How to Upgrade and Restore a Volvo PV445

How to Upgrade and Restore a Volvo PV445

Commitment and spare time will be needed

By Sven Olafsbrosson

   The first step in restoring and/or upgrading a PV445, (or PV444, just as applicable); is to ask yourself, why, ya!

   You should first sober off from the Padre's terrible season opening losses, drink a quart of buttermilk, ya, and then look yourself squarely in the mirror and ask yourself how you got into such a predicament. Be honest, it's you you're dealing with here. Do you really think that you can work all day, get drunk for every San Diego Team Sporting event, keep the dishes and clothes washed, AND restore that old Volvo? OK, now that that dilemma is over with, let's get started, ya.

   Now that you have passed the psychological screening and also have established the desire, resolve, and commitment to see this project through to completion, lets take the early steps. It's definitely crawl-walk-run on a project of this magnitude, but after the first 6-pack we all know that crawling is out until near the end of the evening, and that walking flat out takes too long, ya!

   Sooooo, RUN over to the magazine rack and pull out the last couple'a years worth of SDVSA newsletters. Find someone selling a 445 or even a 444 and give him a call. Offer to buy the car sight-unseen. I mean, you gotta fix it anyway, right? You ARE committed, aren't you? Ya, sure I am! You tell yourself as you look in the top dresser drawer for that project-cash you have been hiding in there from your wife / girlfriend / children / roommate / cleaning lady.

   Now that your diamond-in-the-rough PV445 has been paid for and towed home, (don't worry about the lost paperwork, you won't need it for some number of years anyway!) you can finish that second sixer and just stare at the beauty in your garage or driveway, bench-racing yourself at a mile-a-minute pace.

   You now have 2 choices: decide to make it run as-is, you know, to get the brakes, steering and shifting scoped out and to strengthen your resolve in actually starting the project; OR, you can just start tearing it apart right now! Hhmm, better start on that 3^rd six-pack and think about this for a while, perhaps even until crawling time, ya!

   In my particular case, I picked 'C', All-of-the-above. I drank the 6-pack, forgot the paperwork, just stared at the car, pumped the brakes for every stop, and got it running every Christmas Day for the 1^st 3 years I had the car. On the 4th Christmas it would not start! That really bothered me for the next 4 years!

My Volvo wagon collection, winter of ’92-‘93

One day my neighbor was over talking to me about how cool it will be when that "'Old Wagon' is back on the road." The wagon had sat backed-into the drive next to the rest of my Cool Volvo Wagon collection, but was basically a storage vessel.

If you squint at the picture really hard you will see the stack of 444/445/544 bumpers from front seats to ceiling through the windscreen. That was enough of a jolt to get me started, if not sobered. There is just something about a shot of Absolut Vodka to get started in the morning, that is really hard to resist, ya!

   Planning. Believing. Scheming. Listing. Best to fetch a pad of paper, pen and your favorite beverage for this next part!

   This list is one of those things that only extreme experience in the first person can generate. (Or is that Xtreme people with bad experiences, and is there a difference?)

   Things to be dealt with when converting a PV445 or PV444 to a 'modern' 12-volt, B18 or B20 powered, 4-speed transmission/OD overdrive vehicle:

•	Motor mounts. You must use the brackets from the B14/16 engine. They will bolt right onto the block. You will need to use the low profile rubber mounts standard on a PV 544. I don't know the Volvo P/N. By the way, you will STILL need to slot-out the holes in the front-end cross-member to accept the B18/B20.
•	Throttle Linkage. Regardless of your choice of new carburation, this will be tricky. I'll show you what I did, ya, and that will scare you into an easier path, trust me. Let's not open the can-o-worms just now. Open the can-o-beer instead, ya!
•	Radiator. Radiator, larger. You need one. The dilemma is with the 'nose cone' design for the 6-volt PV series. It uses a narrow honeycomb radiator with the bonnet hinges located to either side of the radiator. This makes it Super Hard to retrofit a wider radiator. Best to locate a nose cone from a 12-volt PV544. Its design has the hinges to the front and 'above' the radiator, and employs a wider radiator, standard. I toyed with the idea of shoe-horning in a B30 radiator from a 164, especially since I have one [for sale, too!]; but, I turned out to be too drunk and lazy for the task. I DO recommend getting a 4-row radiator from Bob Skoog, though!
•	Electrical Changes. Switching from 6 to 12 volts is a good thing, but are you up to the technical challenge? Consider things like wiper motors, gas gauges, fan motors, license plate lamps, turn signal indicators, horns, etc.

Mid ‘90’s, before putting on the road for the 1st time. The dial caliper I’m holding is for re-sizing the taillight assembly hole.

Well, this is enough to chew on this month. Next issue we will tear into an actual 1958 PV445, learning many things about old-time solid engineering and manufacturing techniques. Reminds me of the ol' cliché, "They don't make 'em like they used to!"