1966 Volvo Amazon engine transplant!

[Melody121]

I have been planning to make my car a little more useable on motorways and preferably quicker (that's always got to be the way) basically I'm not going to last for ever in the 55mph club lol I have found an MX5 that is being broken for spares, it's a 1.6 import with 115BHP and I've been having a look at the ratios to see if it's a pairing that will work well. Here are some numbers, sorry to bore...

Gearbox ratios MX5 (:1) - 1st 3.136 2nd 1.888 3rd 1.33 4th 1 5th 0.814
Gearbox ratios Amazon (:1) - 1st 3.13 2nd 1.99 3rd 1.359 4th 1

Diff ratio MX5 - 4.3:1
Diff ratio Amazon - 4.1:1

Looking at this keeping the original diff will actually give me a car that's a better cruiser than the MX5. Spot On

The other items I need to collect then;
if I decide to lose the injection...
A set of bike carbs
Megajolt, to run the ignition
A custom intake manifold
And/or if I keep the injection...
I've got a Jasma exhaust manifold already
A hybrid of the two propshafts
A hybrid of the two speedo cables
The clutch master cylinder off the MX5
The rad from the MX5
A custom exhaust
A fuel pump

So first thing will be to grab the MX5 parts that are still on the car and get everything cleaned up while I collect the rest of the bits...

[Melody121]

I got her a spot at Peak Classic Cars where they will be doing a lot of the transplant for me, I need to wait for a little more space as they are quite full at the moment but I'm able to get started!

The engine is now ready to come out apart from the gearbox mount, prop and speedo cable.

The temperature gauge was quite interesting and I'm sure if I get an adapter into the thermostat housing I can use the original. Check out this piece of 60's engineering. It's well cool! The coolant heats the cable and a metal ring on the back of the gauge which in turn moves the needle as it expands! Sorry I'm being lame!



The engine bay after stripping, it doesn't really look any different lol.



Here is the doner...



And finally I found this tucked in round the gear lever!! WTF? needless to say I binned it.
I've discovered I will be able to use some of the original gear lever to extend the MX5 one so that's handy

[Melody121]

Some space came available this weekend so she's been moved in to position, and I'll be taking the engines out myself tomorrow! Fitting the new one and fabricating mounts etc. is where I'll be a bit redundant!

[Tail]

If you go the bike carbs route you could try Bogg Brothers, well known for their work with bike carbs apparently. http://www.boggbros.co.uk/index.html

PS what are those wheels, they look fairly wide

[Underdrive]

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to, an overdrive would have solved the cruising speed problem and retained originality.

[Melody121]

Originally Posted by Underdrive

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to, an overdrive would have solved the cruising speed problem and retained originality.

Cause I like to be different

[Melody121]

Originally Posted by Tail

If you go the bike carbs route you could try Bogg Brothers, well known for their work with bike carbs apparently. http://www.boggbros.co.uk/index.html

PS what are those wheels, they look fairly wide

I have heard of bogg brothers, they have a good reputation. Tbh I think the budget will only allow for keeping the injection for now, I can always play about later though

The wheels are wolfrace slotmags, they are my favorite wheel in the world (old or new) and I managed to bag this set that the seller had specially drilled from wolfrace in 5x114.3 for his Nissan. Two weeks later said Nissan blew the head gasket and got scrapped so I paid a quarter of the original purchase price

[hutch63]

hi

did you sell the engine and gearbox. if not whats the price£ regards

[Melody121]

Originally Posted by hutch63

hi

did you sell the engine and gearbox. if not whats the price£ regards

PM sent

[Qcowboy]

Please be sure to give us updates as you go. I'm with you in terms of using a more fuel efficient engine when updating. I'm a fan of street rods and customs, but I'm more concerned with driveability and fuel economy, less concerned with wild increases in power.

In truth , I'm entirely content with my Amazon's B18 and four speed, and the single change I would make is to make the car more fuel efficient.

I'm mostly interested to hear your experience driving with the new engine and gearbox, because at the moment my Studebaker has thrown a rod, and it may be time for a swap. It's about the same size and weight as an Amazon, so the MX5 swap may be just what the doctor ordered.

I hope it all goes well!