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1967 Volvo 1800s - The Second Time Around

Excellent David. This project is really shaping up nicely! I wish I could find time to get out to the garage and continue on with my Amazon, this definitely is motivation!
 
Thanks, after a lot of planning the bar is coming along OK.

Yes, he is a talented and very clever man!

I'm also a fabricator and engine and general machinest so I do things a bit differently with what I have at hand. I use large dia. ball-ended roughing mills and multiple-tooth end mills with inserts in a large vertical milling machine w/a tilting vice and can cut an end quickly.

The blade teeth in a HD vertical band saw work well for other the other shaping needed while holding the tube by hand and swinging it back and forth on the saw table, almost works like an aggressive file. Finish off by chamfering the OD of the end on a large floor pedestal mounted horizontal grinder.

Can finish off a joint this way quickly. The welding is by a mig which can be done much faster with a somewhat different finished look with about the same strength as when using a heli-arc.

The tubing is 1.750 DOM .093 mild steel.

I'm a fabricator, too! I used to build bike frames and mitered on a mill with hole saws, but those tubes are much thinner and lighter than roll cage tubing. I'm gathering material to build a tube frame RWD mid engine Karmann Ghia so I'm moving up on tubing specs. I have a Bridgeport and I'm shopping for a lathe. I think mitering on a lathe might be the way to go, lots of U tube on that, but would like to see some pics of your mill set up, if you have the time. Keep up the good work!
 
I'm a fabricator, too! I used to build bike frames and mitered on a mill with hole saws, but those tubes are much thinner and lighter than roll cage tubing. I'm gathering material to build a tube frame RWD mid engine Karmann Ghia so I'm moving up on tubing specs. I have a Bridgeport and I'm shopping for a lathe. I think mitering on a lathe might be the way to go, lots of U tube on that, but would like to see some pics of your mill set up, if you have the time. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for your interest, the set up has all been taken down for now after finishing all of the tubes, but I use a vice similar to this one: https://www.travers.com/super-precision-3-way-tilting-machine-vises/p/36138/
 
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The OD needs a rebuild this winter and an old, but unused IPD upgrade kit for the D-type was obtained from NorthNH. It consists of heavier clutch springs, a new oil pump relief spring that needs to be shimmed by .060" and instructions to drill out the "operating oil relief valve hole" to .070 and use 80 weight oil. Although using the thick oil and producing a higher oil pressure with the pump will drain more power when the OD is engaged.

The engine is a 115 hp B18B, and the VSCCA rules prohibit using a B20 or boring or stroking it. When it is modified it is unlikely it will produce any more than the 150 hp which is the maximum limit reported that an M40 transmission can handle.

Would like to hear from anyone that has used this combination in hard use about how well it held up for them or any other recommendations that will help it to survive. Also looking for a source for higher friction competition OD clutch linings. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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Just about finished with constructing the roll bar for the 1800s. It is built to SCCA rules with the rear set of diagonal bars lowered a bit for better side impact protection. It is made up of 1 3/4" dia. .092 wall thickness drawn over mandrel seamless tubing. It is bolted in with backup plates to structural areas of the chassis, yet can be removed in 15 minutes and the rear upholstery reinstalled quickly for non-racing use.

 
Wow that's crazy! I love the sticker on the back window BTW, that was even true for my P2R. No one ever suspects the Volvo.
 
Wow that's crazy! I love the sticker on the back window BTW, that was even true for my P2R. No one ever suspects the Volvo.

Glad to hear you enjoy it, a lot of people like it and in the pits at VSCCA races 100s take photos of it! Its a sticker that Dave Barton made up and used to sell.
 
The bar looks good! Bonus on making it to where you can get it out of the car. Helps with paint and finish welding if nothing else.
 


The bar looks good! Bonus on making it to where you can get it out of the car. Helps with paint and finish welding if nothing else.

Thanks, Yes it worked out well.

Fairly road salt free winter up here in New England until now. Just took the car off the road for the winter and this photo was taken last week after jacking it up and pressure washing the bottom of it before it came into the shop last week. Need to make more changes for the racing season that starts again at the beginning of May.

How has your 220 been working out recently? Need to get back to working on the '69 220 soon because I would like to go all vintage and try flat towing it with the wagon to the track.
 


Here is a photo of one of the combustion chambers of the B18 racing head after a quick clean up. It was done by a pro in the 1960s and the original round scribe mark can be seen around the combustion chamber. It perfect for what is needed as 1800cc is the limit of the engine size to run in vintage racing with the VSCCA.

The intake valves are 46mm, larger than the standard 40mm, and a standard 35 mm exhaust valve serves as a place holder for a 37mm exhaust valve. The head has been relieved around the intake and to a lessor extent the exhaust. The height of the head is 82.5mm and it has been milled down about 3.7mm or .140" from the standard B18B height.

The compression ratio is some where around 11.5:1 (its will be measured soon). Its strictly a racing head and will probably reguire 100 octane racing gas.

The second photo shows the untouched 8.75 to 1 combustion chamber and valve seats in a head that is going to be used on another engine fitted with a Judson supercharger for comparison.

The race head originates to a 1967 1800s that was converted into a SCCA racing car when brand new, and it went on to become a multiple New England SCCA Championship F-Production winner. It has survived and has since been restored for road use.







The intake ports have been enlarged .100" or about 2.5mm to 1.500", and the exhaust ports are just cleaned up a bit. Still more cleaning to do before checking all the changes to the ports.

The bottom photos shows a 1960s Pontiac V-8 head that is very similar to the B18 & B20 heads of the day. Both respond well to the same changes.

 
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https://flic.kr/p/24R3YWH

Only three of many things I've been working on for this upcoming season. The roll bar is all finished and needs to be installed.

This exhaust is for tracks that require mufflers and road use. The 4-2-1 headers are made by KG Trimming in Sweden and the straight thru 2.25" Borla muffler is for race tracks that require mufflers and road use. The other 2.25" race exhaust pipe w/out a muffler may only have a 15 or 30 degree angle bend out to the side instead of a 45.

The original flywheel weighs 22 lbs and this is aluminum flywheel is only 8 lbs and will help in the accelerating when coming out of a turn.


https://flic.kr/p/TjnxqL

https://flic.kr/p/2ffWfLs
 
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Its been a busy spring and I haven't been able to access new photos in my Flicker account for an update. Have been getting the car ready for the vintage race season and also preparing a customer's 1914 Mercer Raceabout to get it ready for racing: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/article/magical-mercer-1914-mercer-raceabout/

Have entered and run the '67S in both the VSCCA Spring Sprint races and the Empire Cup races at Lime Rock Park in CT, here is a good photo taken at the Spring Sprints:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2551993458145012&set=a.357415954269451&type=3&theater

My friend Scott Doering is a VP of Parts at Volvo of America. He joined me at the Empire Cup races last weekend with his unrestored 1962 Jenson P1800 fitted w/a Judson supercharger. View his videos and a photo: https://www.facebook.com/scott.doer...716809/2603522363009735/?type=3&theater&ifg=1

And a new engine-driven fan setup I cooked up:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2579288158748875&set=p.2579288158748875&type=3&theater
 
I got super lucky and snagged an old B20 R-Sport head on eBay many years ago. Super cheap because the race motor had sucked a small nut in (from a DCOE) and it had rattled around in one of the cylinders before they shut down the motor. Similar to yours, I cc'ed the chambers and it would have been about 11.5:1 on top of a B20, even more on top of my 2.1L bottom end. But I used a set of dished B21A pistons on the bottom end, which got me the cc's I needed for street use.
 
I got super lucky and snagged an old B20 R-Sport head on eBay many years ago. Super cheap because the race motor had sucked a small nut in (from a DCOE) and it had rattled around in one of the cylinders before they shut down the motor. Similar to yours, I cc'ed the chambers and it would have been about 11.5:1 on top of a B20, even more on top of my 2.1L bottom end. But I used a set of dished B21A pistons on the bottom end, which got me the cc's I needed for street use.

John, I've seen the photos of your cylinder head before and its interesting in that both were race heads and are similar other than the engine size.

Have been thinking of trying it this racing season but it just may have to wait for when I build racing engine for the car over the winter.

Still bringing the car up to VSCCA safety standards, optimizing the drivetrain and working on the suspension/handling before putting a more powerful engine in it, but it would be more fun to do it the other way around.
 
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In the pits at the VSCCA Spring Sprint Races at Lime Rock Park May 1st & 2nd.

Visible under the car is the new exhaust system consisting of Swedish KR Trimmings 4-2-1 header, 2.25" Borla straight thru muffler and 2.25" rear pipe for race dates that require a muffler. It and other minor changes added 5 mph to last fall's best top speed of 115 mph at the end of the front straight.






Moving thru traffic.

 
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Added some late-'60s Vintage French Marchal Ampilux two-bulb twin-reflector headlamps under domed aerodynamic covers.

The smaller reflector with a halogen H3 bulb in front is the high beam. The rear reflector has a H1 halogen bulb and is the low beam. On high beam both bulbs are lit creating an almost laser like far reaching beam of light.


 
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