145s Holley Sniper + questions
 

Hola,

I bought this 1970 145s a few months ago from an auction here in Mexico. I was not planning to bid, went with a friend, blah blah. It's my first Volvo. It was running poorly so I converted it to EFI with a Holley Sniper 2300, which so far has been better much that the carbs. I live at 7000 feet so fuel injection with an O2 sensor is nice to have considering that lunch is often in nearby Cuernavaca, 3000 feet lower.

So the car looks original but I don't know... Are the painted not chrome bumpers original? Is the interior original? Anyway I am finally enjoying the car after a few months of very slow work installing the EFI conversion.

On a UK spec car, 'almex', the slimline bumpers should be bright with a thin rubber strip. Later cars had the larger, black rubber bumpers to meet the US crash regulations. It would seem that a P.O. has attempted to update yours by painting them body colour.

The interior looks original to me and is in very good condition. The head restraints are definitely early 1 - series, but they could be replacements sourced from a slightly later car.

I don't know much about aftermarket F.I. systems, but our first Volvo back in '84 was a '72 145E with factory F.I., unusual at that time, in the UK at least.

I hope that you continue to enjoy your new car.

Regards, John.

Edit:

Another difference between your and UK spec cars, 'almex', is that UK models were innocent of the side marker lights that I notice on yours. Our later '78 245 had them, but only on the rear, although the 1 - series did not. These could well be 'factory' to meet local regulations, but may also have been added later by a P.O.

I guess that you may find other variations between cars intended for different markets.

John.

Based upon the recessed door handles with vent windows your car is a 1972, not a 1970. Do you know what market the car was designed for? The Model number decoder would confirm the year.

https://www.140-klubben.org/en/infor...volvo-140.html

The model number decoder suggests that there are 4 left hand drive 140s
- left hand drive
- left hand drive not California
- left hand drive California
- left hand drive assembled in Belgium / Canada

I think the 2nd might be US / Canada and the third California only spec 140s and the first Euro spec. US and Canada spec vehicles got the side marker lights starting in 1967. Checking the model number decoder might give you some indication of the intended market. There may or may not have been a Mexican market model.

My 1971 142 E has the same style bumpers. Originally, the bumpers were a thicker aluminum core which is wrapped with a thin sheet of polished aluminum or chromed steel (I can't remember which) along with the rubber bump strip that your car has. Over time, corrosion develops between the shiny skin and the aluminum base and they delaminate and the skin gets damaged. In my case, I removed the skin and smoothed and then painted the base aluminum to match the color of the car. I suspect that this is what has been done to your car.

Your seats are correct for the car. The attached photo shows the 72 & 73 seat style. The style changed for '72 because prior to '72 the pleats ran across the seat cushion rather than front to back like in your car. The attached picture is for a sedan. The 145 received all vinyl seats and black was an option so the style of the seat and material are correct. They are in such good condition that I expect that they may have been recovered.

Your car looks amazingly well cared for and is a really nice find. The benefits of living some place that does not have winter where they salt the rods to reduce ice?

One thing to check. I can't see the coolant level in your coolant expansion bottle. When cold, there should be about 20- 30 mm of coolant in the bottom of the bottle. The plastic of the bottle also appears to be aging because of the yellowing that has taken place. Be aware that they are joined by a seam at the base of the neck and this seam can separate as the bottles age. Examine the seam for signs of separation. New bottles are available

https://vp-autoparts.com/en/artiklar...-140-1800.html

There are two bottles available. A Volvo OEM bottle and an aftermarket reproduction for approximately 1/2 the price.

Agree on the 'letterbox' type door handles, '142 Guy', but 'almex's car also has the earlier dash with the strip speedo', predating the 240 style instruments fitted to later cars.

I think 1972 must have been a year of transition. Our 145E and 144DL, both registered on 1/4/72, were each fitted with a strip speedo', while both of our 145DLs, registered on 1/11/72 and 1/2/73 respectively, had the later 240 style dashboard.

There were other differences too; for example, only the later 145DL had inertia front seatbelts from the factory, with all of the earlier cars being equipped with static belts - but only in the front. None of our cars were fitted with rear seat belts, which did not become a legal requirement in the UK until the mid '80s. I note that 'almex's car is fitted with inertia belts with rigid stalks.

I feel much of the detail spec would vary with the intended market, as I don't think that we in the UK were as advanced in our thinking at that time as those in the Americas and elsewhere in matters concerning safety and the environment.

Whatever it's year or specification, 'almex' has a very fine motor car of which he may be justifiably proud.

Regards, John.

Vehicle 'year' can be a crap-shoot because in some jurisdictions the vehicle year becomes the date on which the vehicle was first registered. A 1971 model year purchased in 1970 December may be registered as a 1970 while a 1971 model year hanging around on the dealer's lot and purchased in 1972 January may be registered as a 1972. On the right door opening at the front (you need to open the door to see it) the type is stamped along with the chassis number.

My type number is 1424353, the last 4 numbers indicating
4- B20E
3 - no sunroof
5 - M41
3 - LHD not California

My owner's manual says that USA cars (and presumably Canada) do not have the 8th letter for the model year designation and I can confirm that. There is a separate plate that was screwed on to the door sill which shows the build location and date. My build plate is in storage some place; but, my recollection is that it shows Gothenburg as the location and 1971 June as the date. So, aside from the build date plate the North American cars do not appear to have a model year 'identifier'.

My North American spec 1971 142E has fixed seat belts in the rear and inertia reel belts in the front. This 'press item' says that Volvo introduced 3 point inertia reels on the front seat in 1969.

https://www.media.volvocars.com/glob...releases/18398

I remember a university friend with a 1970 142S with the inertia reels; but, interestingly, my friends North America spec 1970 P1800E has fixed belts which surprised me recently when he took me for a spin after completing his mega $ restoration. So, I don't know what the story is with the belts. Maybe they only introduced them on the latest model (140) and only in certain markets (if they didn't have UK type approval).

In North America the 1972 model year 140 still had the old style dash and bumpers. The 1973 model year appears to be a dog's breakfast of variants. I have seen 1973s with
- revised front grill with markers integrated into the turn signals but small bumpers (non North American)
- as above but with the fat bumpers
- most 1973s seem to have the revised (240 style) dash
- I think all 1973 received the revised rear tail lights

I have seen 140s claiming to be 1973 with no vent windows in the front doors. However, I think they might have been early production 1974 model year cars delivered and registered in 1973 as Volvo product literature all appears to show vent windows in 1973.

Almex's seat belts are interesting. The center buckle receiver in my 1971 looks just like the one in that 1972 photo I posted (car with orange seats). The buckle receiver in Almex's car appears to be a flexible stock aftermarket style. A previous owner might have replaced the belts when the retractor springs or belt webs got tired. That would be consistent with the car being obviously well cared for. My belts got tired; but, someone showed me how to unwind a new aftermarket belt off its retractor and thread on the original buckle so I now have new belts and retractor with the vintage Volvo seat belt buckle. Of course, a previous owner might have ditched fixed belts and installed inertia reel belts because the cars were set up to accept inertia reels.

They look like the early NOS inertia belts I have.

That is interesting. I have never set eyes on that style; but, the parts manual does show them. I have the style of catch shown by part #13. The parts number for my catch has a notation
USA, CAN
142 - CH - 283499
144 - confusing range of numbers
145 - CH - 125681

The #14 style catch has the parts manual notation
57) USA, CAN
142 - CH 283500 -
144 - CH 295522 -
145 - CH 125682 -
My 1971 142 is 245596 so the 283500 is probably the start of the 1972 model year since they were doing about 70,000 142s per year. If Almex's car is a 1972 then they could be original.

So, your belts may be NOS; but actually late NOS for the 140 and if you parse the notation in the parts manual it implies that they are for USA Canada cars only.

I went for a 100 plus mile drive today, my first multiple hour drive in the car. The Holley EFI conversion is self tuning and after the longish drive it is working better, yay. I also installed a 123ignition electronic ignition at the same time I installed the fuel injection.

As to the year, the car has a Vin plate with a February 1970 build date. It was imported to Mexico before 1976, as the windshield still has a registration sticker from 1976. The odometer works and shows a little more than 39,000 miles which I kind of believe. It was definitely a Sunday lunch car which is how I will use it.

A mate was given them when he worked as a safety engineer for Saab in Sweden. Apparently they had them from way back and he use to drive his Amazon to work so they thought he would make use of them.

Interesting to see the Holley EFI system, it seems quite popular in the US. I have a MaxxECU system and painstaking collected all the original parts from FI cars that I will be able to use. It can do the self learning mode as well. The Holley looks like a neat solution.