Volvo PV444 wins 1957 Petit Lemans at Lime Rock!

[Vintagewrench]

Originally Posted by blueosprey90

The PV 444 got pushed to the back of the garage for the last few months.

In the interim, I've been on a quest for speed. I had the S2000 out to Watkins Glen last week and hope to be racing the MGA this weekend. Then in September, hope to do a couple of drives with the PV444.

Here I'm at the Glen in the S2000 trying to keep up with some Spec Miatas.

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/tqCC3im2ysM

[/YOUTUBE]

Jeff, hope to see you at Lime Rock on Saturday I'm racing the 1800S.

[Vintagewrench]

Jeff, hope to see you at Lime Rock on Saturday I'm racing the 1800S.

[blueosprey90]

I did see Dave (Vintagewrench) briefly at Lime Rock. He arrived on Saturday morning and parked near me. But I was so immersed in my own mechanical problems, that I didn't have much opportunity to speak to him - other than to say hi.. I started the day replacing the head on my motor, missing the first run. Then when I did get out on track, smoke in the cockpit brought me in after lap 1. When I finally figured that out, we were in the afternoon with two races. He & I both started from back of the pack; and although I made some advances, overheating forced me to slow down and "just finish". By the 2nd race of the afternoon, he had already gone home. Same story for me - overheating forced me to slow down. But I did get a few competitive race laps.

https://youtu.be/OvIA4kxeMgs


I have big plans for the PV444 in September. I hope to take it to upstate New York for the Keene Hill Climb reunion. This will be a run between Keene, NY and Crown Point, NY with a gathering at Crown Point. This is a beautiful and historic spot overlooking the expanse of Lake Champlain, with New York on the left and Vermont on the right. I'm figuring about 60 miles.

Then the following week, I plan to run the Catskill Conquest Rally through New York's Catskill Mountains. I am generally unfamiliar with this country.
The rally route is about 75 miles long with a beginning and end, but we will probably return to the start on day 1. So I figure about 165 miles total with perhaps six to eight 2,000 foot climbs. My wife is dubious about the car. I am dubious about the brakes.

I probably will trailer the car to both events. The Keene Hill Climb is at least a 4 hour haul; and the Catskill Conquest Rally about 2 hours away.

[Vintagewrench]

Originally Posted by blueosprey90

I did see Dave (Vintagewrench) briefly at Lime Rock. He arrived on Saturday morning and parked near me. But I was so immersed in my own mechanical problems, that I didn't have much opportunity to speak to him - other than to say hi.. I started the day replacing the head on my motor, missing the first run. Then when I did get out on track, smoke in the cockpit brought me in after lap 1. When I finally figured that out, we were in the afternoon with two races. He & I both started from back of the pack; and although I made some advances, overheating forced me to slow down and "just finish". By the 2nd race of the afternoon, he had already gone home. Same story for me - overheating forced me to slow down. But I did get a few competitive race laps.

https://youtu.be/OvIA4kxeMgs


I have big plans for the PV444 in September. I hope to take it to upstate New York for the Keene Hill Climb reunion. This will be a run between Keene, NY and Crown Point, NY with a gathering at Crown Point. This is a beautiful and historic spot overlooking the expanse of Lake Champlain, with New York on the left and Vermont on the right. I'm figuring about 60 miles.

Then the following week, I plan to run the Catskill Conquest Rally through New York's Catskill Mountains. I am generally unfamiliar with this country.
The rally route is about 75 miles long with a beginning and end, but we will probably return to the start on day 1. So I figure about 165 miles total with perhaps six to eight 2,000 foot climbs. My wife is dubious about the car. I am dubious about the brakes.

I probably will trailer the car to both events. The Keene Hill Climb is at least a 4 hour haul; and the Catskill Conquest Rally about 2 hours away.

Good to see you at LRP, sorry to see and hear about all of the issues you had. I left after the third race.

All the changes to the 1800s since last season paid off and we were able shave a couple more seconds off years best lap times. Started from the back and finished mid-pack in the races with street tires, and only a stock B18B engine w/SU's against a lot of lighter and more powerful cars on race tires. Then repeated the process and drove it back home in the evening to VT (350 total miles on the road and track.) It was a bit of a marathon in the heat and humidity.

[blueosprey90]

Urged on by people, I bit the bullet and ordered a new Optima Red Top 6 volt battery. It was a depressing decision that cost me about $195 U.S., after tax. My current battery is only 13 years old and is hardly broken in. But I have two back country driving events planned for September in the remote mountains of Upstate New York where cell service is spotty at best. And my navigator (wife) said she refused to hike out for help if we broke down.

It's so hard to get good help these days!

[blueosprey90]

Yesterday I also installed the new Optima Red Top 6 volt battery. The car fires right up - it makes a huge difference!

This week I also made the final push to finish and install the driver's side door card. What a pain! It had been languishing in my basement. I made the card part out of ABS plastic, which is black, so I had to do a lot of drilling and fitting blind. But it came out quite nice. And although I was dreading having to pop it onto the door, it went on fairly easily; and looks much better than the shabby original. Too bad I'm matching the interior work to the pre-existing drab brown.

Some time back, I noticed that the driver's side pivot bolt for the front hood had shifted. This was something that had existed for quite some time as the front clip was damaged by the opening and closing of the hood. Paint is down to bare metal. I had put a socket wrench on it a few times, but was never able to turn the nut. Well, this time I pulled the wheel and but a breaker bar on it and got the nut to spin. I removed the nut, cleaned the bolt threads with a die and reinstalled with one extra washer. Got the hood to sit up off of the clip and to open and shut without scraping. The hood sits a little too far back against the windshield cowl and may chip paint there, but so far I was unable to move the hood forward. But I'm really happy that I was able to address this annoying issue.

My car had some minor front end damage and the hood support (the thing that pivots the hoot up and down) is a bit mangled and will require some attention. And the hood itself need to be repainted as the paint is starting to bubble.

All in all, three check marks for the week.

Now, I need to move on to the MGA and solve the overheating problem. Still some races to be run.

[morwenna240]

If you don't like the 300d engine in your W123, why not put in a series 2 V8 from same period S class. They go very well with one of those in. I have one; it does use juice but scares the **** out of folks who expect your 0-60 time to be north of 10 secs. . . Would your government allow such fitment?

[blueosprey90]

^^^

I don't quite understand, but I've never run a V8 in my entire life and it's too late to start now. I'm a committed 4 banger, although I do have a V6 in my tow vehicle.

[blueosprey90]

Getting ready for the big adventure.

Checked to see if windshield wipers worked. They work fine, but the front windshield leaks like a sieve. The rubber seal looks in good condition, but I assume I need to get some windshield sealant to address the leak.

Checked to see if the spare tire had pressure. Zero - which is OK as it probably hadn't been touched in 10 years. I pumped it up in situ, but then I couldn't get it out of the spare tire place in the boot. Wedged in place. Had to let air out to get it to move. The tire, itself seems to hold pressure, so now I have it laid out on the floor of the boot.

[blueosprey90]

Applied Permatex Flowable Silicone Windshield & Glass Sealant 81730 to the side and bottom seals of the front windshield. Hope it works.

Checked my carbs and my rear carb is weeping at the adjuster nut. Have a lot of driving to do over the next two weekends. Hope to have enough energy tomorrow night after work to pull and repair. Don't want a fire.