Suggestions: Future roles of the 300 series clubs

[foggyjames]

Spot on with a number of things there Mac.

Don't lose heart over Aymat's absence BTW....he does this, the Belgian prat. Doesn't post a damn thing for 3 months, comes back promising much, and doesn't arrive. He shut the site for a number of weeks (about a year ago?) for a 'redesign' which never arrived. Don't get me wrong, Aymat is a top bloke for what he's done in forming this site and community, but he's an annoying prat too sometimes!

cheers

James

[Carl]

Been watching this thread with interest and have been thinking about what everyone's been saying and I think Mac has got it spot on. Some sort of workshop may be great in theory, but wherever you put it it's gonna be a far distance from 90% of v3m'ers. If I was attempting a big job I'd rather do it at my place and then just ask for advice on here if I needed it (like I've done in the past). Also the cameradery (sp?) between everyone here is clear to see - if someone needs some physical help with something there's usually a member fairly close that's willing to help out, which I think is more than adequate I reckon.

But with this is mind I think it's essential that at the very least we sort out some sort of knowledge base - whether it's a subforum on here, or a separate web resource is set up, it'll definately be beneficial to all 300 owners.

The parts issue is perhaps something we could do something about. Where the 300s are all 15+ years old now a lot of stock is now considered obsolete - you see dealers on ebay getting rid of brand new old stock because they no longer want it. I've even heard of dealers chucking loads of old stock away. Perhaps we could form some sort of way of obtaining this stock from Volvo or any other manufacturers and storing it until someone needed it. Whether that involved someone acquiring some sort of storage facility or something I'm not sure, but if a few members were willing to invest a bit of money something could be sorted out I'm sure. Then when someone needed a part it could bought back off the club. You could either add a small mark up to cover costs, or you could pay a annual membership to have access to the parts bin and cover overheads that way.

[MJ]

I can even see 'talk you through a job' chats on the phone in the future. May be a posted list of 'pet' experts phone numbers ??

This is even more likely with the increase of internet phones, which means the possibility of free calls

I've even heard of dealers chucking loads of old stock away. Perhaps we could form some sort of way of obtaining this stock from Volvo or any other manufacturers and storing it until someone needed it.

Yes, maybe some effort could be made to let dealers know about us, and that we will take parts they want to get rid of for a low price. Then, perhaps through meets, the parts can be spread over the country, so when a member needs a part, someone near by will have it, and can be posted/delivered.

[redline]

if somebody wants to buy me a six bedroom house with a few acres of land and a couple of barns I would be up for storing parts and supplying a workshop ,after all Milton Keynes is pretty damn central to all uk members . Do you think I should try extreme makeover or something like that ,lol

[mac]

Looks like a consensus is starting to emerge - everyone seems to agree that an archive is a good idea.

Foggy I note your comments regarding Aymat but perhaps someone has a way of contacting him to sound out his intentions?. My own feeling is that we need to get this up and running ASAP, if not actually on this forum then a separate site linked to v3m and administered here in the UK.

I am not a computer 'nerd' and I haven't a clue how to go about setting such a thing up but there must be some IT guys on v3m who would know/advise.
It seems to me that we need an easy way of submitting posts - on to this forum as now - but then have a 'panel' of moderators to evaluate info before transferring to the archive. (don't think it best practice to open the archive for anyone to post anything).

Carl & MJ - spot on , dealers and manufacturers dispose of tons of 'unwanted' stock - but if we wish to try to secure such stuff we must be more than a vitual community - we will have to become a named organisation (with the v3m forum still as 'home base'). To those disposing of stock it is a pure commercial decision - what will we get for it by keeping it and will we make an adequate return over the storage and selling costs.!
No commercial organisation will make a loss by keeping old stock that they are not obliged to.
We, as a virtual club only, would just be regarded as bunch of guys (and gals) who happen to chat online - I'm sorry we wouldn't be taken seriously (you might as well walk in off the street and ask "can I have all your old stuff please - I'm an enthusiast - honest").

Also for sourcing our own supply of parts, a 'title' would be usefull - private individuals just aren't seen as revenue generators. I seem to be having a little success with sourcing gasket materials - but at least I can talk 'trade language' which gives an intro to suppliers who would not normally deal with the general public.

It is very frustrating to see valuable (to us) stock destroyed but as a vitual community only, we are just not going to get our hands on it. As to storage of stuff we do get - if we can get it - we'll find a way to store it !!

Good idea Redline - but I'm all out of 6 bed units at present and Mrs. Mac has reserved the first one in (but I guess we can use your lounge, kitchen, and bathroom). Seriously I could do with a range of outbuildings myself (s/h 4post Bradburys are seriously cheap these days and as we all know a driveway and the std. car jack are not the ideal).

We can talk or we can do - may I suggest that all those interested and able meet over a weekend (at perhaps a hotel) somewhere centralish (to those able to attend) and 'thrash' the future out. I would suggest we try to do this before christmas.

If I am reading everyone wrongly do please shoot me down, but for what it's worth you have my opinion - everybody else thinks what ???

Mac.

[340GLT]

TBH guys i can see where we are all going with this but i do however think a centralised workshop is inconvenient as it will never be central for everyone. I Know i am in the lucky situation that i have the facilities of a very good workshop which is fully equipped, but i think Mac is right on with the information being of the upmost importance here.
I think the gasket situation has proved this. AS it is no longer available whereras gasket material is so yes its inconvenient but TBH its not amajor drama. I think as a club if we can keep as many 300's on the road as possible without need a dealership for parts we are on to a winner. Some such parts will always be available and the majority of parts that do wear out are available from other sources.
I know this because not meaning to sound spoilt, but if i add up what my car has cost me in bushes, paint and labour from other people we are talking around the £4k mark.
Mainly because whatever parts i have taken off to service etc have been refurbed and replaced so now my car is 4bushes short of being totally rebushed. At the end of teh day i am 18 and only have around 5 years experience around cars, so the confident DIY mechanic can do what ever they want if they believe they can.
I owe a lot to the300 as it has taught me a HELL of a lot about cars. But now i have carried out this work to look afetr my car i know it will look after me reliabilty wise.!!!
Rant over
Adam

[Carl]

I like the idea of forming into something a bit more than an online community and even if we just made something a bit more formal for outsiders to take us more seriously (dealers and other manufacturers I mean) then that's a good start for moving forward.

Also, Mac, from what I remember you were in 'the trade' for quite some time, and specifically linked to Volvo. From what you've said on this thread you wanna become involved in progressing our little community further so I reckon you're an ideal bloke to have on board. When you think that a lot of us are of the younger generation and perhaps might not be taken as seriously as we could, I think having your expertise/experience should be a large benefit for our 'club' both internally, for the members (as it already has), and externally to potential suppliers/dealers etc.

I'm quite happy to help out in anyway I can - my weekday life involves being an accountant, so if there's any financial gubbins to be done I can certainly help out there.

[petefarrell360]

Progressing nicely chaps! Mac........ a meet to discuss would be a great idea, mainly as each post is left, then a reply comes in, then another idea, and this can take days on one point, where as in a realtime conversation we can discuss and even resolve and find answers in minutes or at least within a day. The ideas and opinions are all floating around at once and can be sorted there and then. Before Christmas then. To get the ball rolling we need a venue, ideally free, and we need a date, say late October/early November so it's not too close to the silly season, but it gives people enough warning to keep the day free.

People are spot on in the fact that V3M needs to be more recognised rather than a virtual club. It can be difficult to even explain to my mates what it's all about, let alone when you're trying to introduce yourself to someone important, such as a parts manufacturer with regard to being an enthusiast. Although some of us get together occasionally at meets, or help each other out with our cars etc, it hasn't been formed in the same way as a membership club, it's come about through the forum.

When speaking to the mechanic that once serviced my car before I had the time and knowledge to do more things myself, who served as an apprentice at Volvo, he thinks I'm an abolute fruit cake (probably not wrong) for keeping as many 300's as I have and spending as much time on the things. He cannot believe that there are people interested in the cars still, and especially not as many young people as we have here. So if I have trouble convincing him how serious we are in saving the cars and getting them to a classic status, (which he believes they'll never reach) then how are we going to convince anyone else?

It needs to go a step further and become a club we can be proud of that will be taken seriously when we present ourselves, (I'd use the VOC as an example, but people laugh at that for many reasons) but you know what I mean, something recognised, that people won't laugh at, that can be used as a name. I'm perfectly happy to have a V3M sticker on my car window, even though my mates take the mickey, not knowing what it's all about, as it means something to me, but sadly the VOC one isn't going to be attached!

Pete

[MJ]

The Haynes manual is very usefull for many things, and with the clear sections and indexs it's very easy to find what you want.

We need to to sort all the fantastic information into an all encompasing 300 series guide. So if you wnat to find out how to wire an amnient temperature guage, no using the bad search here, looking through loads of posts, even using googe.

Just look under electrical, instrument panel, and there it is. Exactly how this would be done is the difficult part...

Either a wikipedia style thing, or an index of hyperlinks manually updated by moderators to pages. Hmm, dunno


EDIT:

It can be difficult to even explain to my mates what it's all about, let alone when you're trying to introduce yourself to someone important

Good point, I've been in the situation a couple times when talking to others, such as older 300 owners. 'It's a club, well, err, an internet forum...' Reply 'What's an internet?'

[SteveP]

'What's an internet?'

The internet is a series of tubes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P83FGtPCuvc

[petefarrell360]

LOL! Excellent!
Pete

[foggyjames]

Bumpasaurus!

I think I get the message re: a centralised V3M garage. It was just an idea I'd had, and was looking to thrash it out in my own mind as much as anything. Totally agreed that it's not for the best.

That does still leave open the question of storage, which is a bit more fluid. We can leave that for another time though.

Here's something I wrote to Shimon a few moments ago...

I suggest we start compiling an archive of information, and I very much like the 'green book' format suggestion. I think a weekend of beer, driving, and planning 'the guide' is an excellent idea. Maybe at the house of bricks here in sunny Newark?

We need a 'Brickboard FAQ' for the 300 series. Those are legendary for 2/7/900s, but the yanks never got the 3, so no guide.

cheers

James

[jtbo]

Information is nice, even I can take part and gain from it, physical property is always more difficult as it is always somewhere, when information can be anywhere, transferred, copied etc. very easily.

My suggestion is that you add information to Wikipedia Volvo 300 pages, this way everyone can check use and contribute, also as you may know Wikipedia is going to dvd-roms so this information would be possibly available to even where internet is not. I don't know if there was going to be even paper version of Wikipedia at some plans, but anyway it will be major source of information in future.

You know, at 1996 I was thinking about something similar like Wikipedia, too bad I did not had understanding what Internet will be back then, I might not be as poor as I'm now I know Carpe Diem, but somehow I miss it always

I have Haynes, also v*dis, but these are only possible to be used as guidelines, because of copyrights, all drawing and materials should be self made to avoid legal issues.

I have been preparing hideously information from Solex carb and it's problems and how to solve them, however I have not yet solved all of my carb's problems and I'm bit out of money at the moment to continue, so it will be perhpas waiting to next spring to get completed.

[mac]

Further to my suggestions that the 'green book' system is used for information classification - this is an example of the categories used in the 300 series (they're the same for all actually - including trucks and buses). For those not familiar with the factory filing this gives a good idea how subjects can be divided up.



Whilst not all of the above apply to 300s we could certainly base 'our' system on the above.

Oh! Carl re your post - yes I was with Volvo (from 74 - 93 until I retired with ME). I ran the TMA Technical Material Analysis dept. workshop in the later years but had been through Technical support, and dealer audit, and warranty over my time there. I note you are a financial bod - a valuable resource if a 'real' club is formed.

And yes I would certainly like to be involved but I am still 'new' to v3m and it is not my place to suggest who does what and when. I am however most happy to help in any way that I can. (we must not forget that Aymat stated all this and he must have his say)

Whatever form v3m evolves into we MUST take into account that we are not UK only - there are regulars all over the world. (I am in regular e-mail contact with Farzad in Iran now and there seem to be only 3 300s in the whole country!!).

Still much is to be discussed if a group meet takes place (which I will certainly attend if at all possible (and if I am invited) - make it a weekend and Mrs.Mac can come along and be bored as well).

Any such meeting will (by the very nature of v3m) be attended by a small number, so I think it important that as many people as possible voice their opinions in the forum before any meeting to ensure that as many views as possible can be discussed.

Still I'm running my mouth off again - all for now!


Mac.

[ebdl]

I agree that an easily searchable technical resource is a good idea. Whoever ends up implementing this might want to look at this one:

http://www.club80-90.co.uk/wiki/index.p ... =Main_Page

It provides a very helpful resource for owners of VW Transporters (T3, T25, Type 25 - call them what you will). I've found it easy to navigate and it seems to be moderated so that forum posts can be edited and added, as well as articles specifically written for it.

Hope that's of some interest.

Ed