• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

My 1966 Volvo 122

I just noticed something in the test 7 video? Do you have a heat shield under those carbs? If not, fuel boiling in the jets can lead to funkiness.

I don't. I was thinking about putting it back on, but I drove the car for about 45 mins yesterday with Jeremy's carbs without the shield and didn't have any issues. I'll put it back on anyways though.
 
Just to be sure, I had a lot of problems using the heat shields for HIF's or Strombergs with my HS carbs, and putting one that covered the whole exhaust back on made a big difference. I guess it's just one more thing to try. Also, do you have any of the Penolic heat isolators (black plastic carb spacers) or any unplugged vacuum nipples? I had one carb with a nipple on the top and the other with a nipple on the bottom, I didn't know that they connected to so I silver soldered them shut.
 
Just to be sure, I had a lot of problems using the heat shields for HIF's or Strombergs with my HS carbs, and putting one that covered the whole exhaust back on made a big difference. I guess it's just one more thing to try. Also, do you have any of the Penolic heat isolators (black plastic carb spacers) or any unplugged vacuum nipples? I had one carb with a nipple on the top and the other with a nipple on the bottom, I didn't know that they connected to so I silver soldered them shut.

I have the little cap on that goes on the back carb. Otherwise there would be the hose that goes to the vacuum advance distributors.
 
I have the little cap on that goes on the back carb. Otherwise there would be the hose that goes to the vacuum advance distributors.

Ok, so maybe it's what someone over on swedespeed said and its the float levels. Have you stopped when it starts bucking/missing and checked the float level? If it is fuel boiling you will see that also. Sometimes when the fuel boils the vapor doesn't come out of the overflow holes but pushes through the jet (if there is a blockage in the overflow holes)... Maybe the polisher got some compound in the weep holes?
 
Ok, so maybe it's what someone over on swedespeed said and its the float levels. Have you stopped when it starts bucking/missing and checked the float level? If it is fuel boiling you will see that also. Sometimes when the fuel boils the vapor doesn't come out of the overflow holes but pushes through the jet (if there is a blockage in the overflow holes)... Maybe the polisher got some compound in the weep holes?


Funny you should say that. So the culprit may have been the floats. They were sitting higher than the specs they are supposed to be set at. I set them using a 1/8 drill bit and put the lids back on the bowls. I then started to get fuel coming from the weep hole on the back carb. I removed them, tried again and got the same result. I remembered I had a set of the newer style black replacement floats laying around so I put those on, set them and tried again. This time I was leaking no fuel and the road test was a success. I drove around for about 30 minutes with it driving very well. I think for the most part its back to how it used to be before all of this started. I may have a little bit of tuning to do, but I feel pretty happy to be up and running again.
 
Last edited:
The car running thing was short lived haha. Ive been under the hood for weeks now and have had moments where it ran fine and moments where it was absolute chaos.The problem with the car is most likely not the carbs now so ive turned my attention to the spark side of things. Couldnt get the car to stay running even with the carbs I borrowed last week that are known to be set and functioning well. So I threw in the towel and sent it off to a Volvo repair shop that I recently found out about thanks to hdBattousai. The owner of the shop started out working on 122s over 35 years ago. He also owns two amazons himself and referred to them as toys that he work on with his eyes closed. That's actually exactly the kind of person I need right now. We had a good long conversation about the mechanical history of the car and traded some random volvo stories. So i'll be interested to see what he finds out and hopefully have a place to take the car to when im in a bind.

tow_zps0f7d2292.jpg
 
That is possibly the most beautiful volvo to ever be loaded onto a flatbed haha.

Funny, I was looking at the picture of the car being loaded and thought exactly that. Then scrolled down to see your post.

Classic case of great minds think alike? :)

Awesome bit of motoring history! I'm sure the guy, going by your description keith, will get it back on the road asap!

love it!
 
So he got the car running better than ever. Having been working on it for weeks, it was kind of a mess in terms of diagnosing. It was hard to tell what the culprit really was in the end, and it seems like more of a mix of everything. A setting a little off here, a worn part there. So he did new plugs, plug wires (I had a set laying around and he used those), points, condenser, rotor, cap, carb jets, alternator belt, battery terminal connector. The most important part of all is he removed the carbs, cleaned them, set them up and then tuned them. I was very happy that the car could run with my carbs because I went through the trouble and cost of polishing them and it also meant I wouldnt be on the hunt for a new set. Drove the car home and then later to a local meet (about an hour round trip from my house) and it drove perfectly. Very happy I decided to let go of trying to fix it myself and have someone else look at it. However, it did pick up a good sized gouge in the driver front wheel as a result of the mechanic hitting a lift moving the car, but im sure that will get sorted out.

Here it is out in the world again..

gass_zps444fcf16.jpg
 
Looks fantastic! I sold my 240, and am aggressively pushing on getting my 122 coupe rebuilt and on the road for next spring. Your car is great inspiration, and it occupies the desktop on my shop office computer!
 
Back
Top