938 replies to this topic

[Jardim]

Oh i see know, they got the same style but a close up shows the differences, still very nice wheels and since its speedline they probably don't weight much do they?

[Johann]

A small update,

Not that much progress on the 242. Have it running and drove a couple of hundred meters with the car. Interior and exterior still need finishing.



Went on a short vacation trip with the family to Sweden. Same address as two years ago. Visited the Volvo museum again and also made a tour through the Volvo factory which was extremely interesting to say the least. Took a peak at the Polestar TTA race cars at their HQ on Sunday (..) TTA went testing a couple of days later and they were preparing their cars and loading everything on the trucks. I'm not a Silhouette fan but the amount of Volvo detail in the bodywork is very well done. The dimensions are correct. Headlights and rear lights are from the road going car. hard to imagine it is just a carbon fibre shell. Couple of days later we went to the Anderstorp race track to see the teams perform the first tests with these cars. Lucky for us the weather played nice also.
Posted pics in another thread.

We arrived home from the ~1000 km trip Saturday evening and the next morning while enjoying a cup of coffee and searching the web for the impossible I ran in to a Swedish ad of something I have been hunting for the last 5-6 years or so, maybe longer. I have had a picture of a very rare Volvo 850 for some 12 years or so and discovered this car in Sweden in 2007. Unfortunately, while negotiating a buy, the company went bankrupt.. On and off for about 6 months or so and with help from Emiel I have been trying to buy the car but in the end it didn't work out. In 2008 on a vacation trip to Sweden we made a 500 km tour one day to check if the car was still there and we found it on an abandoned lot.



Car was an Alter 1 850 but it did have a T5 engine. Car was in bad shape.

I don't know who the original coach builder was but as it appears the design was later sold to S.A.M. Steffansson Automotive AB. The well known Volvo tuning company.
SAM build several of these transporters. Pictures of one have been on their site for some time but removed since. Cars were registered as "SAM Carrier", not a Volvo anymore.

In 2009 I found another one on a Swedish trade site. This car was a newer '99 model V70 but the car was registered late 2005. It appears to be a SAM Carrier but it is registered under another name.



Due to the weird tax regulations in my country a lot of tax had to be added if I wanted to import this car to the Netherlands which would make it an extremely costly exercise. A bit to costly for my liking and while overthinking the options the car was already sold.


And now there was another ad. The original SAM Carrier of which pictures have been on SAM's site. Costly yes but not as much as the V70 model and little tax because it is a 2000 model.
After so many years of searching I decided to take the plunge and contacted the seller. It tuned out we have missed the car by less than a mile during our Sweden trip...
After making the arrangements I had to go visit Sweden again less than two weeks after we came back.
I wanted to go pick up the car together with Emiel who, at the time, has helped me a lot trying to buy the black transporter. Unfortunately Emiel couldn't free his agenda after which my wife offered to drive with me together with the kids. Last Thursday we had a national holiday so the kids had some days off from school.
The one complaint the wife did have was that she feared the long 1000 km drive home alone in the car or with one of the kids assuming one would drive together with me. While discussing my mother in law offered to go with us so she could keep some company on the way home. All nice but that meant father in law needed a seat also and 6 people don't fit an XC60... That was when my mother jumped in.. She owns but rarely drives a Lexus GX460 which happens to have 6 seats and she offered to take that car.
Left home Wednesday afternoon with the intention to drive to Denmark and arrange a hotel but with the extreme traffic near Hamburg we only arrived near the Ferry at Puttgarden after 7 hours so we stayed overnight at a hotel in Germany. Next morning we were front row at the Ferry.
And yes we had to park the car inside the ferry next to a train..



Arrived in Gothenburg in the afternoon. Quickly checked in at the hotel and went to the city to make the very short stay a bit worthwhile for the family.
Friday morning we we up early and headed to the car dealer to go pick up the SAM Carrier. I was very nervous about the car and also the ride home not knowing what to expect. The car turned out to be in reasonable shape. The transporter part looked used but in good shape. The car part showed the standard 850 quirks like non functioning AC and some other minor glitches. The engine looked dry and ran nice. It was serviced according the seller. One of the rear brakes was touching though but I took my chances and drove with it anyway. Tuned out to be a jammed caliper after returning home.
Near 11 AM we were heading home again. First kilometers on the highway started with a very moderate pace of 80 km/h to get used to this weird creature but it drove remarkably well. Almost like a KW equipped 850 sedan with iPD sways. Later on the speed went up to 110-115 km/h which turned out to be the car's sweet spot. After 200 km or so I upped the speed to 120-125 km/h and tried to maintain that speed for the remainder of the trip.
The NA engine ran nice. Power is about adequate. Arriving at the toll booth of the Øresund bridge there was some confusion because one of the crew thought I had to pass the truck booth while another one said it was OK as a passenger car...
The trip through Denmark went smooth and soon we arrived at the Ferry where I almost entered a passenger car check in lane with only 2.30 mtr width.. Car is 2.45... A wider lane was right next to it so that issue was solved quick.

Car at ferry entrance,



Not to much space inside the ferry,



Last part of the trip went smooth although the clear headlights were plain rubbish. Arrived home just after midnight.

Some more pics of the car,

Without a load the rear axle it raised,



Impression of the width,



Will post some more later.

['93 Dave]

when are you painting it white and throwing it in the ring with another engine?

[Jardim]

Sick!

[Johann]

From 20 May 2012 - 05:22 AM:

when are you painting it white and throwing it in the ring with another engine?

Not any time soon. Want to fix the defects first.

But I did change the mirrors...



The door stickers have been removed already but the contours are still visible. Currently repairing the stuck caliper. Need to bring the car for inspection next week to arrange a Dutch registration for the car.

Shopped the sticker out of this picture to get an impression of what it should look like for the time being,

[lookforjoe]

Nice!

[Johann]

It's a Volvo again!



Had the car officially imported and registered today. Swedish "EU" registration showed brand name as "miscellaneous" and description as "SAM Carrier". The Dutch registration system didn't accept "miscellaneous" as a brand so I said just put in "Volvo" which they did without hesitation..

[survolvo]

This thing is awesomeness. I like the triple side markers. I think it would look good with some Tethtys.

[Shack_Man]

Johann, on 23 May 2012 - 03:45 PM, said:

Need Pegs and R bumper lol
want to build one in the states now

[Johann]

You could transform your Man Shack in to a Camper ...

[nari]

Johann, Your new sig picture is awesome

Have You thought about D5 swap? Would be a great engine for a hauler.
Btw, sorry if I missed it, but how much does this thing weight?
Peter

[Johann]

Swedish paperwork said 1820 kg. load capacity 1680 kg.
Dutch paperwork says empty weight 1720 kg. "Going" weight 1820 kg. Load capacity 1780 kg.
Total class weight 3500 kg. B-class driver license.
Both rear axles together are rated 2460 kg.

Sig shows the first load test..

[noodle]

Absolutely Dope

[gdizzle]

Needs nicer wheels.

[matt b]

Great read! I love the family affair, it should make for some good memories later.

Nice purchase, hopefully the quirks are quick to fix. Not a fan of the headlights personally (eventhough I had some on the wagon for a while), but the sig picture made me smile.

[fastwagonhawaii]

Got to put some pegs on there. matter a fact I would match paint it also to match the car that's on it and then put pegs on it.

[Johann]

fastwagonhawaii, on 25 May 2012 - 12:27 AM, said:

Got to put some pegs on there. matter a fact I would match paint it also to match the car that's on it and then put pegs on it.

I know I know...

The options are plenty. Paint it 214 with pegs is one of them. 18" in the front and 17" in the rear. A 17 x 8 ET46 Peg needs a spacer to fit and I don't like spacers on a load axle. Added to that the car is stupidly wide in the rear, 2.47 mtr on the fenders, and with a wider track it will become even more challenging. Then there's also roll resistance with the NA engine and consumption. In the end it is basically a truck. At the moment there's winter tires 225/50-16 in the front and 205/55-16 in the rear on Persus 16 x 6.5 ET43 rims. The rear axles use stock 850 calipers, rotors, handbrakes and hubs. With the air suspension setup there isn't much room behind the wheel. I've decided to go hunt for 2 Comet and 4 Meteor wheels. Put 215/45-17 in the front and 205/55016 in the rear maintaining the stock rear axle setup. My own idea is a V70XC front conversion at some point and I'm still a big fan of white.

Drove back from Sweden with a speed of 75MPH, ~81MPH the highest. This was with the lift axle raised. Car did well. With the load on it I only drove around town yesterday and the highest speed reached was 56MPH at which it ran very nice but driving winter tires at 86 degree ambient doesn't work well between the ears.

First the small things. Repair the load bay of the ramp plates. Already fixed/replaced the license plate lights and moved them out to fit a wider Euro plate between them. Winch didn't work yesterday but needs to be moved to fit the SDM's front spoiler anyway. AC is dead. Wipers stop in the middle of the windscreen. Replaced one brake caliper but the others need attention also.

[fastboy]

That Carrier is awesome although I am somewhat surprised it doesn't have a heavier ply tire on the rear axles. A D5 in this would be sweet.

[Johann]

fastboy, on 25 May 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

That Carrier is awesome although I am somewhat surprised it doesn't have a heavier ply tire on the rear axles. A D5 in this would be sweet.

Ply you mean load rating?

1680 load allowed, 2460 axle load allowed maxes 1230 per axle. Load rating of the rear tires is 94 = 670 makes 1340. I think this works. The SDM's weight is near 1300 with a full tank of gasoline.