Volvo X (1967 Pro-Touring Amazon) by Iamtheonlyreal1

8 minute(s) of a 758 minute read

I am not sure how many times Volvo X has been assembled and disassembled at this point, but it appears that we might be doing final assembly at this time. LOL I have swapped the 5.7l LS6 for the6.2l LS3, and now I am doing the body insulation and wiring, along with all the final bleeding of the hydraulics and fuel line installs. The modified Dash Board and upper door pieces are at the body shop getting finished up for Wed, so I hope they make it in, so all the wiring can get finalized. I still have to insulate the Trunk, Roof, and Doors, but the Hush Mat system is really pretty easy, so that will get knocked out quickly when needed.

I have two different valve covers on the motor at this time, because it turns out that I noticed that the Passenger finned valve cover was not perfect flat, so I was able to see a gap between the cylinder head and gasket, which was a lucky find before I actually tried to run the thing. Burnt oil is hard to clean.










Here are the rough in dash pics so it will give an idea of the outcome potential when it comes back from the body shop.. It is being done in the Liquid Metal color, and I have modified the door tops to meet up and match the now larger dash assembly.. I really wanted to try to keep to the original Amazon dash style, so I may have gone through more work than was necessary, because it would have been much easier to install a modern dash from another car but I didn't want to go that route. Hold back comments on the styling of the dash until it is painted and installed in the car, because items like this can surely be subjective to personal opinion. LOL I had found a way to also modify the inner windshield trim to work with my new cluster pod shape, and it also allowed me to keep the original defroster vent configuration.

10-1-2013

Here are some pics of how the Vintage Air kit installs.. I don't like the hoses to be seen in the engine bay, so I routed them a bit differently for a much cleaner overall look.. There is plenty of clearance in the wheel clearance from lock to lock, and I will be making a splash cover for connections in the wheel house, so I don't see why it wont work just fine. It should hopefully allow for a better AC efficiency due to the hoses all being outside of the engine compartment, and every bit of AC efficiency works in the South.. LOL

After a lot of searching I found some performance seats that are not way oversized for this car, and even with the larger trans tunnel they work great. I have seen way to many of these cars done with aftermarket or borrowed production seats that were way to big for the car, and I don't like the appearance of that at all, so it was very important to find something that was pretty close proportionally to the car itself. I don't plan on keeping these seats for the long term because I plan on getting a full custom interior in the car once all the hard testing is done..

These seats were a breeze to mount because I was able to use the original Amazon U Seat Bracket and factory mounting, so it was really just a matter of welding the seat slides to the oem Volvo Bracket to get an easy mount and perfect height..

10-3-2013

It is getting closer to being done.. I still have to do some alignment of the bumpers, but I think they are going to look great overall. The motor is all wired up cleanly, I have also figured out a way to relocate the coil packs to get a much cleaner look, and I still have easy access for serviceability..

Well here is the first start up of Volvo X and its 6.2l LS3 V8, and I can see I will need to invest in a camera with a better microphone, but she is alive..

Here is another quick video that shows the exhaust has more of a reserved sport sound rather than a wide open exhaust like on the engine start up stand, and this should make the car very pleasant to drive on a daily basis.. I still have a bit of dialing in to do, but this gives somewhat of an idea..

10-9-2013

Guys.. I have been able to drive the car, and I must say, this thing is an Absolute Beast. LOL I still don't have the final dyno tune for the motor yet, so power and efficiency will only get better, and that should be done next week. I am hoping to have Volvo X on a very nice 2.5 mile road course on November 10th, so I should have some video and comparison data to offer at that point. Keep in mind that this will be the first time the car is on the track with rough settings and adjustments, and I may have to make a few visits to get the car to the best settings, but it still should put up some good numbers.

Here are some pics of the car in the real world, and I still have some assembly and adjustment to go with the trim work, but things are looking good.