Frozen Volvo Adventure

So, you may have seen in another thread that I'm going to Canada to get a Volvo soon. Here's the story:

In 1970 my Aunt's mother buys a brand new Volvo 142 in good 'ol Canada. She drives it until about 15 years ago when she decides she doesn't want to drive anymore, so she gives it to my aunt and uncle to take care of. She passed away a few years after that, but my aunt and uncle held on to the car as a memento and occasional driver. I've been up there a few times over the past 10 years or so and always expressed my admiration for it, mentioning on more than a few occasions that if they ever consider getting rid of it to let me know first. Well, a few weeks ago my uncle was talking to my mom and basically mentioned to her that if I really wanted the Volvo, it was mine whenever I wanted to come get it. Score.

So here's the stupid part: There's a racing trade show in Toronto the third weekend in January. So I can kind of justify flying up there kind of for work, so aftr I hit the show I'm heading down to Burford to pick up my new ride and drive it home. Because, you know, the weather is awesome between here and Canada the third week in January.

The Volvo has about 56,000 original miles, and has been an occasional driver it's whole life, so it's never sat for extended periods. The tires are relatively new (6-7 months) and a lot of the underhood soft parts like wires and hoses were recently replaced after it was parked on some dry grass that caught fire. Apparently the fire didn't do much more damage than melt a few ignition wires. It's been driven quite a bit since the fire, so everything that was damaged in that incident seems to be in running order.

I got a nice box of stuff from IPD from the UPS man a few days ago, so I'm going up there with a water pump, fuel pump, all the ignition goodies, thermostat, all the hoses, drive belt, shop manual and a decent set of tools. The plan is to fly in Saturday, hit the show, spend Sunday looking the car over and doing any last minute wrenching it might need (which is hopefully very little), then hitting the DMV Monday morning for a temp tag and title transfer and heading for the border. 1300 or so miles later I should be getting home just in time to pull up to our big top at The Rolex 24.

So what am I missing? Anything else that should be in the survival kit? I checked online for other common parts like alternators,and those seem to be readily available at most parts places, so I don't see a real advantage to taking something like that with me? I'm not real Volvo smart, but Per is, and I figure as long as I have his phone number and I haven't done anything to tick him off too bad recently I should be able to figure most stuff out.

Here's a few pix:

jg

Nice!

Auto trans takes Type F, not Dextron. You'll be turning some revs at freeway speed with that thing, but it should get you back home just fine.

You need inch-size tools, not metric (with very few exceptions).

VClassics wrote: You need inch-size tools, not metric (with very few exceptions).

Ooh, good to know. I'm taking my junkyarding toolkit with me, which is basically one of those Harbor Freight suitcase type deals with a crappy version of everything. When I throw a few extra things in there I'll know to do the regulars, not the metrics, though.

How are washer pumps on those? I'd imagine this time of year the washers will get quite a workout on the highway. I don't want to go blind when I hit flurries somewhere.

jg

The car looks really nice. love the 142.

Coolant is a great idea. Pick up a bottle or two of 50/50 mix. It saved me on the alfa trip when I had a loose hose clamp. I was also able to rescue another driver who overheated. It sounds weird but lots of cars overheat in the winter.

Not sure about the washer pumps. I cannot believe they are that good and the lines will get a little clogged over time.

Rain X anti fog wipes. get a small box. They will help if the defogger quits. Oh and bring some gloves and a good flashlight.

Is it a coincidence that the engine looks like a non cross flow kent? Or am I not remembering what a kent looks like?

Ross of Nine wrote: Is it a coincidence that the engine looks like a non cross flow kent? Or am I not remembering what a kent looks like?

I don't know what any of the Kent motors look like, but the Volvo B18 / B20 is not a copy of anything.

some other pictures It looks like a mirror image of the pre-cross flow head. I've never seen either engine in real life so its just ...whatever.

If the racing trade show that you mention is the Canadian Motorsports Expo, then drop by and say hello. I'll be at the Rally Sport Ontario (RSO) information booth on Friday and Saturday.

I live in London. I'll be heading back there in a Volvo 142 after the show. Burford is on the way. Need a ride? Or parts?

Jeff

You may need an "Ontario Safety Inspection" in order to get a temporary vehicle permit from the Ontario MOT. Info can be found here: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/temp.shtml

Jeff_L wrote: If the racing trade show that you mention is the Canadian Motorsports Expo, then drop by and say hello. I'll be at the Rally Sport Ontario (RSO) information booth on Friday and Saturday. I live in London. I'll be heading back there in a Volvo 142 after the show. Burford is on the way. Need a ride? Or parts? Jeff

It is and I will. And I guess this begins to answer our question about whether or not there will be any relevant stuff for us at this show. I'm sort of going as an exploratory mission to see if it's a show we want to add to our regular rotation.

I think I'm set for transpo. I have a rental reserved at Toronto that I can take back to Hamilton. Hopefully I won't need to scavenge any parts, either, but it's nice knowing there's a donor around just in case.

See you at the show. I'll be the guy wearing shorts wondering what the hell he's doing away from Florida in January.

jg

ggarrard wrote: You may need an "Ontario Safety Inspection" in order to get a temporary vehicle permit from the Ontario MOT. Info can be found here: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/temp.shtml

The car has a current registration sticker, which the MoT folks led me to believe would carry over as far as the safety inspection went. Just in case I'm making another round of phone calls next week to customs, MoT and local DMV to make sure all my paperwork is in order. I don't want to add "international trade felon" to my resumé.

jg

Nice Volvo. G'luck!

I did a US/Canada trip last year, towing my future vintage racer A35 back with a Freestar mini-van. The ~Austin~ was located about 3 miles from Mosport and I live in nw-NJ, so it took me 24 hours, non-stop to get there and back (1031 miles).

I ran into a serious lake-effect snow storm that kept all the sane people home so roads were empty.......I followed a snow plow for 2 hours straight at one point. You'll be west of this area so you should be OK.

You'll go through Niagra Fall, which is easy. I usually go over at the Thousand Island Bridge; very narrow and scary as hell if it's windy out.

Don't forget to drop a couple of loonies into a self car wash and spray down the car before you try to enter the US. I'm serious. Part of the entry paperwork form says that the car can't have an vegetation or road mung on the undercarriage. They looked at mine.I guess they don't want any Canadian germs screwing up America.

Also, be sure you have the correct title info from Canada. Here in NJ, they wanted receipt signed by a Canadian Notary Public before I could title the car here (which was kind of a pain in the ass since I was already back when I found that out). Fortunately, I used to live in Ontario, so I weasled out a deal with a friend of a friend of a friend.

You'll probably go inland, down Rt 77. That's the best route. But if you plan on taking Rt. 95 though NJ, shoot me a note and I'll keep my cell handy in case you need any emergency repairs. I have a great sledge hammer + various other Volvo tools.

My ride to CA last Winter-North on Rt 81 (NY)

Skinny Thousand Island Bridge. I've driven my StepVan towing my race-Sprite over this bridge on a windy day. Scary ass! (built in 1932)

I'm envious JG. The 142 is such a nice looking car in retrospect. It wasn't considered stylish at the time, but has stood the test of time well. Looks especially nice on those ATS wheels,too. Good score.

Actually I'll be taking a more western route because I'm stopping off to see our printer who is just a little South of Louisville. So I'm basically crossing at Detroit then doing I-75 to I-65 then back to I-75.

The paperwork thing has me a little nervous, but everyone I've talked to, whether it's been US DMV, Customs, or the Canadian DMV has been extremely helpful. Being a family transfer, and everything being current should help a bunch.

At any rate, by the time I get it home I'll have a nice story on importing classic cars from Canada that should find its way into a future issue.

jg

The only issue I had when we did our import from the US to Canada was the Canadian Customs people did not believe the deal ;)

Just had to bring along the supporting docs and it resolved the issue.

The really hard part was the Canadian border at Cornwall had closed.

So we entered the US via Montreal late Thursday night. Zipped down to New York State Putnam Valley. Picked up the car. REAL quick turn around.

Drove to the Rooseveltown border office to retrieve the papers and then raced (I mean moved really nicely) over to Alexandria Bay office before 4PM Friday afternoon. Made it with 10mins to spare!

More or less a 16-20hr sprint.

But all a distant foggy memory.

A.

Great car and great story to follow I am sure!!

The big day approaches. I'll be leaving this Saturday morning for Toronto. Sunday I get to visit with family, and do any last minute prep on the car, Monday we go to the DMV first thing in the am, then I'm on the road.

The car has been with a mechanic for a few days and almost everything has checked out just fine. But I might need an assist on one thing if anyone has resources. The brake booster is on its way out. I did manage to find a rebuild from http://boosterdeweyexchange.com/, and he's sending it right to my uncle.

Here's my concern: The booster got shipped Thursday from Portland, OR, via USPS Express Mail. That should be plenty of time to get to Ontario, but international mail can be weird.

Soooooo... if anyone out there has a spare, I might want to arrange a backup plan in case the USPS hoses me. Going up there with one in my suitcase would make me feel better if I don't get word that the new one has arrived in a couple of days. It would just be a temporary arrangement, and I'd get the booster back to you as soon as I got back to Florida. Probably wrapped in CMS and GRM goodies.

If anyone has a spare and can help out, shoot me a PM, or email me at jg@grassrootsmotorsports.com or jg@classicmotorsports.net

Like I say. I might not even need the thing if the USPS hooks me up. Just trying to get all the ducks in a row. Worst case I suppose I just block off the manifold vacuum line and push REAAALLL hard to stop.

jg

This is so super cool , cant wait to see what kind of canadian beer you brought back to the rolex . Ok turn around and get some canadian beer . Please take alot of pictures of car next to obscure signs . Joe's TR 6 trip is fast fading into memory and this is great sure is a great story for the fly in and drive it home \nay sayers . Safety fast !!

Karl La Follette wrote: This is so super cool , cant wait to see what kind of canadian beer you brought back to the rolex . Ok turn around and get some canadian beer . Please take alot of pictures of car next to obscure signs . Joe's TR 6 trip is fast fading into memory and this is great sure is a great story for the fly in and drive it home \nay sayers . Safety fast !!

If everything goes according to plan, I'll end up at Daytona Friday sometime after having made the trip and stopped to see our printer in Kentucky for a day. It looks like we'll be doing another digital issue in the future, and a sit down wth them would be extremely valuable.

Anyway, In addition to a suitcase full of parts and tools, a bag with personal clothing, photo and video gear, magazine sales materials for the tradeshow, and a bunch of computer gear (I'll be shipping the April GRM issue to the printer from somewhere on the road), I'm also hoping to cart back pig meat and beer. Maybe some sheep's milk cheese as well. Not sure how well meat goes across the border, though. And I'm not stuffing it up my butt in baggies. It goes in me, it goes in one way, and that's the good way.

Cross your fingers. Worst case I'll stop up by my house in Bunnell once I roll into town. There's a guy that sells awesome boiled peanuts.

jg

Good luck with the trip, keep us updated.

First day back with internet, so here's a quick update...

Long story short: I'm in central Ohio and down for the evening. Car is running great—actually seems to be getting better after a couple hundred miles, which doesn't surprise me since it's had about 250 miles put on it in the last five years.

I have a bunch of the April GRM to prep and upload, but I'll try to get a longer post and some pix up before I hit the sack.

And a HUGE shout out o the Kitchner/Waterloo Rally Club who quite generously and unexpectedly gave up their Sunday working on the car.

More soon.

jg

Dare I ask how JG's adventure turned out? Is he lost somewhere in the north east??

Hope the trip was a success...

GWGarrard