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I've been thinking about buying a 544 from a junkyard. The head is long gone, but the car seems to have the other mechanical parts. I'm pretty sure the car is a '59 to '61 model. So, if it is from this period, would it probably have a B-16 engine? What is the availabilty of parts for this car? Do any of the 122's imported to the US have B-16 engines? I see a lot of these junked, but rarely the 544's. This car has no glass either, I'd like to know if side glass on these is flat, and how much anyone may have paid for a windshield. Thanks-Kevin
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When getting old cars you must always be careful not to save too much money on the 'starter' car - as it can end up costing you a lot more before you have a restored car. However, if the car in question has a solid and pretty rust free body then its probably not a bad starting point. But if it has lots of rust you are probably better off looking for a better 544 to buy, and come back to this one for parts. You can swap a b18 or B20 into the car without major amounts of work - that peps up the old PV quite nicely.
Significant structural rust (stay away from unless you own a welder and know how to use it):
- Front frame spars - especially where they run under the front floorboards - pedal pivot area is rust prone too
- rear subframes - up from under the rear seat, over the axle arch, and back down and to the rear. I've seen more than a few junkyard PV with the rear springs poked into the trunk through rusted out spring mounts
- sills - more significant structurally in the lighterweight PV than in later overbuild heavy Volvos
- inner edges of floorboards - tranny mounts, handbrake mounts
- rear axle arm mounts - both arms angle inwards and mount near the torque rods in a rust prone highly stressed area
Pesky but not so serious (pretty easy to fix):
- floorboards - they are probably all rusty
- seat spars - the front seats sit of a single beam - if it rusts loose on either end it gets floppy
- radiator support - front frame crossbar - these (and the bumper mounts) all seem to fall off sooner or later
- rear 'depressed' trunk area - it collects water that leaks through the trunk lid, and the rubber mat makes sure it does its work
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posted by
someone claiming to be Ola
on
Thu Feb 20 06:22 CST 2003 [ RELATED]
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I think as a supplement to my earlier posting I can line up with John's comments. An "object" should for most people only be of interest if fairly complete and only with limited, simple rust.
I will repeat that finding pieces in general is no problem, and especially if you have contacts in/with Sweden this will be piece of cake provided that your object is fairly complete.
My knowledge of parts for the 544 and motorparts for the B16 is pretty recent, as I have done a motorswap on my -58 544 during this winter. Even the hard-to-trace cam can be found, but prices of some parts can be more expensive than for the more recent B18.
Do not be afraid of the B16, neither for finding parts or for reliability/speed. With the B16B which was mpost common in cars exported for the US you will have at disposal 85 SAE for a car a little more than 1000 kgs, it makes it move more than fast enough for it's road characteristics.
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You're right about the B16, which was replaced by the B18 around 1961. The availability of parts for all the PV 544's are in general quite good. A few engine parts be get hard to find, like camshafts, but all essential parts are not so hard to find if you use the internet. For a nice description of the complete restauration of a similar car, have a look at this page http://www.eskimo.com/~drewr/volvo/volvo.htm. You'll also find useful information about sources for parts here.
I do not at all agree on the advice of Not going for a B16 Volvo. In my opinion these cars usually have a higher standard than later B18's. It's of course true that the legendary B18 engine was and is extremely solid with it's 5 bearings on the crankshaft etc, but the B16 is also a very reliable, easy to keep and very charming engine. I have also deep feelings for the 6V electrical system, which gives the car an extra feeling of good ol' days, besides it functions very well when in good order and well maintained (as any electrical system). As long as it's not my daily driver, 6V is preferred. Nothing forbids you to change to 12V however, there are lot's of hints on these pages for that.
Side glass is completely flat. The windscreen should not cost much. Around here (Norway/Sweden) they'll start at around $100.
The 544 is an easy to keep, fun to drive and very lovable car. My main concern when looking for an object would be critical rust and how complete the car would be. Even if essential parts for steering, brakes, engine etc. are in general easy to find it would be quite a puzzle if you do not get most of the details like interior, trim etc. But even that is possible with the help of internet, this forum and lots of searching.
Good Luck, keep us updated!
Ola (-58 544, -88 245)
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This is an Arizona car, and has practically no rust anywhere. The trim seems to be all there, even some hubcaps. To tell you the truth, I'm a little scared off by the idea of finding older engine parts. Do you know of anyone putting newer a engine and trans (such as from a 240) into one of these? It's just something I've wondered about. Even though this car is pretty complete, it has been sitting for about 20 years; a lot of things may be asking for replacement.
However, I do have a few Swedish friends who might be able to help me, I suppose it would be feasible for them get what I need and send parts by surface mail? I like the idea of keeping the car original, and of course that would eliminate some headaches of adapting stuff
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There are lots of good online parts sources for PV's, including the B16. Putting a 122/1800/140 B18/B20 engine will be fairly easy, putting in an OHC slant B21/23 240 engine will be a bit harder (of course, its been done). With a B16 the car will be authentic vintage slow. Not necessarily a bad thing, of course.
A solid non-rusty shell is a great start for a PV project.
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A very few of the 122s had the B16 engine. The B18 is a MUCH better
engine. I would not buy a 544 with a B16, especially with a B16
without a head, no matter how cheap, UNLESS it was a parts car that
came with one that was more or less complete.
If the side glass is not flat, it's pretty close.
--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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Sorry that was a dumb question on my part. What do you hate about the B16?
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Would you stay away from this particular arrangement because of the difficulty of finding the parts needed, or because you see the engine as inferior to begin with? Which would you see as the bigger problem?
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The second 544 I had developed a crack just in front of the rear main
bearing. It may have been abused but I have never seen a B18 or
a B20 (or a B30, for that matter) with a cracked crank.
The B18 was a tremendous step forward in durability because of having
5 main bearings rather than 3, among other things. The B18 544 will easily
take a B20 engine, in fact it bolts right in. The B16 and earlier 544s/444s
are not so easy to change. Parts availability is somewhat of a problem
but to me the big issue is not the inferiority of the B16 - it was a good
engine. It is the superiority of the B18 and even greater superiority of
the B20. Like the guy on the commercial used to say about Dunlop tires,
"They wear like arn!!"
--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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