Hello All! I've quietly looked to this board for info for a month now, and it's been a big help, so thanks! My very first car (hand picked by me!) was a green 1973 Volvo 164E in pretty fine shape purchased in 1995. I lost it through no fault of my own and since then I have looked for a replacement.
I finally found an extremely clean, original one only 2200 miles from my home near Chicago. It checked out A+Okay and it's even in the color I wanted to find. Even though the third-party inspection guy said that he'd jump right in and drive it home if he were me, I arranged to have it shipped and I finally got it home last Saturday. Now that it's actually here and I can't jinx it, I'd like to share the pictures with you all now - http://gallery.me.com/ojdorson#100072 - and in separate threads I'd like to ask for more info and advice. As I go through this car and make repairs/upgrades, I'll try to document everything so as to share back.

OJ,

That is a pretty car. I have always liked that style. I've never had a 164, so I didn't take the time to read all of the responses in detail, but I did scan them.

From my scanning, I'll say I side with those who said to first sort out what you have before you start to modify or strip.

I will also side with those who said keep a cat on it. In my opinion, exhaust restriction can cost power, but the chemical reacation in a cat does not. So, if you have restriction, just go with a free flowing cat. Along the same lines, I doubt that an air pump takes much power to operate, and your cat may need the extra O2 to operate properly. After all, how often do you drive with your foot flat on the floor demading the last 1 or 2 % of the available power.

As for bumping the compresson ratio, that one is a bit harder to assess. If I understand it correctly, higher compression means more power, more fuel efficiency, and highe NOx emissions. So, that one is a toss up.

Someone mentioned that your bumpers may be very heavy on that model. I have bumpers from a 71 or 72 140 series. I don't know if they are the same or not. I have not seen them for years, but they have been kept inside. If they would do you any good, you can have them. The same applies to anyone else for that matter. They are free provided I don't have to mess with shipping, and provided someone wants to use them as bumpers. That is, if they were going to be sold for scrap, I could do that myself. I don't have a digital camera, but if someone is interested, I could go look at them again and see how they look. I removed them from the 140 in about 1988. They could be picked up at Bowman Field (the general aviation airport) in Louisville, KY.

Good luck with the 164.

Charley

thanks, charley. I will continue to comb over this car and get everything retuned. There are no running issues with the car right now, other than me wishing for another 20-40hp. There may be some vacuum loss and I'll be re-hosing the car shortly. There may be some slightly cracked injector or fuel hose as I sometimes smell a slight fuel odor after a brisk drive and I'll have to purchase fuel injector hose as well and get at that.

I'll look for a free-flow cat - any brand names you recommend?

As for the bumpers, that offer was mighty kind of you. As we've both learned, they won't swap.

I will probably go the increased compression route, even if I just install the thinner gasket set. It seems like the safest way to go as Volvo used to do the same with the b30e.

Kentucky, In my quest to determine salvage value, here is what I found out about the early (up to '72-like yours and mine) 140 bumpers---not worth the time it takes to remove the rubber--there's only 6 pounds of aluminum--10 pounds of worthless rubber (determined from a very poor example)--Your bumpers are different than the 164--although the early 164's are also light. And just as a note--the only Volvos I've ever scrapped simply had reached the end of the line. I've ressurected more 122's, 140's and 240's than I have fingers and toes--Dave

Thanks Dave,

I'm not trying to scrap them. I just wondered if someone wanted them to use as bumpers instead of scraping them. However, given the weights you mention, I'm thinking maybe mine are newer than 72. Like I said it has been more than 20 years since I took them off, and probably 8 years since I last saw them.

Charley

Charley, of course I realized you did not consider them to be scrap--and it is very generous of you to offer them up. Especially considering how vulnerable those '67-'72 bumpers are--I'm sure some early 140 owner will take you up. I hope you took the brackets (easiest way to remove the bumper) too as they often get bent with the slightest contact. Those bumpers are made of thin extruded aluminum and only about three inches in height. They attach to a welded up, stamped steel bracket which bolts to the frame rail on each side. '73 bumpers look somewhat similiar but are much thicker aluminum and mount to pistons with one good sized bolt on each side. From '74 and up (140-240) the bumpers are like the (sorry for the characterization, OJ) battering rams we see on OJ's car.

Dave,

From your description, I think mine might be from a 73. Also, that year sort of strikes a vague memory in the recesses of my mind.

The style looks similar to those on OJ's car, but I think the rubber strip doesn't cover as much of the bumper. I will probably be where they are stored sometime this weekend and I'll try to take another look at them.


OJ,

I don't know of any particular brands for the free-flow cats, but I would see what some of the speed shops have to offer. I think they were commonly put on modern muscle cars like some of the Mustangs.

Charley

Oops, looks like I forgot to spell check that last message. I think you can figure it out anyway.

Charley

Nice car! White wall tires are still made, I just saw some being mounted with the white on the inside at a cheap tire store.

Remove the CAT, it is not needed and probably not working anyway. You can remove the air pump, but the plumbing is extensive - the air injectors are in the exhaust manifold. Better finding a manifold from 1973 and having it cleaned.
Mine had the idle air control from a 240 and the original blocked off.
Watch out for the brittle wiring.


--
My name is Klaus and I am a Volvoholic.

So, just pick up a '73 exhaust manifold and take it to a machine shop and tell them to "polish" it, or what?

Yours looks great, btw. When I found mine in the same color, I was really happy to see all your pictures. Your interior is black? What color are the door panels? It looks like your windshield has a tinted gradient at the top?

I sold mine just over a year ago, I had spent 18 months rescueing it. The Aztec Copper paint was original, except for the left rear quarter panel which was repainted to match many years earlier.
My air pump was gone when I got it, the manifold was welded shut where the air was supposed to enter it. When I took off the manifold, the tubing was still inplace in each exhaust port. I was on a strict budget, so I did not have the funds to have the injector tubing removed and the ports polished.
The exhaust pipe with one muffler went straight to the rear, no bending up over the axle, and there was no noise. About 2.5 inches in diameter.
Yes, the windshield was original(?) with tint and the radio antenna imbedded. The door panels were very dark brown, the leather was black. I replaced the front seats with 240 heated seats, the heater unplugged during the summer months. The original leather seats were gone and the spanish moss was crumbling and falling out.
With the help of the Brickboard members, I had the injectors cleaned and I replaced a broken spring in the intake valve for #1 cyl. They also guided me through the D-jet system until I understood it completely.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a Volvoholic.

You must miss it, huh? You've got others to help temper the pain though...

I'll be looking for 240 passenger seats with good foam to replace mine. I will either keep my interior upholstery which I really like the color and condition of (less happy about this after I found The Tear - check my other post in 140/160), or recover them in similar colored leather. Mine are really just fine the way they are, but I want leather eventually. The plate color code numbers won't match, but I hope to be the last owner of this car. I want to install an E-Brake/Seat Belt cover from a 240 with dual heated seat switches and then heat both seats with switches instead of the automatic heating that I have now.

I don't want to make a lot of obvious non-original changes. Maybe keeping the exhaust and emissions components (replace anything not working) and just putting some work into the head is the way to get another 20-40 hp from it. Definitely down-the-road stuff, but I'm a planner.

Thanks for your inputs!

What a find, I am amazed cars this nice are still out there to be found by someone diligent. All the older Volvos I ever see near my home are trashed out, not worth anything at all. A couple of questions:
1. White-wall tires. Are they old or can you still buy white walls?
2. Did this car have a catalyst or the high-temperature thermal emissions system? I was surprised to see so much tubing in the engine compartment, seemingly going everywhere.

Good luck with your new old 164.

Thanks! I did a lot of looking. There are two currently on eBay that look very nice, but not like this one.

1. White-walls - these are old. I don't know when they were installed, and I'm doing very few miles with this car so I haven't bothered. I'm going to try to find white-walls to replace these, but I think it's going to be difficult. I haven't even looked into what it takes to replace 175SR15 tires in today's sizes.

2. This has the standard '75 US emissions. Catalytic converter, EGR, smog pump, etc.. Thankfully, this is NOT a California Spec car with additional garbage on it. This car was purchased in Europe as US Spec and came with all the Volvo tourist-purchase literature. I seem to remember about this many hoses in my '73, but that's going back almost 15 years.

First I'd like to wish you well with this beauty. The color really sets it apart. My original '76 265 "VolvOldsmobile" was the same color and that has been one of my favorites. You mentioned that your car has a cat which I believe may indicate that it is indeed a Califirnia legal car. None of the '75 164's I've ever seen (and owned) had one (I'm in NY). I don't think our cars got them until 1978---- maybe '77--they came with the Lambda Sond system. I know the '75 245's (B20F)I've owned and the '76 (B21F) my wife drove did not have a cat or egr--nor did the 265. On the "right coast" we did have the air pump on the '75 164's and '75 240 (I have some of that systems parts lying around). Those items and the vacuum pump used those years added a lot of plumbing.

Thanks!

I'm certainly not willing to bet money on it, but here's what I know. The car doesn't have any of the California stickers or anything, and the person who inspected it (http://www.antiqueautorestorationca.com/) said that it was not a California spec car with "all that extra emissions garbage". Of course, while he might know everything there is to know about old Jag's, Bentley's, etc., he's not an expert in Volvos so he might not have known what the difference between CA and US only spec were.

If this car is the CA version, that might explain the slight lack of power that I *think* I notice. It's been ~15 years since I had my old one and I could swear it had more power.

What emissions stuff can come off without harming the car? I think the Cat can go, but what else? Will I notice improved power without the Cat? What about the "Chinese Water Torture" or Seafoam treatment I've read about on TurboBricks and some on here?

It's not your imagination that the '75 feels slow. They are definetely not as lively as the earlier versions. The addition of the vacuum and air pumps sap power and the '75 weigh more. The past couple of years I've scrapped a number of cars and looked to maximize the value. Do you realize, that between them, the front and rear bumpers on those early 240 based (incl the 164) weigh nearly 70 lbs. Forty-four lbs of aluminum, twenty-two lbs of rubber-the rest in hardware--not to mention the mounting brackets. That's 2 percent of the vehicle weight. Getting rid of the bumpers would net you the same as an additional 3hp! The early 164 bumpers aren't particularly protective--but they sure look better and don't weigh nearly as much. The '72 164E with OD I owned felt like a rocket compared to the '69 4-speed and the '73 auto we also drove.

I'm not saying it doesn't ride great - or that I'm not happy - because that couldn't be further from the truth. I just have to drive a little more Granny-like than usual. I suppose I'll live with it until I need (or can afford) to get the heads ported/polished and whatever else it takes to increase to 160-180hp.

What about the Cat - will replacing that with a straight-pipe net me anything? I've seen straight pipes that replace just the cat section and they seem like a pretty easy bolt-in job.

Opening up the exhaust will definetely net a power increase. If you don't have any concerns about keeping the pollution equipment you can pretty much scrap it all. Just milling the head to get it to '71-'72 levels will do wonders--and net you better mpg in the bargain. The exhaust seats are already hardened on the '75 to cope with unleaded. I think the DIN rating back then ('71) was 160bhp--which translates pretty close to modern standards. The motor should be easy to bring up to the old standards. I can't say I've ever measured them but I think the '75 rides high--maybe for bumper standards. Bring it down an inch easily. You could also consider adding a production 240 series rear bar. When I added a rear bar to the '76 265 V8 I think it only required drilling one hole in each trailing arm and using the hardware from the donor car. The exhaust may be another area for improvement--the older 164E had those long twin pipes leading to a twin inlet muffler (available any longer?). I built an exhaust for one of my 140's by welding those pipes to the original-cut off - down pipes going to the 160 muffler. Don't know if it helped or hindered but the car was quick and it looked cool (I thought so, anyway). That all being said, I run a custom made Y pipe on my 3.5 liter V8 running through a standard 240/260 exhaust. Man, have fun---Dave

It looks like Illinois doesn't care about vehicles older than '96. So, since replacing the Cat with a section of pipe should be quick and easy to do, I'll get right on that. I can't find the straight pipe anymore, though. I swear I saw on, eBay, magnaflow cat replacements AND straight pipe with the same flanges. Can't find them anymore. I can probably just take the measurements from here - http://tinyurl.com/c8gh9e - and have an exhaust shop make it up, can't I? Do you know where I might find a part "ready to go"?
According to this page - http://tinyurl.com/cfxnh9 - the Cat isn't really affecting top hp unless its really low flow. Should I consider just getting a high-quality low-flow Cat?

When I was ~18, I remember catching a 164 on the highway with a modified exhaust running dual pipes. Since the exhaust is coming from a Y, it seems smart to just run two pipes all the way, but I'm not ready for that cost.

What does "milling the head" entail, and what's the cost run? Is that where they shave the mating surface so that the height is reduced and the compression increased? In your opinion, what are some of the easiest (ie, non-invasive) methods for increasing power?

I plan to replace ALL the vacuum hoses shortly and would like to use Silicone hoses so I won't ever have to do it again. If there are any minor leaks, this could affect the power output of the engine without noticeably affecting the running/idling performance, couldn't it? My smog/air pump is "noisy" but working - would replacing this do anything noticeable to the power?

What about the Seafoam/Chinese Water Torture? Snake oil, or real improvement?

KGTrimning offers a thinner 0.8mm B30E/F head gasket...stock is 1.2mm. This would give a little more compression without milling the head. Does anyone know at what point you have to use a higher octane fuel to prevent knocking? My '75 164 owners manual specifies 87 octane for it's low compression engine.

Preston

On the B30F, replacing the head gasket is pretty simple, isn't it? Just remove (keeping track of all the parts) and replace everything? This seems like an easy way to boost things without much effort.

You gotta remove the manifolds and everything associated with them so it is a bit more than "pretty simple".
If you think you may be going that way, you should also do a dry/wet compression test,
which will give you an idea of your ring and valve conditions. Difference between dry and wet
will tell you about your rings and wet alone about your valves.

When you have the head off it is not much more work to get the valves ground (if needed) and new seals
and it is little more work and money to get the head milled. In any case the thin headgasket is the way to go
as the improvement in mixing from better squish will help deal with octane or "ping/pink" issues.
Will also yield more power.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Okay... this is definitely NOT a winter job, and may not even be a THIS summer job. I'll focus on checking and tuning everything I've got now. Thanks for the thoughts!

You're lucky with IL's attitude--here in the lower NY metropolitan area counties, cars up to 26 years old have to have an emmissions test that involves "driving" the car through a prescribed sequence on a roller drum--very tough to pass for older cars. For a while cars 20-25 in age only needed an idle sniffer test which my '76 265, with its '63 Oldsmobile F85 215 V8, would pass easily--matching even new car numbers--but the roller test-forget it. If I use the non-running '93 245 given to me to remake the car I'll have to fudge the papers and make it older. Now---as for your questions--I think bringing the car to a good muffler shop will probably be your best bet, although with the FI you could be kind to the earth without ruining a hi-performance cat. You have the right idea about "milling" the head--which, of course, requires its removal. Raising the compression will give you the most bang for the buck--being lazy I haven't looked up the actual numbers but I think currently you have an 8.7 to 1 while the first of the 164E's had around 10 to 1. That will mean a .040"-.060" cut to get it in that range. You should open up the valve cover and check the movement of all the valves--since cam wear was an issue with the B18/20/30 motors. A motor with a barely opening valve will run smooth enough not to notice the problem--except for a definite loss of power. I don't think the air pump will decrease power--aside from the parasitic loss. Removing it (and all the related parts) will make a quieter and cleaner looking engine bay. Maybe someone in California could use those parts. -- Dave

"with the FI you could be kind to the earth without ruining a hi-performance cat"
So, you're saying that getting a high-flow Cat like the Magnaflow ones (?) would give me about the same performance boost while keeping my emissions clean-ish? That would be preferable, of course.

Re: milling the head - would a cheaper/easier intermediate step be to replace the gasket with the thinner one from KG Trimming? How complicated is this going to get? I mean, it seems as though I'll be ending up with tons of loose parts (like the valves and springs and such) and replacing every gasket I come across. What kind of a budget do I need to put aside, and (other than a torque wrench) what special tools are required?

Any guide as to what needs to be removed along with the air pump?

Using a cat is the more responsible thing to do--so as an air breathing organism I thank you. The thinner gasket will net you a bump of almost a half point--getting the ratio over 9:1. You may even be able to use the mid grade gas with that--especially if your gasoline (like ours) is 10 or 15% alcohol--a very effective antiknock agent. Lots of bench space for large items and baggies are in order. Of course, if the cam is worn, now (with the head off)is the time to change it. But here's a thought, since you are concerned about cost (who isn't?) and have reservations about taking on a big project. Why not slow down and live with the car awhile. You can learn its strong and weak points (relative to your needs) and make a plan for work to be done. Winter's still with us so maybe you'll want to limit use in rough conditions. This is the best time to take care of the cosmetics and upholstery, tires and exhaust. When you do take it apart (the motor) you may want to take it further--why open it twice. After owning/driving it awhile you can better determine the level of performance you'd like to see out of it. Best of luck--Dave

Okay, so when I go to deal with the Cat, I'll lot at low-flow Cats. As of now, there's no indication that anything is wrong with mine. I'm just mulling through the "easy" ways to get some more power. I do definitely only want to take the head off once. If I've got to do that, I'll probably replace valve seals, guide, get the heads milled - what else? Rings, valve springs?

I will definitely wait until it warms up to do anything with major engine components. I'll be ordering lengths of silicone vacuum hoses as soon as I figure out all the sizes I need. That's a job I can do in the garage.

I want this car for the rest of my life, and I want to do as much of the work myself as possible. It's going to be a third car for us, so it'll stay low mileage and I'll be able to tear it apart without being in a rush.

Thanks for all the tips!

I'm not sure I would go to the trouble of getting silicone vacuum hoses but that is a matter of taste.
(Mine are cheap!)
All the B30 cams I have checked were worn on one or more lobes so this is something you should check.
If you're interested I can send you a saga relating to that on a 73 - email me offline.
The short of it is, you CAN replace the cam without pulling the pan but it can be tricky and difficult.
First, there is the matter of the Air Conditioner Condenser and whether it can be disconnected and
removed without destroying it.
If the cam is worn, so are the lifters and they can be difficult or impossible to remove in the upward direction.
If you replace the cam you should consider what you'd like in that department.
Authentic would be C, D or K. All US B30s came with the C cam which is what carbureted B18s and B20s used.
Fuel injected ones used the D or K which give more power and very good driveability.
KGTrimning and possibly GCP or VP can furnish a wide variety of B30 cams.
There are also aftermarket cams available but they are harder to find for the B30 than for B18/B20.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

If I go with Silicone hose, I should never have to replace them again. Isn't that right? I can also use a color of my choice for all the vacuum hoses so that I can easily tell things apart in the engine bay. I figured I'd use yellow or orange for all vacuum hoses. Having this kind of easy color-coding will help me "trace" things, I think.

Re: cams - Can you point me to anything that would show me the differences between the K & D cams? I'm NOT looking to get to 300hp or anything crazy. I'd just like to improve low-end acceleration. I'm thinking that if I got things up close to 160/180hp, that'd make a huge improvement. 200hp is about as high as I'd want to go. I'd like to avoid any major changes, so I want to stick with D-Jet and what it will limit me to. I don't consider milling heads or a different cam to be a change, just a modification - maybe because those things are all contained inside the engine. Replacing D-Jet with MS would be a change, in my opinion, and I'd rather put that off until I HAVE to because of parts unavailability or similar reason. My "primary" car is a '99 Taurus with 200hp (not an SHO), and that really feels like the right amount of power for a sedan, to me. Of course, I like more power, but super high hp is really low on my "what I want from my car" list.

I'm also kind of thinking that there's power my car isn't making right now that it should be. What should I check to make sure that it's putting out all it should? People insist that Seafoaming the engine will restore lost power. What about that?

I don't know anything about seafoaming. Might help.....

The D and K cams are so close you probably couldn't tell them apart.
I think K is slightly better from an emissions standpoint.
You can probably look up the details on Ian Rankin's site http://www.geocities.com/iadr1/geocitiesintro.html
or others.

I had a 92 Taurus V6 3 liter. Nice car. Gave it to my grandson and it's gone now!
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks! That chart was enough to show me that the K and D cams are really close, so I suppose I'll end up with the one I can get a better deal on with a slight preference to the K for it's green qualities.

My Taurus is a really fine car and has really done me well. I enjoy driving it, even. It just has no "soul"... you know?

Before doing anything (performance wise) the first order of business should be to optimize what you have. Check cam operation and adjust the valves when the valve cover is off--check for correct spark plugs, condition of air filter, etc. As far as normal tune/unmodified anything a big performance factor that won't make itself known unless physically checked is the operation of the centrifigal advance--known to gum up and work sluggishly or not at all. When you do get to the point of mechanical mods, given the low mileage, it's highly unlikely to need anything on the bottom end. Pistons, rings, block material, crankshaft and bearings are all of the highest quality and with regular maintenence should see 200K easily. If you do remove the air pump (I would) and its plumbing there are a couple of ways to deal with the air rail on the exhaust manifold. I'd soak the fitting with ATF for a couple of days and then use a flare nut wrench to see if you can break them loose (least involved, most kind to components procedure). If they won't come loose you can go a couple of ways. Heat the manifold with a regular welding torch (oxy-aceteline)- as a propane torch just will not get the heat in fast enough-the idea is to get the cast iron HOT before the fitting is heated (this is how I had to deal with a B20F manifold I just set up for my '69 140). With no torch available, another way would be to use diagonal cutting pliers and snip the rail (I can hear California 164 owners gasping 3,000 miles away) just above the fittings. The pliers will pinch the pipe mostly closed--then you can drive to a shop and have each snipped pipe sealed with braze. If you do get the rail fittings removed you will find allen head plugs at a good indy parts store to screw into the manifold--makes a clean installation. Another unit I'd dispose of is the vacuum pump--another source of noise and parasitic drain. Others may be able to provide a good reason to keep it but I've yet to drive a 164 that felt like it needed more vacuum for the brakes and/or heater controls. Most times when the unit has trouble the standard route is to eliminate it. These operations will lighten the car and clean up the engine compartment. A set of lighter, wider cast alloy rims will help too--and you can save the original skinny steel wheels and tires for showing the car while running wheels that are better suited to todays low profile tires. Are you having fun yet? -- Dave

I've replaced the plugs, cap, rotor and wires with properly gapped NGKs, Bosch ignition parts and Magnecor wires. The old plugs were gapped to about .40, whereas the book calls for .28-.32 and I gapped right in the middle. The engine ran slightly smoother (maybe placebo effect?) afterwards.

I have not checked the valve clearances, but I do have the gasket and tools at the ready. I'm also going to do an oil change - the oil's clean as new, but is only at about halfway up the indented part of the dipstick. I figure it's a good time to run some oil/engine cleaner through before the change. Any suggestions? Seafoam says it can be used for that, too, but what's most recommended?

I'll have to look up the Centrifigal Advance. What/where is that?
I have a Chiltons and Haynes, and have ordered the Volvo Green Book for the 1975 164E. It should come shortly. I am woefully short on tools, and am trying to buy what I need when I need them.

I don't know anything about Seafoam so I can't help you there--but I would say this--before introducing anything other than motor oil to the crankcase I'd like to know it's needed. If you do the cam check/valve clearance first you'll have first hand evidence if there is a buildup of sludge. A car that looks as nice as yours probably (hopefully) has also been maintained well too. Regular oil changes and a good balance of highway miles will keep the interior of a motor clean and any special treatment shouldn't be necessary. I'll give you two instances where a "treatment" was necessary. Years ago I worked with my dad at his used car lot. We sometimes bought cars at auction that came from the electric or telephone companies--AMC Hornets and Ford Falcons--and often their 6 cyl. motor's valve train was so noisy you couldn't hear yourself think and the Fords especially, would smoke out the tailpipe. For these cars we added a quart or two of kerosene--ran them hot--drained the mixture and repeated. After draining them the second time we'd change the filter and add motor oil. Most of the time that was enough to get the lifters working and the rings freed up. In the worst cases we removed the valve cover to find so much sludge you couldn't even see the rocker arm shaft and rockers--hidden in a mass of solid sludge. The other type of instance involved carbon deposits on the pistons. For those I'd run them at brisk rpm and introduce water through a vacuum inlet. When I had a self designed water injection system on my '68 144 B18 and later removed the worked B20 head to transfer it to the '69 B20 I still have--the pistons in the B18 were perfectly clean. AS FOR THE CENTRIFIGAL ADVANCE--there are two systems in the distributor to modify the timing. The vacuum retard (or advance) moves the breaker plate with a rod either opposite the direction of rotor rotation (advance) or with the rotor direction (retard). The other system is the centrifigal advance--located below the breaker plate and connected to the top of the distributor shaft (which is independant of the lower half of the shaft) using two spring loaded pivoting weights. As the rpm rises the weights force the upper section (with the rotor) to advance ahead of the lower part of the shaft. If you grab the rotor with your fingers you should be able to rotate it in the direction of rotation (counterclockwise on the B18/20/30) and it should snap back when released. TOOLS--with a 1/2 inch, 9/16, 11/16 and a 3/4 inch wrench you can pretty much disassemble most the car. Basic wrench and socket sets will see you through most jobs. -- sorry for all the verbiage -- I guess I like writing---Dave

Okay, I'll check the valve clearances first and see what I see. Since the oil seems perfectly clean, there probably isn't much to worry about. Maybe I'll do the water through a vacuum port on the intake, just cause it's easy and it'll clean things up.

Water injection systems seem pretty easy to rig up and it sounds like they do nothing but good things for the car. What are your thoughts on installing one of those?

Centrifigal Advance - I've got the electronic, breakerless ignition. Does that still apply? So, I'll pop off the cap and push the rotor ccw and see that it snaps back into place. If it doesn't, I'll look at the repair manuals to see about rebuilding?

Don't worry about writing so much... keep it up as it's doing wonders for my learning!

First the centrifigal advance--yes the electronic igntion has that too. I use the equivalent 4 cylinder distributor from a '75 240 (B20F) in my '69 144S. I've never had to replace the control unit in anyone's similiar unit (used in the early 240 B21) but the distributor itself has two potential trouble spots. One is the winding which can short out--symptoms usually are--intermittant conking out with no spark after engine warm-up--spark returns on cooling off-- and eventually total failure. The other faiure is even rarer--the tiny pin which secures the reluctor (the 6 legged thingy) to the shaft--I've seen this pin disintegrate and turn to powder allowing the reluctor to shift position. I mention these things just so you'd have a heads up. This igition makes a very strong spark. My 144 went from having to crank maybe 3-4 revolutions before firing up to an instantly running motor in the winter. ON CHECKING THE CAM -- rotate the motor by hand and observe each of the valve springs compression amount. WATER INJECTI0N 101--I'm a true believer--but I haven't had my system operational in a few years--ever since the addition of alcohol to our gas mixture. I originally set mine up because of spark knock. I've seen ads for very sophisticated systems for big $. I would guess they work very well. My system cost me next to nothing and also worked very well. I used a Plymouth heater valve (Dad's last used car business was a taken over Chrysler-Plymouth dealer-with all its parts stock) for a RWD (hurrah!) car. The valve is vacuum controlled-high vacuum off--no/low vacuum open. I ran a manifold vacuum hose to the valve control. Cruising off- acceleration on. I sleeved the inlet/outlets of the valve down to vacuum hose size and then used a carb jet to further restrict the water inside the hose to the ported inlet. I used a 140 windshield washer tank for a resevoir (too small though--would empty after a half tank of gas) and for the liquid I used washer fluid and ran it through a plastic VW Bug fuel filter. I've since made a little collection of knock sensors with the idea to have one trigger a relay to operate a washer pump--but lack the electronics knowhow to complete the idea. --- Dave

I've done the opposite, refitted the air pump...

To remove the air pump the main task is to plug the air injection inlets in the manifold (with suitable bolts). Besides from that you need to find another drive belt to power the AC compressor.

Remove:
- air pump and bracket
- drive belt
- hose from air pump to diverter valve on firewall
- diverter valve on firewall
- hose from intake to diverter valve
- hose from diverter valve to check valve
- check valve and distribution pipe

Plug the inlets on the exhaust manifold and the vacuum hole on the intake.

if your car has the original wheels.. and I bet it does based on condition... they will be 5.5" wide. Those will easily fit 195/65-15s, which will be just about perfect in diameter. Maybe just a tiny, tiny bit smaller...

I would think you should still be able to source new whitewalls in that size if it's your desire.

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Excellent info, thanks! I will try to find white-walls. None of the big online places seem to have them... More googling ahead!

You should be able to confirm the wheels.. pull the hub caps. There should be a number printed between the lugs. something like 684001.. if it ends in 001, they should be 5.5" I think. Some even say so.. will say 5.5jj or something. Some have nothing though...

Might be tough finding whitewalls though after all... smallest I can seem to find is 205/70-15. You could probably get away with that, but it'd be a bit on the big side...

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

684001 was used from MY 1971 up to MY 1974 (5.5" wide) and was replaced in MY 1975 by 1221462 (also 5.5" wide, but with a different offset).

And bigger wheels means I'll travel faster than the speedo reads, right? What effect, if any, does it have on power or the engine.

bigger tires.. but yes. shoot to keep the tire diameter close to original. There are online conversion tools that do all the math with speedometer error.

Larger diameter tires will hurt your accelleration, but give you lower engine rpm at given speed... so a more relaxed highway cruise and possibly slightly better mileage.

Of course, you go too big and you run into clearance issues, but those cars have a lot of room under them fenders.

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

A real beauty! The colour is amazing. Any more pictures anywhere?

Check out my 164E 1975 on flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/fritzing/sets/72157600778779539/

Thanks! This is THE color I was looking for, too. I really feel like I lucked out in finding this one. Yours has got mine beat by a little bit, though! How long have you had it?

My first one, a '73, was that color green. I've got a picture of one that looks like mine up with the rest of my pictures - http://gallery.me.com/ojdorson#100072. I miss my leather seats, and I really do miss the bumper over-riders. I'm keeping my eyes open for a set on eBay.

Beautiful pictures! You have one of the later 164:s, which means you have the wide tail lights (this was a change in the middle of the model year).

If the rest of the interior is in the same shape as on the picture, you're a real lucky man! This must be very rare. From how it looks it is in much shape than any leather interior I've seen.

I bought my car in 2006 in Kentucky and imported it to Sweden. It has 56 000 miles and is as rust free as theoretically possible. It is almost completely untouched.

The over-riders are quite hard to come by, but I've seen a few on Ebay over the last years. You might try with:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=sv&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jon-erik.se%2F164delar.html&sl=sv&tl=en
(it's is Swedish originally, so some word might be slightly strange)

There is a "world-wide" register (http://164list.se/) where you of course should register your car.

Yours was in Kentucky? It's a good thing I wasn't ready to buy when yours went on the market! :)

If you'll check my other post - "I was going to wash the upholstery..." - you'll see I'm not as lucky as I'd hoped... I've got a tear in the right front "shoulder" of the driver's seat. The fabric is very clean and in good shape, so the tear is especially disappointing. I really liked the interior color and was hoping to ditch the sheeps. As it is, I'll have to wash them and sew on new elastics.

Any idea how the headrests come off? I put my hand all the way up into the back of the seat and could touch the bottom of the headrest poles on both sides and found no release of any sort. I know that they came off when the PO put on the sheeps.

Re: the tail lights... I really like the wider ones. Yours have amber lenses on the turn signals and mine are clear (with amber bulbs). Do you know what that's about?

I've seen that register before, and volvo164club.se, and should really quit being lazy and register mine already! Thanks for the reminder and all the info!

Saw the pictures showing the tear. Pity. But still I think you will be able to get it into shape. You might consider glueing a piece of fabric on the back of the tear (keeping it from getting longer). The interior specialist working with my drivers seat will do exactly that to cure the same kind of problem (on leather though, but should be the same).

I've scanned and uploaded parts of the original service manual. There are two possible versions. One was used in model year 75 and the other in model year 76 (and as it turns out also in really late 164 -75). You need to determine which one you have (probably the 75 version based on what you write).
75 page 1: http://www.fritzing.se/164e/documents/service-75-1.jpg
75 page 2: http://www.fritzing.se/164e/documents/service-75-2.jpg
76: http://www.fritzing.se/164e/documents/service-76.jpg
the Swedish text next to the head restraint reads:
"The head restraints have a new fixiing making it easier to dismantle when for instance changing upholstery.
Press the locking release through the fabric and lift the head restraint."

When it comes to tail lights, there were only one version, with amber lenses. These were very prone to fade though and eventually become clear. Yours are very even in colour and looks really nice. I think also there were an aftermarket replacement for only the indicator lens (clear), but I'm not sure.

So, I've got to hammer them out? What a bummer. Maybe I can pull them out if I use enough leverage. I mean, the PO must've removed them to put on the sheeps, so I'll just be persistent. Mine are definitely NOT the 76 versions, as the posts are very short on mine. I don't have the Catch Release lever in figure 8-33 (http://www.fritzing.se/164e/documents/service-75-1.jpg), though. Is this guide not specific to the 164? It looks like those are from a 242 coupe? Thank you so much for posting those!

I've decided to NOT remove the seat upholstery until I'm ready to really rehab the seats - with all the parts at the ready, new foam and everything. They're extremely comfy now. I will take off the sheeps if I can get the headrests removed and rehab them a little.

The tailights on mine are very clear and "new" looking. Since I put in an amber bulb, I'm going to leave them just like they are. You must be right about the fading though - in person, mine definitely have a slight tint to them just on the square covering the turn signals.

I've found a copy of the Volvo Green Book for this car and should have it shortly. Are diagrams like the ones you posted what I'll find in there?

This guide is from a book called "New car features 1975" which covers both 240 series and 164, so the catch release you saw in the picture is from 242.

I think you will find the green book very similar to the pages I uploaded. Also very useful is the "parts catalogue". You can browse it online on www.gcp.se. If you would like a pdf, drop me an email.

On my car the head rests are the 76 version. I just gently felt the release mechanism through the vinyl. However the vinyl wouldn't manage if I tried to move the release enough, I could feel it tearing under my fingers.

A PDF would be great! I'll e-mail you from oj {at} thedorsons.com

Good for you on the headrests, sorry about the vinyl, though. I think I may rebuild newer 240 seats to go into mine so that I get some nice updates like the easily removable headrests. I hope to be able to do the seats in leather. I do want them to appear original. I don't think I'll do anything so crazy as this - http://hem.bredband.net/themar/165/seats.htm - but I'm tempted!

Those seats look like they would be good for cold weather or if the air conditioning is REALLY
effective.......
I think I'm glad my newer cars have cloth upholstery here in Oklahoma!
(Also electric bun warmers!)
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

That's a dandy car you have there - a real Volvo with probably one of the best engines Volvo ever made. Looks really good - even the mudflaps are clean!
Enjoy that car for as long as you can.
Rhys

Thanks, Rhys! This one sure is near-perfect. I can't take credit for that, but I'll keep it tip-top and for as long as possible. This is "the car" for me!

Nice.. Nice looking car!

When I first glanced at your post, I thought you were saying the car had 2200 miles on it.. from the one picture you posted, that didn't look totally out of line, and I was going to suggest getting new tires since the originals would be 34 years old

:-)

Cheers!

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

One can dream, huh? I turned this car over to 100,000 during the very first drive home from the shipper's terminal - only about 25 miles from home. Visibly, though, I agree! There are so many little pieces on this car that were missing on my '73, I almost wonder if they were dealer options or if they'd just fallen off/apart on my '73.

Congratulations!
NICE looking car! I was tempted to buy one like that in Great Bend, Kansas but it was too far and the engine was out of it and I was short of cash at the time.
I have a 69 164 that I bought in 1971 and am getting running again after my grandson dropped a valve into #2 cylinder a couple years ago.
Got it back together but carbs got gummed up in storage. As soon as the weather gets better I'll put refurbed carbs in it and try again.
There is a meet coming up in San Antonio in Mid-March and one in Tulsa (Midsommar) around the 20th of June. The 140/164 class is ALWAYS either very short on cars or there are none at all so you could almost certainly win a prize with that beauty!

Keep in touch!
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks, George! I feel really lucky to have found the car in this shape. I'll do everything I can to keep it up and improve it.

It's a heck of a drive from Chicago to SA, but maybe sometime I'll get up the nerve. Tulsa is much closer and I might be able to make it there. Is there a website for those meets?

Here is a link to the Swedespeed string:
http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=108152
This is for the San Antonio meet.
The Tulsa meet is still in early development.
BTW you could stop here on the way to San Antonio.
I'm 40 min north of Tulsa and San Antonio is probably 550 miles from me.
(I worked in San Antonio late 1968-early 1971. All different now!)
I finally got back home to Bartlesville after being gone for 30 years in 1998.
BTW, what name do you go by?
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Thanks!

Sorry for not introducing myself properly. OJ Dorson is my name, hence the very creative username of "ojdorson"!