Amazon: New (to me) 1963 Volvo 122

[dgbalfour]

The PAS pump is for the RB, it was not intended for the Amazon! It was a spare I got when I owned my 240 that I came across yesterday. Thought it would be more use to you than me. It came from a very late model 240 and I believe works.

Oil filters may not fit, they were from my dads old boat engine. I believe the thread and outer diameter is the same though.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Do you think that is just the standard rubber seal that the metal trim fits into like Brookhouse Volvo sells Dave, or is it the more modern type like I have on the RB?

Alan

No idea to be honest Alan, you'd need to contact the sellers and ask about the type of rubber used in the seal for a definitive answer.

Originally Posted by Othen

No apology for using this thread as a journal of my ownership of Aunt Maud. There are two items that the PO told me of that need sorting in the fullness of time.

1. The speedometer reads a bit slow because it has the wrong gearing from the OD unit. This needs changing one day.

2. The Type D OD works on all the gears at the moment (rather than just top as it should). This is because the inhibitor switch isn't fitted - the switch is in the spares box but the hole it goes into needs tapping with the correct thread (M16x1.5).

These are both jobs that need doing one day when I take the gearbox out.

I'll use this thread to catalogue my inventory of spares, survey known issues and start recording fixes from later on today. Any comments on posts with advice (particularly telling me I've got something wrong!) would be much appreciated.

Alan

Are you sure the inhibitor switch thread is M16 x 1.5mm? Many threads on Volvos back in the 60s and 70s were Imperial and if memory serves, it's a Laycock-DeNormanville OD unit which was a British thing so the case for an Imperial thread is stronger - 5/8"UNF-16 would be likely, if not something very similar. Worth double-checking before you tap that thread!

Originally Posted by Volvo_133

Regarding the o/drive inhibitor switch not fitted and o/drive working in all gears.
Place this at the top of your fix list.
If you have the o/drive switched on with the solenoid energised, reversing the car will trash the o/drive.
An easy to do expensive mistake. This is one reason for having the inhibit switch. O/drive must be inhibited except in 4th gear.

Another good reason is many OD units can't handle the torque in first and second gears under hard acceleration, however many cars were able to use OD on 3rd and 4th, effectively giving 6 forward speeds - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, OD 3rd, 4th, OD 4th so this could be an option too.

Originally Posted by dgbalfour

I wouldn’t worry too much about the fuel gauge, it’s as good as it gets. Soon after I bought the car I replaced the sender in the tank as the gauge was flying between empty and full whilst driving.

I tested the dash read out with a resistance decade box and it’s perfect. The new sender improved things to where they are now so I don’t think you’ll be able to do much more with it.

When I worked at the power station, I had one of our summer interns try and build me a resistance damping unit using an Arduino single board computer. Unsurprisingly they weren’t actually many plant sensors based on a float moving a potentiometer wiper(!) but I thought it was an interesting project nonetheless! We bought the bits but unfortunately he never finished it. It shouldn’t be too difficult a project for the right person.

A big capacitor would probably have been quicker and more effective but if it's a characteristic of the car, i'd leave it alone. Each to their own and if Alan wants to damp the movement of the guage there are ways and means without resulting to the hocus-pocus of an Arduino board to create a signal conditioner. The trouble is, the more you try and damp the guage, the more complicated the circuit needs to be, including the meter-drive circuit. A small mechanical damper (friction or pneumatic) attached to the sender unit would probably be easiest to implement but means removing the sender unit from the tank.

[dgbalfour]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Are you sure the inhibitor switch thread is M16 x 1.5mm? Many threads on Volvos back in the 60s and 70s were Imperial and if memory serves, it's a Laycock-DeNormanville OD unit which was a British thing so the case for an Imperial thread is stronger - 5/8"UNF-16 would be likely, if not something very similar. Worth double-checking before you tap that thread!
.

Definitely worth double checking, but I was the one that incorrectly tapped the hole to 5/8 UNC based on that very fact. 5/8 UNC outer diameter is something very close to 16mm IIRC, so I just went with it only to find I couldn't screw the switch in.

A helicoil is the professional way to do it, but I've also had some success with two part epoxy based titanium sticks where I've needed to bodge
(https://jenolite.com/product/titaniu...UaAvCYEALw_wcB)

You may find you don't need to drop the gearbox out to get the top plate off. Unscrew and remove the selector from inside the car, then from underneath there may be space to get a stubby screwdriver in and remove the six(?) hold down screws.

It's a bit shameful that I never did this really, as the destruction would be massive should the OD engage in reverse. I used to just pull the wire from the relay (behind the dash) when I sent the car off for an MOT to ensure nobody did the "I wonder what this switch does" trick. With the back axle ratio being standard (non-OD) then the risk of reversing with the OD engaged is actually very low - I only tended to use it on motorways and the like, and if you'd forgotten to disengage it you'd realise before you came to reverse. Excuses...

[Othen]

I've put GAM up on some ramps and had a look round this morn, here are are my first thoughts.

This is the hole I was concerned about in the OSF chassis rail:



I'm not too worried about this, the rust seems to be quite localised so I think I'll get away with just cutting the the rot out square and welding in a patch to the horizontal plane - the vertical walls seem to be solid enough. I've ordered some steel, but there is no point starting to cut out rust until that arrives so I'll just clean it up and cover it over with some Harry Black to keep the weather out for the next few days.

The oil leak I suspected seems nowhere near as bad as I thought it might be - I'll just keep an eye on it for the time being:



The top of the engine looks dry, which is good:



I can't see much wrong here:



The front suspension needs a bit of a bit of a refresh:



The heater unit has all been changed, so that should be okay:



The inside of the wings seem solid:



... and it has an alternator, which will save me having to fit one.

So, all in all there isn't too much that needs doing straight away.

Now I'm off to get a tyre for the spare wheel.

:-)

[Moomoo]

Seeing that heater unit reminded me of our 121 , “Electrolux” branded one on NNU635D.

Priceless!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by dgbalfour

The PAS pump is for the RB, it was not intended for the Amazon! It was a spare I got when I owned my 240 that I came across yesterday. Thought it would be more use to you than me. It came from a very late model 240 and I believe works.

Oil filters may not fit, they were from my dads old boat engine. I believe the thread and outer diameter is the same though.

Ah, thank you. I wondered whether that might have been the case. I'll transfer it over to the RB's spares box.

:-)

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Familyman 90

A PU sealant/ filler such as Sikaflex EBT is what the screen needs. As mentioned, silicone sealants excrete acetic acid and H2O, an unfortunate mix when trapped behind rubber and held against steel.

Im hoping to see lots of pictures and write ups as the work progresses on this one.

many thanks, I've ordered a tube of Sikaflex EBT and Mr Bazos will have it sent round tomorrow.

:-)

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Volvo_133

Regarding the o/drive inhibitor switch not fitted and o/drive working in all gears.
Place this at the top of your fix list.
If you have the o/drive switched on with the solenoid energised, reversing the car will trash the o/drive.
An easy to do expensive mistake. This is one reason for having the inhibit switch. O/drive must be inhibited except in 4th gear.

Understood, many thanks. I may isolate the relay until I get this sorted - I'm the only driver of the car but...

:-)

[dgbalfour]

The relay isn't in the standard place for an Amazon (which is on the OS wing under the bonnet), it is pushed up behind the dash just above the OD switch. The relay is a lighting relay from a 240. I really wanted the proper OD sequencing relay and planned to connect it instead of the headlight flasher, but never managed to get hold of one.

I also have a vague memory that I chose not to wire it in the standard way (i.e. not in accordance with the Volvo wiring diagram) - IIRC the inhibit switch and the OD engage switch both act on the relay coil (rather than having the inhibit switch break the solenoid connection) as I felt this was better practice as the D type solenoid is quite power hungry. You may even find the inhibit wires are already in position just shorted out, I can't remember (it was over ten years ago).

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by dgbalfour

I also have a vague memory that I chose not to wire it in the standard way (i.e. not in accordance with the Volvo wiring diagram) - IIRC the inhibit switch and the OD engage switch both act on the relay coil (rather than having the inhibit switch break the solenoid connection) as I felt this was better practice as the D type solenoid is quite power hungry.

Very good idea and how it should have been wired from new IMHO because as you rightly point out, the solenoid is power hungry and the inhibitor switch and/or OD engage switch aren't really up to passing that kind of current.