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PV, 120 (Amazon), 1800 General Forum for the Volvo PV, 120 and 1800 cars |
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My Amazon on a rolling roadViews : 4332 Replies : 22Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Nov 22nd, 2008, 16:59 | #1 |
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Last Online: Jun 28th, 2021 20:58
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Location: Leigh-0n-Sea, Essex
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My Amazon on a rolling road
Ever since I replaced the single Stromberg carb on my Amazon with a secondhand twin SU set up I have had mixture problems. It would start easily when I enriched the mixture but soot up the front two plugs in a month or so, or if I weakened it, it would run a lot better but become almost impossible to start.
I met a guy who had just started a rolling road tuning business and was keen to resurrect his long experience of tuning SU's on his new high tech set up. As a birthday present my family gave me the cash to do it so last week I took the car to ATSPEED in Rayleigh Essex (01268 773377). I know lots of you may have already had your car on a rolling road but it was new to me and I found it a fascinating experience that I would like to share. He started by welding a plug for a lambda sensor in my exhaust downpipe, and the car was then strapped down on his rolling road. The first run showed it was running rich and recorded a maximum of 65hp at 4400 rpm, and would not rev much higher. A check of the carbs followed and the ATF in the dashpots was replaced by 20/50 engine oil, and the mixture roughly set. The next run showed the mixture was nearer the optimum but still not quite right so the jets were adjusted while the car was running at about 60 mph (try doing that on the road!) until the optimum was reached. A full power run now showed 78hp at 5000 rpm, but they thought there was a bit more to come so the needles were shaved a bit by hand and max power went up to 83hp at 5000rpm, but there was a slight flutter at cruising revs, so to make for the best driving experience a little more was shaved from the needles and this gave an extra 5bhp between 3000 and 4000 rpm. To see (and hear) my car doing 100mph in an enclosed space is exciting and this video gives an idea of the experience. http://rides.webshots.com/video/3045...58258802VJqrgw Original specs say my car should have 115 bhp at the flywheel, and losses to the rear wheels should equal 15-20% plus 10bhp, so mine should have 82-87hp at the back wheels. To hit this figure on a 38 year old engine is a credit to the longevity of Volvo engineering. The car is transformed, from a lumpy idle, occasional misfiring, and no real top end power, to a crisp engine that pulls like a train. All in all one of the best birthday presents I could have hoped for.
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Brian M 1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 14/2 |
The Following User Says Thank You to Brian M For This Useful Post: |
Nov 22nd, 2008, 19:53 | #2 |
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Interesting. I enjoyed the video clip.
Thanks Jim
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Nov 22nd, 2008, 20:54 | #3 |
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Last Online: Nov 14th, 2016 01:07
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: essex
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cheers Brian
how much interest did he show when you turned up 'cos im looking to do mine i went to redline in basvagas (basildon) essex but the guy i spoke to seemed to be a bit offish so i never went back. LN |
Nov 23rd, 2008, 18:54 | #4 |
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Last Online: Jun 28th, 2021 20:58
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Location: Leigh-0n-Sea, Essex
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Loon
The boss was very enthusiastic to work on the Amazon and to show his two young mechanics that cars do not require electronics to be able to run! Incidentally, on my return from the Ace Cafe today, I topped up and found I got 33mpg for quite a spirited 150 mile trip. at that rate I only need to do 3000 miles to get the costs of the session back.
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Brian M 1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 14/2 |
Nov 24th, 2008, 09:35 | #5 |
Amazoniste
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Good to see you yesterday
What's your engine spec? Wondering whether mine could do with being set up like that to improve the fuel economy.
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Paul - 1967 Amazon 222S B20 o/d Estate & 1961 A-H Sprite Mk2 948cc WANTED - For '67 Amazon estate - offside rear quarter, preferably new old stock. |
Nov 24th, 2008, 17:15 | #6 |
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Last Online: Jun 29th, 2012 19:44
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Location: Glasgow
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Great stuff! I'd like to get mine done like that, but I'd probably be best to get the carbs rebuilt first. Maybe next year.
Love the colour of your car BTW, is it a regular manufacturer's colour or is it a custom mix? Looks a wee bit like the shade of blue they use on some Vauxhalls. (Sorry for swearing ) |
Nov 24th, 2008, 18:58 | #7 |
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Last Online: Apr 25th, 2024 13:56
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Location: Wootton, Bedfordshire
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went there to have a rolling road session done on mine, (when the twin webers were on).. seemed an ok guy although he did ask me what it was!! the only reason I went there was as it was close to work (Ford) and a Weber specialist
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'68 Ruddspeed tuned 121 |
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