Volvo RWD 120-130 Forum

INDEX FOR 10/2025(CURRENT) INDEX FOR 1/2006 120-130 INDEX

[<<]  [>>]


THREADED THREADED EXPANDED FLAT PRINT ALL
MESSAGES IN THIS THREAD




  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Ok here's one out of left field .... now that there are so many suspension parts available thanks to the Ricer crowd ... has anyone tried converting a 122 to Coil Overs? I am just getting into SOLO Competition and was just pondering what I could do suspension wise to make myself more competitative .... last run I had the slowest time of all the cars :-( .... 78 profile tires were no help and a set of GumBalls are in the future. My car already has had the complete IPD suspension treatment with BIG bars and Poly Bushings all around .... I KNOW that the tires are going to make a HUGE difference ... the difference with the same car and driver on the last runs was 6 seconds slower on the same course on the street tires on a Honda Civic ..... 6 seconds would have put me right in the middle of the pack. So what do you think ? By the way .... even though I was slow.... I had a BLAST .... and isn't that what it's all about ?

You can have a look at a couple of my runs at http://www.ecvintagevolvo.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=88

Enjoy

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122-very cool 120-130

Wasn't sure what going solo mean't so I had a look at your film, great to see an amazon in action, especially as its the same colour as mine!
Race tyres will give you more grip but more importantly they are more predictable in the way they slide, if you get some don't go too wide 195's are plenty for our sort of cars,and you need at least a 6.5 inch rim, its really important that the side walls are straight, better to use smaller tyres than have bent sidewalls,
I've done a few of these events and had the least powerful car there and come 10th of of 30 odd, getting lots of practice is the way to do well in these events, far more important than spending lots on the car, also if you can beat some 300 hp rice rocket ( and you can by diving smoothly ) all us guys with old Volvo's look at bit cooler.
Ciao
Hans
NZ









  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122-very cool 120-130

Hello Hans .... nice car .... but they built it backwards ... steering wheel is on the WRONG side ;-) .... The street rims I am using are 14"x6" SHELBY ALUMINUM and the street tires are 205 but are a 75 or 78 profile which works really well on the street .... but those big high flexible sidewalls sure don't help on the Autocross course. On the street they give the exactly correct circumference as the old 165x15" so that the speedo and odo read correctly, and the big pillow like tires give a less harsh ride than a lower profile tire would with the bars, bushings and springs. My current plan is to pick up a set of 14" or 15" steel wheels and a set of slightly used competition tires from the local Formula Guys .... according to some of the other "SOLO" guys, they will not put enough wear on them to bother us for our useage ... and will usually be able to get at least a full season and maybe more out of them as SOLO tires. BTW SOLO is the Canadian Autusport Club's name for AUTOCROSS/SLALOM .... SOLO 1 is around the cones in a parking lot SOLO 2 is on a track .. one at a time against the clock. 2 October there is a SOLO 1 being held at Atlantic Motorsport Park here in Nova Scotia where cones will be set up on the track to keep cometitors from reaching too high a speed and it will be run as a SOLO 1 the following day the track will host a SOLO 2 event ... no cones .. fastest lap time is the winner .

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122-very cool 120-130

It looks like a lot of fun, be warned though-- after a while you will want to race -- when you do you will wonder why you didn't do it years ago.
Hans
NZ
ps just to restore balance my PV has the steering wheel on the right side, thats the left side !








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

If you haven't already, the progressive rate springs at www.v-classics.com
are quite well spoken of. I seem to recall that GRM used a set and were very pleased.

Stickies on wider 14" wheels will help you put the power down a lot (look at Fords for rims)! The difficult part will be controlling inside rear wheel lift (and subsequent spin). Be careful here as the loss of traction coupled with sudden "hook-up" is the recipie for breaking axles.

You will be propelled into "prepared" under the SCCA system for coil-overs and the competition there is fierce. I think there is a lot you can do to what you already have before coil-overs become beneficial.

Getting the "Whoa" in hand can help lap times too. Invest in braided teflon brake lines and high quality (like greenstuff) brake pads. Rears could use some help in the biasing department for serious stopping but are OK in stock form for all but all-out efforts.

G'luck,

Mike!








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

That would be www.v-performance.com for the progressive springs. Got a set on my 1800 and love 'em.








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Duh, brain fart. 120-130








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Got a set on my wagon.. Me too!!!








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Hmmm SOMEBODY ... made some changes on our Message Board so I have to give you direct links .... unless of course you want to join our board .... so to go directly to the movies ..... go to

http://www.ecvintagevolvo.com/bsutherland/solo1.mpg

and

http://www.ecvintagevolvo.com/bsutherland/solo2.mpg

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Love the footage. Ahh, the unmistakeable poink of a cone being harvested!

Personally, I'd try shifting later and running farther up the rev range.

Mike!








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Yup ... but that was only 2 seconds penalty ..... far better than going totally off course ;-) I was running in 2nd .... engine only has 5,000 miles on it so far I am tending to baby it a tad ..... but breaking that inside rear wheel loose was no problem at all ..perhaps the "Street Torque Cam" had something to do with that .. as you may have noticed by the rending rubber screams on the movies .... to be honest, I never had a chance to look at the tach to see what I was turning ... and everyone else was running in 2nd too .... and with my 4.10:1 rears I figured I was doing all right ..... Any more power to the rear end from running in 1st as well as being higher on the torque curve could have made frying the rears just too easy ..... BTW the car is already fitted with the IPD competition springs so the car is already lowered about 1" to 1 1/2".... first I'm going to track down some rims and some gum balls ... I hear that the Formula Ford guys only run their tires a very short time and will sell them locally for about Cdn$100 for a set of 4 ... so for a couple of hundred bucks I should get baby some new "shooze" ..... and then we will give it the old college try ....

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

LOL

When I first started solo (USA SOLO I with SCCA) I was in my '67 MGB roadster. Those old Kelly metrics really howled and everyone got a good laugh out of it and encouraged me. Thought I was nuts, actually, as I was also running the stock wire rims (no more than the allowed two broken/loose spokes, however!).

Several years later I was a fair local force in DSP with the same car (now retired due to corrosion) with very little modification... Primarily tube-shock conversion, minilite-replica knock-on wheels (205/55R-14 rubber) and a 3/4" sway-bar in the front (nothing in the rear). Ja, mildly hotted engine and a quaife in the rear certainly helped get me around... the racing seat was only because the old one ripped out of the floor on a particularly aggressive manuver (while still in HS!).

Keep at it and keep smilin'!

Mike!

p.s. if no one has mentioned it yet, a baffled oil pan is pretty much a must on these beasties.








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Seems like this topic has brought a few people out of the woodwork ... anyone else have any video of their runs around the cones ?

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

I am certainly not an expert on autocross, but have some suggestions/comments.

Coilover suspension. Converting to coilover on a car without a frame can be a very involved process in terms of what has to be done to make strong enough mounts to take both the spring and shock loads. Not easy and certainly not something for the casual autocrosser.

Competition springs - IPD has not made competition springs for about 20 years.
The rates for the springs they have been selling, whether the saleman said they were competition springs or not, are approx. 320 lb. front and 150 rear. The problem with these rates is that they, the fronts especially, are not stiff enough for hard cornering, and certainly not competition, but are stiff enough to adversely affect ride quality. That's the reason for our progressive rate springs that have a high rate of 500 lb. The progressives might not be the first choice for a pure autocross car, as even stiffer springs would give better handling ( we use 1000lb. springs on the road race cars ), especially with stickier tires, but they are the best compromise we have been able to come up with between street where ride quality is still important and the best handling in corners.

Shocks - no mention of shocks here,and they are critical. One of my questions from watching the video and seeing the handling in transition would be what shocks are being used?

Sway bars - critical to tuning handling. Too many people just bolt on a set of
IPD bars front and rear because that is what they have been selling and seem to
feel that they are an instant cure for all handling problems. One size fits all simply does not work. Competition sway bars are adjustable. IPD used to sell adjustable bars. They have not had the adjustable fronts for over 15 years and the adjustable rears were phased out more than five years ago. Beyond adjusting in competition, an adjustable bar can be set up stiff for an autocross and then adjusted soft to go back to street driving. My feeling is that the IPD bar is too stiff for normal street driving, but not stiff enough for competition. We usually find that the best setting for the rear bar is the softest - off. Try it by simply disconnecting the link on one side - allows you to try in on and off with only a couple of minutes work, no need to remove the bar.

Limited slip differential - You really need one. They are readily available for the dana 27 and disc brake dana 30 rears. Very hard to find for the 67 - 69 drum brake dana 30s with the coarse 10 spline axles. The stock type LSDs can be shimmed to make them stiffer, and this can be used to help setup the handling.

No time for more now but hope this helps.

John
VPD, V-Performance.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Hi John and thanks for the info ....Re the bars I'm using ... well, they were installed in either the late 60s or early 70s and are MUCH thicker than what IPD is selling today. Shocks really NEED replacing .. they (except for the right front) may actually been installed back then too but there are no leaks or bouncing ..... would LOVE a set of Bilsteins .... BUT $$$$$ are scarce at the moment. As far as an LSD goes ... this is a '65 car .... maybe I should check with the local 4x4 guys and see if they might have something that would fit ... the joys of VOLVO and WILLYs/JEEP sharing DANA as differential suppliers..... (did I just hear a collective Ohhhhhh ?!?! followed by Hmmmmmmmmmm ..... ??)

Anyway as a Casual Autocrosser ... and a beginner at that, I doubt that I will ever be doing much more than shocks and a set of competition tires .... MAY just give the releasing of one side of the bar a try after I get into it a bit farther .... I may be slow .... but it was a BLAST ... and isn't that what it's all about ?

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Forgot to add that I have the Dana 27 LSDs in stock both new and used.
Contact me directly if you are interested.

John
V-Performance.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

A much more sensible attitude than wanting to install coilovers.

Not sure that the front or rear bars for the 122/1800 have changed in size.
They did in the 140 and some of the later cars.
Since the springs and bars are old, you really need to check on what they are in terms of size and rate before being able to reasonably look at changes that will be improvements.

One problem though is that stickier tires will accentuate the problems in the suspension. There are shocks for your application better than the bilsteins at lower cost, though bilsteins, even a used set would probably be an improvement.

John
V-Performance.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

but breaking that inside rear wheel loose was no problem at all

Take the rear sway bar off and see if that doesn't get you around quicker... seriously. You should be able to use a lot more throttle earlier coming out of the turns without it.

The downside is that you'll be a bit less crisp establishing a turn rate going into the corners, but I think your overall times may still improve. Progressive springs will help in that area.








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Hmmm SOMEBODY ... made some changes on our Message Board so I have to give you direct links .... unless of course you want to join our board .... so to go directly to the movies ..... go to http://www.ecvintagevolvo.com/bsutherland/solo1.mpg

and

http://www.ecvintagevolvo.com/bsutherland/solo2.mpg

Brett
--
Brett Sutherland & the 1.5 million mile 122 CANADIAN www.ecvintagevolvo.com








  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Coil Over Conversion for 122 120-130

Would coil overs make enough impact to justify thier cost versus shopping at VPD and getting progressive springs with adjustable shocks?

Just curious, and keep teaching them kids that old swedes can still compete.

-Erik







<< < > >>



©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.