vintage Volvo customer cars in the small yard. He would fix things we didn’t ask for because he knew we were going on another trip to MT and he wouldn’t let us out on the road like that - “Just pay me when you can,” he’d say.



I'd try to be friendly and ask some mechanical questions, hoping he would feel I knew a little, and he would go off, F this, F that, SHIT that GAWDAM car iz goe-na run off da road if you keep drivin’ it like that!



He had a perfect 50's Volvo P544 coupe in black, all the chrome stripped off and very low. Gave me a ride in his 242 coupe with a Ford 302 manual in it and diesel springs up front. Had a sweet Studebaker V8 coupe. Liked to go fast. I mentioned thinking about an old vintage Volvo. He said, they’re fine, if you like tractors! Nothing he owned was stock.



Didn’t warm up to people, but I showed up in the Alfa and he liked that car. We talked some about cars. We talked about bikes and Campagnolo. I bike-commuted to work. One time he showed up at our house (in Ballard of course) on his sweet steel-framed bike (huge frame, all Campy) to show it to me. A fellow customer neighbor said, “He never does that.”



When my wife wrecked our 240 wagon, he said he could straighten the frame and rebuild the front with a complete used nose he found. He lent us a crappy old brown 240 sedan to use for free for a couple of months while they fixed it. The “brown turd," we called it. He came to tow it a couple of times when it quit in traffic. He got our 240 ready to move to MT 20 years ago.



I wonder what he’d think of all the engine fixit projects I do now, and that I still have the Alfa and I'm rebuilding it, motor swaps, E30 rebuild....



He's one of the greats -



[ATTACH]125053[/ATTACH]

There’s nothing like an old timer. I cut my teeth running around Ballard as a pup. My dad’s shop was on the corner of 65th and 24th. Communities just aren’t the same these days. I could jump into the Viking Tavern at 11-12years old and grab a free pop on a hot summer day or kick bolts around Mike’s Texaco station and sit in the demolition derby cars. My dad was good friends with the owner of NIX wrecking yard and I could just wander around the yard and mess with stuff. The owner told me once, “ya know..... people like being yelled at. It makes them feel important”

I do not agree. lol

[LateFan]

That reminds me of something I just ran across.

I found a pic of our old Volvo mechanic Oddvar. He was attached to a Carrera Panamericana Volvo 122 race team as a consultant. He had a little unmarked shop called Oddvar’s Volvo in very old Ballard. No one knew he had a last name.

He was great. He was very crusty and could be rude. He swore like a sailor. Had an American-Norwegian accent. White ponytail down his back. Big tall Viking of a guy. Once rode his bicycle around Norway. His partner had a Phd and was a University of Washington administrator, as well as doing his auto shop books. She died years ago and he retired.

Didn’t much like customers but of course you need them. Would scold people about the way they took care of their cars. Always complained about “all that luxury shit” like electric windows on new cars. Had a backlog of new and vintage Volvo customer cars in the small yard. He would fix things we didn’t ask for because he knew we were going on another trip to MT and he wouldn’t let us out on the road like that - “Just pay me when you can,” he’d say.

I'd try to be friendly and ask some mechanical questions, hoping he would feel I knew a little, and he would go off, F this, F that, SHIT that GAWDAM car iz goe-na run off da road if you keep drivin’ it like that!

He had a perfect 50's Volvo P544 coupe in black, all the chrome stripped off and very low. Gave me a ride in his 242 coupe with a Ford 302 manual in it and diesel springs up front. Had a sweet Studebaker V8 coupe. Liked to go fast. I mentioned thinking about an old vintage Volvo. He said, they’re fine, if you like tractors! Nothing he owned was stock.

Didn’t warm up to people, but I showed up in the Alfa and he liked that car. We talked some about cars. We talked about bikes and Campagnolo. I bike-commuted to work. One time he showed up at our house (in Ballard of course) on his sweet steel-framed bike (huge frame, all Campy) to show it to me. A fellow customer neighbor said, “He never does that.”

When my wife wrecked our 240 wagon, he said he could straighten the frame and rebuild the front with a complete used nose he found. He lent us a crappy old brown 240 sedan to use for free for a couple of months while they fixed it. The “brown turd," we called it. He came to tow it a couple of times when it quit in traffic. He got our 240 ready to move to MT 20 years ago.

I wonder what he’d think of all the engine fixit projects I do now, and that I still have the Alfa and I'm rebuilding it, motor swaps, E30 rebuild....

He's one of the greats -

[adam.nonis]

Ordered a new shirt for show season this upcoming year. Seems to fit my build well.

[adam.nonis]

I always love when this thread gets updated. And it looks like it is nearly done. So, will this be running by the end of the month? If not what is the plan/eta?

It’s getting really close. Last few things are throttle actuation, IACV mount/tubes, fuel rail mounts, brake booster vacuum feed, timing belt cover and then vehicle stuff (intercooler/radiator mount, radiator hose and wiring harness). I’ll just keep chipping away at it. My first event of the year is always the iPd Garage Sale in Portland on the third Saturday of May. That’s all I’d like to be ready for. If I’m being 100% honest, I’m getting tired of working in the rain under tents, so I plan on keeping my eye on the weather and trying to get the bulk of it finished when it’s at least somewhat clear out. I’m going to get it completely mocked up (hopefully running) in the E30 front clip in my driveway then try to handle the swap in a weekend (maybe a long weekend).

[rzerob]

I always love when this thread gets updated. And it looks like it is nearly done. So, will this be running by the end of the month? If not what is the plan/eta?