Help with 1967 122 wagon

I posted this on the brickboard and figured this may be a good place
too.--A few days ago I bought a 67 122 wagon. Except for some pan rust,
the body seems nice with decent oxidised paint that I'm currently
polishing. Car is drivable, I drove it home on freeway about 15 miles,
but is most likely not too safe at the moment, but that never stopped
me lol. Engine, clutch, and transmission seem fine, but brakes,
suspension/front end, and a lot of little things need work. Although I
have some disability in my hands and limited mechanical ability, I'd
like to fix what I'm able to. Except for the old "vw idiot's manual" by
john muir, I've always found auto repair manuals to be for those people
who already know what they're doing. I'd like to find someone in the
los angeles area who knows these cars well, and will, for a reasonable
price, go over it with me and let me know what has to be done, what can
wait and about what it will cost if they or someone else does it. As
money is definitly an issue, would want something pretty detailed.
Instead of just saying "your front end"s messed up" which I already
know, tell me this, this, and that on the front end needs to be fixed.
Maybe it all needs to be done but maybe not. I know plenty of
independent volvo shops but they're all too pricey for me so what I
think I need is an amateur volvo mechanic who wants to make some extra
dough but will be cheaper than an independent garage or dealer. One
last thought--I love the look of these amazons and love the pale green
paint of mine but I'm not sure I want to keep it. Perhaps I'm spoiled
by my 95 850, but the older I get the less discomfort I want to put up
with, and as I was driving home the 122 without power steering or air
conditioning in 95 degree heat, sweating buckets, I thought, what have
I gotten myself into--a sweedish sauna. Any way to add ps and ac to a
122 or is it way too costly and difficult?

 

You could get aftermarket A/C on these cars when they were
new, so I see no reason why it can't be added now. Power steering
is another matter. If the 140 series ever had it, you might be
able to adapt one of those assemblies. As an alternative, you can
try using narrow VW Beetle tires on the front, inflated fairly
high. I believe the size is 155/70 15, but I'm not positive. Less
grip, but also much lower steering effort. My '86 Civic Si had a
similar problem, which I solved by using all-season tires that
have some of the tread on a bevelled area at the top of the
sidewall, where it only contacts the road when cornering at
speed. They give me a good compromise between steering effort and
grip, with the added benefit of amazing fuel economy.

 

The 140 series had retrofit A/C available (although you'd lose the
glove box--that was where the evaporator went).

They also had power steering; one of my recent hassles was finding a
non-power steering gear box; several places had power gear boxes, but
nobody had a new/rebuilt manual one.

Bear in mind that both of these accessories take power from the engine,
so performance and mileage will suffer. You may need the supercharger
I recently posted a link to...


Gary

 

For parts:

http://www.scandcar.com/
http://www.cvi-automotive.se/
http://www.swedishclassics.com/

A company called FrigiKing, located somwhere in Texas, made the dealer
A/C installation kits, but I don't think they're still around. They used
the old York compressor that shook badly enough to break the bracket and
studs that held it on. Check in the hotrod magazines for a source for
one of the newer underdash kits made for custom cars. You can use R134a
and a modern rotary compressor to build a superior system.

Bob