Got the cans of paint today so I stole a picture of someone elses truck because I am lazy, and started doodling… 
Swedish M90 camo in the planning, and the colours are a fair bit off, I know puke green aren’t a very good camo colour… 
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It’s still alive, the latest addition is the worlds ugliest canopy…but will be practical now when winter arrives, I guess.
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Time to dig an old project out I think…
This is a 1965 Volvo PV544 that I have been building on for almost 20 years now. The engine is a B21A (2.1 litre 8V OHC) from a 1978 Volvo 240, but it will probably be replaced with a B234 (2.3 litre 16V DOHC) from a 1989 Volvo 740 that will get an Eaton supercharger. Front suspension is from a Volvo 140 with steering rack from a 1984 Opel Kadett (RHD rear steer now flipped over to LHD front steer) and a Volvo 740 lower steering column. Rear axle from a Volvo 240 with an aftermarket locker mounted in the stock 544 suspension. Disc brakes all around, Volvo 140 master cylinder and booster, Mercedes W115 pedal assembly. Poly bushings, rally springs, Koni shocks. Home built 2.5 inch stainless exhaust. Interior will be a quite stripped out affair (kind of 60s racing inspired) with a roll cage (no back seat), front seats from a Mk1 Escort and a Grant wood steering wheel. I will be running stock steelies widened to 5x15" up front (Stock centre in a Saab 99 rim) and 7x15" in the rear (same, but rims from some ugly aftermarket faux wire wheels).
There is probably more to say about it but well, just ask if you’re curious about anything.
Started putting in some sound insulation mats (will not be much of them but still, they are quite lightweight and much more effective than the tar paper used in the 60s…), not much but at least a start on a vehicle I haven’t been touching for years.
Old picture that shows a little bit more of the car.
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Yes, it is being used (something that you almost has to prove when owning a 4x4 since you always get blamed for being a poser or trying to compensate for something), it is not just about looking cool, but today a steady birch was in the way so I went no further than this.
Me: “What is this, I could even drive here with the tractor just some years ago?”
Also me: “…yeah right, 15 years ago now when I’m thinking about it”
Guess that it was just a twig back then…
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That 720 is so straight and clean (at least in this pic, hahaha) that, if you lived in Australia, no-one would believe you anyway! I believe there are zero examples of the 720 with a perfect grille, headlights, bonnet and front bar in Australia at the moment. Plus the 720’s front end styling would be ruined by a front bullbar installation, further spoiling the 720’s aesthetic, hahaha!
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Hehe, the picture is a bit dishonest really. But the headlight are almost new, the stock ones were in such bad shape that I think turning them on could have turned daylight into darkness… 
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One example of how one problem always gives another…
On the PV544, I run a Volvo 140 series front suspension, however, I’m not really a fan of neither the slow and “dead” recirculating ball steering that the 140 series has. Finding a rack and pinion that fits with the right geometry is a hard task, about the only type that works is the GM “Centre steer” rack from front wheel drive models, like Opel Astra, Ascona, Kadett, Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac J2000, Holden Camira, new generation Saab 900, well, you get it. (This one is actually from a 1984 Kadett that once was used by the Swedish postal services since the 140 has front steering and I needed to flip a RHD rack to make it steer in the right direction).
The problem then was that the steering rack would collide with the 140 series sway bar. That’s why I changed it to a Volvo 240 series sway bar, that is wider. Unfortunately, it leads to an enormous turning radius instead. As you can see on the picture above, the wheel will hit the sway bar when steering, so back to the drawing table. Oh, well, I might have a solution now after a few years of thinking.
My stepbrother is working on his 1966 Ford Fairlane, and bye bye, shock towers…
…because in goes a Jaguar XJ12 front suspension and air ride. So, what does that mean?
Well. The Fairlane sway bar is narrower , but it is also protruding longer forward. That means that it will probably clear the steering rack, and increase the steering angle, it will be tight but I think that it can be used in this application. So, in goes…this one or something similar. The stock Fairlane sway bar is thinner than the 240 GL sway bar that I have used. On the other hand there seems to be 1 1/8" sway bars available for the Fairlane so if I need a beefier one, I can get one. (If my memories serves me right, 240 L, DL, GL is 21 mm, GLT is 23 mm and Turbo 25 mm, but I may be wrong, it would mean that the beefiest aftermarket sway bar for the Fairlane is thicker than a 240 Turbo bar though)
And while I was at my father’s place, I was looking at one of my “intelligent” impulse purchases from 16 years ago.
Nothing has happened to it, but since cars older than 50 years only needs to do one single safety inspection now, and then is approved for their lifetime (or until the cops finds some faults…), I was almost thinking about fixing only the worst rust, find a stock engine and gearbox (boring and meh, but hey, gets it rolling at least), getting brakes and electrics to work and then try to see if it passes inspection (there is no rules against how ugly a car can be, after all). Then I can at least drive it legally, and fix things in the tempo that fits me.
Oh well, I think that I will pull it home tomorrow and then we’ll see what happens in the future, haha
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The joys of custom fabrication, sigh, but at least you aren’t relying on the PV544 for your daily transport!
Is that white pile of rust the 1968 Opel Rekord mentioned in the thread heading? If it isn’t, what car is that coupe? The rear end looks kinda like a Mustang, the window looks vaguely Chrysler and the front looks, well, invisible, hahaha!
I’m starting to think you’re the muse for the developers of that PC game, “My Summer Car”, except they replaced your cars with one more to their taste. 
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Hehe, TBH I think that custom fabrication is the exciting part. But if I had started on it today I probably would have restored the stock front suspension. It was different back then, you could still find parts for an 140 series Volvo cheap, and the myth was that the front suspension was almost bolt on which is not REALLY the case. So, it was quite common to do to get a more modern suspension with balljoints instead of kingpins that did not have to be greased regulary. But other than that it is not an improvement really, and today prices of the 140 series has been skyrocketing, as well as the prices of parts. The 240 is using struts instead of DW like the 140 and is also much wider, so that one is out of the question…
Daily transport? I am a cheapskate that loves bicycles, fuel efficient and reliable things.
Yes, the white pile of rust is a 1968 Opel Rekord, but it looks much worse than it is, lots of rust but mostly in very easy places to weld. If you squint you can probably spot the similarities to the HK Monaro too, maybe not so strange, being a GM product from the same era.
Hehehehe, I can honestly say that I smiled a lot when I first saw “My summer car”, because they have really catched the spirit of early 90s Finland and I could recognize a lot. 
But after downloading it, I quickly realized that to play it, you has to be a lot more weird and patient than me. I usually ended up with just flipping the Hiace and dying, hahahaha.
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The “parts from X will bolt onto Y” is a mythology found all over the world, unfortunately, and it catches many people out here in Aus. These myths often comes about because the parts will indeed fit… After you cut off mounts, beat on the transmission tunnel or delete the factory air-con, hahaha! Since many DIY’ers don’t have access to skills and tools like 30-40 years ago, let alone law changes, the old truism’s aren’t as accurate as they once were.
I’m describing myself here, as I have made this mistake a number of times too many! I have lots of ideas and no skills, so I’ve had to learn to curb my enthusiasm and stick to cars which are decent to begin with, hahaha! I also applaud your thriftiness by riding a bicycle. Why spend money when you can get fit, have fun and get your project car finished sooner rather than later?
The Rekord fastback is a cool car, I checked it out via Google, and I hope you don’t have too many issues getting it on the road; that patina will definitely turn heads wherever you go, hahaha! I’d have definitely tried to get one of them if they’d been offered here in Australia, that’s for sure…
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I think that I have decided on paint for the Rekord now (when the day might come, I will get it drivable and legal and sort out the bugs first, paint is a low prio to start with), did some tests with a rattlecan to see how good my ideas were IRL, and I think this might be perfect. Nissan KN6 dark purplish blue, IIRC a kinda rare colour from the R33 Skyline.
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Here’s a clearer example of this colour for all those who want to know what this paint looks like…
This colour is really cool @Knugcab, so it’ll definitely help this car will look super stylish when it’s all complete!
Since Knugcab owns more vehicles than any sane person would ever do, I decided to update the topic a little. 
This is my latest addition, 1979 Mercedes W123, originally a carbed 230, but now it has a 240 diesel from 1984 under the hood. It was only standing in the way since my grandfather passed away (his daily driver since 1988), and since it has valid safety inspection until april, I could as well drive it at least until that. We’ll see what they say at the inspection the next time though…
Well, as everyone knows how a W123 looks, ignore my picture spam.
Merry christmas or something?
Mould green interior matches the baby puke green exterior very well!
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Managed to catch a picture during the 2 minutes of daylight we get now, so now you can see the rust in all its glory too!
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Well, it is still far from the magnificent rust pattern, although if you spoil it diligently, you may be able to create an interesting look. But in this case, one can only guess about beautiful rust defeats. As you might guess, this bodywork used a matte paint finish, so it would be quite difficult to copy to get a car from the 80s era.
This car is not a shame to include in your collection.
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Bought some almost new snow tyres for it since the ones that currently is on the car is a mix of different types from the 20th century. I just hope that they will fit, if not I can always swap them on my father’s W124 I guess since he has wheels with the right offset for a W123 on his snow tyres.
Yeah, I would have preferred steel wheels but this was what I found…
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Nah. Wheels did not fit. The centre hole gets a bit smaller where you mount the centre cap, and that collides with the grease cap for the front hub. So I guess that we’ll put them on my father’s W124 then, and I’ll put on the ATS mesh wheels he has on his W124 since they actually have the correct offset for a W123.
They have pretty decent tyres too so I guess that’s OK for me. Just need to get alloy wheel bolts since the steel wheel ones are too short.
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Nice dog
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Lol. Was the best picture I had of the wheels.
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