Got the engine all back together and got it fired up (after I put the plug wires on in the right order finally) only to discover that my broken stud was only part of the problem; that exhaust runner is cracked. Somehow the car is even louder than it was before and I can feel a very concentrated blast of exhaust gas getting shot out of the back of the head area.
Looks like I need to source another dual outlet manifold.
Would getting some sort of header be a decent option here rather than sourcing another manifold ?
I had thought about that. There are cheaply available headers for the B18 of okay quality, but they pose some problems. For one, the cheap ones don't flow all that much better than the dual outlet manifold. For two, I think they'd hit the generator and so I'd need an alternator conversion as well. For three, I'd have to buy an earlier intake manifold.
In reply to ish_da :
I bet our own Volvoclearinghouse on this forum has an aluminum intake manifold in his collection. I agree that the b20E exhaust manifold is as good as many of the headers that have been available. Pretty sure it clears the generator too. The old JCWhitney header cleared the generator for sure.
TurnerX19 said:In reply to ish_da :
I bet our own Volvoclearinghouse on this forum has an aluminum intake manifold in his collection. I agree that the b20E exhaust manifold is as good as many of the headers that have been available. Pretty sure it clears the generator too. The old JCWhitney header cleared the generator for sure.
I'd already PM'd the OP, I have both the integrated intake/ exhaust and aluminum intakes/ b20E exhaust manifolds. Whichever route is preferred. I've run both on generator cars (as well as a header, which I also have).
Well, long time no update but I have finally made some progress. Mike aka VCH indeed had a pile of stuff I could use including a fuel injected dual-outlet manifold and an earlier aluminum intake. After stopping over at his compound and enjoying the sights and food of Maryland, I returned ready to rock. Then I let it sit for another three weeks.
But today:
Got the old manifolds off pretty easily. The manifold to downpipe connection put up a fight, there really isn't a good way to get at those nuts (more on that later). Once the manifold was off I saw that it had not actually cracked, instead...
I'm not sure how all that metal corroded away, but you can compare that exhaust flange to the one adjacent and see how much metal is gone. I'm assuming the previous owner drove the car with a stud broken off for a long time.
Ah, much better. BUT how to get these two pieces that were never actually installed together by Volvo and which have different flange thicknesses to bolt flush to the head?
Enter my patented stagger-washer. Basically I bought eight of those thick Volvo manifold washers, stuck two in the vice at a time, mig'd them together, and then cut half of the bottom one off to ensure a nice, tight clamping force on the manifolds. Worked great.
So here it is, parked outside for the first time in forever (and with a fresh gas filler neck rubber seal). Overall it was a success; I haven't even re-tuned the carbs and the car revs so much more freely than it did before. So that's a plus. It's also quieter, so that's a plus too. However; there are some negatives:
- The water pump is dripping coolant now and I'm not sure from where. I replaced the o-rings at the top when I did the headgasket and the one for the pipe that goes around the back of the head. Not sure what happened there...
- There is an exhaust leak at the downpipe to manifold connection. I replaced the studs with ones from a Dorman kit that comes with studs and brass nuts. There is a very small shoulder between the two threaded parts (just like the studs that were on the old manifold) but I worry that [i]perhaps[/i] the shoulder is slightly too bulged out and is preventing the two surfaces from mating completely. So that will have to get figured out at some point.
- I still haven't welded the new trunk floor in. All in good time!
Progress is always awesome, now you have smaller problems. Smaller problems are easier to solve, soon you will have even more progress!
Glad to see the parts worked for you. Good meeting you guys, hope you enjoyed your (soggy) camping trip!
Monthly-ish update:
It's parked at my house finally. The leaking water pump was just the heater pipe o-ring being out of position. I also finally bought a uni-syn to tune the carbs with instead of doing it with a hose to my ear and I have the car at what I think is a great state of tune. Starts easily with choke, revs freely, idles comfortably, and even restarts first crank when hot. I still need to weld in the new trunk floor to fully secure the gas tank, but other than that it's pretty much road ready. My girlfriend, a friend, and I took it down to the Dairy Mart last night for a shake down cruise which went well.
Except that the amp light comes on in seemingly backwards conditions. As I get up in the revs the light comes on and when the revs drop back down to idle it goes out. Which is the opposite of what I would expect!
Have you checked the voltage at the battery while revving and idling? I wonder if your generator is polarized.
I had the same thought. I'll look into that.
I drove it yesterday over the river and back and it tools around perfectly. Got my first "hey nice car!" while at a light, too.
Regarding the 3 speed; the car feels rung out at 50 mph so I don't think it'll ever see north of 65 (despite the very optimistic speedometer). I can feel all three shifts which is good. I know these are high rpm motors but even still!
In reply to orthoxstice :
My first Amazon had a B18D, the later, slightly hotter version of that engine. With the 4.10 rear and 4 speed I once drove back to Maryland from NYC, going 80 plus most of the way (and hitting 100 a couple of times). I'm sure the Speedo wasn't right, but the tach was reaching over 5000 most of the time so it was really spinning.
I've driven this a few times now our around town and it's doing okay. Ran out of gas once pulling up to the Walnut St. car show last week which was amusing. Luckily I coasted into a parking spot and keep a gas can in the trunk.
However! Reverse is mostly gone now. Fluid level is where it should be but I've been reading mysterious things on the internet about "band adjustments" so I'll have to look into that. Worst case scenario I have to put the backup BW35 in.
Maybe the car is crying out to be manual swapped.
In reply to orthoxstice :
Of course it is crying out for a manual! And extra options are easier with an automatic body shell too. Lots more space in the tunnel. The clutch master cylinder mounting is there as well.
My daily driver 940 fell prey to a rat who decided to eat through all the fuel lines and wires at the tank sending unit so I've been taking the Amazon down to the commuter bus during the week.
It's decided; this is getting manual swapped. I can just tell how badly this car cries out for it.
A guy on tbricks had an M41 for sale that I narrowly missed out on but will I ever need overdrive? Probably not!
In reply to orthoxstice :
Yes you want the overdrive....if it works
The way these cars cruise, and the speed on the modern interstate are massively enhanced with OD.
I have never had a 122 with Overdrive. Let those 4 cylinders sing!
But, my Jaguar had the Laycock de Normanville overdrive and I use it all the time. Cruising at 65 at 2000 RPM seems way more appropriate for the character of the car.
9 months have gone by since I last updated. The car sat for the winter and once the first warm days of spring arrived it fired up on the first crank. I had about three gallons or so of gas that I needed to use because I had decided it was finally time to tackle the trunk floor...
The patient prepped for surgery. I brought along a few jerry cans but I had calculated my fuel pretty well; I only drained about 3/4 of a gallon out!
Here's the state of things after about an hour of scraping the old rubber trunk liner off. After this I went at it with the cutting wheel. As I probably should have predicted, the rust was much worse than it had appeared. While it's hard to see in the photo, the entire passenger side of the trunk outside of the "frame" rail is fiberglass and duct tape(!). I stopped taking progress pictures at this point because I'd ended up neck deep in a project that could not stay on the lift for long. Had I known up front how bad the rust situation was I probably would have thought this through more, but as things were I had no choice but to press on. My priority was to get a secure spot for the tank to bolt to and I accomplished that mostly. The old saying is "a grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't" but I had to reach for the tube of seam sealer as well.
Functional for my purposes. I put five whole gallons in with total confidence that the gas tank would stay put and not fall through the trunk floor and go careening into following traffic!
This experience taught me a few things; 1. that the the people on this board that do extensive rust repair and welding are geniuses in my eyes and 2. that this car will be mechanically sound in my care but never beautiful or rust free.
In other news our local pick-n-pull had a 122 show up in the yard. I went down with hopes and dreams of finding a usable transmission or interior pieces I needed, maybe even an intact downpipe (mine is completely blown out it turns out) but what I found was this:
Picked clean! I tried to take a fender home with me but the flathead screws holding it on didn't budge. I did come away with one piece that will hopefully prove useful in the future:
I feel like I had seen that car before. Perhaps it was on copart? A shame to see it end up here, especially since it doesn't seem too crusty. And it's a 2 door! I would snatch everything off that car I could- doors, fenders, hood hinges, front suspension cross member, trim pieces, etc.
I just dragged home two more parts Amazons a few weeks ago. One 4 door and one wagon. No titles and plenty of rust. The wagon has no engine or trans, and I had to put spindles on it to get it onto the trailer. But they'll be stripped down to nothing before they leave here!
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
That wagon wouldn't have a hatch latch would it? I have been causally looking for one for years.
Nice progress! These cars wear a ratty character well, mine is like seven different colors.
garaithon said:These cars wear a ratty character well, mine is like seven different colors.
You aren't wrong. I built this one in FM7, but if I ever get back into drag racing I need to make it real.
Mike, the red car had been "improved" by someone at some point; lots of bondo breaking off of the lower body in front of the rear wheel wells and LOTS of rust in the floors. The little box for the parking brake was essentially swiss cheese. I have no idea if the car came in sans motor and trans or if someone else got to it first. I may hit you up again in the fall regarding a few things for my car. Those new parts cars look great to my eyes!
Today was oil change and diff fluid change day. I meant to take a few pics of the underside but had a disaster because the shop oil drain dolly was full and I didn't notice until too late. I ended up with a bit of an exxon valdez situation. The diff fluid was the worst I have seen in a long time. I'm guessing it had to be 30-40 years old based on viscosity and color (mud). Ring and pinion still look great but the spider gears have pitting on them. I put 80/90 in it and will worry about it if and when it starts making noise.
Regarding that gasser Amazon; there's a guy in the Pittsburgh area that brings a genuine gasser-fied Amazon out to the Vintage Grand Prix every year. It's a crazy looking car. I think the lines of this car are so timeless that they look good in basically any condition!
I took the car out for a bit of a shakedown cruise the other evening and ended up taking the parkway back home during a thunderstorm. I'm glad I ordered new wiper blades for the car! I'm also glad the wiper motor functions as does the blower motor. The car cruises comfortably at 65 although the motor is really spinning at that point. Yesterday morning my girlfriend and I took it to the bakery to get some stuff and I decided to fill the tank for the first time. As we walked back to the car I noticed an ominous pool of fluid forming under the gas tank...
Upon inspection the threads are clean and dry; it appears there is a hairline crack between the brass(?) threaded outlet and the steel tank. I should probably just grit my teeth and drop the $350 for a fresh new tank but I'm wondering if anyone has had this happen before and whether it can be soldered shut? I was thinking of either calling around to any radiator shops still in existence or giving it a go on my own.
Soldering isn't too hard but that fix will require a torch to get enought heat into the metal for solder to adhere.
Maybe im a wuss but I'd call around before applying fire to an "empty" gas tank.
I coveted an OD box when last running Volvos but never had one. My current '68 122 came with and it makes for very nice highway driving.
The only way you can solder that safely is if you can keep the tank full of inert gas during the soldering. Very difficult to accomplish with this one, and the consequences of failure are explosively bad.
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