1968 Volvo project Pure Volvocity by 68EFIvert

5 minute(s) of a 519 minute read

The recessed license plate is now in. Only thing it needs is the trim that goes up the sides and across the top.

The latch assembly can now be installed.

10-18-2016

Thanks for the compliment. The rear bumper is coming along. It started out on a 1963 Corvette but has gone through massive modifications to work on the Volvo. Still has a bunch of work to go but it is starting to take shape. When this is done it is back to work on the nose of the car.

10-26-2016

I just received the suspension results back so I wanted to give an update. As I have mentioned in the past I had Ron Sutton of Ron Sutton Race Technologies perform the analysis. There is some good and some bad. I will start with the rear. The rear suspension is very close to what the original car had other than coilovers. Link locations are very close to the original car but neither is good for planting power to the ground. I am planning on making some pretty serious changes back there. I am going to remove the upper links and add a Torque Arm. This will improve traction, handling and braking on the car. I won't go over the details of specifics but it will make a bid difference on the track. For the street or occasional auto-X it is fine.

The front suspension has some challenges as well. The upper control arms are a little shorter than optimum. This causes a couple issues. The roll center is not as good as I want and the Ackerman leaves some to be desired. According to Ron the front suspension works for a street car, auto-X setup and daily usage but isn't optimal for track use. Basically fine for the average guy that want to enjoy his car and not want to modify the entire front clip in the process. Much of the problems are a result of the narrow track width of our cars and the fact that the kit is designed to be a "bolt in" piece requiring minimal modifications.

As it is the front is functional but not for my intended purpose of the car I am building. I want a car that has good road manners but will also dominate on the track. I will be the limited factor to the performance of my car. I know that most people won't care to have the ultimate in handling on an 1800 but I am the type of guy that if I don't do what I feel is best from the start I will regret it and eventually redo it at a much larger cost. I have hired Ron to design a front suspension that will have no compromises. Every component on it will be the highest quality and designed for optimization.

The front brakes will still use 14" Wilwood brakes and a splines sway bar but everything else will change. I will have to have a front clip made and it will be welded to the chassis instead of using a bolt in crossmember. It will require a massive amount of surgery but I can honestly say that in the end I will have the best handling 1800 around. The front tire width will be increased to 315 tires so that I am running the same size on all 4 corners. I will keep the exiting 275 front tires for daily driving but have another set of matching front wheels/tires for track days. When is is all done the car should be able to take corners at over 1g. Here is a picture of the same basic design but is for a Cuda project and is running a 335 front tire. As you can see a radical redesign and will require the car to have serious modifications.
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psygive73o.jpg

With all that said I will be selling my existing suspension to someone who wants to cruise around and have some fun on the auto-x. If you are interested let me know.

One interesting thing that Ron told me was regarding OEM's and what they put out. I think everyone would agree that a Viper is a pretty awesome performance car but the rear suspension leaves much to be desired. The geometry of the rear suspension is far worse than the front suspension I have now. When the analysis was brought back to Dodge so that they could fix the suspension for a track car Dodge told them there was no budget for it. So they ended up putting 1400 lb springs and a 1100 lb rear sway bar to make the car handle! Basically if the geometry is way off make it stiff as hell so it can't move. LOL!

Here is a picture of the front as the body shop begins the modifications. The 1970 Camaro split bumpers should look pretty sleek. The lower valance is starting to take place. The curve on the valance is almost exactly to that of the Volvo sheet metal. It should make for a smooth transition.