Meet The Admins & Moderators

[theunderlord]

Name : Kevin Teeter

Age : 31

New VS Handle - theunderlord

this is my old account, so that's why it shows up as just a regular member...

george and I vvvv

Hey guys.. most of y'all know me, this thread is just meant to give you guys a lil more information about the moderator team here on volvospeed.

My old 98 S70 GLT

The V70 T5M

(neither of those are photoshops)

annnnnd here's the new ride..

[EricF]

Well.

I'm Eric Fosbender, and even though my moderator say around here isn't that extensive, if you're being bad in Performance, I'll get ya.

I work at Micro Optics of Florida in Fort Lauderdale, as Vice President of Operations, specializing in online sales and high end service. Also finishing up my degree in night classes where I can.

I basically live fishing, and hopefully in the next year or so should have some spectacular trips to tell you about.

I'm looking for a house now to rent, preferably on an ocean access canal with a 2-car garage. Should be living with two of my best friends as roommates, really looking forward to it. I enjoy drinking of course, but mostly beer. I'm trying to become a conoisseur of sorts, but it's going slow... Liquor is fine, but I'm not the biggest fan.

I've been working on Volvos for a few years now and have learned a ton (both the hard way and the easy way). Maybe someday I'll know enough that my advice will be worthwhile

I've blown up a black 850, have had three 240's (a 244 turbo, 242 turbo, and a 242 GT which I still own), have had two 740s (both 1988 turbos, one sedan and one wagon, both manual), and now have two 850s, though one will be scrapped soon.

All of my cars have been modified to various levels, and quick to various levels... The black 850 was bordering on fast in good tune, but then it met its untimely demise. The silver 854 was a quick car in both renditions of its hardware setup. Will soon be scrap metal though, and my 850 focus will turn towards my silver 855.

The GT is the weekend racer project, completely gutted, no AC, power steering, blower motor or vents, stock block and transmission, modified 405 head, K cam, etc etc. Should see low 13s if it's light enough and gets enough traction. Should also be running very soon!

As you can see, I'm a bench racer, but the GT should be running decently this summer :)

[JESSEXC]

Name: Jesse Gallegos

Age: 33

]

*Stands up and clears throat* There is really nothing to exciting about me. I have been in ever aspect of the marine business since the age of 16, which I enjoy. I ran my own Marine repair for about 4-1/2 years then was wiped out my 9/11. I am now Marine Sales person.

Married now for the past 10 years to my wonderful wife Mandy and have two great kids.

Expert: In anything boat related and taking things apart.

Most resent project was a all new foam stringer system built from scratch in a 20’ Center Console.

Volvo's owned

1994 850 Wagon NA

1995 850 Wagon Turbo Project car

1996 850 totaled NA(somehow found itself wrapped around a gas station pump)

1997 850 Sedan LPT

2002 XC AWD Ocean Race

[AnthonyR]

Name: Anthony Randall

Age: 21

I will try to find/take a better pic one of these days!

Anyways, I've been with Volvospeed a little over 3 years now (2.5 spent as a mod) and have been OH for around 2 years now. Always loved cars, and always loved turbos

First car that really got me into cars was my dad's 84 Mitsu Starion Turbo, was a pretty sweet car. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been teaching me how to do brakes, rebuild motors, general mechanical stuff. He still knows a fair amount more than I do mechanically, but I am catching up and I think I'm better at electrical. Turned 16, bought my first car (91 Ford Taurus L aka POS) problems plagued that car, and in the search for a new car a friend of mine got me lookin into Volvo's. Always liked volvo's (never was a fan of the mid-90's roundness cars had goin) At first I looked at the 700's 200's etc, but didn't like those as much as the friends car, a 95 850 turbo. A few months after that I bought my own red 95 850 turbo. Last october (04) the automatic trans in the 850 up and died on me. Right around the same time I was leaving for basic. This is when I picked up the 87 740 gle for $300 and it has been pretty rock solid reliable. Put over 8k miles on it already while I work on the 850.

I first started browsing on Brickboard, but soon tired of the anti-modding generally cranky people on there and stumbled across the VS forum one day when I was looking something up on Bay13, been here ever since. Also started my own site, project850.com, which is now project850.no-ip.org, and soon to be project850.volvospeed.com . It's still a work in progress, but I try to keep it updated as best I can.

I consider myself fairly knowledgable on the 850's inner workings, my strongest points being electrical. Also in the process of a Manual swap (should be done this week) and although it has it's annoying parts, on the whole it's not too bad. And so far I have been 100% solo on it, and I'm trying to take as many pics as I can to help others. Also very good at "making things work" ie mycguyver style making things work when I don't have a part I may need or something. So if you ever need help thinking up something that doesn't exist, but you need it, ask me and I'll prolly figure it out.

I have had many widely varying jobs in everything from Help Desk computer support, to real estate, to car audio/alarm/remote start installer, to pizza delivery. Currently looking for work as I just got back from Initial Active Duty Air Force training (I am in the Air National Guard) and do odds and ends for my dad's accounting firm as of now.

More on the guard. I am an A1C (Airman first class) soon to be SrA (Senior Airman) in the Air National guard and my job is a 2G031 - Logistics Planner, basically deployment planning (who, what, where, when type of stuff)

Personal life, I am getting married in Sept. Fiance drives a 98 S70 glt. I have one year of college at the UofMN, found out I don't like full time college as much, and now that it's free for me (Guard) I am going to start more part time. Looking at Architecture as a major. Always up for hanging out with friends, don't drink that often (less than once a month). Also play alot of Halo2 online, so if you're on there as well, hit me up (Arandall850)

Anyways, holy long post batman! and that should be good for now!

Also one last thing, if you are ever traveling thru MN or live in MN, hit me up on AIM or PM and we'll do lunch or something. I make a point of trying to meet as many VS members as possible.

Edit: Just got a job at the local Volvo dealership (Borton Volvo of MN) as an entry level technician.

[gdizzle]

Name: GregK

Age:Old

I own cars and work on them, play music, take pictures, and other crap like that.

My favorite picture of Travis.

[ontheheel]

Austin Grimes

I am a 21 year old Psychology student at the University of Oklahoma. My first car was a 96 Volvo 850 Turbo, and I had a Speedtuning USA ECU, custom 3 inch exhaust, custom hot-air intake, MBC, BOV, BA and JL speakers. Loved the car, but became too much of a mantainence hassle while going to school full time. I loved working on it and fixing stuff myself, but just didn't have the time to do it. So, i got a 2004 F-150 that lasted a few months before i was in a major accident involving another truck crossing into oncoming traffic on the freeway. I came out with just a couple of scratches from my airbag on my arm, but the frame was bent on the truck. So...now i've got another 2004 F-150. Nothing to really work on it since it is brand new, and I have no money for mods .

Other than cars, I like OU football, camping, being a mountain bike poseur, hunting, fishing, Texas, photography, and gadgets.

One more thing, I love building furniture. Greene and Greene furniture and architecture are two things that I think are pretty sweet. Well...all of the turn of the century misison style stuff, but espescially them.

[Volvoson]

Name : Carson Swink

Age : 20

Forum Led : Showroom

Let's see... Where to start. I love Volvo's, my parents had an ~83ish (can't remember) 244 GL, it was an awesome car. My dad took great care of it, always washing/waxing it, it was in excellent condition up until the day we sold it. I have a feeling that is why I am into Volvos, since I was raised around them.

Once I turned 16, I got my original 850 Turbo, left it stock for a year and a half and it was a great car. Then one day, my tranny went out, spent $3000+ on the repairs, then I decided I was going to keep the car. I started modding it (as many of you know), and had probably the best Light Green / Teal 850's around. On April 23rd, 2005, my green car met its fate with a minivan

It was a tough 2 months, but I then got my yellow T-5R over in Boston, MA and drove it home across the country. Since then, I have spent a little money on it, but mainly just put the Pegs on it and a few small tweaks here and there.

I work at Speedware Motorsports as the Shipping/Receiving Manager and project photographer if I'm lucky.

As for what I do in my free time, I just hang out with friends (yes, I do have some friends), watch movies, sleep, sleep, and post on VS.

I think that about does it for me... Here is my current T-5R and past Turbo:

If you have any questions for me, look up my contact info in my profile.

[Che'_Moderator]

Name: Charles Linden

Age: 28

Was a rough day at work

Wow. I just now saw this post today. I guess Kendall never told me about it. Lets see. We can start up front by betting on how many typos I will make in this post and just ignore. I started this site in 98 mainly because I was sick of spending hours searching for basic info on Volvos. At the time I was involved with BMW racing. My first Volvo was in 1995, and was a T5. I actually managed to run 12s in the quarter with it in 97 before I blew the engine. After that I have owned a 98 GLT, 95 T5R, and an 05 S60R.

I work for a HLS contractor up until this year when I started flipping houses.

I consider myself an expert in:

1. People

2. Knowing that I know nothing

[matt1122]

Name: Matt

Age: 23

Volvos Driven (Past and Present): 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R x2 (Yellow, Sedan), 2001 Volvo V70 XC 2.4T (Silver), 2001 Volvo S80 T6.

Expert In: Surfing the interweb.

Story: Wow, haven't looked at this for two years? I started driving Volvo's as soon as I got my license. My dad was driving a 1989 Volvo 744 Turbo Intercooler at the time. My mother had a GMC Suburban or Yukon XL, whichever it was in those days, and a 1995 Volvo 850 T-5R, which she only purchased because the sales guy bamboozled her when she was trying to get rid of her 1994 Volvo 850 which she didn't like. I refused to drive an SUV because it scared me, and so I was blessed with the T-5R, but I was too young and naive to realize what a treat this was.

One day on the way to school sometime in the spring of 2001 I was cruising along at 35 miles per hour, being a responsible driver, and I decided I had time to make a left hand turn but it would have to be quick. I slowed to around 25 miles per hour and proceeded to the turn. I stepped on the gas and was absolutely shocked at the feeling of this car throwing me against my seat as the engine sang it's inline-5 cylinder tune. I wasn't shocked as much at the sound and feeling as I was that the car kept going where I wanted it to, staying completely in control. After this happened I began to become interested in the car.

After that summer one of my friends was telling me how sweet my car was and how fast it could be with just a few mods. I instantly went to the library and logged into google. This is the exact search I did: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=V...G=Google+Search

Since then I have learned almost everything I know about cars on VolvoSpeed.

[Guest AlvinL]

Hello all,

I came across this board some time ago in my quest for help in maintaining my then 95-850GLT which has been replaced by the T5-R. My father is into Volvos when he started with them in the 60's. I guess I've now caught that volvo bug too. I like to help and share my knowledge and experiences. Imagine my surprise when asked to be a moderator.

What I also like to do after a hard day at work is to come home and relax, have dinner with my wife and two boys, drink beer and watch TV. Prefer to watch movies at home surrounded with a nice home theater. Oh, and of course, being on this board which I must admit, I do jump into when I'm supposed to be hard at work during the day. Well, we all need a break now and then. Hey, I don't smoke so give me a break!

Cheers!

[Bing_0]

Time for me to finally do this I guess

Name: Bing

Age: 27, 28 the day after xmas

Proficiency: Car audio and Video sales and installation. Mutli-cultural Policy. Modern Military History (Post WWI)

My story:

Well, i came to the US in 1991 from the People' Republic of China...no I didnt swim over Lived in NJ and got started in cars from my best friend who was into offroading. My first vehicle was a 1989 toyota pickup truck lifted on 33s

My intrest in Car audio started in 1994, when a good friend of mine told me he was going to change the system in his Nissan Pathfinder with parts he ordered from Crutchfield and that he was going to do the install himself. My famous words to him was :

DONT DO IT! YOU WILL MESS IT UP AND IT WONT SOUND GOOD AT ALL!! CAR AUDIO IS STUPID!

Two weeks later, as i sat in his car listening to his system, my whole perspective changed. I began figiding with the system in my truck with the money i saved. At first i just had a crappy crunch amp and crucnh truck boxes installed at best buy, but then, i realized that it sounded horrible compared to my freinds...so in 1996, i took the plunge. My first system ever, that i did myself comprised of the following:

Old kenwood tape deck that came with the trunk

crunch two channel amp

blauphnkt 4 channel amp

tiny coustic amp

all the amps bolted to the back wall of the trunk

two jl 10w0s in truck boxes i built in my dorm

coustic eq

kenwood 6.5" coaxes in the door

coustic 4" in the dash

pioneer tweets glued to the window high up

boxes holding 4" coustic coaxils behind my head screwd to the corder of the cab's roof

boxes holding 6" altec lansing mids bolded to the floor right infront of hte seat...

it sounded much better to me at that point...and i was quite proud of the fact that I had done a 10 speaker system in a regular cab toyota!

After that, for about two years, i basically changed components, cd players, amps, etc etc...and probably went through 5 or 6 different combinations...then in 1998, i attended my first IASCA competition and that even changed my entire philosophy on car audio. I heard cars with two front speakres in kick panels, and one rear sub sound a million times better than my jumble of speakres, and i saw the use of fiberglass save weight and space and create elegant installs.

The day after i came back, i ripped out everyting in my car, sold it, and started new. I also began reading alot about car audio in general in books, and online. I found a few freinds who worked at shops and started to go in and learn from him, as well as talking to seasoned competitors about their installs and theories on sound. After about 2 months of studying and planning...i created my first simplified install:

Eclipse 5440 cd player, image dynamics CD-1E horns under the dash, Image Dynamics IDQ6s in kicks (my first attempted and they looked horrible but sounded good ), image dynamics IDQ12 behind the seat, and two uscoustics amps. It sounded wonderful! And then, the rest is history, over the next two years, i repeated torn out and redid my truck, probably having over 6 different combinations in there. At the samet ime, i started building system based on this Simplicity concept for friends. I also started competing for fun, since i never have the time or money to do it for real, but the hobby help me narrow down my concept of simplicity in sound even more.

After graduation, i officially began building car audio systems in my garage afterhours, and also helping out with fiberglass and sound quality installs at a local shop. Twoyears later, i realized that i hated my normal job and all i can think of was doing car audio, so I quite my job and started my shop, a year later, i was recruited by another shop to do their custom installation and sales.

During this time, i also began looking at in car video, and started to import my own brand of stuff from asia using my connections there. THe goal was to provide hihg quality screens at alow cost.

So, i guess thats where I am, Moving to Cali, I am stilling doing pretty much the same thing, doing simplified and sound-good car audio system, and repping for my mobile video line

A few things about me not related to car audio:

I am a 2001 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. BS in history and policy(focus in military history and and some technology related history). MS in public policy and management from The Heinz School of Public Policy, with a concentration on Multicultural History. So Basically, what this means is that i love writing and i like to engage discussions related to history and multi-cultural relations

I also love sports, with basketball, pingpong, and downhill skiing as my favorite.

I am a firm believer in that the more knoweldge i learn, regardless of how irrelevant it may be at that point, the more complete i am a human being. So i strive to be knowledgable and decent at many things, instead of being an expert at only one.

ONE FINAL WORD:

Many of the VS members seem to think i a some kind of Audio God. I want to heavily dissuade you from this thinking. And I am not being modest, in the wide world of mobile installation, on a scale of 1 being the most novice, and 10 being an expert, i would honestly rate myself no higher than a 5 or 6. There are installers out there who far far far exceeds me in both knowledge, and craftsmanship. So, please dont think of me as some kind of super-installer that can do anything and everyhting well

What I am good at is 1. being relatively open minded when it comes to brand name and installation technique, and wont always push people towards a few certain brands and citing that everyting else is horrible. and 2. at creating clean, simple installs that sound pretty good, especially for the money.

well, thats my story, and I am sticking to it :)

[Three Fat Tigers]

Name: Edward

Age: 42

Army of clones: Three Fat Tigers, Chemical Spill, ROARster, SonofaVader, Mr. Resistor, Testosteroni, TH0UGHT P0LICE, and a host of others I'm sure I've forgotten.

Proficiency: pretty much everything, well anything I try, I am a god you know

Occupation: posting on Volvo boards, playing video games, and watching anime. In my spare time I design access databases, program systems and write code.

Cars: primary ride: my '96 MX5 Ryoko. Volvos: '84 242Ti (work in progress), '90 764Ti (work in progress), '92 245, '94 944T, '96 960 Other: '83 Renault R5 (only 38k miles but has been in storage so long it now needs restoring, to bad I've lost my taste for things that are French); and have owned quite a number of 240 Volvos & VWs.

Hobbies: computer animation, modifying cars, driving my roadster, member of Team Hurl & Blue Ridge Miata Club, raising tigers, home improvement, restoration: you name it: cars electronics, et cetera

Photo:

Relaxing in my favorite chair:

My offices:

Primary Office

Second Office

Story: (severely abbreviated) born in Manhattan to truly impressive and wonderful parents, grew up in Dallas, went to lousy schools, have since lived in VA Beach, Charlotte, Lynchburg, Dallas, Lynchburg, Dallas, Lynchburg. Have worked in almost all aspects of theater/stage/concert/television production; classic car restoration including VW, Triumph, Jaguar, Volvo; repairing and building cars (mostly VW & Volvos); worked in stock market, selling mutual funds, researching stock equity; building & programming computer systems, modifying and tailoring software to client needs for automation and maximum efficiency; too many other jobs to list; self employed since '93 as Access database developer, network manager, and systems programmer.

Mission statement: I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity to help those in need any way I can.

Credits: all the credit for my life and success goes to my wonderful heavenly Father, all that Jesus has done for me, and the quiet instructions I receive from the Holy Spirit on every project I work on.

This has been a Three Fat Tigers production

[Johann]

Name: Johann Dijkstra

Age: 39

Occupation: Yes.

About me,

Me is married with a beautiful wife and together we have two children, boys, age 8 and 3.

I started the car thing before my 18th birthday, the year at which we Euro's can get a driver license. At first there was Honda. I have driven various versions of the Honda Civic starting with a '85 model 1.3 DX, a 1.5i GT after that, two Vtec'c, some Accord Aerodeck's, cheated with a BMW 318iS Coupe for 9 months and after crashing this hidious car I went back to a Hond Accord 2.2 Coupe which I traded shortly after for a Honda Shuttle (Odyssey in the US).

After that came the Volvo virus. The first Volvo was a '97 V70T5 manual. After that an '00 V70NT5 Geartronic, an '01 S60T5, an '04 V70R AWD and now an '04 S60R AWD.

In November 2002 I decided to aquire a second Volvo which I could use for tuning habits. This car was a '97 Volvo 850T5. This year I aquired a third Volvo, an '00 S70T5, to follow up the 850.

Besides the Volvo I also own a 4 door '71 Nissan 2400GT better known as a Skyline, car is in pieces at the moment, a '77 Datsun 180b SSS, a Nissan 280ZX for spare parts and a '75 Porsche 914 2.0 which basically is a wrecker.

Expert in:

Nothing, learning every day.

[Zappo]

Name : George Haigh

Age : whatever

Racing Forum

I have been on the forums for a little over a year now. Most of you know who I am. I have been modding my cars for 20 years now, everything from cosmetic mods to full drivetrain swaps. I have had my 97 R for just over 3 years now. Before that it was 10 years of Italian cars. The Volvo is more reliable.

I work for an accounting firm in Bellevue, WA as their IT manager. I have BS in CS, so IT works is "beneath me", but it pays and my programming jobs in the past haven't. They were much more enjoyable though.

When I am not working on cars or working for a living, I ride my bike. I don't race, except for club time trials. I mostly do touring rides, 40 miles to 200 miles in length.

I am part of the famous NW Crew, or is that imfamous? Since I have been working on my cars for so long, I tend to be the guy crew calls for the more difficult installs, like suspension, ICs, or just stuff I have already done on my car. I also answer a ton of questions on AIM, so feel free to ask.

As Kevin has stated above, I am the secretary of our VCOA chapter in the Seattle area. I also maintain the NW crew list.

George is chapter secretary, and looks great in a skirt!

Not really, but I am smokin in lycra.

Here I am with Kevin during a recent install.

[Guest Jena]

Jena... pronounced like Gina.

I like moonlit walks along the beach, candlelight diners, slumber parties and cotton candy.

Ok... seriously...

I work with Charlie as a Financial Assistant... and I feel like the one he seems to always turn to when he is feeling the need to torment some one. I understand that he does it out of <3, so I'm ok with it.

My knowledge of cars is pretty limited, and definitely not geared towards Volvos. Most of what I picked up was from an ex of mine, who blew the engine in his new Toyota truck and did the only logical thing there was to do... replace it with a Chevy 350. During that time I was the tool-hander, part-getter, beer-bringer, and the occasional helper... (mainly when his dad wasn't around). I really enjoyed that time though, hanging out in the garage, pretending to not understand the concepts they spoke of, then making suggestions that were actually right... ahh yes, good times. He also made sure I learned enough to handle minor things with out the supervision or assistance of a man, should there not be one around... general maintenance... so yeah, I can change my oil and tires, fill the fluids, etc... I did get really good at determining a car's problem by the symptoms, but it's been a long time since I was in that kind of environment, so I'm probably more then a tad rusty. I don't mind getting durty... it can be fun, but I much prefer the background... watching and admiring the man as he does his thing.

I'm a gurly-gurl... but I'm not. I'm not afraid of squirmy things (with one exception), and I actually enjoy gutting/filleting fish, chopping firewood, building campfires... perfectly balanced between being a lady and being able to hang with the boys.

Pool (billiards) is a passion of mine... some like their cars... I like my cue stick and breaking balls. Not a big beer drinker though... ewe. I like Bacardi O3s though... mmmm... usually what I drink when I'm out.

Ok. I'm done, not sure what else to say, and I feel like I should be submitting this to match.com or something. Anything else you want to know... ask... I enjoy chatting with people about anything... well... almost anything.

Oh! Also, I use '...' a lot... as you can probably tell. Lol.