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New 142 Owner Introduction

14K views 111 replies 16 participants last post by  thispunter 
#1 ·
Hi,
I thought I'd do an introduction with some pictures. I had a wanted thread over in the classifieds and ended up getting what I was looking for.

It's a 1970 142s 4spd with a seriously baked interior and touched up or repainted exterior. The car came to me with these ARE (American Racing?) 15x7 wheels; what I think is an IPD header attached to 2.25 exhaust (measured at the end) and one muffler (kind of loud); and a Weber 32/36 carb.
It would start but bogged under throttle. I messed with the Weber a little and ended up buying some SU HIF6's attached to an aluminum intake manifold (he's got a 142 for sale with Weber DCOE's). With the SU's the car starts and runs fine.

That's where I am now. I've taken the ARE wheels off (tires are dangerously cracked) and put the stock ones on but the tires on these are three 195/60-15's and one 205/something-15. Why the odd size on the one rim I have no idea. I put it on the front right. I'm thinking about getting the curb rash cleaned up on the ARE's and using them after getting new tires (probably 195/60-15). It also came with four 15" Virgos (I think that's what they are).

Aside from a lot of little things like cracked lenses I'm going to start with getting all new door seals and window scrapers then maybe take a look at the exhaust. It exits on the right and I really don't like the sound. I think the best thing to do might be to get a stock 122 manifold along with a new stock system back with the two mufflers (VP Autoparts has a performance 2" system- maybe that'll work?).

Anyway,
Cheers and thanks for all the info I've already been able to research from your past posts.

Ted.

Oh yeah- original spare!







 
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#60 ·
Yes I removed the original sound deadening pads because I did a complete strip and repaint of the car. I removed the pads the hard way (heat). If you can access some dry ice (or liquid N2 - too risky for me) the quick and clean way to remove is freeze it and it fractures easily.

I have used Eastwood Encapsulator and it is a pretty good product. It is good for use inside the rockers where you can't really access the area to do rust removal. It is much thinner bodied than POR 15 so definitely would not be as durable. As I recall, when I used it I top coated with Eastwood Extreme chassis black using the encapsulator instead of the chassis black primer. I still think the POR 15 gives you a heavier coat than the combination of the Encapsulator and the Extreme Chassis Black.

Unless you want to avoid the work, for those rusted areas under the galvanized covers where you can access it I would be inclined to use one of those chemical rust removers, neutralize and then treat with Encapsulator and a suitable top coat or use POR 15.

Tops in the organic rust removers is molasses. Not the kind you buy at the grocery but the stuff that they use as a feed supplement for livestock. Much cheaper than the stuff you use for making cookies! It is incredibly slow and under the correct conditions can go off (ferment) in which case you will need a niosh respirator for the clean up unless you can supress your gag reflex. Not for this kid! Muriatic acid is fast and fairly cheap. Dilute one part muriatic acid into three parts water (always acid into water). Acid cleaning can result in hydrogen embrittlement of the steel. A problem in stressed components. Not a big deal on the floor pan. Clean up and neutralizing after the acid has done its job can be a hassle. Gloves and goggles are a must. There are also other less aggressive rust removers.
 
#61 ·
Floors are POR'd and carpeted. Luckily my sound deadening came up pretty easily. I used POR-15 based on the above suggestion and it works really well.
I found two small rust holes and patched these with POR-15 patch. This stuff works so well I used it to put a chipped piece of my concrete driveway back in place.



I used Noico 80 Mil sound deadening.


I should've gotten black carpet-- this blue doesn't match at all. I ordered some black mats from VP and with the center console on top of the trans tunnel hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.



Still waiting on word from VP on the rear seat bottom upholstery and side panels.
 
#62 ·
If you want black carpets or a different blue, there are carpet spray on paints and dyes (I am never too sure about the dye versus paint thing when it comes in a spray bomb). They work remarkably well, although if you want to go to a lighter blue to match the seats that may be iffy. Going darker is no problem. If you want to try do it before the carpets get dirty. You will still need to clean / shampoo the carpets to get rid of any residual production chemicals before dyeing / painting; but, you won't have to deal with dirt. I dyed my original brown carpets in my 142 E using Rit dye. I did them in a plastic garbage can with hot water. I kept approximately the same color, I just wanted to deal with some fading / non uniformity. The result came out really good; but, it took me forever to get the carpets clean prior to the dyeing. It took four passes with a hot water carpet shampooer before dirt stopped coming out of the carpet. I was surprised because the OEM carpets are a really short pile and I didn't think they would retain that much dirt.
 
#63 · (Edited)
@thispunter: To be perfectly honest, I'd really consider returning the carpet and getting the black kit. You've done a stellar job so far and turned this car into something to admire, particularly the floorboard cleanup and dashboard work (I looked over your photos again and am super impressed). The color difference in that blue carpet would drive me absolutely batty. I had a similar issue trying to purchase carpet off of eBay -- I bought a black kit from an Australian outfit that was advertised as being for a short-shifter '72 car. Not the case (made for the long-shifter instead), and had to get a refund. For Round 2, eventually went with a black kit from Rock Auto for a 242. Very happy with the result. Your blue kit is clearly better made than mine and intended for the 142, it's just the color that's off. Just think about it -- it needs to be right for you. My $0.02.
 
#64 ·
Many thanks for the input, 142 Guy and MonzaA4. Great reasoning both.
It honestly didn't occur to me to return the carpets. Maybe since I've had them so long. Now that they're installed with stick-on backing and holes poked through for screws, the return option is out. And the stick on backing kind of prevents them from being submerged in liquid.
I still think the paint/dye idea is good, though and it looks like SEM products makes aerosol vinyl/carpet paint. I might even try something different like graphite.
 
#65 ·
Before I finish the parcel/hat shelf upholstery I need to figure out the speaker situation. The previous owner installed two 6x9's on each side of the stock speaker so there are holes in the metal and fiberboard. I figured I'd remove the newer speakers and cover up the holes with the new hat shelf carpet piece leaving the original speaker. Unfortunately, the original speaker and cover have seen better days.

I think I can epoxy the mounting screws back onto the cover and reuse it but the speaker is torn. Does anyone know what the spec's are of the rear speaker?

I googled but came up with nothing and even visited Best Buy but nothing seems to match.

The oval speaker outline on the cover measures 6.75" x 4.75" and the mounting holes are about 5.125" x 4.125". Are they 5x7's? Is it so simple that no one has ever needed to consult a forum?






 
#66 ·
Wow, it's almost been a year.
I found an 8 OHM (I think) speaker and just drilled new holes in my existing grill to make it all work.



Also, the seat cover I got from VP ended up being for a 144, not a 142. On the 4 door model the rear seat has rounded edges so you don't catch it when getting in and out using that rear door. My upholsterer was able to use part of the old seat cover material to make up the difference. It's still the wrong color but I knew that.




More recently, I got fed up with being pinned between the steering wheel and the seat when getting in the car so got a smaller steering wheel. I usually like stock steering wheels but I'm not crazy about the early 140 ones. I'd prefer the bow tie type but I'm pretty sure they won't fit my column and plus my legs would still get pinned. Like I mentioned, the early 140 columns are different than pretty much every other model so finding an aftermarket hub was a challenge. What I ended up with is a Luisi hub, Luisi to Moto Lita adapter and a Moto Lita wheel. Similar to MonzaA4's but mine started out with a wood veneer. I wanted a thinner wheel but don't think the wood works with a Volvo (maybe an Alfa or Jag) so put a leather cover on it.
I should add that with the Luisi hub and adapter there's sufficient clearance from the turn signal lever.

 
#67 ·
The bigger story is I got a rebuilt engine and put that in.


The back story on that is:
I was collecting some mild performance parts with the idea of working on the top end. I found a late carbed big valve head with the ridges on the intake side polished away, an intake manifold with the same ridges also polished away, and bought a K cam.
After installing all this along with a Cloyes timing set the engine smoked pretty badly. This was not just on the overrun but when giving it gas too. The problem seemed to be that with the reconditioned head this exacerbated worn cylinders.
I started pricing an engine rebuild after this and ended up finding an already rebuilt B20 on Ebay for a reasonable price. I put my head on this engine and Bob was your uncle.
Oh yeah, I got some material machined off the fly wheel too.




I'm still running the engine in now (keeping it under 4k) but the nagging next step seems to be O.D. The values of these still aren't really climbing and mine has had a lot of cheap body repairs and paint touch ups so I don't want to throw too much money at it. With that in mind, I was able to find someone who wanted to trade his M41 for a good B20 block and my original engine was just taking up space. He said it was a D-type but after I got it home I looked and it plainly says J-type. I dropped it off at a local transmission place that actually rebuilds these overdrives and am waiting on the prognosis.
Now I just need the crossmember. I'm thinking I'll just modify the M40 one unless anyone has the correct one for sale...
 
#79 ·
The 'easy' identification, at least for the parts in the Skandix listing that match with the parts manual, is that the bottom piece has tabs that extend out to match with the lower A pillars and the top piece has a number of holes in it which the lower piece lacks.
 
#80 ·
Luckily I was able to find an affordable M41 crossmember. But for those that haven't been so lucky, here are a couple of pictures illustrating the differences between the M40 and M41 crossmembers. Good pictures of the 140 M41 crossmember seem to be kind of rare on the internet.
First shows the two; second, how the M40 crossmember doesn't fit the M41 transmission; and third, how the correct part fits.





 
#81 ·
We have overdrive!
~85mph @ 4k rpm (by my calculations)! It has no problem with the 4.10 rear.

I've got it wired up with a momentary switch so that it automatically shifts out of OD when I shift out of 4th and doesn't shift back into OD unless I'm in 4th and hit the switch.



 
#82 ·
Looking good! The carpet looks fine to me.
I think the only had one color blue for a couple of different blue interiors. Then they had an aqua/green.
That said, black would look good also.
On my 73, I'm using 74 striped blue/green seat covers & matching door cards. I'll need to take the cards to an upholsterer to work the window sweepers. But the seat covers have multi colored stripes, including black, so I may go with black carpet.
Keep up the good work, the wheels look great on there also!!
Steve
 
#84 ·
Are your seat covers OE from VP? I can't believe that stuff's still available. As long as it's all period correct maybe exact matching doesn't matter so much.

Whose momentary contact OD switch did you use and did you use the Bosch 1259750 relay?
It's an Ebay find: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Long-Stalk...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
Thanks goes to you, by the way, as much of my internet research brought me to your posts.
This one it turns out is just a standard momentary Lucas switch that's they've added length to the toggle. By the time you get to the end of it the throw is pretty long:
https://www.revingtontr.com/product/rtr8207k/name/switch-kit-momentary-140mm
The toggle shaft has a rubber sleeve on it to cover up their work.
I also considered the regular Lucas toggle switch mounted on the dash but since I was able to find an OE OD column mount I went that direction.
 
#86 ·
Pictures from the VCOA national meet hosted by the SLO Rolling Central Coast Volvo Club:






This was the first road trip I've taken and the car ran great. Well, mostly. It started popping out of O/D when the revs got below 3000 when I arrived and the whole way home. It turns out the oil level was low. Topped up the oil and all good now.
Also, I've been swapping back and forth between HIF6 and HS6 carbs trying to figure out which is best. Well, neither work very well when the throttle shaft bushings are worn. The HS6's are worse (and more susceptible) so I sent them off for repair this week.
 
#87 ·
Low oil level in the transmission / OD will definitely cause the OD to drop out. If you haven't done so already, it would be prudent to clean the filters in the OD because that will contribute to the problem. However, if you don't know when the access cover was last removed (if ever) have a replacement gasket on hand. If its an original gasket it almost assuredly will not seal when you reinstall the cover.

No update photos on your recent re upholstery work?

Volvo's solution to create a rear mount shifter on the P1900 is hilarious. The shift into reverse or 2nd must seem a little strange. The P1900 is indeed a rare bird with a total production run that I recall was less than 70. Story goes that Volvo's new CEO was so disappointed with the quality of the build that he cancelled production after taking it for a weekend test drive.
 
#88 ·
I took the whole transmission over to a shop in Burbank (rare for me) and had them look it over before I installed it. They replaced the cone clutch among other things.

I'm done with my upholstery work. The mismatched back seat was the last thing.

However, I do need to peruse your thread, 142Guy and check which suspension springs you ended up with. I'm becoming less and less happy with my progressive fronts. I think I'd like a little more travel front and rear.
 
#89 ·
I now have the Amazon Cars (UK) progressive fronts and single rate rears. I like them better than the Lesjofors (which just about everybody sells) that I previously had on the car. The Lesjofors combined with the IPD sway bars were just too rough on poor quality pavement. They are fine if you are on an autocross track. The Amazon Cars springs were quite spendy with the shipping costs and I seem to recall a forum member saying that they are no longer exporting them because of liability issues. I don't know whether that is correct so it might be worthwhile emailing them to confirm if you are looking for options. The car rides a little higher with the Amazon springs compared to the Lesjofors which means a nudge more wheel travel which is nice on crappy roads.
 
#91 ·
I didn't know that they offered progressive springs. I thought all of theirs were single rate. The salient feature of Classic Swede for me was that they offered springs with a 100 mm drop in ride height. I know a little negative camber won't hurt a 140; but, I am thinking that much drop is going to give you a big increase in negative camber and I don't know whether there is enough adjustment to get it back to something reasonable. I also imagine the spring rate must be pretty high in order to keep the car from bashing into the bump stops all the time. Would make for an interesting ride.
 
#93 ·
I forgot this was the last thing that was being discussed on this thread. It turns out, much to my embarrassment, that I forgot to trim by bump stops when I installed the springs and thus the car spends a lot of time resting on them. Since there was only maybe an inch of travel before the upper control arm hit the bump stop I couldn't feel it happening. Except when I lost the front in the wet on a corner and got to wondering why.

After cutting the bump stop in half I now feel it hit when going over dips. If I cut any more off I'm thinking other parts might start to contact each other.
What have others done when installing lower springs? I've got bilsteins on both front and rear.
 
#94 · (Edited)
Which springs did you go with? If they are 40 mm shorter I am surprised that they are hitting the bump stops. I think my Amazon Cars springs are a nominal 25 mm lower in ride height and from visual inspection of the suspension with the car at rest it is well off the bump stops. Visual inspection of the bump stops after driving shows no marks so I see no evidence of contact in normal street driving. Are you doing the Rally Sport Challenge with your 140 :)?

Somewhere, I have recorded the ride height of my car with the Amazon springs measured at the little round steel bar in the jack points. The jack points are subject to damage, so perhaps not the best points for consistent comparison between cars; but, easy to get at. If you want, take a measurement and I will see if I can find my data and then we can do a comparison. My car is a little lighter than normal so I don't get the full drop of 25 mm compared to stock ride height; but, if your height numbers are way off my numbers it might be a sign that something 'is up' with the installation.

Do you know what the spring rate is for your springs? Did you get a spring meant for a light car which is causing it to ride lower than expected if your vehicle weight is normal?

Edit
Ride height at the jack points from the end of 2016

RF – 195 mm
LF – 194 mm
RR – 193 mm
LR – -191 mm

I can't find anything more up to date.
 
#95 ·
I got these from John Parker and I can't find any spring rate data other than what's listed on his site:
Our progressive rate front street springs are generally in the range of 230 - 250 lbs. per inch for the soft coils and 450 - 500 lbs. per inch for the stiff coils, with intermediate coils in between which progress in stiffness from the soft to the stiff coil range.

My ride height (measured on my slanted driveway):
RF - 159 mm
LF - 162 mm
RR - 175 mm
LR - 181 mm

This is measured using an old unit called "inches" and converted to mm so might not be the most accurate but you get an idea.

I've got spacers on the rear, btw.

I'm wondering if this might be an issue with the bilsteins, although, they should be fine with this set up.

So, 142 Guy- you didn't do anything with your front bump stops?
I've got this one cut in half-
http://212.247.61.152/us/main.aspx?page=article&artno=675253

The springs along side the originals-
 
#96 ·
This is a photo of the Amazon springs before I installed them.

Coil spring Suspension Auto part Tire Suspension part


The resistance to compression on a spring is a function of the wire gauge, the pitch (distance between individual coils) and the modulus of the spring wire. All steels have about the same modulus regardless of ultimate tensile strength so the variables on stiffness become the wire size and the pitch. For the same wire gauge, a spring becomes stiffer the greater the pitch. Look at my front coils. Including the top and bottom coil I have 8 coils over he length of the spring. Your VPD springs appear to have 9 coils over the length. Also, in the photo I am assuming the black spring is the OEM Volvo spring. The wire diameter on the VPD spring does not appear to be any larger in diameter than the Volvo spring (although hard to be certain from the photo). I don't have a photo of the Amazon versus OEM springs; but, the Amazon do have a perceptibly larger gauge wire. The other thing to notice is that the Amazon springs only have about 2 coils of low pitch wire (the top two) and the rest of the coils are larger / firmer pitch. The VPD springs appear to have more low pitch coils and a much more gradual increase to the high pitch coils. Trying to eyeball wire gauge and overall coil lengths from photos is highly risky; but, if the VPD springs and the Amazon springs have the same wire gauge, my assessment is that the VPD springs should be softer than the Amazon springs and if they have the same free length they would ride lower. If their free length is longer than the Amazon springs then they would have more preload on them when installed which would increase ride height.

The notes I have from my install of the Amazon springs were that the wire diameter on the fronts was 15.3 mm and the free length of the fronts was 267 mm. If your fronts have a similar wire diameter and the free length is similar, the springs are softer and I am not surprised that your car is riding lower and that the suspension is compressing more on bumps which might explain the bump stop issue. I have those same bump stops that you linked and have no problem with contact.

Just for fun, here is a photo of the Amazon front spring (right) and the Lesjofor front spring that I replaced with the amazon springs. The Lesjofors have a significantly higher spring pitch and I think the wire was about 2 mm larger in diameter. They are a lot shorter because the weight of the car barely preloads the spring at all. Those suckers are stiff - suitable for a autocross. Not so good for street driving. I got rid of them in part because the ride was so rough that my wife never wanted to go anywhere in the car. Truth is that on our roads they were shaking things loose and creating new rattles on the car.

Just to be clear, those height measurements you provided are to the little round bar in the jackpoint and not the side flanges on the jackpoint? That is where I measured my heights. Also, my heights are with 185/65 15 tires. If you are running different tires with a different overall radius that will affect ride height.

Coil spring Auto part Tire Automotive tire Suspension
 
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