Paul Rowland 64 P1800 (Project Saint Marie) by Swedish Ops (Special Builds Division)

[Iamtheonlyreal1]

Here is an introduction to one of our first Customer pay build P1800's. It was
delivered to Swedish Ops (Special Builds Division) by Paul Rowlands from the State of Georgia, and
I must say this is a very solid car. This build will have all of the Swedish
Skunk Werks components including, Suspension, Drivetrain, modern conveniences
and upgrades, but will appear to factory in appearance. We are going with a 375
horsepower LS1 conversion, with a 5-speed standard transmission.

Everything one of the Swedish Ops components is a direct replacement or
bolt on, and everything in this build will be offered in our upcoming Swedish Ops
online catalog. The list of components going into this car is..
Complete New Design front crossmember/Suspension kit with upgraded brakes, rack
and pinion, adjustable ride height and quality.

Complete New Designed Rear End Assembly, featuring a Mod-light 9in rear end,
with disc brakes and Adjustable Aluminum 4 link trailing arms and panhard bar.
New Crate Performance 375 Horsepower General Motors LS1 featuring, Fuel
Injection, Performance Headers, higher fuel efficency, greater service support
and performance.

New Keisler RS600 5-speed Standard Transmission, which features a wide variety of gear
ratios, depending on driving specifications and needs of the driver.

New and Modern Style Air Conditioning, which is will be offered exclusively as a
full kit by Swedish Ops, but will be Manufactured by Vintage Air.
Exclusive Direct Replacement Electronic Guages that will be exclusively offered
by Swedish Ops, and will be offered in a full kit.

Performance all Aluminum Cross Flow Radiator with a direct mount Electric
Cooling Fan Option.. This is being manufactured by BeCool Radiator exclusively
for the Swedish Ops Catalog, and is a direct replacemnt radiator for the
Original Powertrain, or our LS Conversions.

We are still discussing the possibility of Project Saint Marie using Classic
Auto Glass Innovations Flush Mount Glass Kit, so it may also be a feature to
this build. There are many more features that will appear on this build, but
Paul and Stephanie opted for an original style appearance, so it will not be
showcasing all the Swedish Ops products.

The interior will be original in style and appearance, which is very stylish in
its original form.

Here is a bit of History and Expectations of the car from Mr Paul Rowlands.

I purchased Saint Marie in 1998 I think. She was an original Macon Ga sold
car, sold in early 1965 and hence the title shows a 65 even though the serial of
11673 was made in 64. When I brought her home to meet my other two Volvos which
we had of course named as well, we considered names and came up with Saint
Marie. Saint for obvious reasons, Marie for unknown reason! Just sounded right
at the time.
When I bought her she was running and of course finicky with her choke and I
threw tires on her from Sears (165 series that you see on her now) and I drove
her around town and to my office once in awhile. She had a noise here and there
and the dealer installed factory AC never did work so she was not to be driven
in the heat of summer. She was always a head turner and we could never go
anywhere without hearing either; "what kind of car is that?" or "My xxxxx had
one of those waa-aaay back when!" People were usually enamored with the classic
sporty look.
It was late 2005 that she didn't want to start and I found compression very
very low in one or two cylinders. There was no appreciable wear in the cylinders
and I probably could've just thrown her back together and run her since it
turned out to be stuck rings from sitting too much. I could not find a rebuild
kit for the B18 and would've had to punch it out to a B20 to rebuild it
properly. I figured it would be best to go ahead and completely restore her and
I started my parts buying spree and amassed a wealth of parts to try and make
her OEM whole again. I figured I would address the engine issue when the time
came.
In 2006, my wife, Stephanie Reese, and I also began our project of building a
cabin in the mountains of Sevierville, Tn near Pigeon Forge. I designed a
"little" 3500+ sq ft cabin and we spent the next 1 ½ years acting as a General
Contractor to our custom home builder. This took priority over our project Saint
Marie. We finished the cabin in late 2007 and began enjoying the fruits of our
labor as many weekends a month as possible. In the meantime, I tried to spend as
much time on Saint Marie as I could but I also had some medical problems that
prevented me from doing a lot of the mechanical work I have always done to my
personal vehicles. Ruptured lumbar discs and hard work do not go together!
I pulled Marie up on my car hauler trailer and dreamed of the day I would be
able to deliver her to someone who I could trust to restore her to the standards
I expected of myself. Fast forward to this year and my discovery of Swedish
Skunkwerks, Robert Jackson. After watching Robert's project and approach to his
own 1966 P1800 and speaking to him at length about the possibilities, I came to
the decision my wife had been waiting on for the last 6 years. I had found my
restoration partner and it was a done deal in my mind.
Off to Oklahoma with the little Saint and I am looking forward to the finished
product. Alas, I shall not have to worry about punching the B18 out to a B20 and
a finicky choke is no longer a concern either. Saint Marie will be packing 375hp
from an LS1 V8 and a 5spd manual transmission instead of 4 spd with electric
overdrive.
In the end, Stephanie will be the daily driver of the Saint Marie and she is
excited about that. Her only requirements are that Marie remains a P1800 from a
visual standpoint inside and out. As long as no one can tell, without a trained
observation, that she is a classic Volvo P1800, Stpehanie is happy. However,
when Stephanie wants to push the old gal, she will be ready to run. I am also
installing a good Escort Redline radar detector and ZR4 laser jammer since the
little red Volvo will be a perfect target for the law!
Here are some pictures of Saint Marie, which shows the great condition of the
car.. I am not sure what year the first pictures were taken, when it appears in
a running state..