Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

Tags: driving restoration

About two weeks after I got the car back from restoration, and having taken now it on a couple of decent drives, seems a good time to give my first impressions on the Amazon post-resto.

Having owned the car for pretty much 20 years, and used it as my daily driver for much of that, I reckon I've got a pretty good feel for it, and Volvo Amazons in general. Though it was a bit scruffy, it was pretty reliable and not bad to drive -- though never as sure-footed on the corners as I'd've liked.

How is it now? Looks-wise it's pretty good. I'm happy with most of the decisions -- the colour's great, though being so dark it shows up ever tiny blemish, not to mentioned dust, dirt and splattered flies. The mild custom work I had done also works, I reckon, and it got some admiring comments when I drove it to the HSCC race meet at Silverstone.

However, it's been the whole driving experience that's been transformed, in three big ways. The first is the steering and suspension. The smaller Moto-Lita wheel feels great, and the rebuilt steering box was a good move too. But it's the IPD suspension kit that really makes all the difference. Even without yet getting it tweaked, it's a joy to drive, and it just lapped up the corners on the A413 to Silverstone.

The second revelation is the overdrive gearbox that I treated myself to. What a difference, particularly given I've had to keep the revs down until I'd had a 500-mile oil and filter change (I'll get that sorted this week). Not only does it drastically reduce engine noise, but fuel efficiency's up too, and even with the tune-up with engine's had (can't tell a huge amount of difference there yet, to be honest, though I haven't tried to push it yet) it seems much better than it was.

Finally, the sound system's a real winner -- particualrly my ipod socket which is hiden away in the ashtray.

Though there are still some niggles to be sorted out (there's a bit of a problem with the leather on the headlining, we're still waiting for some stainless fasteners to replace some battered old ones, and I'm regretting not powder-coating the headers), taking it out on some good A-road driving has reminded me why I got the whole thing done.

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