Recommissioning a barn find Volvo P1800ES
Discussion
Great looking car, and identical to the one owned by the ENT consultant who extracted my tonsils aged 12 (me, not him before you wags ask). Despite this unpromising introduction to the model, I have had a soft spot for them ever since. They are elegant and to my eyes better proportioned than the 1800 coupe which looks a bit overstuffed from some angles.
Good luck with the recommissioning. I'm firmly in the 'don't modify it' camp, too, FWIW.
Good luck with the recommissioning. I'm firmly in the 'don't modify it' camp, too, FWIW.
shalmaneser said:
Looking forward to seeing this develop. Love this era of Volvos.
Despite BV's strong arguments re. engines I'd love to see a more modern (D)OHC motor in this if the existing boat anchor proves unrecoverable. Nothing good about pushrods at all apart from in V8's IMO.
Also OK in teeny tiny V4s. Despite BV's strong arguments re. engines I'd love to see a more modern (D)OHC motor in this if the existing boat anchor proves unrecoverable. Nothing good about pushrods at all apart from in V8's IMO.
Breadvan72 said:
shalmaneser said:
Looking forward to seeing this develop. Love this era of Volvos.
Despite BV's strong arguments re. engines I'd love to see a more modern (D)OHC motor in this if the existing boat anchor proves unrecoverable. Nothing good about pushrods at all apart from in V8's IMO.
Also OK in teeny tiny V4s. Despite BV's strong arguments re. engines I'd love to see a more modern (D)OHC motor in this if the existing boat anchor proves unrecoverable. Nothing good about pushrods at all apart from in V8's IMO.
Back in the day my grandad has a NSU Ro 80 that got its wankle recalled and replaced by a Ford v4 which I understand was widely reviled.
The V4s in the Lancia Appia and Lancia Fulvia are good engines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_V4_engine
Also, check out this astonishing Porsche V4 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYxdT7Ovtw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_V4_engine
Also, check out this astonishing Porsche V4 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYxdT7Ovtw
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 29th September 21:33
Very interesting project there.
My father had a Volvo 122S 4 door in white with the solid red taillights, and IIRC it had the 2 litre twin carb engine.
I also had a 360 GLS in the late 80s with, I think, basically the same engine. That particular car was one of the best cars I have owned: that 2 litre engine was bulletproof, it ran completely dry of coolant one day on the motorway en route to work, after the AA man let it cool down we just refilled it with water and it was fine. Got the rad sorted and it ran for another 20,000 miles until I sold it.
Re the fuel injection, I would be tempted to convert it to a nice set of Webers, and a custom stainless exhaust system : a subtle yet probably more reliable/simpler fuelling system. And it would sound great.
I currently have a 2010 C30, which has similar design elements to your 1800ES, particularly the tailgate/window.
Looking forward to the journey with yours.
My father had a Volvo 122S 4 door in white with the solid red taillights, and IIRC it had the 2 litre twin carb engine.
I also had a 360 GLS in the late 80s with, I think, basically the same engine. That particular car was one of the best cars I have owned: that 2 litre engine was bulletproof, it ran completely dry of coolant one day on the motorway en route to work, after the AA man let it cool down we just refilled it with water and it was fine. Got the rad sorted and it ran for another 20,000 miles until I sold it.
Re the fuel injection, I would be tempted to convert it to a nice set of Webers, and a custom stainless exhaust system : a subtle yet probably more reliable/simpler fuelling system. And it would sound great.
I currently have a 2010 C30, which has similar design elements to your 1800ES, particularly the tailgate/window.
Looking forward to the journey with yours.
Breadvan72 said:
The V4s in the Lancia Appia and Lancia Fulvia are good engines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_V4_engine
Also, check out this astonishing Porsche V4 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYxdT7Ovtw
Ah yes that Lanica! Sounds great in Harry's Video:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_V4_engine
Also, check out this astonishing Porsche V4 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYxdT7Ovtw
Edited by Breadvan72 on Tuesday 29th September 21:33
Paul S4 said:
Very interesting project there.
My father had a Volvo 122S 4 door in white with the solid red taillights, and IIRC it had the 2 litre twin carb engine.
I also had a 360 GLS in the late 80s with, I think, basically the same engine. That particular car was one of the best cars I have owned: that 2 litre engine was bulletproof, it ran completely dry of coolant one day on the motorway en route to work, after the AA man let it cool down we just refilled it with water and it was fine. Got the rad sorted and it ran for another 20,000 miles until I sold it.
Re the fuel injection, I would be tempted to convert it to a nice set of Webers, and a custom stainless exhaust system : a subtle yet probably more reliable/simpler fuelling system. And it would sound great.
I currently have a 2010 C30, which has similar design elements to your 1800ES, particularly the tailgate/window.
Looking forward to the journey with yours.
This has the B20F engine and from what I've read it has a thicker head gasket reducing compression and slightly lowering BHP. Apparently this improves drivability by not having peak power so far up the rev range and increases low down torque.My father had a Volvo 122S 4 door in white with the solid red taillights, and IIRC it had the 2 litre twin carb engine.
I also had a 360 GLS in the late 80s with, I think, basically the same engine. That particular car was one of the best cars I have owned: that 2 litre engine was bulletproof, it ran completely dry of coolant one day on the motorway en route to work, after the AA man let it cool down we just refilled it with water and it was fine. Got the rad sorted and it ran for another 20,000 miles until I sold it.
Re the fuel injection, I would be tempted to convert it to a nice set of Webers, and a custom stainless exhaust system : a subtle yet probably more reliable/simpler fuelling system. And it would sound great.
I currently have a 2010 C30, which has similar design elements to your 1800ES, particularly the tailgate/window.
Looking forward to the journey with yours.
I'll see how I got on with recommissioning and if the FI system refuses to play ball I may look into carbs as long as there's still good and consistent compression across the cylinders.
Saying that, if the engine is a basket case, it may be the first ever engine rebuild that I've done! They seem pretty straightforward to rebuild.
croissant said:
That sounds interesting! Did you get an pics?
Polestar have recently built a restomod coupe version with 400bhp.
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-volvo-cyan-p1...
Did get any pics no sorry. Looks identical to your car tho!Polestar have recently built a restomod coupe version with 400bhp.
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/the-volvo-cyan-p1...
Great car OP!
The efi unit is just a pain to get bits for. Those of us who've road rallied with these engines tend to go for a decent set of SU's, Webers are too peaky and thirsty. If it doesn't work, get the compression to a sensible level, your car should have the big valve head as standard, a slightly better cam and decent exhaust.
Plenty of torque with that set up and more oomph than the efi unit.
In case you haven't come across them yet..........
Rob Henchoz is a top bloke and knows his stuff...https://www.amazoncars.co.uk/
Brookhouse for bits...https://www.classicvolvoparts.co.uk/
The efi unit is just a pain to get bits for. Those of us who've road rallied with these engines tend to go for a decent set of SU's, Webers are too peaky and thirsty. If it doesn't work, get the compression to a sensible level, your car should have the big valve head as standard, a slightly better cam and decent exhaust.
Plenty of torque with that set up and more oomph than the efi unit.
In case you haven't come across them yet..........
Rob Henchoz is a top bloke and knows his stuff...https://www.amazoncars.co.uk/
Brookhouse for bits...https://www.classicvolvoparts.co.uk/
Thought I’d post an update on what’s been going on with the car as it’s been a while.
Working, families, emergency DIY at home and bad weather prevented us from getting to the car for the past month or so, but we found time this weekend to drag it out and give it a clean.
The car was parked up in 1994 so we were excited to remove 26 years of dust and grime.
This was just a first pass over the car to see what we are working with and it’s a lot better than we thought. The entire car is well preserved, it’s totally solid throughout and there isn’t a dent or scratch in sight.
We also found all the carpet, interior trim and missing brightwork to make it a 100% complete car.
The paintwork should look new with a bit of polishing and the brightwork should respond well to buffing. The carpets will get a good shampooing and should come up well too, and with a bit of love the interior should look equally good.
We also found time to siphon fuel out the tank to make it easier and safer to remove, fitted new tailgate struts as they were knackered and connected a new battery. We didn’t turn the car over as there’s still some way to go until we do that, but everything works. Wipers, all the lights, dash lights, stereo etc…
Oh… and the car was hiding a dirty little secret… It has an aftermarket sunroof which will no doubt upset the purists, but it’s a period correct mod and we quite like it.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Here it is before we cleaned it.
Working, families, emergency DIY at home and bad weather prevented us from getting to the car for the past month or so, but we found time this weekend to drag it out and give it a clean.
The car was parked up in 1994 so we were excited to remove 26 years of dust and grime.
This was just a first pass over the car to see what we are working with and it’s a lot better than we thought. The entire car is well preserved, it’s totally solid throughout and there isn’t a dent or scratch in sight.
We also found all the carpet, interior trim and missing brightwork to make it a 100% complete car.
The paintwork should look new with a bit of polishing and the brightwork should respond well to buffing. The carpets will get a good shampooing and should come up well too, and with a bit of love the interior should look equally good.
We also found time to siphon fuel out the tank to make it easier and safer to remove, fitted new tailgate struts as they were knackered and connected a new battery. We didn’t turn the car over as there’s still some way to go until we do that, but everything works. Wipers, all the lights, dash lights, stereo etc…
Oh… and the car was hiding a dirty little secret… It has an aftermarket sunroof which will no doubt upset the purists, but it’s a period correct mod and we quite like it.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Here it is before we cleaned it.
Edited by croissant on Monday 26th October 13:00
We first went over the bumpers with wd40 and wire wool which removed a lot of the pitting, but there is some permanent damage which we'll live with for now.
The interior just got a wipe down for now and then the exterior got a good wash. This was by far the most satisfying car wash I have ever done with each swipe of the sponge washing away the decades of grime that had collected.
There wasn't time to do anything else at this stage and we're going to focus in getting it running before we detail the car properly.
Here it is after cleaning:
The interior just got a wipe down for now and then the exterior got a good wash. This was by far the most satisfying car wash I have ever done with each swipe of the sponge washing away the decades of grime that had collected.
There wasn't time to do anything else at this stage and we're going to focus in getting it running before we detail the car properly.
Here it is after cleaning:
NomduJour said:
That looks remarkably straight under the muck.
Edit - even more so on a closer look, the sill bottoms look almost perfect. Wish mine had escaped 20 years in the barn as well...
The underside is just as well preserved. There's some surface corrosion on the suspension, but we'll tackle that in due course.Edit - even more so on a closer look, the sill bottoms look almost perfect. Wish mine had escaped 20 years in the barn as well...
Edited by NomduJour on Monday 26th October 12:59
It sucks to be sat at a computer through the week attending to client needs. I just want to be back at the garage and tinkering away!
Next jobs are to crank the engine by hand, lube up the rockers and valves, change the oil and filter, remove the fuel tank, pump and filter and replace with new items, and then blow air through the fuel lines then pump fresh fuel through until it runs clear.
croissant said:
Next jobs are to crank the engine by hand, lube up the rockers and valves, change the oil and filter, remove the fuel tank, pump and filter and replace with new items, and then blow air through the fuel lines then pump fresh fuel through until it runs clear.
Might be useful (last time I pulled mine out, the auxiliary air valve was the issue):https://jetronic.org/en/d-jetronic/72-troubleshoot...
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