Should I adopt this P1800?

[Princess Maggie]

I have an opportunity to adopt a '63 P1800 that needs a lot of love and attention. It is a single-owner, complete car that has rusted floor pans, rusted rockers and quarters, and a dent in the trunk lid from a tree branch falling on it. The brakes are seized, the engine turns over but the car needs a new gas tank, but... it's free.

To this point, I have only had American makes as restoration projects. I've never had a non-American make as a resto project. I would be very appreciative of any advice that you may have, such as what it might take to get this car running again and what kind of issues I might encounter with it. Are parts hard to find? Is this a body on frame car that can be disassembled? Where should I start and what are the known problems with this year? What are these cars worth once reasonably restored? I am just beginning my education about these cars and am a willing student. Thanks in advance!

[mike gilbert]

Would like to help you with your questions but I'm afraid this is a UK based site and therefore without knowing the conditions that apply in your country regarding values, spares availability and prices etc any advice given here is likely to be innaccurate.
Mike Gilbert 1800 Register Keeper VOC.

[TomTom]

Speaking very generally, I think this depends on a few things:

Will you do all/most of the restoration work yourself?
Do you want a car that you can drive or a resto project to keep you busy?
Do you want to make a profit?

I would look at some of the US sites and forums to see how common the 1800 is in your area; you may be able to get a much better car to start on, with less rust (which of course is the killer financially and structurally) for not too much money.

Personally I do not know anyone who has made money on a restoration project. But if you're good at it, and you enjoy it...

By the way, 1963 car was a cross-over year when production stopped in UK (Jensen) and shifted to Sweden. I believe that the Jensen cars have more value. All the best,

Tom

[Princess Maggie]

Thank you both for your time. I have never been into car restoration for profit. As you know, you never get out of it what you put into it, unless you can put a price tag on personal satisfaction -- and I can't! To me it is priceless, something I love and enjoy, something I can do with my husband and my oldest son, and something that is truly in honor of my recently deceased father, who instilled a love of steel and rubber in me from the time I was small. I have a lot of money in my two '67 Lincoln Continentals and as long as I'm living, they will always have a home with me.

I will research on an American board, as you've suggested. Do you know of a good technical site?

With regard to whether this particular P1800 is a Jensen, how would I figure that out? Would the VIN lend a clue?

It is likely that there are far better candidates for restoration out there, but this car is free and even if it ends up being no more than a good parts donor, it may be worth it.

Thank you again. Any additional advice would be very helpful.

[TomTom]

A very comprehensive forum is Brickboard. Has a search engine and a lively community who, in my experience, read it very frequently.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?model=1800

Another site is http://www.volvoadventures.com/ from New Zealand.

But just Google on "volvo", "1800" or "P1800" and loads of sites will come up.

On your question of how do you tell which model it is, you could try this website, http://volvo1800pictures.com/index.html, and hit the Production link and then Year by Year. You can then tell from the chassis number.

Hope this is useful. Best regards

Tom

[TomTom]

Sorry, delete the comma in my last message from http://volvo1800pictures.com/index.html

[mike gilbert]

The simple way of telling if the car is Jensen built is to look at the chassis number which should be on a build plate screwed to the pedal box in the engine bay. if it is less than 6000 its Jensen, if its 6001 and above its Swedish. As I previously stated I don't know about values in the USA but in the UK (and contrary to popular belief)the Jensen cars are no more valuable, just more interesting to some 1800 enthusiasts. But if the car is between chassis number 6001 and 7999 then it is a P1800S, in other words a car built in Sweden using Jensens left over parts. These are the rarest cars of all with very few survivors, in 23 years of looking I've only seen two or three. Still not worth any more though.
Mike Gilbert