Electrical repairs and upgrades, including restoration of your original harness or building a complete custom harness from scratch; lighting upgrades, alternator conversions, 6 to 12 volt conversions and instrumentation upgrades.
Fuel system service: we have more than 30 years' experience with SU carbs and D-jetronic Fuel Injection. Rebushing services – or rebushed carbs – available; full diagnosis and repair of injection systems. DCOE, HIF and ZS rebuilding and tuning. Djet retrofits and SDS installation/tuning also available. |
The Standard Stuff: troubleshooting and diagnosis of whatever ails your beloved old car; full ignition tuneups, carb tuning, fluid changes.
Engine rebuilding: bone stock rebuilds or performance applications. There are a lot of variables here, so this calls for a bit of consultation. Drop a note or give a call and let's talk. Transmission rebuilding: anything from sealing them up and ridding the car of leaks to a full rebuild including new synchros, bearings, seals and other wear components. Brake systems: anything from a simple adjustment to substantial upgrade, including front disk conversions for PV series Volvos, rear disk conversions for all drum rear models. Wilwood master cylinder conversions, single-to-dual master conversions, booster retrofits, adjustable bias valve installation.
Body and window seals: windshield, window, door, trunk and body seal replacement. Guaranteed to not leak. We're the only Portland area shop we know of that also installs the windshield trim. |
![]() Ignition: If you're running a modified B18 or B20, we now offer complete 123 Ignition distributors. A completely new distributor, the basic version replaces your original and offers all of the factory advance curves; the more versatile versions offer fully programmable advance curves, both centrifugal and vacuum, so that your ignition system can fully integrate with and support other engine modifications. We use these on our own cars.
If originality is your priority, we also offer complete rebuilding of the original Bosch distributors as well as a variety of low impact upgrades for those who wish to simplify their maintenance schedule. Pertronix and FAST (formerly Crane) breakerless systems are available for nearly all Bosch distributors and work well with stock configured engines. |
Things to know before you hire us:
What We Do
We offer a range of services. Some of our customers just need regular maintenance and repairs for their daily drivers. We’re the right place for that.
Some of our customers want their cars restored to original spec and in concourse ready condition. We’re the right place for that, too.
Our clients’ Volvos regularly take first in class or overall wins in contests such as the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance, the Jim Fisher Swedish Beauty contest, the Davis Meet Weekend with three different cars taking first in class three years running. We’ve earned Best in Show, Peoples’ Choice and multiple Best In Class awards at the ipd Garage Sale over several years as well as our own 122 earning three 1st Place Awards at the national level in VCOA and VSA West Coast National meets. If a top-level concourse winner is what you want, we can make it happen.
The majority of our customers want to improve performance. This might mean building a more powerful engine for the car, or upgrading the suspension, improving the brakes or overdrive conversions. Or all of those things. We’re absolutely the right place for that.
We don’t give firm estimates. We’ll give a ballpark for some kinds of typical maintenance and repair work. If you need a tune up, for example, we can quote you on that. But the majority of the work we do is billed by time and materials – it’s impossible to guess exactly how long a job will take when dealing with a car that’s decades old and may have suffered from rust, abuse, damage or sabotage. Sometimes the condition of the car is worse than expected.
Sometimes we have to source parts that are on a long backorder or that have been out of production for decades. For example: Here in rainy Oregon we replace a lot of leaky window seals. When the glass is out, we address any hidden rust issues. Best case scenario: no rust is found and the seal replacement is textbook. Other times, the rust is significant enough that a correct repair requires patching up holes, treating bare metal, priming and painting, then waiting for all of this to dry before reinstalling the window and seal. We can’t know what we’ll find under the seal until we remove it.
We don’t perform quick fixes for substantial issues. No band-aids here.
Before you upgrade anything, consider this: Often, the cost of a substantial improvement or repair to your old Volvo won’t significantly change the market value of the car. An average condition 122, for example, might be a $10,000 car. Spending $5000 on such a probably won’t increase the value of that car by $5000. It may not increase the value at all. It’s common for our customer to spend more on upgrading a newly acquired car than they paid for the car to begin with and it’s not common for this ‘investment’ to ever be recovered. Don’t expect to get this money back out of the Volvo.
Want to go fast? There are a number of ways to improve your Volvo’s performance. There are V8 and V6 swaps, there are Volvo OHC turbo conversions, and there are drivetrain swaps that use engines and transmissions from other marques. The results can be astonishing.
We don’t do any of those. There’s nothing wrong with these methods, it’s just not what we do.
Swedish Relics provides upgrades and modifications that more closely align with your Volvo’s era. In addition to stock spec rebuilds, we also rebuild B18 and B20 engines with more performance-oriented components like H beam rods, forged pistons, ported heads, fancy hotrod camshafts, custom stroker cranks, programmable breakerless distributors and large carburetors. The end result is a new engine that will outperform anything that was available from Volvo when the car was new but still presents as period correct.
Our approach to these cars has been continuously refined over the last 35 years. If what we offer or how we go about it doesn’t match your vision, we’ll be happy to help you find an appropriate resource that can better meet your needs. We won’t change our procedures nor standards ‘just this once.’ We can explain this in greater detail if you like.
For small projects, like a simple repair or tuneup, we’ll get it done and collect payment on completion. For moderate projects, like a new interior or an engine rebuild, we’ll ask for a deposit against the work with the balance due when the work is done. For large projects, such as a complete restoration, we’ll require a deposit up front. We’ll work against that deposit and provide invoices on a regular basis.
We take photos of the work we do and may use those photos on social media and on our own website. If you’d like us to take specific photos along the way, just let us know and we’ll be happy to oblige.
You are welcome to request an update on your invoicing or on the work performed at any time. You’re invited to check on progress in person as often as you wish.
At any time in the process, you may request that we stop work and tally your bill, and you may collect your car and any related parts that have been paid for.
In order to progress at a reasonable pace, we will commit to a given amount of time and resources that will be dedicated solely to your project and you will make a financial commitment to match.
Should a customer be unable to pay for work to be performed on their project, we will be unable to meet their needs. If a significant project is underway, we reserve the right to end our participation and collect all owed amounts.
What We Do
We offer a range of services. Some of our customers just need regular maintenance and repairs for their daily drivers. We’re the right place for that.
Some of our customers want their cars restored to original spec and in concourse ready condition. We’re the right place for that, too.
Our clients’ Volvos regularly take first in class or overall wins in contests such as the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance, the Jim Fisher Swedish Beauty contest, the Davis Meet Weekend with three different cars taking first in class three years running. We’ve earned Best in Show, Peoples’ Choice and multiple Best In Class awards at the ipd Garage Sale over several years as well as our own 122 earning three 1st Place Awards at the national level in VCOA and VSA West Coast National meets. If a top-level concourse winner is what you want, we can make it happen.
The majority of our customers want to improve performance. This might mean building a more powerful engine for the car, or upgrading the suspension, improving the brakes or overdrive conversions. Or all of those things. We’re absolutely the right place for that.
We don’t give firm estimates. We’ll give a ballpark for some kinds of typical maintenance and repair work. If you need a tune up, for example, we can quote you on that. But the majority of the work we do is billed by time and materials – it’s impossible to guess exactly how long a job will take when dealing with a car that’s decades old and may have suffered from rust, abuse, damage or sabotage. Sometimes the condition of the car is worse than expected.
Sometimes we have to source parts that are on a long backorder or that have been out of production for decades. For example: Here in rainy Oregon we replace a lot of leaky window seals. When the glass is out, we address any hidden rust issues. Best case scenario: no rust is found and the seal replacement is textbook. Other times, the rust is significant enough that a correct repair requires patching up holes, treating bare metal, priming and painting, then waiting for all of this to dry before reinstalling the window and seal. We can’t know what we’ll find under the seal until we remove it.
We don’t perform quick fixes for substantial issues. No band-aids here.
Before you upgrade anything, consider this: Often, the cost of a substantial improvement or repair to your old Volvo won’t significantly change the market value of the car. An average condition 122, for example, might be a $10,000 car. Spending $5000 on such a probably won’t increase the value of that car by $5000. It may not increase the value at all. It’s common for our customer to spend more on upgrading a newly acquired car than they paid for the car to begin with and it’s not common for this ‘investment’ to ever be recovered. Don’t expect to get this money back out of the Volvo.
Want to go fast? There are a number of ways to improve your Volvo’s performance. There are V8 and V6 swaps, there are Volvo OHC turbo conversions, and there are drivetrain swaps that use engines and transmissions from other marques. The results can be astonishing.
We don’t do any of those. There’s nothing wrong with these methods, it’s just not what we do.
Swedish Relics provides upgrades and modifications that more closely align with your Volvo’s era. In addition to stock spec rebuilds, we also rebuild B18 and B20 engines with more performance-oriented components like H beam rods, forged pistons, ported heads, fancy hotrod camshafts, custom stroker cranks, programmable breakerless distributors and large carburetors. The end result is a new engine that will outperform anything that was available from Volvo when the car was new but still presents as period correct.
Our approach to these cars has been continuously refined over the last 35 years. If what we offer or how we go about it doesn’t match your vision, we’ll be happy to help you find an appropriate resource that can better meet your needs. We won’t change our procedures nor standards ‘just this once.’ We can explain this in greater detail if you like.
For small projects, like a simple repair or tuneup, we’ll get it done and collect payment on completion. For moderate projects, like a new interior or an engine rebuild, we’ll ask for a deposit against the work with the balance due when the work is done. For large projects, such as a complete restoration, we’ll require a deposit up front. We’ll work against that deposit and provide invoices on a regular basis.
We take photos of the work we do and may use those photos on social media and on our own website. If you’d like us to take specific photos along the way, just let us know and we’ll be happy to oblige.
You are welcome to request an update on your invoicing or on the work performed at any time. You’re invited to check on progress in person as often as you wish.
At any time in the process, you may request that we stop work and tally your bill, and you may collect your car and any related parts that have been paid for.
In order to progress at a reasonable pace, we will commit to a given amount of time and resources that will be dedicated solely to your project and you will make a financial commitment to match.
Should a customer be unable to pay for work to be performed on their project, we will be unable to meet their needs. If a significant project is underway, we reserve the right to end our participation and collect all owed amounts.