Qwkswede's 1967 122 Time Machine

[qwkswede]

February 2014
I took a little break from Turbobricks for the last year or two. But I'm back again and looking for motivation and inspiration to get another project moving. So its about time to get typing again and document my garage shenanigans, and share ideas with the great Turbobricks community.

A little history from the last couple years. Mid summer 2012 I moved to a more downtown city neighborhood and built a garage/shop to house my cars and tools. I sold off my 2 740s about a year ago and replaced my daily driver with a nice but slightly boring V70R. Its a great car and doesn't need much attention but doesn't really touch my soul like any of my old rear drive Volvos. But its reliable and it does leave me with time to spend in the garage with the new sexy.

I have had at least 10 Volvos over the years, some modified, and some stock. But the car I have always wanted since I was a teenager finally came home with me in 2013. Here it is, my new 2 door Volvo 123. I bought it in Southern California from a Volvo Technician. It was well cared for by an enthusiast, but not beautifully restored. Just a solid high mileage survivor.







Farewell to my lovely 740s. I do miss my grampa cars.




And welcome to the new Volvos. I bought the 122 in December 2012, and just drove and enjoyed it during 2013, including some car shows and gatherings.



The title says Time Machine, because that is how I feel about this car. Driving the 122 takes you back to a completely different era of motoring. No power steering, no power breaks, no overdrive, and the smell of exhaust without catalytic converters. Everything about it is enjoyable as is. It struggles to go 60mph, but its just fine because people smile and wave when passing you. It gets tons of attention everywhere you go, and I'm always surprised how many people see it and have no idea what it is. Just perfect.

[FattMatt805]

Nice! Good to have ya back ken, what are the plans for it?

[qwkswede]

And now time for some of "vad händer i garagen"

As much as I am enjoying the vintage simplicity, everyone knows it would never last. I bought the car with every intention of making a nice street machine. It even has a Salvaged stamp on the title to make everyone feel better about me "Ruining" a nice old Volvo. So let the ruining begin!

I am not really working on the car directly yet, I just enjoy driving it too much. But I have been gathering parts and making plans. Here is a collection of goodies I have been piling up over the last year and some insight about the direction I'm heading with the car.

It didn't take long to settle on my preferred power plant. I thought about doing a B20 turbo for a pure old school build. But I have so much experience with the overhead cam motors that it just made more sense. So I picked up a 1993 B230 block and had it machined and cleaned. I bored to 3.800" just because I like the nice round numbers and keeps the cylinder walls nice and thick.


I drilled for oil squirters.



I also stumbled on a used 86mm stroke RSI crankshaft that was in bad shape. It had a mangled journal so I spent a few hundred dollars at Mile Hi Crankshaft and they were able to weld and grind it back to life:


And I picked up a set of these little gems too.

And finally a little paint on the block:


I have some 9:1 custom turbo pistons on the shelf now too. That should make for a solid foundation for any level of power that I care to have in a 2400lb. car. Thats where I am with the motor at this point. Quite a bit to do here still I'll try to keep up on the journal.

[qwkswede]

Originally Posted by FattMatt805

Nice! Good to have ya back ken, what are the plans for it?

Thanks! I'll try to keep up here.

The last trip with the car before winter set in. Bike racks on the roof for trips to the local trail heads. And today a trip to the model helicopter airport.

[crazy240]

Nice build.
It looks like a clean original that has been cared for but driven.
Are you Swedish by the way?

[Harlard]

Originally Posted by qwkswede

Thanks! I'll try to keep up here.

The last trip with the car before winter set in. Bike racks on the roof for trips to the local trail heads. And today a trip to the model helicopter airport.

Nice to see you are up to some interesting stuff! Where was this photo taken? It's been a few years since I've been back in Denver. Looks like the field at Cherry Creek reservoir overlooking Aurora. Did my senior year at the high school back there. Brings good memories.

[Tsayloco]

Great start. This will be an awesome build to follow.

I guess that means not all 93+ blocks are squirters from the factory? inquiring for informational purposes.

I drilled for oil squirters.

[SquareD]

Welcome back! Always liked your 740s, looking forward to progress with the 122. 122's are my favorite vintage Volvo.

[atrokz]

Looks good so far! pretty much my future goals as well.

[Sir Psycho]

Subscribed!

[gsellstr]

Nice way to start off the build Ken! Definitely looks like a much better start than a couple of those other ones you were looking at.

[qwkswede]

Originally Posted by Tsayloco

Great start. This will be an awesome build to follow.

I guess that means not all 93+ blocks are squirters from the factory? inquiring for informational purposes.

This might have been a 92 block, or mislabeled. I picked it up from a local shop and it wasn't with the car anymore. Its definitely a late model with 13mm rods but had no squirters.

Nice to see you are up to some interesting stuff! Where was this photo taken? It's been a few years since I've been back in Denver. Looks like the field at Cherry Creek reservoir overlooking Aurora. Did my senior year at the high school back there. Brings good memories.

This is at Chatfield State Park in Littleton looking towards the north over the lake which you can't see because its below the horizon.

Swedish?

No, not much. Only by association. I grew up around Volvo dealerships and some Swedish families that owned them around Southern California. If anybody knows the Nordstedt family that owned and ran the Scandia bakery and Scandia Volvo in Whittier, CA you probably know what I'm talking about.

If any mods are tuned in. I'll try to get this thread fleshed out enough for Project status. I'd like to get it moved to the Project subforum eventually.

[crazy240]

Cool, just curious because the garage post.
Again very nice build!

[Donedelacruz]

Cool to hear that you have wanted that car since you were a teen---gives me hope as I want this RIGHT NOW.
Such a beautiful car and I'm glad it went to a good owner!

Originally Posted by qwkswede

February 2014
I took a little break from Turbobricks for the last year or two. But I'm back again and looking for motivation and inspiration to get another project moving. So its about time to get typing again and document my garage shenanigans, and share ideas with the great Turbobricks community.

A little history from the last couple years. Mid summer 2012 I moved to a more downtown city neighborhood and built a garage/shop to house my cars and tools. I sold off my 2 740s about a year ago and replaced my daily driver with a nice but slightly boring V70R. Its a great car and doesn't need much attention but doesn't really touch my soul like any of my old rear drive Volvos. But its reliable and it does leave me with time to spend in the garage with the new sexy.

I have had at least 10 Volvos over the years, some modified, and some stock. But the car I have always wanted since I was a teenager finally came home with me in 2013. Here it is, my new 2 door Volvo 123. I bought it in Southern California from a Volvo Technician. It was well cared for by an enthusiast, but not beautifully restored. Just a solid high mileage survivor.







Farewell to my lovely 740s. I do miss my grampa cars.




And welcome to the new Volvos. I bought the 122 in December 2012, and just drove and enjoyed it during 2013, including some car shows and gatherings.



The title says Time Machine, because that is how I feel about this car. Driving the 122 takes you back to a completely different era of motoring. No power steering, no power breaks, no overdrive, and the smell of exhaust without catalytic converters. Everything about it is enjoyable as is. It struggles to go 60mph, but its just fine because people smile and wave when passing you. It gets tons of attention everywhere you go, and I'm always surprised how many people see it and have no idea what it is. Just perfect.

I don't know about the struggles to get to 60mph deal...

The several manual trns (and one automatic) 120 series Volvos I owned easily cruised at 70 to 80+ mpg *all day long*.

And yep, they were dead stock dual SU cars and with over 100,000 miles on the somewhat well maintained engines...

But ... I do agree that they were/are not 0-60 in 6 second cars...............

You should (at least) slap the dual SU aluminum intake and a good set of rebuilt SUs on that Amazon!

Nice looking 120 BTW! Great find!

[Harlard]

Originally Posted by smokeyfan1000

I don't know about the struggles to get to 60mph deal...

The several manual trns (and one automatic) 120 series Volvos I owned easily cruised at 70 to 80+ mpg *all day long*.

And yep, they were dead stock dual SU cars and with over 100,000 miles on the somewhat well maintained engines...

But ... I do agree that they were/are not 0-60 in 6 second cars...............

You should (at least) slap the dual SU aluminum intake and a good set of rebuilt SUs on that Amazon!

Nice looking 120 BTW! Great find!

Motor might be tired. Then again anything running at that altitude loses a fair bit of power. Remember the CO state capitol is around 5300 FT ASL.

There is a good reason why nearly ever car over there is optioned out with the big engine option, whenever possible.

[qwkswede]

Probably all of the above, I didn't really buy it for the engine. But I must say I have been around a few of these cars that belonged to friends and family members and this weber fueled one runs quite nice really. I don't think it is down on power because of the carb setup. I'll have to get it out and drag race it with the iphone street dyno app to see how it runs 0-60. Good benchmark data :-)

[Toby740W]

Looks really clean, looking forward to see what you do with it.

[Old Iron]

Great looking car! Are those seats reupholstered? This will be a great project!


[QUOTE=qwkswede;4830892]This might have been a 92 block, or mislabeled. I picked it up from a local shop and it wasn't with the car anymore. Its definitely a late model with 13mm rods but had no squirters.


Ya, I was under the impression that even the 1993 240 got the block with working and installed squirters from the factory! Hence the 1993 is quitier, etc etc?

[122power]

Looks nice!

[Lord_Athlon]

[QUOTE=Old Iron;4832477]Great looking car! Are those seats reupholstered? This will be a great project!

Originally Posted by qwkswede

This might have been a 92 block, or mislabeled. I picked it up from a local shop and it wasn't with the car anymore. Its definitely a late model with 13mm rods but had no squirters.


Ya, I was under the impression that even the 1993 240 got the block with working and installed squirters from the factory! Hence the 1993 is quitier, etc etc?

It isnt a 100% guarantee.

[qwkswede]

I picked up this axle at the junkyard recently. Ford 8.8 with limited slip and 3.73 gears and disk brakes.



I started cleaning up the Ford mounts this week and getting some measurements so I can narrow it a bit. It looks like I can do the common modification where you shorten the long tube 3" and use 2 short side axles. That puts the overall width flange to flange at 56.5". The 122 width is 56", and the wheels are really sucked in. I'm sure I can play with some common Ford wheel sizes to get a pretty fat tire under the back. Definitely rolling the fender lips and maybe a mini tub. I'll have to see how it adds up.

[linuxman51]

saaayyy that looks familiar, I've got one standing on end in the carport right now, bout to do the same thing. you get that outa an explorer?

[qwkswede]

Yeah, 90 something Ford Explorer.

[qwkswede]

Does anyone have a decent used T5 transmission to contribute to the progress? The Ford Mustang versions are scarce in the Denver area.