After searching more than two years for a practical way to lift my 1800E, I finally found inspiration in a 31-year-old issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. The “ramp pit” shown above acts as both ramp and teeter-totter, allowing access to both ends of the car. I just finished the project this weekend, and the preliminary results are great so far: I managed to remove a bit of hard-to-reach rust this evening — while seated on a shop stool.

Total cost: $130. Color me thrilled. If you’d like to see how I made it, you’ll find details here!. Happy restoring!

Here’s a little something I made for my own enjoyment, but I figured there might be a few others who would enjoy it, too: It’s a 3D screensaver featuring our favorite car, the Volvo 1800.

The 3-D model was created by Josh Isaacson of Mountain View, CA, and will soon appear in a game produced by Turdhead.com. For now, though, I thought I’d show it off via screensaver.

Click here to download the screensaver, and feel free to let me know what you think of it. Thanks!

Things are finally starting to move again on the 1800. I’ve removed the seats, carpets and interior trim and will begin repairing/rustproofing the floorpans as soon as my order of POR 15 (and just about everything else in the company’s catalog) arrives this week. Once all the body’s rustproofing and finishing is done, I’ll install sound/heat reduction pads throughout the floor and firewall, and replace the ratty original carpet with all new pieces (also already ordered, and hopefully well cut).

The wooden backing of the rear seats was pretty rotten when I got to it, so I’ll be cutting out a new section of plywood, too. Seat rails need a good cleaning, and I haven’t yet decided how to deal with the vinyl seats; I’m considering just replacing the vinyl altogether with leather upholstery from Don T., but I may wait on this. The passenger seat is still in good shape (albeit dirty and the wrong color for my model), so I may end up trying my luck with a can of upholstery “paint” to spruce it up. Anybody got any suggestions on how best to handle this? (The two front seats in my car are red vinyl, obviously not original to the car — the rest of which features black upholstery).

I’ve had many requests for the plans I used to “fix” (i.e., replace the guts of) the Smiths clock in my 1800 last year. I’m really not trying to hide secrets, but honestly, there are two reasons I haven’t unveiled the steps I took:

1. I didn’t really follow steps so much as “smash a bunch of stuff into the case,” and
2. The clock stopped working within hours of my initial post.

So unfortunately, I too am still on the lookout for the perfect 1800 clock. Perhaps I’ll get back to it this weekend. Stay tuned.

I’ve noticed several people are ordering hats, T-shirts, etc. from the Classic1800 store this holiday season. Thanks for making us part of your festivities, and please let us know what you think of the merchandise!

Thanks, and have a great holiday!

Just so you won’t think I’m forgetting to update Classic1800.com, I figure I should admit: I haven’t done a whole lot of anything lately with the 1800. Looking forward to January, though — once holiday travel and festivities are finished (as much as I love ‘em), I’ll get back into the garage after the new year.

Stay tuned for details…

At the risk of sounding like a corporate shill, I figured I’d point out that Northern Tools is offering a free gift card — this week only — worth up to $100 when one purchases tools online.

I personally like Northern Tools’ stuff. Although it doesn’t have the rock-bottom pricing of cheap crap that Harbour Freight sells, Northern Tools does have name-brand tools that actually last. If you’re in the market, give ‘em a try: