Paul Rowland 64 P1800 (Project Saint Marie) by Swedish Ops (Special Builds Division) by Iamtheonlyreal1

17 minute(s) of a 39 minute read

Been a fairly busy day today, I got the Mock Up Ls1 and Keisler Rallye Sport 5-speed in the car today. And made sure we are going to have clearance for the Dual Core Aluminum Radiator and Puller Electric Fans. The motor sits nice and low to ensure the center of gravity wouldnt be affected, but not affect ground clearance. The oil pan actually still sits above the rocker panels, so we should be able to run these things at what ever ride postion we desire.. The transmission also sits nice and tight to the body, so ground clearance there will not be an issue at all. The Motor is also in a position where the performance and handling should be great, and just to be sure, I will have the weight distribution measured before hard weld everything. A half inch here or there can make a difference, and now is the time.

Swedish Ops is working on a pre-fabbed or some sort of easy firewall mod kit for these applications, but I am not sure if we will make them available on the market. We should have them in stock for our Special Builds Department cars, incase someone wants to possible get one.. This would be strictly on a case by case basis...

I still have to set the Drivetrain running angle before I build the LS engine mounts and transmission crossmember. With the drive train in it current position, all the engine service is easy, and you can replace the starter and oil filter with no issues at all. Altenator and the Ac Compressor will drop out the bottom with ease also, so I dont think it is going to get much better than that.. I still have a couple of things to sort out, but all and all, it looks like it is going to come together and service nicely.



Please keep in mind, these are the preliminary rough in pictures, nothing is finished out or dialed in.. Yes, I know the radiator is too high, I put it there to ensure I have electric fan to water pump clearance no matter the engine position.

Also, this is not the actual motor being used, we have a New Crate LS1 for the build, but I like to keep them clean for final assembly, that is why we use a fully accesssorized take out motor for mock up. Just wait until you guys see the engine and engine department covers Swedish Ops (Special Builds Division) will be using to clean and updated everything under the hood.

Here is a version of the Swedish Ops Front End Kit that this build will be getting, I will have Paul finalize the color combination after set up is completed.. This is a base kit with the standard 11 inch brakes and powder coating option. The Powder Coating option has alot of colors and combinations possible, so there really isnt a limit to your custom application This kit comes fully assembled as pictured above, so the guess work is gone. We have alot of options with brake upgrades up to the 14 inch Wilwood pictured above, along with coil over options, steering options (Power, Non Power, LHD or RHD), etc.. The Adustable Bumpster is standard on all of our kits, which offers specific dial ins if desired.

We have gone through the trouble to make our own custom washers and hardware, because I didnt want the bargain bin washers that dont fit properly. I like things to be proportional, and other kits I have ordered supplied generic washers that were not proportional to the bushings or application..

Here are a few pictures of the Swedish Ops universal rear end assemblies.. These rear ends will bolt directly to your Early or Late P1800/Amazon with no body mods or cutting. You also have the widest range of gear ratio and traction options possible, along with 11 inch rear disc brakes which is upgradable to a 12.19 inch, 13 inch, and 14 inch option.

It is fully capable of using your factory coil spring, along with the factory style shocks, but has a rear coil over conversion option for a wider range of adjustment.. With the coil over conversion option, you have a wide range of Spring Rate Options and Coil Over Ride Dampening and Rebound Control settings for precision set up to your preferences.. Also with the coil over conversion option, you have multiple Quick Adjust Ride Hieght Positions from stock to 5 inch drop capability, while allowing the rear axle to sit in the proper alignment position at any range. This constant axle postion is possible due to the Aluminum Adjustable Rear Trailing Arms/Panhard Bar, because it allows a quick turnbuckle style adjustment to set the rear ends postion from right to left, front to rear, along with pinion angle.

The rear coil over conversion kit is made to work with the factory Volvo rear axle assemblies also..It is all a direct bolt on with no cutting. The previous owner cut the spring pockets on the outside, so that is not necessary at all.. In order to get the full adjustablility of the rear end, and proper alignment for lowered car, you have to use the Adjustable Aluminum Trailing Arms/Panhard Bar.

If you look at the pictures also, you will see that 3 different possible mounting position for the Panhard bar on the rear axle, this allows you to keep the optimum bar postion in all the ride height positions.

Here are some pics of some of the quick adjustability features this axle assembly comes standard with. 3 different mount postions for the Rear Panhard Bar, and 2 rear axle drop for the Coil Over option.. There is another 3 inch of adjustment for the rear ride hieght built onto the Coil Over Mounting cross bar that give you a range of adjustment from stock to a 5 inch drop at 1 inch increments. 

Here are some preliminary pics of the Swedish Ops rear coil over conversion kit we will be using on this build and others we have going on also.. We are adding a Punch Hole finish plate to the bottom opening near the spring pockets, and few other asthetic features, along with finish grinding and full powder coating. This is a bolt in bar that transfers ALL the LOAD back to the original spring pockets.. It is self centering, and will bolt in with out removing the rear axle. We have the Bolt On adapter brackets to convert your original Volvo rear end coil over to accept the coil over mounting..

This bar give your P1800/Amazon up to 5 inches of incremental ride height settings, from stock to an extreme lowered position. You also have quick adjust ride sensitivity and stiffness settings, with a twist of a knob. We have about unlimited spring load and rate options, so no more settling on what you are looking for in ride height or ride quality. You have the same ride potential at any ride height you choose.

The rear end pictured, is the Swedish Ops Universal Direct Bolt In rear end. It comes with all the gear ratio and traction options you can ever need, along with a disc brake range of 11in to 14 inch rotors and up to 6 piston Calipers. The aluminum adjustable trailing arms/panhard bar allows you to keep your proper rear end alignment and and pinion angles, no matter the ride height setting.. Another unique feature to this rear end is, it comes in a 54in, 55in, and 56in track width, which will allow you to use a wider variety of common wheels and offsets with out spacers.

Here are a few pics with the unit out of the car, you should be able to see how it works.

Here are some pics of different views of the P1800/Amazon front and rear kits together.. Keep in mind, this is our base kit with base brakes, but this what you see is the minimum of what you get... All the front end kits come fully assembled and ready to install, no welding, no cutting, so once you have your factory components removed, it literally slide right in and matches up with all the existing Volvo bolt holes.. You can also see the front end kit actually has longer braces forward of the OEM. And we do this, because after you remove the factor steering components, the extra reienforced holes are there to utilize for extra support and bracing of the new front crossmember.

Hopefully Paul will like the concept of this Cold Air Intake, I am working on for the Swedish Ops (Special Builds Division) cars. I have most of it fabbed out of steel at this time, but I like the masking tape and poster board for quick results to see how things look before I waste too much time. I will be trimming alot of the material off the skirts of this, so it will resemble more of an Early 50's-60's Ferrari style air cleaner. I plan on adding ribbing/fins to the top of the unit, like the 50's-60's Ferrari air cleaners had on them, and I think this will fit the 60's performance styling of this build. It will be done in a wrinkle finish surface, and the top of the ribs/fins will be exposed metal.  

This piece is very easy to remove, and the air filter element will be located in the windshield cowl area.. It will be mounted in a baffle fashion, that will be easy to change, and not allow the elements to get to it.. The factory drainage system for the cowl will work great, and there should be no chance of moisture getting into the intake.

The side skirt will wrap around the back also, and the trimming for the intake runners will really lighten the bulk. Also the side skirts are a bit distorted because they are not fabbed out of steel, but they will be finished out tomorrow.. If you notice, I used the factory Volvo metal fresh air/heater duct, and hopefully that will add a retro appearance to the whole thing once it is all trimmed up. The radiator neck will be moved over to the Passenger side for our LS version of the Swedish Ops BeCool Radiator line.









It should be a variation of this....

Here is the direction the intake is taking.. This is just tacked together at this time, so it will still need finish hammering, straightening, welding, grinding, etc, but you should get the idea of what we are going for..

We plan on using these intakes on our build cars, but it is up to Paul if he wants to go this direction on Project Saint Marie..

If you look how nice and compact the LS motor fits into the engine bay.. With our crossmember kit, you can remove the LS engine and Keisler 5-speed as a complete assembly, along with being accessorized, from the top or bottom of the car with ease. The mock up headers are being sent to Sanderson Headers for our exclusive kit, and believe it or not, these headers lift right up from the bottom to there mounting place, with no jacking of the motor or parts removal.. With the motor in place, you can service all the part like the starter, altenator, ac compressos, water pump, power steering pump, ect, with out any issue at all.. Just unbolt them, and remove them without any funny jacking or wiggling motions.. LOL