Got a PV544, now what?

JohnMc said:

So where are the stamped numbers on the body you saw? And what paperwork did you get with the car? And what number does that paperwork have on it?

What I'm calling the crossmember is the bolted on front suspension/motor mount assembly that goes from the left side to the right side. Your idler arm is bolted onto a welded bracket on that crossmember, so it's an early (-61) PV, not a later (62-) one where the idler arm would be attached to a bolt on aluminum bracket on the front frame spars (the structure that runs from the bumper to the firewall).

Of course, since that front crossmember bolts on, it's possible that it was replaced after some crash repair, could be a 62- car with an earlier crossmember. Or a -61 car with a B18 motor swapped into it after the B16 wore out.

The B16 radiator def has the lower radiator outlet on the driver side, but it's possible someone had that moved over by a radiator repair shop good at soldering brass. Post up a pic of that and the hood hinges. The B16 nose has some ungainly large non-spring loaded hinges that come back around the sides of the motor when closed. The B18 nose has a spring loaded hinge that sits in front of the radiator.

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The stamped numbers were just above the heater core box. Id take a picture of them but even with plain eyesight, its hard to make them out since they are covered in paint. The hood hinges arent spring loaded in any way and no provisions for a spring.

Here are the pics I got, I took one of the numbers anyway and you can kinda make them out in the pic.

That's def a B16 nose, and a reworked B16 radiator.

And FWIW I didn't know they were stamped there. I went and looked at mine, under the wiring and well, there they were. The type as well as the chassis (NOT the body) number were stamped there in the sheetmetal on mine as well.

So apparently still some olong past shens if that stamped number doesn't match the black/silver plaque? I'd just try to move forward with whatever your paperwork has on it.

Gonna make finding a throttle linkage fun, cause the linkage i have is for the later cars and not this one. The one i have comes up about an inch short of where it would go into the bracket that comes off the firewall and ride in the bushing, which isnt there. The lower part of the linkage that goes to the pedal was mangled and unusable, so I may have to get a new B18 linkage and make it a little longer by way of a coupler and a dowel and figure out the bushing situation.

I have a feeling the paperwork will use the plate number and not the numbers stamped into the body but Ill have to see when it gets here. In any case, this is looking more like a B18 swapped 61 and not a 62.

Cool! Let?s see more picture of the whole car

Which would mean that it was swapped from 6V to 12V at some point. But really, the car's electrical is so simple that most of it really doesn't care.

JohnMc said:

Which would mean that it was swapped from 6V to 12V at some point. But really, the car's electrical is so simple that most of it really doesn't care.

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According to Volvo themselves, in 1961, they switched the 544's engine to the B18 and electrical to 12v from 6v:

https://www.media.volvocars.com/us/en-us/media/pressreleases/49789/volvo-pv544-1958-1965

I read somewhere online that it was in 1962 that happened, but apparently not. Oh well, its not a huge issue. I have found the wiring behind the dashboard to be a wreck and now I have to try to decipher what the hell they did back there. Thankfully, its the only spot on the car its molested badly, the rest of it is still pretty much untouched save for a couple disconnected wires in the trunk.

I have to also source some dashboard screws, the 7 that go across the top under the windshield are missing and arent available, but I found a screw that fits and should work, so Ill stop off at fastenal to get them since I only have one to reference.

First order of bidness is to get the thing to fart. Once it farts, the rest can come as time goes on. I also have to fix the steering as the box is leaking and the joints for the tie rods and steering bar are worn out. Then Ill rebuild the rear end, put new seals and bearings in, but I have to figure out what rear end I have first before I can get parts. I think its a Spicer since its got a cover in the back that you take off and access the diff and all that. I think there is a bushing for the clutch/brake pedal shaft that needs to be installed cause its gone and the clutch pedal rubs the floor pan when you push it in making an awful racket, but I have to figure out what bushing that is.

KT1986 said:

According to Volvo themselves, in 1961, they switched the 544's engine to the B18 and electrical to 12v from 6v:

https://www.media.volvocars.com/us/en-us/media/pressreleases/49789/volvo-pv544-1958-1965

I read somewhere online that it was in 1962 that happened, but apparently not. Oh well, its not a huge issue. I have found the wiring behind the dashboard to be a wreck and now I have to try to decipher what the hell they did back there. Thankfully, its the only spot on the car its molested badly, the rest of it is still pretty much untouched save for a couple disconnected wires in the trunk.

I have to also source some dashboard screws, the 7 that go across the top under the windshield are missing and arent available, but I found a screw that fits and should work, so Ill stop off at fastenal to get them since I only have one to reference.

First order of bidness is to get the thing to fart. Once it farts, the rest can come as time goes on. I also have to fix the steering as the box is leaking and the joints for the tie rods and steering bar are worn out. Then Ill rebuild the rear end, put new seals and bearings in, but I have to figure out what rear end I have first before I can get parts. I think its a Spicer since its got a cover in the back that you take off and access the diff and all that. I think there is a bushing for the clutch/brake pedal shaft that needs to be installed cause its gone and the clutch pedal rubs the floor pan when you push it in making an awful racket, but I have to figure out what bushing that is.

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Probably a Spicer with a 4.10:1 or 4.56:1 ratio.

Luckily the wiring on these earlier cars is pretty simple to repair compared to the later ones.

I think most (probably all, but you never know) of the B16 engined cars had 4.56 rear ends, the B18 engine came with the 4.10.

If the steering box is leaking, but is otherwise tight, one thing you could try is to fill it with grease instead of oil. I did that about 20 years ago on my PV, and it hasn't leaked out.

spock345 said:

Probably a Spicer with a 4.10:1 or 4.56:1 ratio.

Luckily the wiring on these earlier cars is pretty simple to repair compared to the later ones.

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Its definitely a Spicer, had a peek under the petticoat and yea, its definitely that. So ill get parts for it here soon and rebuild that so its good. I plan on doing a road trip with it next year and I want to get everything mechanically sound as much as possible. Leave no question to the ability of the equipment. Thankfully working at a dealer, I have access to lifts and all that, but most of the stuff will have to be done at home since the car isnt running at the moment.

Since from what I can tell being B18 powered, its most likely the 4.10 gears but Ill have to see for sure.

Electrically it is simple, but the previous owners had done some oddball stuff behind the cluster. Wires the wrong color, added wires that would go to something but isnt there, etc so all that will have to get removed and put back to a factory default it stands a chance of working correctly.

JohnMc said:

I think most (probably all, but you never know) of the B16 engined cars had 4.56 rear ends, the B18 engine came with the 4.10.

If the steering box is leaking, but is otherwise tight, one thing you could try is to fill it with grease instead of oil. I did that about 20 years ago on my PV, and it hasn't leaked out.

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Its still tight, so I may go that route with the grease. Someone had been in that box before or its a relatively fresh rebuilt unit bought from somewhere, cause the outside of it looks brand new, then the oil on the bottom from the leak. Ill get some good moly grease and pack it in there.

I think from what it looks like that it was originally a B16 car, and it's had the B18 engine swapped in? Based on the B16 front suspension crossmember, and the stamped model and chassis number on the firewall, all ID'ing it as a B16 car. Which means it most likely has the 4.56 rear axle still in it.

But of course, it's been around a long time, all sorts of parts could be swapped by now.

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/prof_pv.shtml

Model: P11244 B
Chassis (I presume): 329581

Both point to a B16 car.

Edit - FWIW that link can be confusing when talking about model years. For example, at the the top they say the '1961 model year' introduced the B18 engine. But a 1961 PV (as casually as the years on the title were) were generally produced in 1960. At that time, Volvo started a years manufacturing in the summer of one year, ran through the fall, winter and spring into the next year.

They'd close the factory down for a while in the middle of summer to do model year changes. So half of the cars made in calendar year 1961 were B16 'old' models, and half B18 engined 'new' models.'

But the firewall stamping model and chassis numbers both show it was a B16 '544B' model. Made late in the model year run, since it's pretty close to the chassis number the 544C models started off at - 330100. So probably produced in June or even July of 1961, one of the last B16 engined PV's.

JohnMc said:

I think from what it looks like that it was originally a B16 car, and it's had the B18 engine swapped in? Based on the B16 front suspension crossmember, and the stamped model and chassis number on the firewall, all ID'ing it as a B16 car. Which means it most likely has the 4.56 rear axle still in it.

But of course, it's been around a long time, all sorts of parts could be swapped by now.

https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/prof_pv.shtml

Model: P11244 B
Chassis (I presume): 329581

Both point to a B16 car.

Edit - FWIW that link can be confusing when talking about model years. For example, at the the top they say the '1961 model year' introduced the B18 engine. But a 1961 PV (as casually as the years on the title were) were generally produced in 1960. At that time, Volvo started a years manufacturing in the summer of one year, ran through the fall, winter and spring into the next year.

They'd close the factory down for a while in the middle of summer to do model year changes. So half of the cars made in calendar year 1961 were B16 'old' models, and half B18 engined 'new' models.'

But the firewall stamping model and chassis numbers both show it was a B16 '544B' model. Made late in the model year run, since it's pretty close to the chassis number the 544C models started off at - 330100. So probably produced in June or even July of 1961, one of the last B16 engined PV's.

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performance wise - is there much difference between a b16 and b18 544?

59volvo said:

performance wise - is there much difference between a b16 and b18 544?

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Yeah, the B18 is more sturdy, has more power, has two more crank bearings and vibrates less. But, the B16 is not a bad engine if you take care of it

Talking original period road tests, with stock cars (well, I think manufacturers were sometimes known to subtly spice up press cars BITD?):

'57 444 B16, curb weight 2160 lbs, B16, 88 hp, 90 lb-ft, 0-60 13.0, 1/4 mi 19.1@71 mph
'63 544 B18, curb weight 2160 lbs, B18, 90 hp, 105 lb-ft, 0-60 14.1, 1/4 mi 19.1@70 mph

I think the lack of improvement on the acceleration is due to the 4.10 diff in the B18 car vs. the 4.56 in the B16 car. Same performance, less revs, lasts longer (not counting the WAY stouter build on the B18), better mpg.

There's also the slight consideration these days that parts are a bit easier to come by for B18's, since there are a LOT more B18/20 cars still driving around, as opposed to the tiny number of remaining B16 cars.

It was common to swap a B18 or B20 into these old cars back in the day because when the B16 wore out, the B18/20's were common in the junkyards. And the aftermarket support for performance mods on a B20 exists, not so much for a B16.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that in the latter years of the 544's life, it was being sold alongside a more expensive 122, and a much more expensive P1800, and they all had the same basic B18 drivetrain in them. But they really didn't want the cheap car to be faster/quicker than the more expensive cars, because it had the same motor but weighed less. So they made sure to put the wimpiest versions of the B18 in the 544 to keep the performance in line with the price.

But that was mostly done with a camshaft, swap that, maybe the exhaust too (replace the single downpipe manifold with a stock dual downpipe manifold) and you're into 100 - 115 hp that the 1800's had some years.