maybe a touch off topic but given the sporatic posts from ryan and metal shapes dealing with european road racing i figured youd all let this slide. i was out this afternoon and happend down an alley and behind a building was a 65 v12 jag and a 60ish 1800 volvo. i made my way around the front and took a gander threw the window panes and its full of old 50/60s sports cars with the front of the building carying a sign "road and track" im going to go check it out tomorow afternoon when theres possibly someone there to talk to, but i what im after with this post is any info on the volvo 1800 and similar volvos. i had always figured that they were strictly super safe soccer mom wagons not italian style coupes? tia tim
theres a ton of info to be found. the 1800 and 122/123gt series have been road race and rallye cars since they first came out in the late 50's. www.volvoadventures.com has alot of info. they have all kinds of upgrades. www.swedespeed.com has a nice 122 the best for racing is www.v-performance.com they offer a side-draft blower kit, with low compression, high flow exhaust, knock sensing ignition, and a couple other little goodies you can get around 250 hp out of a b20. ive also seen quite a few 122's with v8 conversions. one in particular that ran mid 8's in the quarter on juice and low 9's all motor.
There was an article in Hot Rod about an installation of a small-block Ford in one of those years ago....... Maybe '63 or '64? Neat little cars. With a stout motor one would be a hoot. Make sure you run unobtrusive wheels and tires to get the full sleeper effect......
Had a friend who had one. Nice car, but not much power with the engine stock. If the car has not been garage kept and saw some winter driving and road salt, they are prone to rust and there are plently of interior body panel nooks and carnnies for rust to hide.
I kinda like these cars....the wagon version looks a lot better though I think. A friend of my dad has a couple wagons and a couple coupes. Got pulled over in the wagon one day, it has a Ducati sticker on the back....cop wrote the ticket for a Ducati, had no idea what the car was.
It's in the Dec. '64 Hotrod It's a 289 with a Cruisomatic to keep the rear end in one piece and they had to move the brake over to the clutch pedal location because the tunnel grew... It was put together in the Holman-Moodey shop right next to and at the same time as the Ford GT40s. It's currently owned by a guy in the midwest who was installing a fresh engine last time I heard. I have one, a '67, in the garage.... The tractor engine is out and it's getting measured for a SBC.
Tim, Be sure to make a list of the cars that are inside. I have a 1967 P-1800 coupe but haven't done anything with it, sorry to say it is the only car I have stored outside. If you look at them just right the roof line looks a lot like a 65 Mustang fastback. It has Cosmic (made in England) aluminum wheels that look real sharp, I need one more if someone has an extra. I'll have to find that issue of Hot Rod with the Ford small block conversion, that was my plan when I first found it.
I spent 3 years restoring these and Amazons for a small company here in dear old blighty and they really know how to rot. Sill ***emblies are nasty to repair right,as are front legs. Having just failed in an attempt to fit a V6 in my Amazon project make sure any proposed engine is slim at the front as the bay tapers right in and the steering box and idler get in the way, big time. B20 engines can easily put out a reliable 150 horse and still last 100k miles Most of the running gear is Amazon sourced so is easily available and relatively cheap. Big disadvantage with p1800s is the weight, you really notice a difference if you slim one down all of a sudden 150 bhp seems a lot more fun.I'm sure there are some 2.3 turbo versions kicking around,( maybe in Sweden though)using the later 7 series power plant. Good luck with your find.
I got some vintage Volvo pix and links to Volvo clubs on my web site: http://www.cl***icroad.com/volvo
My brother had one with a flat cam lobe, and they cost three times as much as a chevy cam for some reason...half as many lobes I guess? The one I took out of mine has the same #3 exhaust lobe flat...may be a common oiling problem? I don't know. On the plus side, the blocks are super hard so they wear out rings with virtually no cylinder wear. Just cam & lifters, bearings, rings, and a gasket set will set you back about $600...Swaping in something else is a $$$$ toss up.
Holy ****, theres one of those things right down the street from my house! I'd been wondering what it was. Now I'll have to stop and see about it and the 63 Galaxie he's got sitting there....
Yeah cam lobes are usually the first things to go but normally due to lack of oil changes, the sumps are pretty small. Also oil filters without anti-drain valves starve the mill on start up. Anyway you were going to change the cam anyway, weren't you!. Stock ones are pretty lame unless the lump is an injection one, which also operate pretty big valves...
I've owned a 70 P1800E (fuel injected, 4 wheel discs) for 6 years. Worked on P1800 and 122 racecars. I like 'em. They are slow and heavy for GT cars. Can't get much power from the motors. Stock 'D' cams usually run about $80, I guess thats alot for some people. Seems cheap, stock cams for some engines see at work are $2000. P1800 is the only car with over 2 million miles on the original (twice rebuilt) engine. Production for coupes from '61-'72 was about 30,000 total. Wagons were about 9,000. Numbers aren't exact, just off of the top of my head. When we road raced with a stock parts, but well built motor and off the shelf suspension pieces we hung with GT350 Mustangs and Z28 Camaros. Usually we were faster. Porsches were more of a challenge. This was at Road America, Horsepower and torque are only part of the formula for road racing.
I'm going to use the puny 1800cc block for a strawberry planter... If a SBC won't fit, I'll use the 240Z engine and trans that's sitting in the corner all rebuilt, ready to go...
well i went and took a gander, the guy has owned the shop since 62' and is now retired just tinkering with customers cars. the volvo needs one teeny patch or fix, just on the very back of the drivers side rear wheel opening. its a one owner car previous to him and its only got 62 thousand original miles on the clock, its a 71. solid interior, good chrome, rebuilt motor new cam,distributor,master cylinder,lines,rotors,plugs,lines. you name it and its new and hes got the paper work to prove it. all it realy needs is painted and the trim and good interior put back in. the ar is solid. and for sale .....hmmm anyways some one asked whats in the shop, lots of porshe's. 3 coupes 48-55ish, one roadster 52. a couple 60s coupes and a early 60s targa that he cut up into a roadster because he didnt like messing with the top and just would rather drive it then get a convertable top for it. so theres my report, and im off to see home much cash i have. tim
Hey thats an injection motor P1800E then should be a 130 horse B20 in there, unless you guys got the smogged ones earlier. Cool.
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