1966 Volvo Amazon - Crazy hot rod and track car

[Stuart]

That's cleaned up OK (I'm referring to the unit )

Good work young Jedi.......look forward to getting my space back :thumb:

[RPS13]

In todays battle, the Amazon took some damage early on...









and some more !



It did get a full frame to keep it straight whilst the big chunks of structure are removed to make way for new and better parts.



Tunnel and the rest of the floor rewards of the B pillar to come out tomorrow.

[Stuart]

Awesome stuff :thumb:

I thought you'd gone for a cage for a minute! Look forward to the updates.

[RPS13]

Awesome stuff :thumb:

I thought you'd gone for a cage for a minute! Look forward to the updates.

Cheers mate, and there will be a real cage later!

Last update for the weekend:

Volvo lost a lot more floor:




Nissan cut points got tidied up and trimmed: (BTW - These Nissans are made out of some seriously thin and weak steel ! I was shocked by how easy it cut up. Easy for me to cut up, but the 40yr old Amazon is much stronger. It makes me rethink the cage requirements in my Silvia.)



Then it got cut in half!





And if anyone thought this was a shame for a nice 200sx shell, then to put your mind at rest, here is just some of the rust I found on the floor pan and bulkhead. Strange that the rest of the car was so clean, but that has all been saved for repair panels.






A lot of today was actually spent staring at the two cars and trying to work out how the hell this is all going together. There are several ways to do it but none are very easy. It is going to be tricky getting everything straight, and to get it all just right in my mind, I resigned myself today to needing to fabricate an entirely new floor to my own design. On the plus side it gives me an excuse to buy a "deep throat bead roller" .

[RPS13]

Whilst trying to clear some space in the workshop today I had a few problems. First plan of raise up the Volvo and move the Nissan floor pan underneath resulted in a minor accident:



Luckily there was no significant damage.
After a few more hours swearing at a lump of metal, as the saying about mohamad goes, the Volvo came to the mountain instead. (or something like that)



I then made some guides to get the chunks of nissan floor and subframes re-aligned at the correct wheelbase, before it gets combined into the Volvo shell. That itself still needs some more work too. All stuff to keep me busy tomorrow.

And no Liz painting this time. She had something at home to distract her away from her workshop duties.

[Redders]

What a project a classic rod with with a modern twist , exellent can't wait to see the finished results, :thumb:

[Stuart]

You wait until he tells you what engine he's putting in......he's changed his mind again

[RPS13]

What a project a classic rod with with a modern twist , exellent can't wait to see the finished results, :thumb:

Thanks Redders, might be a while until it is done, but I hope it will prove worth the wait.

As Stuart suggested, I have found a powertrain for this beast! After looking at various options with 1uz lexus engines, BMW V8s, crashed M5s and even the odd US LS engine, one of those not to be missed opportunities came up. On Friday I bought another BMW 5 series, this time an E34 535i, with the all important manual gearbox. It was in amazing condition and the 220hp M30 engine maybe a bit dated, but the crazy Norwegians and German tuners have shown that the bottom end of the 12v is great for forced induction. So, of only to push the boundries a little further, the engine will be stripped for a full rebuild and this time getting a home made ECU and twin turbo setup. :twisted: Shame it isnt the M5 DOHC six, but the turbos will soon make me forget the lack of ITBs. If anyone needs an E34 shell or parts then let me know. Will swap for money or parts for the Volvo.

Todays update:

The Nissan floorpan was joined back into one piece, with its new wheelbase of 2600mm. Spent ages measuring and checking with the tape measure and spirit level, but it was vital to get it all back correctly. I will let the photos show the process. Pity all the welding and fab done today is only to hold it back in shape for now at the new length, and will get cut off and discarded very soon.

After lots of measuring, weld bars along the sills:


Measure again and make sure they are straight and true:


Reinforce with a second bar inside:


and then plate too for super strength:


If you need more light because there is a volvo on top of you, then cut some light holes :-D :


That lot should hold it very firmly for me to now work on the framing and centre without it warping. Still a long way to go making the shell, but there is even more enthusiasm now I have an engine to go in it, and a turbo system to design.

[RPS13]

In the last 2 weeks since the previous update, there has been a few more changes. Last weekends Progress first:

Volvo floor almost completely removed:



Big hole now left:


Now with lots of light on the Nissan based floor pan below, and space to work, I made the temporary fill in panels for the floor pan. These are needed to hold everything straight as the sills I did last weekend will need to be cut out for the Volvo shell to be lowered down. The shape of the tunnel will add some significant strength.





It isn't a bad repair really. I probably spent a little too much time shaping the panels considering it will all be cut out again soon. And that was the end of last weekend.

[ScoobieWRX]

Watching and waiting with baited breath. Just love to see fabrication being done. Ace job :thumb:

What a TwinTurboNutterAutobahnsterd stormer that will turn out to be!!