The Volvo 122s fact thread

"Learn me".. "Teach me".. "Enlighten me".. "Bestow your wisdom"..

I'm looking at a '67 122s in pretty sorry shape externally. I need a cheap DD, and I won't settle for something reasonable like a Civic or Camery. Been there, it's no fun.

I like fun.

Just to clarify, this won't be a restoration. It's gonna be a fun daily until I can afford that old Mini I've always dreamed of.

So what are the obvious things to watch out for? I've been told the exterior trim is hard to find (how hard, how much?). The engines have a bullet proof reputation, but where are their problem areas? Parts of the car are galvanized, but where do they rust the most? And areas I need to check for safety reasons? Suspension like to rust away? Most expensive parts to replace?

Also, who makes performance suspension parts other than IPD? Any quick power upgrades for the 1.8 b18?

Thanks guys, much appreciated as always

They are awesome, easy to fix, easy to drive every day (modern-ish power/braking.handling/seating) fun cars. The four door is better, in my opinion. Shameless hotlink:

Although stock it will corner more like this (and being RWD, it can be a problem)

Also the transmission weighs like 50 lbs and is great. The shifter pokes up so far forwards it's nearly at the firewall. You can expect reasonable mileage, too. VHC will stop by and tell you more, he DD'ed a few. Nice nice cars. Really want one as a DD instead of just Lemons.

It has been 15 years since I maintained the last of several B16/18/20 powered Volvo's, but I certainly remember the fiber timing gears do not last very long and make quite a racket when dying. I never had any luck with maintaining the charging systems and eventually would replace the battery, external regulator, generator/alternator, and battery all at once in the hopes of getting a good run out of the system. the strombergs with the early emissions idle manipulation were always a problem (69-70?). The earlier SUs were dandy, as was the bosch mechanical FI (74-75). There is a notorious little stretch in the 140 series with bosch electrical FI that were terrible. (71-73 perhaps?). The starters cooked as they were so close to the header down pipe. I started making my own heat shields.

cams, headers, more compression, and holly 2 barrel conversion were all poular. There generally were 2-3 power versions of the basic 4 banger in any given model year. I think the easiest way to get power is to find a 74 or 75 B20E which made something like 130hp and 120 ftlbs and pretty much bolt in. I notice the drive-trains and piles of parts pop up on craigs list as the cars themselves are finally going off the road. They are rorty little mills and I always found their considerable racket pleasing.

I, my wife, owned two and we used them for daily purposes...

1) The wipers are old... they are small, and they don't do a very good job because the wiper system is the one thing on the 122 that really is poorly designed(remember for Volvo) 2) IF you live in COLD climates.. the 122 starter may not crank a cold engine fast enough, and in fact the whole electrical system is a tad weak... No alternator... they use a generator. 3) The webbing in the seats by now is just garbage... re-webbing the original seats(if decent condition) makes for a LOT more comfortable an exp.

The rest... is like most used cars... check and see whats wrong, and fix it.........

The brakes are weird, but wonderful. Three piston calipers. One big one on one side and two little ones on the other. Cast iron calipers. They stop great, really great, but the cast iron calipers and non vented rotors are bad for track use, so we switched to modern Mustang pieces. Pads are expensive, as are rotors. The wheel bolt pattern is standard Ford, which is handy.

Rust!!! For the rest they share the same mechanical bits with the car that holds the world record for mileage. And its all simple mechanicals.

Last summer, I went to check a 122s that hadn't been used in 15 years, was about to fold in two from the rust, yet we plugged in a little gas tank, and it started and ran great.

Cool! I've read up on the GRM project 122, sounds like everyone involved was pretty impressed with it. I'm quite impressed with the autox standings, but ill attribute that to a good driver.. People who do something for a living are generally good at it..

What are the more happening forums for these cars? Sweed Speed, IPD forum, where else do the owners tend to hang out? This will be my first carb'd car so having a solid place to come for questions will be helpful. Of course I have you guys, so I'll do my best to keep this thread alive.

Also what other cars share the same platform? I know the 120, 122, 122s, 123gt, and 130 shared the same platform, but what swaps in as an easy upgrade apart from the b20? I'll most likely be starting with a 122s.

Sounds like I'll be purchasing some rain-x..

I've always been fond of the B18 and B20 powered Volvos: 544, 122, 1800, 142. But they're much more of a cult car than say, Alfas, even though with the proper tweaks, they're surprisingly competitive. The documentation on the GRM 122 is kinda weak. They talk about it being competitive in autocross, but give very few details. I'd love to hear more about it.

Same here, the more the better.

Any details on which body panels on the coupes are galvanized would be extremely helpful, don't want to weld up the wrong things. Dangerous mistake.

What fits from other models? Suspension parts, etc? I keep hearing parts can be hard to find, so anything in that direction helps.

Gonna leave this here..

mr2peak wrote: Also what other cars share the same platform? I know the 120, 122, 122s, 123gt, and 130 shared the same platform, but what swaps in as an easy upgrade apart from the b20? I'll most likely be starting with a 122s. Sounds like I'll be purchasing some rain-x..

the pv 444 and pv 544. Those are the old ford looking ones. They came with the b16 and b18.

the hatches- the 1800. They were made for a fairly long time- b18 and b20.

the 6 cylinder 164 shares a bunch or parts with the 4 bangers as it is the same architecture.

I am not sure how much bots over to the 120 series. I put the leyland electronic overdrive transmission into a auto 142 and a 4 speed145.

the overdrive really helps make the car livable.

They are a bit like hondas in that there is a great deal of comminality between years and weld nuts are and pickup points are put in all chassis regardless of eventual configuration.

I am not aware of any boards. turbobricks mayby. I doubt volvopeed is not going to be of any help.

The car has a 4 speed with overdrive, so it's good to hear that's a plus and not a needless complication.

I found these guys http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/index.shtml

And some other service stuff here: http://www.volvoamazonpictures.se/

Of course there's a Haynes manual as well.

Also found out my sisters friend owns one, so that's cool.

Any more help in this direction would be great. First thing it's gonna get is all new fluids, filters and a roof rack.

More pics for clicks

I have been casually looking for one of these for a few months now. I am getting the itch to play with something older, that my Dad and I could take to shows and cruise nights and what not. I am a sucker for '60s-70s Euro cars, and we both like that it looks like it could be from the '50s but should perform on par with much newer cars. Of course I want a wagon so I can park it next to my V70r at Volvo meets :). I figure our plan is to buy the least rust we can afford and sort the mechanical bits out, add Panasports with decent rubber and some IPD suspension stuff and call it done. I might not be opposed to half moons and white walls though.

They look great with the classic white walls! Penguined out, James Bond tux style. Mine will be daily fun beater. Thinking I can just clean it up some. Get decent mileage and learn to tune carbs :) Mopeds don't really count in that regaurd.

I had a v70 t5 a few years ago, never truly enjoyed it, fwd made it an appliance for me. The R is a different animal, awd really would have woken it up. It was a Beast on the freeway! There's something to be said for 240hp in a wagon

In reply to iadr:

I did start with a disclaimer "its been 15 years since I maintained a bxx ..."

I never had anything but great luck with the mechanical bosch system, and the Volvo folks I knew at the time really liked it as well.

Lots of people had a really really bad time with the early bosch electrical system. glad it worked for you!!

On the starter! right you are! I miss remembered. It was a SBC chevy van that I built that heat shield for. The heat shield i built for several 140 cars was to protect the passenger side lower a arm bushing. they were big fat things and kept cooking. I ran the cars pretty hard in southern califirornia, and they simply burned up. Too close to the down-pipe.

I hope the OP has a good run with the car. My motivation was, and remains, to try and help a bit.

We really like our 122 wagon. We like wagons and the size is perfect for us. The rear hatch design is super slick and the interior is generally good. The heat works well. I put a megasquirt on it with mostly GM injection and spark bits with a (75?) electronic dizzy. I also added three point belts with retractors from a newer Volvo. Aside from the time I ruined an injector due to my own dumb ass mistake tuning, the car has never left me stranded and we take it on lots of adventures camping and such. People constantly comment on it. The car oozes character. I'll repower it someday, but the B18 and 4 speed have been rock solid. Ours handles horribly, has crummy wipers, has crummy mirrors, has needed 2 new brake switches, and could use a few minor rust repairs. We still love driving it when we aren't in a rush. As an only car, they're so old it just can't compare to newer stuff, tough to use as a daily driver. As a cruiser, they're great.

Bryce