General: 164: 1974 164 manual without overdrive?

[john h]

Hi,

I am looking to buy an excellent 164E.

I have been offered a 1974 registered manual with no overdrive. This surprises me because I thought o/d would have been standard. The car is a Swiss market specification.

Can anybody advise whether the car would have originally been fitted with overdrive? Or point me towards a source of info?

(As yet, I cannot get the chassis number to check the build spec with Volvo, but obviously I would do this before purchase).

Thanks

John

[john h]

I have now established the car is a 1973 model (don't know if that makes any difference to gearbox spec).

John

[Peter Milnes]

John, the 164 came with three gearbox options. 1) Borg Warner 35 autobox (three speed) 2) M400 (four speed manual) 3) M410 (four speed with overdrive. The B30E engine was the best for power output and torque (175 bhp and 178 lbsft). I hope your purchase goes well.

All the best, Peter.

[john h]

Peter,

Thanks. Did the 4-speed 164E have a taller rear axle ratio to compensate for the lack of overdrive, like the 144S?

I'm just worried how it will cope with modern motorway speeds. I don't imagine the B30E would enjoy running at high revs for long periods.

Retro-fitting overdrive would not be difficult, provided I could find all the parts. I guess a rusty donor 164 would be ideal.

Thanks

John

[Peter Milnes]

The four speed 164 should cope admirably with extended travel at the legal limit. Strangely enough even the three speed auto model does.

All the best, Peter.

[john h]

Peter,

I like taking my classic cars on European driving holidays, so 100mph cruising ability, without excessive rpm, is a big benefit.

5-speed Citroen DS was no problem, as with my (modified) Scimitar. I'll check speed/revs on the way back from collecting the car in Germany.

I've since found info which seems to indicate a higher axle ratio on the non-overdrive car, although it's not totally clear.

http://www.164club.org/techdata.html

Cheers

John

[DaveTrees]

Originally Posted by john h

I've since found info which seems to indicate a higher axle ratio on the non-overdrive car, although it's not totally clear.

I suspect that would be one of those things that varied a lot from market to market .... for instance, nearly all the 140s delivered in Australia had the 4.10 diff, regardless of what gearbox they had (auto/M40/M41). A very few early cars had the 4.3, but I have never come across any with taller ratios.

That's one reason I love the Celica 5-speed conversion in my 144

[Pigeon]

http://www.164club.org/techdata.html#Rear axle

[Pigeon]

Bugger, try that again...

[Pigeon]

Oh balls, this forum can't cope with URLs with spaces in. Copy and paste the link out of the first reply...