Volvo Amazon 1968 trackday build

So where do I start...

I'm Thom and I live in the Netherlands. I'm following some awesome threads at this forum for a while now and figured i'd start one myself. I've learned a lot by just reading other peoples stories, some of which was very usefull for myself.

About the car: It's a 1968 Volvo Amazon which i bought 4,5 years ago. I like the hotrod look of some American icons, but these are way to expensive in the Netherlands, so i looked for an alternative. The Amazon has the oldschool looks, is quite inexpensive and spare parts are easy to find. It has a b20 (2 liter) single carb engine which puts out about 80hp. I repainted the car myself because i had to weld in a lot of new bodypanels. I'm going to put on some extra layers of paint because some panels missmatch.

I had lots of pictures of the (slow) build during the years, but i lost all of them when i upgraded my laptop with a ssd. Now that i have a half year free of school (automotive engineering), i work fulltime at my intern company so i hope the speed of the build will increase as i make much more money then when i was in school.

This is how it looks right now:

Mods so far:

-Bilstein shocks

-Lowering springs (from "Tinustechniek") I find the stance a bit to high so i'll maybe replace them later on.

-Volvo K-camshaft

-Braided brake lines

Plans

-Rollcage

-Volvo m47 fivespeed transmission

-123tune programmable ignition

-sport exhaust manifold

At the moment i'm sorting out some of the wiring, putting in some better seats and making a new manifold for the yamaha fazer carbs.

I hope you like reading this, i'm always open for help and tips

Love this body style. Awesome start.

Keep posting. Before I found the P1800ES, the plan was a 122 with a LS engine.

First update is about the carb upgrade

I bought them on "Marktplaats", which is like a dutch Ebay, for 60 euro's.

Because the inlet need to have equil lenght ports, i split the four carbs. I have to put a spacers in the middle and extend the fuel line. Because bike carbs do not have to deal with going sideways, they need to be put in a 30 degree angle.

I made this basic layout in Solidworks:

This is how the carbs look now:

The second carb from the left is the carb that has the controller for the gascable. The third is connected by a spring that keeps the tension on the two, which is also for synchronising the left two and the right two. Because i split them, there has to be made a block that connects the two.

I love this! I was just searching Craaigslist yesterday for one of these cars.

@NOHOME I just love the p1800, hope to have one one day

There is a guy at stanceworks who has put together a very nice amazon with ls engine:

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37653

ThomS wrote: @NOHOME I just love the p1800, hope to have one one day There is a guy at stanceworks who has put together a very nice amazon with ls engine: http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37653

Thom"

Quite familiar with his work and a lot of it I admire. The word on several forums is, if you want to buy something from his business, its best to take delivery in person, at the time of purchase. Lead times for delivery on pre-paid orders seem to require a few consecutive calendar years for many of his clients.

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?219934-Robert-Jackson-Scam

@NOHOME Hmm didn't know this, so that's how he can afford these parts. He seams like a good guy on the Stanceworks forums.

Very cool project,love old Volvos for sure....and bike carbs.

I'm not sure where your getting the 30 degree mounting angle because its in a car,as long as the float level is happy then you'll be fine.Can't tell if those are R1 carbs from the picture,don't quite like right but going from memory.Mount the carbs at the same angle they were in the bike,that usually means the part line at the fuel bowl is level.

As a side note that while bikes don't have to deal with side loads like a car I've never wheelied a car....I've quite literally done thousands of very long wheelies on carb'd bikes with out a hiccup.

Mikunis? Been awhile since I rebuilt a bike carb.

@GTXvette I will surely take a look

@kevlarcorolla They are from a Fazer 1000, roughly the same as the carbs from the R1 i think. I had a document about a shop that did these "bike carb on cars"-transformations, but i lost it. They recommended that 30 degree angle so you wouldn't deal with your bowls running empty in a long corner.

Yep the fazor which is called FZ1 here is closer to a traditional sidedraft then the R1 downdrafts,I owned one for a couple of yrs and loved it.I would use the level float bowl over any other angle,I doubt that amazon will generate enough G's to cause any issue regardless of the length of the corner.

A float level issued caused by a mounting angle other the designed for is a very real possibility,not sure what your using for a fuel pump but I suggest you use the stock bike pump.They provide the right pressure and have a built in regulator,will save money and set-up time over trying to dial in a pump and separate regulator.These run very low pressure.

Also a common thing with the fazor carbs is the pilot jet will plug with sitting,makes for uneven running across 1 or more cylinders.I used a simple pc of guitar string to clear mine a couple times,they are very small.Best to check it before installation.

Btw there's only two pilot jet sizes from mikuni,my 1600cc 4age idled rich with the stock pilot jet so probably no need to change that unless testing shows otherwise.

@kevlarcorolla I already bought a second hand fuel pump from a fazer, very low pressure build up indeed. It even shuts down when you put your finger on the outlet.

I also found the article again, worth checking out: http://www.classicfordmag.co.uk/files/2011/07/CLF166.bike_.pdf

Update:

-Welded in a piece to lenghten the choke

-Welded in a piece to connect the left two carbs with the right two, i'm still able to synchronise them.

-Made a spacer in a lathe to lengten the fuel supply

-Bored out the main jets to 1,6mm to start with

The welds are pretty bad, but it'll do

The carbs are done now, next task is to make the inletmanifold

Looking good!

Thanks for the info GTX, i would always prefer a volvo engine in my amazon, but a american v8 would be my second choise for sure