Irv Gordon crosses the 3 million miles

alastair

...mark, that is!


Irv Gordon, and his Volvo 1880S passed the 3 million mile mark on Tuesday.
http://volvocars.3millionreasons.com/three-million-miles

Here's his reckoning of work done to get him to this point:

Hi John,

Just to remind you what an 1800 looks like I have attached a picture of it for you. This is the same model Volvo that Roger Moore drove in the "Saint" series on TV back in the 60-70’s. As a matter or fact, his (Roger Moore’s) personal 1800 now belongs to fellow in Virginia and has had it restored completely.

My car is quite original considering the mileage. Volvo Parts Dept. has made a log of what has been replaced and at what mileage. Almost everything on the car seems to last an infinitely long time which is why I use only OEM replacement parts. To give you an idea:

The engine has been rebuilt once at 680,000 miles..completely. The head has not been off since and that was in 1978. I had the work done by the same dealer that sold me the car in 1966 and they still service it today. I had it done as preventive maintenance as I never heard of an engine that could last that long.

Transmission has had the 3rd gear syncro replaced as well as the front and rear oil seals.

Brake rotors have been replaced once and the rear drums are still original.

Clutch and throw out bearing gets replaced approx. every 450,000 miles as needed.

Carburetors get rebuilt and throttle shafts get rebushed every 900,000 miles

One new starter motor

Two fuel pumps (first pump was changed at 1, 251,000 miles)

Three water pumps

Shocks, bushings, tie rods, etc. are replaced as needed…also at very high mileage…usually over 400,000 miles

Front seats have been recovered twice ( I have no garage and the sun has a tendency to dry out the leather after a while). The rest of the interior is all original

Speedometer gets serviced by Smiths Instruments ( Nisonger Corp.) approximately every 100,000 miles…cleaned, lubricated and calibrated)

All gauges are original including the AM-FM radio

Sheet metal is original except for the rocker panels(rust), jacking struts (rust) and the rear panel due to an accident. The chrome has been redone about 20 years ago and the nose grille surround was replaced due to an accident in 1987.

Original radiator was damaged in the same accident in 1987…and I am on my second radiator.

Heater core and control switch have been replaced once.

Tires are replaced about every 100,000 miles and usually I need brake pads at about the same mileage. ( I use Bridgestone Tires)

Oil gets changed every 3500 miles and the rest of the service is done according to the owners manual.

Brake Master Cylinder and Clutch Master and Slave units have been replace twice each.
Brake vacuum Booster has been replaced once.

That is about all I can think of right now. If you have any further questions…feel free to drop a line. Always willing to help out. Many of the parts are still original….doors, fenders, hood, trunk…all locks, switches, wiring, distributor, overdrive, drive shaft, axles, wheels, wiper mechanism, window washer pump and bottle, horn, seat belts, and steering box. Sorry, that is all I can think of at this time.

Hope this helps clear up your questions.

Best wishes,

Irv

JohnxF

Reminds me of Trigger's broom! I wonder how many cars would do millions of miles if they had regular servicing and parts replacements. Lots, I would guess. Whether it's economic or not is another matter. I'm guessing most cars are scrapped for economic reasons long before they have a chance to 'prove' themselves as possible of such high miles.

alastair

JohnxF wrote: »

Reminds me of Trigger's broom! I wonder how many cars would do millions of miles if they had regular servicing and parts replacements. Lots, I would guess. Whether it's economic or not is another matter. I'm guessing most cars are scrapped for economic reasons long before they have a chance to 'prove' themselves as possible of such high miles.

He's had remarkably little work/replacement to the car though. It's debatable whether he needed the engine rebuild at all - it's done nearly another 2.5 million miles without any block work after all.

mb1725

Anyone remember the 1,000,000 mile Mobil BMW e30?
http://www.mobil1.co.in/performance/miles.aspx

Red Kev

This says it all really.

Oil gets changed every 3500 miles and the rest of the service is done according to the owners manual.

One of the first cars I ever owned was a ca. 1970 Merc 220D /8 (W114-5). I had it in Germany around 1991. The guy who sold it to me told me to change the oil on time and service it regularly and it will give me no problems.It had over 800,000km on it at the time, I sold it to a friend in Marseille, it's still on the road today, still looks a bit tatty but still runs on the same engine and gearbox as the day it came out of the factory. If you think it's unusual, it isn't, loads of old Mercs hit 600,000 km and more, 1,000,000 km is nothing unusual.

macplaxton

mb1725 wrote: »

Anyone remember the 1,000,000 mile Mobil BMW e30?

Yes and it goes to show that most engine wear occurs when cold / abused / not religiously serviced.

Anyway, hats of to the man for doing all those miles and all in the same car.

bbsrs

"Tires are replaced about every 100,000 miles ,"

Is that plausible?

unkel

The story that keeps giving

bbsrs wrote: »

"Tires are replaced about every 100,000 miles ,"

Is that plausible?

I'd say so. The picture I get from this guy is that he drives about 100,000 miles per year, drives extremely smoothly and mainly on open roads. His pads last about 100,000 miles too

@mb1725 - thanks for posting, that E30 story is new to me

MercMad

I make it that he does about 60,000/annum and therefore has to change the oil every 4-6 weeks. Getting 100,000 miles from the tyres and pads is very good but older skinnier tyres don't wear out as much as modern one, especially if your cornering is neat, same for pads. My fathers C180 had 55,000 on its original tyres and brakes and I only changed the pads because I had bought them already and we sold the car before buying tyres. Both pads and tyres were only half worn.

I suppose a lot of this depends on his commute. Its obviously a perfect route, he's a very light footed driver and the car is extremely durable.

Its a cool story, I wonder what he does that requires all that mileage ?

alastair

MercMad wrote: »

Its a cool story, I wonder what he does that requires all that mileage ?

Nothing whatsoever - it's just been his hobby. He's a retired teacher, but he clocked up at least half those miles before he retired - just by taking off for the weekend and driving thousands of miles. He's a fan of the old route 66.
Volvo give him a new, top specc car every million miles he clocks up, which I guess might help spur him on.

unkel

MercMad wrote: »

I make it that he does about 60,000/annum

His average annual mileage is 3,000,000 / (2013-1966) = 64k miles since he bought it

I think I read somewhere that since his retirement he does a lot more - about 100k miles per year

At an average of say 50mph, that's an average of 5.5 hours driving his car. Every day of the year

Itsfixed

well they alway say a car benefits - in reliability terms - from being used regularly. :-)

kuro2k

alastair wrote: »

He's had remarkably little work/replacement to the car though. It's debatable whether he needed the engine rebuild at all - it's done nearly another 2.5 million miles without any block work after all.

The engine had a second rebuild just before it reached the 3 million mile mark, It would be interesting to know what the greatest distance an engine has traveled without a rebuild

alastair

kuro2k wrote: »

The engine had a second rebuild just before it reached the 3 million mile mark, It would be interesting to know what the greatest distance an engine has traveled without a rebuild

2.1 million miles between the first (un-needed rebuild) and the second (cracked piston ring and worn bearing) it seems.