Yet, the temptation is VERY strong inside my head.
But I hear you. Good motors.
Then the answer needs to be BOOST. *cough* 
Yet, the temptation is VERY strong inside my head.
But I hear you. Good motors.
Then the answer needs to be BOOST. *cough*
I'm trying to keep the Amazon in class 'PR' - Prepared Rally. Along with the list of stuff the car _needs_, there's another list of allowable modifications. Boost and/or engine swaps aren't allowed- technically I can't even replace the B18 with a B20, even though it's the same engine block and a drop-in swap.
Back to the front suspension- the whole driver's side, it turns out, was completely goobered up. The lower ball joint had an alarming amount of play, and the LCA bushings were knackered.
Meanwhile, the B18 and M40 trans split up, but they're still on speaking terms. The B18 just needs some time to get new gaskets and seals so it can contain its oil better.
I wish I'd taken a picture of the whole drivetrain dangling from a chain from the bucket of my tractor getting pressure washed. It was _filthy_.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
If we plan on it a quick and easy nice side exit would only take a couple hours
My Rally-X co-conspirator came over last night to help thrash on the car, and much was accomplished. The re-sealed engine is now back in place, the radiator replaced, and it fired up!
The radiator is an aluminum deal from eBay...it claimed to fit a Volvo 122, and was "roughly" the right size, but the mounting ears were wrong. The seller agreed to give me a partial refund, and I removed the sides off a *real* 122 radiator and epoxied them on the sides of this one.
Both front shocks are now replaced, and the clutch hard & soft lines replaced, and clutch bled.
After dinner, we decided to check out the rear end. I'd detected some undesireable movement there at the last race.
And we found the reason:
After over an hour of cleaning, scraping, and other rust-removal, we came to the conclusion that the whole rear end needs to be replaced. Where the lower trailing arms strap around the axle tube was severely corroded, to the point where the structural integrity of the axle was in question. By this point it was 10 o clock, so I called it a night.
You got your money out of that training arm!
I don't know that I'd trust epoxy to hold the radiator mounts in a street car much less a rallyx car! I'd have some tabs welded on. Or screwed on if the plate isn't holding fluid.
glad it fired up though! That always feels good
In reply to jfryjfry :
Its JB weld 2-part. Something like 3500 psi cured strength. I took the entire sides off a defunct oem radiator and sort of pressed them onto the sides of the aluminum one, after grinding off all the wrong mounting tabs. It's at least as strong as the oem, I'm fairly confident.
This is what the axle looked like under that corroded, broken trailing arm:
Fortunately, being the Volvo Clearinghouse, I have some spare axles. Which is how I ended up spending my Sunday.
New 55-year-old axle installed, new poly bushings, new shocks.
The mini-VCH's found some scrap plywood and made drawings while we were out in the garage.
Last night I got the brakes hooked up, replaced the short hard line from the rear proportioning valve to the brake hose, and replaced the hose. Brakes work!
A close up, since it was mentioned, of the radiator adaptation. The mounts seem very solid, the radiator doesn't move at all.
Just need to attach this tot he rest of the pipes and add a couple of new clamps, and the exhaust will be done.
Racing in 5 days!
With the exhaust being the long pole left in the tent, I decided to bash it out last night. Apologies in advance to malibuguy, what you're about to see may shock and apall you. The muffler and most of the piping from the old exhaust was still intact, it just needed the hangers enhanced, the tail-pipe moved forward away from the rear tire, and a ~7" connection made to the header flange.
The Zone for Auto parts did not have a 2-1/2" collector flange, but they did have some funky 2-1/2" split flange 3 hole dealie that looked like it could be made to work. I bought a couple of hangers, and a few sundries for other cars.
With a little help from my pal Lincoln, a header flange was fabricated from 2-1/2" pipe and the split flange dealie.
That ain't going anywhere. *Smacks pipe with hand*
Since I can't really bend exhaust pipe in my shop, if I don't have any pre-bent sections to weld in, I usually resort to cutting the pipes at angles and welding them together. Which, while I'm sure from a fluid dynamics perspective is pretty horrifying, from a function perspective...well, it works.
Exhausted, (yuck, yuck) around 10:30 last night I fired up the B18, confirmed that the cobbled-together pipes worked, and then headed in for a shower.
*cries in superiority* lol
why do you have 3 hangers all within a foot? haha
malibuguy said:*cries in superiority* lol
why do you have 3 hangers all within a foot? haha
Triple redundancy. There's another hanger near the muffler. Last rally-x we busted the rear pipe hanger.
*2 glasses of wine later*
Laugh all you want, motherberkeleyer, that exhaust ain't fallin' off!!
volvoclearinghouse said:*2 glasses of wine later*
Laugh all you want, motherberkeleyer, that exhaust ain't fallin' off!!
lol. The main problem with those hangers they can catch on things especially with what your doing. You will probably be fine with all the redundancy however
In reply to malibuguy :
Yeah, that's why I always mount them with bolts facing up whenever I can. But I can see how they'd still be problematic. A welded tab on the top would no doubt be better. Maybe in the off-season I'll drop her by your shop and let you work your magic.
Also, I just got a '09 Chevy truck with a 6.0 that needs something done about the fact that the stock exhaust sounds like an Electrolux. 
Ready to Rally!
Well, I might as well hang my tail between my legs, and post the results of last Saturday's Rally-X here, with a gigantic asterisk:
http://www.scca-susq.com/.../2021-rx-results-event-6-10-23/
First off, congratulations to my co-driver, who apparently has figured out how to wheel a 1960's stick axle economy car around in the dirt in 2 sessions of rally-cross better than I have in 15+ years of doing it on and off. I rode along on all of his runs, adding 180 pounds of ballast to the passenger side of the car, and he was really getting it. And having fun. Which is the most important part.
I, on the other hand, started off pretty well in the AM session, standing at 2nd in class by lunchtime, right behind the seriously rally-prepped Nissan 240SX. But my first run in the afternoon, as you can see by the stats, the wheels fell off. The course got changed around, and I made a couple of wrong turns, which put me off course.
I finished my run extra slowly, since I was pretty sure I'd been DNF'd by my getting lost. As it turns out, they just added 20 seconds to my (now very slow) run, but that was about double the average of my other times. Had I not completely stepped on myself, I'd be writing this as a very close race between my co-driver and myself.
But I did screw up. Next time I'll learn.
On the bright side again, the car acquitted itself marvelously, without a single mechanical hiccup. So, at least my car preparation ability exceeds my driving skill. And we're in good shape to hit the track next spring. I might even make a few improvements to it.
Sunday I hit the Amazon with the pressure washer, over and under, to knock off that corrosive Pennsylvania muck.
Looking better!
Some action shots from Saturday:
Blues Brothers Goteburg.
It is great having a super common wheel bolt pattern.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Those wheels and tires came off a '66 Town and Country; sold the care a few years ago but kept those steelies. Unfortunately, the first drive with them on the Amazon showed they were badly flat-spotted. Really don't want to plunk down 400 bucks on new treads, but I also don't want to wear out the rally tires.
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