Volvo RWD 120-130 Forum

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sound-proofing a 122 120-130

I'm based in England and quite new to this Amazon lark. I'm about to purchase my first one, a 1969 2-door 132, red all over (apart from the black) with a B20B. What I actually want to do is to get you folk out there who love their Amazons to squeeze out a few gripes and groans. What little things annoy you about the car? Which modern conveniences do you miss?

I'd especially like to know about a couple of things: firstly, soundproofing. Have you had good success with getting the noise down, and how did you do it? Secondly, power. The car I want has a B20B, twin-carb, completely standard. What improvements could I make to make this (already very good) engine zip the car along a bit more briskly?

If any reader has a similar year and model tell me why you hang onto it, and why I should hang onto mine. I get the feeling this isn't going to be 'just another car'.








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    sound-proofing a 122 120-130

    A big thank-you to everyone who has replied with suggestions and links. I'll let you know when I bring the car home. First drive will be a 200km ride across East Anglia.

    Hope you don't mind if I save up a few questions to come back to you with. I now wish I'd paid more attention during those school 'Rebuild a Volvo' classes!

    TomTom








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    sound-proofing a 122 120-130

    The VW bus guys have it even worse than the Volvo drivers; it's worth taking a look at some of their solutions. Insulate those body cavities and consider adding some new material to the insides of the doors...

    "Heat, Noise and Rust in VWs"

    http://www.bulley-hewlett.com/VWindex/








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    sound-proofing a 122 120-130

    Sweet. I guess a 132 is pretty much the same thing as was marketed over here as a 123GT - only a late production with a standard B20B. Does it have an OD tranny? If so, it already has what will make it more comfortable at modern highway speeds.

    The main bits of advice I can give you about driving an old Volvo:
    1) Don't scrimp on parts - unless it was neglected maintenance-wise by the previous owner it shouldn't need much. But when it does put the very best parts you can find on. Over time the reliability of the car will reflect the quality of the parts you put in it (as well as the quality of the wrenching). The car will be around for a long, long time, so don't try to economize on parts.
    2) Other than a random accident (knocks on wood) rust is the likely killer of an old Volvo. Mechanically they live on forever, and you can fix anything that goes wrong. But rust will eat the car and send it to the junkyard unless you stay on top of it. Don't buy a rusty car, don't drive it in the winter if they salt the roads (get some other car as a sacrificial offering) and pre-emptively strike at the usual spots before it gets a strong foothold. On a 122 these spots are:
    1) Front fenders - around the top of the headlight and along the back edge where narrow gaps trap gunk and hold moisture
    2) The sills - there are drain holes along them that get plugged and will quickly rot the sills if so
    3) Around the rear wheel - on the inside of the body the inner and outer fenders make a narrow cavity - this is hard to get to.
    4) Floorboards - take the carpets out and kill the rust

    As for performance there are lots of thing you can do to pep it up - from the current 118 HP (stock) to 250+ depending on how much you want to spend. You best bet is to drive it until it needs a rebuild, then use performance parts. It will only cost you slightly more than a stock rebuild will. A couple of likely sources:
    www.KgTrimning.com - Swedish company with by far the best selection of mild to wild performance parts for B18/20 engines. Heads, cams, cranks, headers, ignitions, Webers, etc, etc, etc. They sell everything except (oddly enough - since they sell special 'turbo' heads) turbo or supercharger kits. But not to fear:
    www.v-performance.com - John Parker has been developing (and may be shipping by now?) a neat supercharger kit complete with an air-to-water intercooler. Combine this with some parts from KgTrimning (big pistons, cam, stroker crank, low compression 'turbo' head) and you could probably have a 250+ HP 2.4 liter monster. And you'd be just that much faster due to your lightened wallet;)








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    sound-proofing a 122 120-130

    B20E head, ported.
    Cam and lifter kit (D cam or better)

    Worst complaint - water comes in around the windscreen, migrates
    to the fiber padding under the rubber floormat. The fiber makes the
    water acid and it corrodes through the floor from the inside.

    Speaking of fiber, then there is the fiber timing gear that will ultimately
    give out.
    --
    George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma








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      sound-proofing a 122 120-130

      George;

      You have to agree that a '69 two door with a B20B is a pretty desirable Amazon to get if its (sheetmetal is) in decent shape to start. Its almost a 123GT, which is THE most desireable model!

      TomTom:

      I believe you will have a cast dual throttle, 2 into 1 (mixing chamber), back into 2, then 4 ports, intake system (one piece casting with exhaust) which is tough to get to idle and should probably be replaced by an alu. pre '66 intake manifold and (cast) 4 into 2 into 1 (pipe) exhaust maifold. I agree with George, significant gains can be had by improving the engine breathing...

      Sound proofing...stick-on mats available from automotive sound system places (ie www.partsexpress.com) go a long way, but I swear on of these days I'm going to come up with an underhood sound deadening foil/foam kit (ala 1800s) to attenuate engine noise coming from that big hood.

      The dual brake system is definately nice, and the benefit of changing to disc rears vs. the amount of work involved is arguable.

      Check my SwEm Service Notes page for more general info: http://www.intelab.com/swem/service%20notes.htm

      Welcome!








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        sound-proofing a 122 120-130

        The 69 B20B is a pretty sweet model, easiest power increase is from putting on a decent exhaust system ( 50mm ) , from there on the options are endless and CAN be surprisingly cheap. Re soundproofing an extra layer of carpet underlay seems to make a huge difference as well as plugging all the holes and filling up the space under the rear seat, glue some sound proofing under the bonnet, this will make wind noise the loudest thing and 1950's Volvo technology didn't really cope with that.
        Hans
        Katikati NZ







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