Frequently Asked Questions
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Kirk's Volvo Page
Frequently Asked Questions |
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I receive around 30 Volvo related email messages per day. Many people ask the same or similar questions, so I've decided to put together this FAQ. If you have a Volvo question, look here before you email me.
Volvo 1800 related questions
Volvo 1800 Pricing Guide and Purchasing Tips
Want ads - buying or selling
Parts Sources for classic Volvos
Technical Questions, Mailing Lists, Newsgroups
Volvo 1800 chassis list questions
What is my Chassis number? Chassis number v. Body
number
What do mean my car is not a 1967!!!??? (model
year questions)
Quickbase (and how to add your car to the list)
General Website questions
Sending Photos
What happened to your Links page?
Volvo 1800 Pricing Guide and Purchasing Tips
Q: "I want to purchase an 1800. How much do they cost? What should I look for?"
Pricing Guide
| For showroom quality:
Extremely good: Good: Average: restorable: parts cars: |
$12 - 20,000
$ 7 - 12,000 $ 4 - 7,000 up to $4,000 $ 2 - 4,000 under $1,000 |
Tips
Remember that it's more expensive to restore a bad car than to just
buy a finished car.
The wagon models (1800ES) are rarer and a little more expensive.
So are the Jensen models (chassis nos. 1-6000).
The big evil thing to look out for on these cars is RUST. The
body and frame are unitized, these cars won't last long if too much is
rotted away and repaired with fiberglass and/or Bondo. The rockers,
frames pieces, and jacking struts are especially susceptible. The
areas behind the headlamps too. And on the earlier models, the gas
tank filler lid can trap water and rust away.
These body parts ARE available and the rust can be repaired if you don't mind $$$$ - unless you do your own welding.
Engine wise, everything is repairable. These are not complicated vehicles.
Instruments - these gauges are often broken - but can be fixed for between $80 to $150 per gauge.
Reproduction interior pieces are available.
These cars are cheaper and easier to restore than some.
Buy Bill Webb's 1800 book (loads of useful buying tips):
Bill Webb
12400 Old Town Rd.
Bakersfield, CA 93312
(661)588-1832
Join VSA (Volvo Sports America) - the 1800 club
$30/yr newsletter - many 1800's for sale in the back of the newsletter.
www.vsa.org
Look before you leap!
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Places that advertise Volvos for sale:
Volvo Classics Interactive Magazine
http://www.vclassics.com/
Volvo Cars of North America has set up a spot on their website for listing
pre 1975 Volvos for sale.
http://volvocars.com/
Volvo Club of America website
http://www.vcoa.org
Glen Goodspeed's 1800 Newsletter
http://home.earthlink.net/~goodspeeds/index.htm
Don Thibault's Page
http://www.p1800.com
dthibault@ccsnet.com
Don Doherty's Volvos For Sale page
http://griffin.vcu.edu/~rdoherty/wwwboard/wanted.html
Swedishbricks Brickyard
http://www.swedishbricks.net/brickyard/
Also, if you are selling your own personal Volvo 1800, you can list it on my Volvo 1800 List with a "for sale" tag. You will have to supply your Chassis number. Also be aware that the list will show your car as being for sale until you tell it otherwise. If you are getting mysterious email inquiries about a 1800 you sold 3 years ago - guess what. See my List page for more details.
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Parts Sources for Classic Volvos
Here is a list of parts sources for Classic Volvos:
| Foreign Autotech
3235 Sunset Lane Hatboro, PA 19040 (215)441-4421 (215)441-4490-fax Duane Matejka http://www.foreignautotech.com/ Specializes in parts for 1800's. |
Bob Stein
Heinle Road PO Box 252 White Sulphur Springs, NY 12781 (914)292-4437 Specializes in parts for 1800's. |
| ipd
Portland, OR www.ipdusa.com 1-800-444-6473 supplies for all Volvos, call and request a catalog |
Competition Motors
1307 Rollins Road Burlingame, CA 94010 (415)342-3111 |
| RPR Company
559 San Pablo Ave. Albany, CA 94706 (510)524-7200 |
Susquehanna Spares
Joe Lazenby 3725 Elder Road Harrisburg, PA 17111 (717)921-2644 |
| Swedish Classics
PO Box 557 Oxford, MD 21654 www.swedishclassics.com 1-800-258-4422 |
Group 6 Performance
1634 S. Research Loop Ste 150 Tucson, AZ 85710 (520)290-2442 |
| Don Thibault
http://www.p1800.com dthibault@ccsnet.com 508-888-9715 |
Mike Martino's
Village Volvo 800-338-4673 |
| Voluparts
751 Trabert Ave. NW Atlanta, GA 30318 http://www.voluparts.com Bill Eidson Terry Crane 404-352-3402 |
Also:
Join VSA (Volvo Sports America) - the 1800 club $30/yr newsletter - many 1800 parts suppliers in the newsletter. www.vsa.org |
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If you have a specific question about something I've done to my car (as mentioned in the mycar.htm page), feel free to send me an email.
If you have a general technical question about your car, why ask me, when you could ask 100's of experts?
There are several mailing lists, web boards, and usenet groups for Volvos.
Usenet News Group: alt.autos.volvos
Mailing Lists:
Swedishbricks - mostly
centered around 240s - but open to all Volvos
The 1800
Mailing List (not to be confused with my 1800 Chassis Number List)
- dedicated to the 1800 owner - A MUST!
Web Boards:
The Brickboard - all Volvos welcomed
What is my Chassis number? Chassis number v. Body number
I can only add your car to the list if you include the CHASSIS number. The number is stamped above the battery (although not always visible) and the number is the last 5 digits of your VIN number. This is visible on a tag on the A pillar (driver's side) inside the cabin. Or on your title/insurance card...
The tag above the brake booster/master cylinder is the BODY number and this number doesn't always match the CHASSIS number (especially on pre-1970 cars...)
My theory about there being a difference between the BODY number and the Chassis number is as follows:
Up through 1969, the bodies were produced by Pressed Steel, LTD of Scotland. As they produced bodies, they numbered them sequentially and attached the BRAKE BOOSTER tag. After the Jensen Brothers (first 6,000 cars) or Volvo in Gothenberg (rest of bodies through 1969) received the bodies, often there was a lot of HAND FINISHING left to do. This hand finishing problem was well documented and the major part of the reason that Volvo never reached their goal of 10,000 1800s per year. The Chassis on the assembly line were numbered sequentially, and they took the next available (i.e. finished) BODY available.
Another possible theory is that Pressed Steel was not shipping them in order.
Starting with the 1970 models, Volvo produced their own bodies. For a time the body numbers match the chassis numbers, but occasionally the got out of sync too. But the discrepancy is worst before 1970.
Since the chassis stayed in sequence on the assembly line, the chassis number tells you the order that the cars rolled out the door.
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What do mean my car is not a 1967!!!??? (model year questions)
Volvo 1800 Production Numbers
Series Year
# Produced Cumulative Total
P1800 1961-63
6,000 6,000
1800S 1963
2,000 8,000
1800S 1964
4,500 12,500
1800S 1965
4,000 16,500
1800S 1966
4,500 21,000
1800S 1967
4,500 25,500
1800S 1968
2,800 28,300
1800S 1969
1,693 29,993
1800E 1970
2,799 32,792
1800E 1971
4,750 37,542
1800E 1972
1,872 39,414
1800ES 1972
3,070 3,070
1800ES 1973
5,008 8,078
total number of cars produced = 47,492
Many 1800 owners who submit their chassis number to the list discover that their model year is different than they originally thought.
Volvo's production year was from August 1 to July 31. For example: The last 1966 1800S was chassis number 21,000 and it rolled off the line in late July 1966. If your car was produced in the spring or early summer '66, it probably didn't arrive at a US dealer until the fall of '66. By this time other car dealers (mainly US brands) were debuting the new '67s . So your friendly Volvo dealer was stuck with a 1966 1800S with less than 5 miles on the odometer that had JUST COME OFF THE BOAT. If the dealer would have registered it as a 1966, it would have implied to the customer that the car had been sitting on the lot all year. The truth was that few 1800's ever sat long at dealerships. There was far more demand for the car than Volvo could ever produce. Therefore it was a common act for the dealers to fib about the model year when registering the car.
It is only important now to you to know the truth because there are a handful of differences between the 1966 and 1967. (Different side trim, door handles, different grill, different rear suspension). I would sure hate for you to end up with the wrong parts for your car. This applies to all model years, I used 66/67 as an example.
You would not believe the amount of argumentative mail I receive about this subject! It's not my fault the original owner of your car was lied to, or that the lie was perpetuated for 30 years. I have even had people send me their car info for the list, then find out their car is a different year, and then refuse to let me add the car to the list.
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Quickbase (and adding your car to the list)
I have moved the Chassis list database to Quickbase. Those of you who have waited for more than a year to be added to the database will be relieved!
Adding your car to the database or modifying the listing will now be a breeze. Follow the instructions on the Quickbase site.
NOTICE: I have left the database unprotected so that you can add your car without needing to get a password from me. This means that anyone on the net can access and modify or add data. Everyone needs to use discretion and consideration when modifying the database. I will be monitoring the database and if there is abuse, I will lock down the database and you will have to wait for me to give you permission to add or modify entries.
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General Website questions
In a word: DON'T!
I used to like receiving photos via email. But now I don't. Was it the fellow who recently sent me 49 copies of a 1MEG .jpg file of his beloved 1800E that kept crashing my mail reader? Maybe so…
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What Happened to your Links page?
I got rid of it. One less thing to maintain. Use a search engine or the Volvo Lover's Webring.
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Still need to send me a question? kv1800@cabinnaise.com
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