Volvo P1800ES...kinda

Push you in the seat acceleration?

759NRNG said:

Push you in the seat acceleration?

Not really. But then I have been driving it for a while and the novelty of it accelerating has kinda normalized. So probably so for anyone who had not driven it. This was  only the second or third time I have "launched" the car from a standstill. 

Might not look like it, but had a good evening at the local test and tune. Got down from a 14.8 to a 14.0. 

Sadly the alternator decided to quit and with a long drive home and no idea how long the battery would last, I hitched a ride with a friend who just happened to be there with his tow truck.

Phew.

At least that is easy to fix. Not so quick if you decide to do a round of "since I am here...", but you will get no complains from us if you decide to go down that road!

In reply to Piguin :

I do have a spare alternator. I just happens to be attached to a freshly rebuilt Ls L33 that I have sitting around. Don't give me bad ideas.

Seriously, I think the chassis and power level are well matched as-is with the Molvo. If I want to work on the launch I think I could get into the 13 second bracket, but I now have an idea of the cars potential and will probably just go back to cruising around.

In reply to NOHOME :

That's a darned handy friend to have!

What kind of trap speeds and 60' times were you turning?

In reply to DarkMonohue :

trap speed at 1/4 was just under 100 mph for all four runs that I did. The timeslip is out in the shop so dont  have that data. Will check tomorrow.  Pretty consistent @ 75 mph at the 8th with around 25 mph  gain on the top half.

If there is time to be saved, it would be on the launch.  Seems a bit relaxed in the video

In reply to NOHOME :

Sparta?

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Yup. As you know, not far from home.

DarkMonohue said:

In reply to NOHOME :

That's a darned handy friend to have!

What kind of trap speeds and 60' times were you turning?

run 1-    14.34 et     2.27  (60 ft)     95( trap)                                   

run 2-   14.21 et     2.149                 99

run 3-   14.67 et     2.58                  98     (two people in car)

run 4-   14.08 et     2.167                98

So with such a tight spread, I don't think there is much left in the car. There might be something left in the driving/launching. I think the message is if you want to go fast and consistent on the track run an auto.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

Yep, there it is, right in the 60' times. That's a 13-second car with a better launch. Pretty quick!

The last two days have been spent reshingling the shop. Good for another 15 years I hope. Posting it here as a timestamp

In reply to NOHOME :

roofing is a 100% hire it out job.

java230 said:

In reply to NOHOME :

roofing is a 100% hire it out job.

Maybe right for next time, but at 64, its nice to know I can still do this E36 M3. It helps to have friends who have some experience and others to help carry heavy stuff up the ladder. Big shout-out to the group that normally hangs out INSIDE the shop.

Well, the alternator fix did not take and had to do a tense drive home at night with the alternator ight staring me in the face. The new fuse did not fix it this time so the alternator came out and went back for a rebuild.

I have a theory that I have a grounding issue. The car recently got a new battery that I felt failed too early and now the alternator. Might want to add a ground or two and measure some voltages.

While the car is  undergoing alternator surgery, decided to take a stab at fixing a coolant leak. I bought a new pump, but have a feeling that it is a case of the existing bolts not being tight enough.  The weep-hole is dry. Have to say now that I have been exposed to doing water pump changes on LS engines and Ford modular engines, I am not a fan of the 302 parade of rusty bolts holding the pump on to the timing chain cover.

Rad! Looking forward to the review

In reply to Shavarsh :

The Review:

Took the car out for a brake pad bed-in. Not something I have ever taken this seriously. Right out the door the extra lever action from the larger disc was noticeable.

Was a few mile drive to a  quiet road where I knew I could do some serious 70mph  braking. I put maybe 15 of these stops on the new brakes and they got better after each time. 

Checked with the heat gun and all 4 were around 310 F.  No idea if this was good or bad but they were starting to get a bit stinky. I took the equal temps for a win.

The proportioning valve for the rear was a waste of money. I am running full pressure to the rears and don't see where I will want to change that. I could have used 2  two dollar brake line couplers to eliminate the factory proportioning valve and it would have been the same.  

While the improvement is quite noticeable,  I would not describe the brakes as "grabby" it  does not want to lock up the front wheels until the speed gets down to like 30 mph or so. The car does have sticky 200 TW tires.  Pretty sure the wifes Corolla will outbrake the Volvo, but I am calling this a win.

And they look cool behind the rims!

Edit: Something else I learned today:  The car has a 4 barrel Holley carb. During the hard braking maneuvers the car now  generates enough G force  to move the fuel in the front bowl away from the main jet and shut the engine off. This causes the engine to shut-off during the hard braking maneuvers.  Not going to worry about it too much.

Two new toys. Engine run-in stand and rebuilt L33. Totally stock as the goal was best all around road manners.

idling at 550 rpm and it seems to keep fluids where they should be and does not overheat. Revs up right quick and nothing bad out the tailpipes. Gonna call it a win.

Now what am I going to do with this thing?

NOHOME said:

Edit: Something else I learned today:  The car has a 4 barrel Holley carb. During the hard braking maneuvers the car now  generates enough G force  to move the fuel in the front bowl away from the main jet and shut the engine off. This causes the engine to shut-off during the hard braking maneuvers.  Not going to worry about it too much.

I always used to have a problem with the rear float bowl burping fuel out the vent and flooding out the engine under heavy braking, modified 750vac sec with a jettable metering plate rather than 2 metering blocks. I think I had jet extensions and a vent baffle on the front bowl, but there wasn't a vent baffle available for the rear bowl/plate setup

In reply to NOHOME :

Don't just tease us.  Hurry up and shoe horn that thing in there. 😉 

Today was a day of contrast. In the AM 10 of us joined an annual cruise event where old cars cruise from Ft Erie to St Thomas Ontario. A good three hour drive along HWY 3 in both directions. Awesome drive with the women units. a LOT of classics and Hot Rods to see along the way.

Later that night I joined an impromptu "Car show" that was kinda interesting.   Several hundred more modern cars taking over a local parking lot. After a while, the crowd had formed a gauntlet  at the only exit that anyone leaving had to drive through. The gauntlet was to encourage "spirited" departure from the event. That is a busy 4 lane hwy reduced to one lane due to people in the middle of the road. 

So of course, this was bound to happen. Other than that, there were a lot of awesome cars at the show.

Back in September I snuck the Molvo into a Brit car show under the slim pretense of the first P1800 cars having been made in the UK by Jensen Healey.  As luck would have it, there were two Jensen Healeys at the show with room to park next to one.  Was actually surprised by how many people were aware of the connection.  Photo credit to YouTube post by "Have a nice day AJ" . 

Looking good, know it must be a joy to drive! 

In reply to 275nart :

It is, but AC would be nice if I ever got around to it!