I guess I’m going to call him “Leo”

[BlackBart]

Headliners are difficult! That looks good!

[DonnVa]

Headliners are difficult! That looks good!

Thanks! It wasn’t too bad. The hardest part was getting it started and positioning the bows. Once that was done, it went pretty smooth. Mind you, I wasn’t shooting for perfection and getting every single wrinkle out. I’ve learned with this car I have come to a happy compromise. When I’ve tried to achieve perfection, I end up screwing up something and that usually results in me buying more parts or re-buying a part.

[122sPhil]

the original driveshaft bolts are hardened I believe , probably decent steel,
so Id look for the correct ones. dont use low grade ones anyway.

in ( up to? ) 66 the center support bearing hung on 2 rubber donuts. in 67 it changed ot a larger rubber thign that encircled the driveshaft, you can swap if you have the hanger, I upgraded mine.

careful disassembing the driveshaft. Mark the parts and dont change the repationship. if you do ( or someone did) you might have a little mystery as to why it vibrates. I shortened mine for overdrive and also sent the driveshaft and the motor parts in for balancing. if it is not balanced it will vibrate at higher roadspeeds. the driveshaft relats to road speed, the gear you are in does not play into the driveshaft speed.

in 66 they had a thing to hold the rear axle to the body, it was made from two stamped pieces welded together. in 67 it became a round bar, the body mounts are different. the erlier style may rust out. I mde a new one up from 1/4" plate and re used the C shapes.

I got got rid of the box shape so it won't capture dirt and rust, but you may find replacements.

I changed my crown and pinion to drop the gearing for the overdrive mod also changed every bearing.

what I struggled with is low speeds, wiht the stacked backlash and the rear axle flopping about, it creates a jerky motion when driving about 4 miles an hour, getting rid od backlash is part of it. sorting out the bad rubber and the mounting system is related.

I put mine on jackstands and ran it IN GEAR.. , a bit dangerous but then I could see the thing flopping around, mounting a camera under it when you drive may demonstrate this phenomenon more safely.

the big valve head will increase power , I di that, I used the D cam it will lift the power range to higher revs. I bored my B18 to 2 litres so it is a B20 with a B 18 stamp on it .

I think if you get the timing cover off you can likely se the stamp on the en of the camshaft.

I had osme valve float issues I had to put some thin washers under the springs, if the valves float, they are landing on the cam and that can bolow the cam and lifters.

I dont think your vale adjustment is much different.

the rockers wear a flat in them so a feeler guage doesnt; work well and they are case hardened.

the rocker shaft can wear. i turned mine down and rebushed all the rockers to get a good fit, I also made bronze washers for beside each pillow block. this was to remove play between the worn shaft and the rockers but the rockers also wear upon the pillow blocks , they ride cast on cast iron. I machined them flat and replaced what I took away with flat washers which I fitted.

at one point I blew up a new cam and lifters , being far away I removed two pushrods and drove it home with one plug removed it sounded funny but ran well and I made it bome safe lol..
I had the sets replaced with stainless ones in doing head work like that it is possible to change the distance between the spring lands and the valve stem keeper groove. thats why washers were needed. I put new springs but not double springs. If you go more towards a race cam you can use double springs then you amchien the spring lands to fit.

the cam and If Im recalling correctly, the rear main oil seal are originally felt, you can machine the housings to accept a newer style oil seal. I did.

I converted to silicone brake fluid during my rebuild so then the brake system doens trust out from the fluid taking on water. now you will see some different opinions on dot 5 fluid, the swedish embassy site has some good info on that.

Id use it in the clutch for sure, You wont boil the clutch but be careful the dot 3 and 4 are compatible dot 5 is incompatible with the other two dot 5 is purple, dont mix them up.

later models wen tot a dual circuit system with a booster, it only split front and rear, the callipers do not have 2 lines so you can;t split them unless you do more serious mods..

you can add that float switch and an audible alarm.. If you keep it single circuit its a good idea to install one so you can have a warning for low brake fluid.
my rear springs sagged I had some made 20 % stiffer same ride height , that worked fine.

fender lips , trunk area, lower rear portions of front fenders, rockers, the channel in the frame underneath under the drivers seat. The inner fenders. above headlights , between headlight pots and top of fenders, thoise are rust prone areas worth coating with a rust inhibitor of some sort.

paint code is on the tag int he engine bay along with serial number.

your seats and door panels, winders, are early style. I lke the "male symbol" on the back , Volvos were robbust, very tough, they were not "girl cars" I bought my first one from a lady who, sold it with tears in her eyes, she pointed out the male symbol, its a boy, his name is Robbie she said she had just bought a p1800.. I didn't catch HIS name.. lol

you are liucky your innner fenders are nice, mine rotted I had ot rebuild the whole area I out 2x2 tubing under where the bolts go. watch for rust in that area. you might speray a coating in there if its not been treated,
the one I just got has a pretty rusty firewall but the rest like underneath wheel lips trunk are not bad , it sat so long it only has 65, 000 , about a thousand miles a year average.
I collected up parts for a trans swap but Ill see how I like the automatic, If I can find an overdrive trans I may do the switchover.

[DonnVa]

Hi,

Sorry, I’ve been lazy about posting updates. Leo had been running great until spring hit, when a rattling/ticking sound started. I was hoping for just another valve adjustment, but it was more than that. As I investigated, it came down to the fact that I needed to get a look at the Cam shaft. I pulled the head, checked it against the E head specs and while it wasn’t the issue, the valve guides were just out of tolerance. I bought all new parts for the head from VP and sent it to a race engine shop down the road from me. They did a great job replacing the valve guides, valves, springs and recutting the seats. They skimmed the head a little for a flat mating surface. Note- Leo already put hardened seat inserts in, so that didn’t need to be done. While it was away, I pulled the timing gear and the Cam. It was a D Cam and was completely worn out. All of the lobes were dramatically smaller in varying degrees. I’m surprised the engine would even run. Anyway, I bought a K Cam, aluminum timing gear set, water pump, new HP lifters, push rods and all the other stuff to put it back together. The distributor was also worn a bit and I think the fiber wafer (spacer) by the drive gear had disintegrated. I put another fiber spacer in and it was good to go. I reassembled it all after getting the head back from the shop and I’ve got to say old Leo idles smooth at 700-800 RPM and accelerates like a 60 year old banshee! When I got Leo, I could never get him to idle smooth lower than 1000 RPM, but he would accelerate nicely. So, I’m extremely happy. However, I did notice something in cylinder 4 wall I’m concerned about. About an inch down from the top, I saw a balloon ring. It’s smooth and goes all the way around the inner cylinder wall. It wasn’t there the last time I dissembled the engine. I’m thinking some of that rattling was detonation and this is a B18 head bored out to a B20. See where I’m going with that. Anyway, It isn’t affecting the compression. But, I am getting more blow by. Planning for the future, next on my list is to find an unmolested B20 block. Hopefully something that hasn’t already been bored out and such. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Lol. I hope you all are doing well!

[abscate]

Is that AC I see there? Did those cars come with AC?

Love the SU carbs.

Is that also positive earth electrical?

Here’s my recent Run in to the old stuff…..

[DonnVa]

Morning,

So, the A/C still works and blows cold. I did disconnect it and open it to air doing some repairs, but I got ahold of some cans of R12, pulled a vacuum and recharged it. The electrical is negative ground, updated w/ a standard GM 65amp alternator. Old Leo is a blast to drive and kinda reminds me of the air cooled 1983 911sc in a lot of ways. No power steering, low to the ground, light and etc..

[BlackBart]

That’s a tidy build, Sir.