Amazon: 1963 - Rolling restoration

[volvogv]

OK, I've been doing a lot of work to my car and thanks to everyone who has helped me so far.....It's time to get a proper restoration thread going. This is going to be a rolling restoration since the car is a daily driver.

Recap: The car was semi derelict having sat for 5 years. So far I've replaced ALL hydraulics and got the engine running. It's been taking me to work for a couple of weeks now but there's a lot of work to do!

[volvogv]

Yesterday I adjusted the valves and found they were set too tight (0.008"). Reset them to (0.020") and the engine ran better after that. The rocker cover has been leaking oil so cleaned it up and put it back together with a fresh gasket. Also cleaned up the oil cap on top. I was on a roll so I drained the gearbox oil. It was black as night! The magnetic plug was covered with metal shavings. The 4'th gear synchro isn't working and it crunches every time it goes into gear so I'm afraid that it may be tearing up gear teeth. Refilled the gearbox, lubricated the shift lever pivot and put it all back together. Finally, I looked at the electric wiring in the rear. The license lights are out and the brake lights act weird. Traced it out against the schematic and it looks like somebody took the connector apart and put it together wrong. A couple of wires go nowhere which explains why they don't light or light the wrong thing.

[Burdekin]

Good luck with the resto, looks like the old girl has survived quite well considering her age.

[Alf ista]

Best of luck with your restoration. Looking forward to seeing it all come together. Looks like a nice solid Amo.

[Derek UK]

4th gear synchro isn't one that would normally be a problem. All of the synchros when good are very tight and rather restrictive. A bit different to those in a modern box where you can flick the lever about with virtually no indication that it's moving the cogs around. With the Volvo box you'll always get a better change by moving the stick in two stages, the first one into neutral and the second into the gear, so one-pause two sort of thing. Also a possibility that you're not quite clearing the clutch when changing gear. Might be a small adjustment needed or the need to depress the clutch pedal a bit more.
With the wiring, make sure that everything is earthed properly at the rear. The rear lights for example rely on the housings being earthed to the body but you can make up short earth links with a ring connector at each end to help you out with that if needed. Sitting the housing onto the painted body doesn't work and relies on the screws for earthing. A meter will prove what earths you have.

[volvogv]

Good suggestions Derek....
I tested the clutch and it engages close to the top of the pedal travel. I always push it to the floor so it should be disengaging? I've also tried double clutching but that doesn't help. Back in 1986 I bought a 142 that had the same problem. Seems to be a thing with me and M40's.....

I had a good look at the connector in the trunk. Somebody actually pulled out pins and put them back in the wrong holes. The white wires (tail and license lights) were seperated from each other for some reason but the diagram clearly shows them together.

[volvogv]

My engine has been running poorly for a while. When pressing the accelerator to start moving, the engine would hesitate for a few seconds then rev up. It also was a little shakey it idle.

This morning I did a "pre-flight inspection" by checking all fluids and tire pressure. All was good except for the SU dashpots. I just filled these things a few weeks ago! So I topped up and drove to work. I was surprised to find the engine running smoothly and the hesitation was gone too. It all makes sense now.......Without dashpot oil, the piston was free to pop up when I tried to rev up for 1'st gear, making the mixture momentarily too rich. From now on I'm going to check it weekly and top off if needed.

I have two questions:

- Is automatic transmission fluid the correct fluid to use in the dashpots?
- Is it normal for the dashpots to empty out in 3,000 miles?

[Derek UK]

With no oil in the dashpots they do rise too quickly but that actually makes the mixture weaker as the large but slow airflow doesn't suck enough fuel from the jet to maintain a good mixture. By slowing the rise of the piston the suction is increased which temporarily enriches the mix in a similar way to an accelerator pump on a "normal" carb. e.g. Weber.
Although there are differences of opinion on this, ATF is too thin and will give a fast piston rise. Some people like a thin 3 in 1 type oil and this is similar to the type supplied by SU dealers, but 30 weight or 20-50 engine oil makes for a bit of extra fuel when you need it without the carbs gasping for gas. Some engines like 50 weight so worth a try.
The oil level should be a fraction below the top of the tube with the damper in place so there should be obvious resistance when you gently pull the damper out.
There are 2 types of dashpot and damper and they need to be matched. A damper with an air hole in the top goes with a pot without a hole in the threaded part of the neck. If there is a hole in each the piston will have problems rising as the vacuum will be weak. This scenario doesn't normally happen unless you lose a damper after forgetting to screw it in properly after checking, and you pick up another from elsewhere and are unaware of the differences.

[volvogv]

Derek,

Are you saying that despite the needle being withdrawn from jet, the reduced venturi from the lifted piston is pulling less fuel until the air velocity increases? Sorry.....We engineers need to understand how everything works!

[volvogv]

The car has some strange behavior in the tail lights where some lights wouldn't come on and others would light when they shouldn't. Tracing the wires I found that somebody had done some ehhh....."creative" changes to the rear harness.

For the past couple of weeks I've been hunting down repair parts. I found the original manufacturer of the Volvo connector blocks, who helped identify the correct part numbers. The good news is they are still available so with a little more detective work I tracked down a source of pins and blocks. I'm going to buy some and rewire the car back to factory specs.

To be continued......