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Mary and I are just back from a road trip with c.a.'s old car, Xena, ( '67 220, ~400,000 miles, M40 + OD ) to the western slope of the Rockies. Just under 3400 miles in about 10 days, 27.72 mpg avg. The hiking and wildflowers were simply amazing.
There were several issues that came up during the trip. Overall, the car ran great. It did run out of motor on the big hills at 8000+ feet, but, generally, it more than kept up with traffic.
1) Foremost is the driver's seat (Mary never complained about her side). There is a spot about where my billfold goes that just hurts after the first half a day. I think it is due partly to the wornout seat, but mostly being stuck in one position holding the accelerator. Are there better seats that fit ? Or ?
2) The oil gets dirty quickly (1000 miles), and there is a fair amount of smoke on long downhill runs in 3rd or 4th gear (avg. 800 miles per qt of oil). I do like the way that the motor comes up on the cam at ~4000 rpm. It has a great sound and you can feel it pull harder, but it could be time for a rebuild. Reliability is important since I'm not looking for problems 1500 miles from home, and being fun to drive is a very close second.
Speaking of which, how did the 240 turn out to be such a pig ? This old wagon is fun to drive and gets around corners pretty well. I was surprised how well it handled. Tailgaters generally were not a problem. My 245 would by laying upside down in a ravine somewhere out there if it could ever muster enough courage to climb the hills. Volvo lost their way a long time ago.
Back to the topic - rebuilding the motor in a fairly stock configuration, is there a difference in the cam grind for the A, B, and D motors ? If so, was one much better than the others ?
Are there good quality (NOS ?) oversize pistons and bearings available at a somewhat affordable price for a mere mortal?
3) The Wasa locking gas cap leaks and stinks up the car on a full tank. Shimming it up helped, but has anyone found a working replacemnt gasket ? Do the stock, non locking caps leak ?
4) The transmission drops out of third when there is no load on the transmission (downhill and lightly on the brakes runs for example). Shot synchro ? If so, are new 3rd gear synchros available for the M40 transmission ? If not, is undercutting the engagement dogs a solution ?
5) I didn't think that the Weber DGV did a great job ( too rich at altitude, flooded on hot starts, lumpy transitions, etc. ). Are two SUs more driver friendly ? Or just another carb system to figure out ?
6)1st and 2nd gears were perfect for pulling up steep slopes at high altitude. Other than that they were way too short most of the time. The gap to 3rd seems like a long ways. Is that the way the M40 transmissions were set up or were there alternative gear sets available ?
7) The trip meter kind of works, but not really. Are they repairable ? If so, are there parts ?
I did find 4 cars in Phillip South Dakota. There might be enough to make one good car, except there is no glass and the interiors are shot. But a 2 door S model could be even more fun...
Thanks
Greg
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...glad to know Xena is still on the road and capable of long trips.
Cynthia would be pleased. I always enjoyed her travelogue posts.
--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon
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She still has road trip capability. Yes, the valve guides are probably worn. Yes, SU's are better than Weber, but it is getting difficult to find along with a new intake/exhaust manifold.
It has always dropped out of third, most anoying!!
When CA had the car she had a 140 seat in it. Better padding and a headrest. But try finding a 140 in a junk yard!
You could try a better rubber seal for the gas cap and glue it in. But gas will still slosh up to the cap.
I am sure that if you take the instrument cluster out, you can find out why the odo will not reset. There is supposed to be a plastic knob on the reset 'button', which I was able to turn once in a while with vice grips.
Have you replaced the soup can on the tail pipe yet!
I am glad all three of you had a good trip.
--
My back feels better when I sit in a Volvo seat
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A new rear pipe and muffler were one of the first things it got.
Greg
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1) For the time, the stock Volvo seats were considered to be supportive. If you still have the original 122 seats, new seat suspension straps and new foam inserts for the upper and lower cushions are available.
There is at least 1 company making seat adapters to bolt in certain types of aftermarket seats. But so far, all the aftermarkets seats that I have seen have wider seat bottoms which can make using the parking brake difficult and sometimes painful.
2) It sounds like the valve seals, valve guides and possibly the oil scrapper rings could be in need of attention.
AFAIK, the "C" cam is the only camshaft that came in engines with dual carburetors. I have never liked the "C" cam and instead use a "D" cam or an Isky 71 in most of my customers B18 and B20 engines.
OEM Mahle B18 pistons are getting hard to find. My source has only 2 oversized piston set sizes and either 1 cost $600.00 which includes the wrist pins, clips and piston rings. If you are rebuilding a 6 bolt B20, a piston set is only $350.00 for an OEM Mahle piston set.
I can get cheaper aftermarket B18 piston sets, but in the last year I have sold 3 sets of Mahle B18 pistons even though I offered the customers the cheaper piston set.
OEM Vandervil bearings can be had and I even have some in stock, but in very limited sizes.
3) I believe there is someone on ebay in Greece selling a replacement seal for the Waso locking gas caps. Volvo never offered new seals for their locking gas caps, but did offer replacement seals for the non-locking gas caps.
4) The 3rd gear synchro is most likely NOT your problem. You may have a bent shift fork or a broken spacer. I stock just about all the new parts needed to properly rebuild M40/M41s transmissions. And I have a lot of good used parts in stock for the items that can't be had new.
5) I used to think the DGV was the latest and greatest, but after as little as 5 years, I have seen the DGV's vibrate themselves to death to the point that a new throttle body was required. I do like the adjustable-ability of the DGV, but you do have to remove the top cover if you want to change the main and air corrector jets.
New reproduction SU carbs are available for a couple of hundred dollars more than what I charge to rebuild a set using all original SU parts.
And the fuel mixture on the SU carburetors can be adjusted by hand, so when driving in higher altitudes you can easily lean out the mixture.
6) Volvo did make a M40/M41 close ratio gear set for racing and CVI used to have them listed on their website. But I just looked and could not find them. However they were very expensive.
7) The odometer can probably be fixed. I always bring my speedometers in need of repair to a specialty repair shop and I usually have to supply a used speedometer for spare parts as there is very little left in the way of new parts. FYI, I have a NOS factory rebuilt cluster with trip meter in stock.
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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502
hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com
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Hi Greg!
I'm a firm SU believer. When they are in good working order, they provide smoother idle, better top end power, and better fuel economy than the Weber. I think the problem folks have is when they try to tune worn out carburetors. A worn out set of SUs will not hold a tune, no matter what you do!
If you were building a race car engine, or really changing things around (IE: aggressive cam, engine bored WAY out), the weber might be a better choice (just because it's a lot easier to change jets for tuning rather than trying to find the correct SU needles), but for standard driving, I think the SUs are the way to go.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned are valves. If you haven't made sure your valves are adjusted properly, it will cause some of the issues you describe.
Road trips in a 122 are a great adventure! I can't recommend this activity enough!
--
http://dylans544.blogspot.com
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Fix webbing and change foam in seat, su are easier if good. I rebuilt mine but kept stock cam profile, prefer the reliability. I installed an aftermarket cruise control this helps long distance cruising. The smoking is the car letting you know it is time to fix something.... I don't know too much about webers, is it possible they are running rich in certain situations? You are getting decent milage, so it sounds like they are tuned...do a comp test before rebuilding. If it fails do the oil in cyl test to diagnose rings or valves, these motors are long wearing, you may only need head work. If you put in su you may like the cam more. Cheers, sounds like you are using it right... On yeah, sometimes the shifter bushing under big nut gets very worn, don't know if a replacement is available, I think I just made one.
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1. Rebuild the seat. New webbing under the seat and maybe new foam. Replace the webbing in the back. This is rarely done as the cover has to come off. Will get you the lower back support you need. 3 angle settings so you might like to change it during a long trip. I have more trouble with cramp in my right leg due to gas pedal position but do have a set of GT hinges which gives me much more control of the seat back angle. Hard to find and expensive but nice to have.
2.Oil will always get dirty in a worn engine. Blow by from the rings etc and loose carbon that will usually get picked up by the filter. You're using quite a lot otherwise I'd say more frequent oil and filter changes. Smoke on downgrades due to worn guides. B18 oil cap seals don't assist much when they are worn.
D or K cam. Perhaps look for another lower mileage engine and rebuild that in your own time, maybe a B20.
3.Fuel cap leakage fairly normal due to sideways slop. A new Waso seal available here.http://www.randa.se/body.html Sweden but postage will be small, Get a couple and sell one on.
4.Make sure the big nut that holds the lever into the box is good and tight. A heavier aftermarket gear knob, if fitted will give more leverage and will make the box drop out of third when you hit a bump.
5. A Weber will work but needs to have just the right jets in it for your car. A pair of SU's in good condition, no spindle leaks etc, will out perform the Weber in all areas if properly tuned.
6. gear ratios are the same in M40/41. Wagon has a low ratio rear axle, 4,56, as the Wagon is pitched as a work horse. Will get you, family and lots of luggage up and down those hills even with a trailer behind. OD gives you much better, quieter cruising. Always been a matter of discussion that Volvo never offered OD for the Wagon, It needs it for modern use.
&. Speedo probably just needs a clean and service. The trip reset is always a bit Funky.
Congrats on your trip, Xena looked after you well.
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