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PV, 120 (Amazon), 1800 General Forum for the Volvo PV, 120 and 1800 cars

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B20A top speed

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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 15:34   #41
Burdekin
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I have the set 123 from Rob with his adjusted curve. It's my first and works well. My Amazon I have megajolt and when I get it back on the road I will just convert to a 123 I reckon, just for the ease of it and loads of folk having them.

If you're happy with the original dizzy and it's performance than stick with it. I like electronic ignition systems.
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 15:42   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Khe Sanh View Post
Yeah but how was the power distribution? Electronic is more reliable and no loss at those rev ranges is the point, not that mechanical doesn't work.
It was fine , bikes were still revving to twice that with points remember !
The first electronic fuel injection volvos in 1969 had points for the spark and points for triggering the injectors . They were just as reliable as the carburettor engines . The injector triggering points never needed changing .
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 16:22   #43
Derek UK
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The 123 is still basically a switch, the same as the original mechanical ones. In good original condition, i.e. no or virtually no wear in the mechanisms, the original will work the same as the 123. Some 123 versions may have some circuitry that can vary timing in ways the the mechanical one can't but for this post we will stick to basics. Distributer bearings/bushes wear and can cause unequal contact breaker gaps which can vary both the timing and power of the spark due to the same unequal gaps varying the amount of time the coil has to restore its power. Both of these problems can result in poor ignition performance at high revs. The cam on the shaft can wear giving less points opening and dwell. Poor quality points with soft rubbing blocks can allow the points gap to quickly reduce below optimum, giving the same problems as above. Points springs can be poor on cheap points allowing points bounce at higher revs. Points can be regularly adjusted or replaced but the very important advance and retard mechanism is rarely looked at. After, say, 50k miles the holes in the weights will have worn and tend to move erratically. Springs can also get weak. Unfortunately it is hard to get the exact replacements for these. There are some that fit but the weights are just that and need to be correct, the same is true with the springs. There are several shims and seals on the shaft which help it maintain it's vertical travel. Some will be missing, actually worn away to nothing and not there at all.
Do any of the above areas of wear affect how the engine works? Of course it has to, but most engines and their owners will soldier on, without being aware that things could be better. If you could order a new Bosch distributor from your Volvo dealer or a main Bosch agent that would be a good plan. Unfortunately both will say, sorry NLA.
Pause for a fanfare! 123 distributors are available to give you the same performance as your original unit. Some new owners will say they have noticed improvements in starting and smooth idling. Somewhat fewer will say that performance is transformed with acceleration, top speed, mpg etc noticeably better. There should be improvements but that's when you are comparing it to the performance of your old unit and the way all of the worn and sub par parts have been working, or not, together. 123 appear to have addressed a lot of the originals weak spots and as long as the electronics are bomb proof all should be good for many miles. The jury is probably still out on the electronic reliability as there are still a few failures. Anyone who has had faulty electronic ignition on a "modern" car will say that can happen.
Bottom line, if your distributor is indeed clapped out and can afford a 123, buy one, fit it and be happy. However, if you are handy, pull your old unit apart and inspect it carefully. If obviously bad there are other much better ones sitting in peoples spares boxes just waiting to be refreshed a bit and used. If the main shaft bushings show no play then they can probably be rebuilt without much of a problem to a usable standard.. Beware worn weights, they can be rebushed and if done carefully there should be no effect on how they work centrifugally. Tuning the weight is how advance curves are changed and many racers will try mods with them. Useless without a machine but we won't go there.
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 16:46   #44
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Khe Sanh,

I am by my own admission somewhat of a Luddite, so please do excuse for for this, but in a way, I like to think we ALL are here, else we would be driving and enthusing about some god awful modern rep mobiles or similar.

I am passionate about most things Volvo, the company ethos and its products, at least up until the 740/760 after which things went front wheel drive, and some great cars came along, but for me, I'm entrenched in what I myself term proper Volvo's...ones whose rear wheels were driven and the front ones sole duty was steering

The B18/20 engine is often cited as one of the most reliable and strong workhorses ever made, in fact I believe it does actually claim this title, as strongest normally aspirated pushrod petrol engine.

When it comes to anything Amazon, I am passionate beyond belief and Peter Ragg is another man who shares this same level of Amazon passion, however I do still like to embrace and wax lyrical regarding some later technologies.

Volvo was not an enormous company like Ford or general motors, and like Saab was all the more interesting for this, however where the giants did score was abundant wealth to invest in the latest technologies, the first I would like to cite is the overhead camshaft in its general passenger cars.

I adore the B18'B20, and although I may bring on a whole bandwagon of witch hunters to chase me in subsequent posts, its the B21/23/230 engines I think are the real stars, my thinking being that if the 120/140/160 were Ford/GM owned at the time (yes I know.. god forbid) then by 1970 or a tad earlier the 120/140/160 would have likely had OHC which =

Also in my opinion, as much as I love carbs, in particular the Skinners Union, which is a remarkable piece of metering technology, nothing compares to Fuel injection for power and efficiency and dare I say even....reliability.

Volvo did of course adopt the latter early on with the advent of the B20E from, as Clan mentioned 1969. It was 75 when the first cars became available from Volvo with OHC, namely the 244 although the DL had a single carb, but was rated the same power as the twin carb B20..and the GL added injection.

Interestingly the 244 arrived overseas I believe in 74 to USA and/or Canada and arrived with....the B20 engine, albeit with (do chime in here if I'm wrong on any of this Clan) electronic ignition.

The third thing to greatly enhance the petrol engine, again IMHO, was turbocharging, often cited as being first introduced on a production car by Saab with their 99 Turbo (I had one in the early 90's) but in fact the Porsche 924 Turbo claimed this title, but the first company to use it in production engines was....Volvo in the 1950's no less albeit on Diesel truck engines.

I'm talking Automotive industry before anyone starts citing the Aerospace industry where, Fuel injection, overhead cams four valves per cyclinder came many years before, and yes alright The Duesenberg model J notwithstanding (supercharged though not turbochrged)

Well that's the Amaz'in useless information half hour over...sorry folks
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 16:52   #45
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Peter is visiting later this year with some other Amazon folk. He certainly loves his Amazon and amazing how many he's had and restored.
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 16:59   #46
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Derek,

Ingrid has now covered some 85,000 miles so I consider and have for some time (mileage) that the dizzy must be due for a service/re-build, despite myself maintaining it as well as anyone could (lubrication via cup on dizzy and of its weights etc).
Do you are indeed anyone else here know of a reputable company who can re-build our Dizzy's to the 'proper' standard?

Khe Sanh,
My first car, after passing my test was a 144, a late 74 DL in fact, when friends had Mini's and Escort's and some Cortina's and cavaliers, this was in 1983-84 so it was an old car when I got it, around 85 I purchased a car you may well give me a thumbs up for, an uber rare 144 GT, only available, I believe, for the Dutch market...look it up...cool 140 IMHO. More on that later but my two 140's saw me bitten (savagely) by the Volvo Bug.
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Old Jun 28th, 2020, 18:16   #47
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This website has always looked promising but is in the USA. Not much of a surprise there. No idea on pricing. I would expect a top class rebuild using original or perfect repro parts to be more than you'd pay for the top line 123 without taking post/packing. Sending in multiple usable cores might get you a better deal if you want less of them back.
http://www.glenn-ring.com/bosch/
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