I picked up my spare Amazon last night - 1965 4-door, tatty with a bit of rust, but complete. Single carb B20 has been fitted, but no overdrive. Can't have everything, I guess!

It has a generator, and it's a long time since I had a car with a generator. My memory is that it should was positive to earth with British cars - the same for Volvo?

Just out of interest, what happens if you do wire the battery negative earth with a generator equiped car?

JohnH

Volvos are NEGATIVE GROUND!! Don't wire the battery backward,
you will overload the charging system!!

If you look at the terminals on the generator they are marked
rather plainly. Body of the generator is D- so that is the ground
connection.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Whew! Thanks George, I'm very glad I didn't just go ahead and trust the Brits!

John

John;

Luckilly, and thank Thor, there isn't too much in the way of British electrical equipment in a 122...is there any?...come to think of it, I can't even think of ANY...just about everything was supplied by German manufacturers. I believe this is one of the reasons, they have such a good rep. for reliability. Just about the only British thing they "contributed", was the fact that all pre '70s Volvos used SAE (imperial) hardware sizing opposed to metric (except for those German electrical components). I don't feel that strongly about it (other than the fact that I had to drop more $ to buy another tool set), but for some really amusing reading check this link for someone who apparently does: http://www.metricsucks.com/

Unfortunately our 1800 owning bretheren are all too familiar with Lucas and Smiths "equipment".

Cheers

Isn't the floor dipper for the headlights a Lucas part?

I've convereted mine to use the turning indicator to flash/dip, but the old floor switch is around somewhere. I'll have a look this weekend and see if it says 'Price of Darkness' anywhere on it.

John

...don't know Cameron...I've NEVER had to replace, or even dink around with one for that matter (and seldom even recall anyone having a problem with one) I do vaguely remember someone posting about a failed one here a long time ago...all of which leads me to believe that it was probably a Bosch or SWF (also German) supplied part. With a record like that, I'd be surprised if I found out it was from Lucas! Is that presumptuous of me?

Cheers

I had the same symptoms described below - foot dipper decided that instead of alternating between hi and lo that it would alternate between hi beams and no headlights at all. Clicking it several more times usually got the headlights to work again... usually. (note: driving around town with 130w hi beams on is not a way to become popular). I tried cleaning up the connections and fiddling around with the switch but I think it was just tired. We've seen a few others that have done the same. From the driving standpoint, I MUCH prefer using the turn signal stalk.

Best,

Cameron
Rose City
Volvos and Vespas

My foot dipper started getting funky to the point where the dipped (normal) headlights would not work, but the highbeams worked. So I just switched the wires on the the switch so I could drive around somewhate safely. So now when I press to activate the brights, sometimes I only get complete darkness, usually a couple more pumps of the switch gets them working.

So my vote is that they are lucas product. Does anybody know a source for a bolt in replacement for the dimmer switch??? I checked GCP today but they didn't have one listed.

Thanks,

Mario m.

I've wired mine so it works by pulling the turn indicator, rather than using the floor switch. You need only the flasher relay from a 140 - the wiring is all there. Ron Kwas' Swedish Embassy site tells you how: here is the link
http://www.intelab.com/swem/122flasher.htm

It's a big improvement over the foot switch.

John/Mario;

Thanks for the plug...actually the instructions at that link only cover adding (back) the headlight flasher (only) option which was not installed in US delivery vehicles. I would definately agree, this would be the perfect time for Mario to do the full upgrade to a 140 style control, by replacing the flacky foot dipper switch with a (bistable) relay from the 140s. This eliminate the problem, plus give BOTH headlight signaling (when lights are OFF) AND low/highbeam control (when headlights are ON).

If Mario just wants to replace the footswitch, with their good track record, I would just install a used one after lubing the mechanism well (I believe failure is probably, more often than not, due to corrosion from moisture in the footwell).

I believe Cameron put together the full instructions for this in the latest IPD flier.

Cheers

I actually like the foot dipper for turning my brights on. I am planning on using the switch in the turn signal assembly for a brights flashing action so that the brights are turned on while the stalk is pulled back (astable relay?). I was also thinking about using the switch to activate my overdrive instead. Decisions decisions. . . .

Heck I might just drill out the rivets and pull my foot switch apart for a rebuild. I was just hoping that it was a standard part that was cheaply available.

Thanks,

mario

Mario;

Restoring the headlight flasher relay is truly simple, and yes it is a normal "astable" relay...

Here's what I've been seriously thinking about for additional "hands-don't-have-to-leave-steering-wheel controls. Another directional indicator switch, (with cancelling mechanism deactivated), mounted on the right side of the steering wheel (ala OD control on 1800). The pull function could be used for a single wipe OR to control OD as you suggested (but for that would require a bistable latching relay just as in the 1800 arrangement), and the up and down switches could be used for slow and high speed intermittent wiping.

I bet the construction of the foot dipper switch is such that after carefull disassembly, I'm sure it could be repaired (and then last another 40 years!). While your at it, please let us know who built it.

Cheers

Yeah, look what they did to Washington, DC in the early 1800s!

Then before that they sent the Hessians.
Then there was that nasty matter of the tax on tea, the edict of William
the Testy, and numerous other indignities.

(I won't get into the clearances and things like that.)
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma