Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Nitrous like lancia did when a superchager and a turbo weren't enough.

Most overused lie, in a strict condition, is No mot and will go straight through MOT.

Edit will add more

Fun fact:

There's a body shop near me that buys really badly crashed cars from abroad, part repairs them then sells them as lightly damaged.

They'll weld a new roof on a rolled car, repair the rear then sell it as though it's just had a gentle bump in the front.

Classy.

Nope - 'needs little to finish'

Translates: I gave up after several years trying and it's been sat in the garage ever since. Any rare or expensive parts have been lost or sold in the meanwhile...

Classic kit car advert - '95% finished, only a few hour's work to finish'. Means 'Kit manufacturer has gone bust, all the hard bits left to do and bugger all chance of getting it through an IVA test when you're done.

What could I do, short of a super charger that would wake the Volvo up at lower revs?

Nitrous. Lots of it. Helps spool up the turbo.

Fit a small turbo to spool the big turbo

I think Nitrous and a much larger turbo sounds like the sensible route to pepping up the trip to the shops.

Although what I am really wondering is whether swapping in some pistons from a low- boost car to bump the compression ratio a little might help.

Yeah I really dig that.

Just done an oil and strainer change. Seems like I've put a bit much in so I'm gonna drain a little out.

Started patching rust holes too, floor and handbrake next.

That's all the good stuff, just get all the things working right - brakes bled, handbrake adjusted, screenwash filled and pumped up, blah blah, all adds up to a loveable usable old car. Mending that unwanted ventilation helps too.

Looks like you're having a blast BTW, well jelly.

It will, but won't you then have to limit the boost to avoid detonation?

Depends on who you listen to, it has been suggested that Volvo had the two different compression ratios as a safe guard against people running low octane fuel, and that super unleaded won't detonate if tuned correctly. I'm only running 18 psi.

Fixed the speedo, patched the rust holes (temporarily) in the body and floor pans. On the speedo note I confirmed that this thing moves pretty well and I had it up to 85 passing people on the freeway and there's more in it.

Brakes work well, managed to lock up the rear wheels accidentally today...

I need to buy a new handbrake cable but that's for tomorrow, it's not fun doing hill starts and parking round here.

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Ace... 🙃

I got properly twatted upon on my way to the vscc on sunday. perfect beaming sunshine when I left (top down, natch), then biblical rain near devises. lucky my car is a pos tank, other lesser cars (ie 911s) would not have made it.

Extra weight of the water?

Why am I tempted by this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122100154827

I know it's a fake, but it does have a 5 litre V12, and apart from the ill-fitting headlamps it's well-replicated.

Big engine and low bhp

I went to school with the son of Mirage Replicas'owner. There was a disproportionate number of Lambos in sleepy Irthlingborough.

So went to buy a megane gt220 as a warm family hatch. Ended buying a used audi A3 1.8 tfsi for much cheaper. The 6 year old interior was still better than the Renault and the car is better for everyday driving, not hooning. Will now ignore my indicators and tailgate everything.
Crossing all fingers that the S tronic (7speed dsg) continues to function flawlessly as it did on the test drive.
Still, I feel like I need to buy an old alfa to redeem some of my motoring soul.

Saw the maddest baja style VW bug ripping it down by the seafront...

Would it be a crime to rip apart my 73 and put bigger tyres and wider wheels on it?

Yep it would. Logic suggests you keep your 73 as is and then buy a ready built Baja bug. There must be tonnes of them in Cali for cheap.

There are some but not as cheap as I'd expected, Looking at the amount of body filler on the wings I'm seriously considering doing something a bit wild with it. Gonna have a think about it but I reckon a desert racer style rat rod would be pretty cool.

I originally wanted to lower it a bit but it was too nice being able to do oil changes etc without a jack and I'm not committed enough to the Lowe life to sacrifice that.

Closer to this than an all out Baja machine, but rolled or slightly cut arches to accommodate a wider track.

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Dude - get on Craig's, there are pages of Baja Bugs. I've seen REALLY nice ones for 3-4k, serviceable ones for half that.

Or just do the decent thing and fit a tow hitch bike rack to your bug and buy a dirt bike. 2 wheels off road > 4....