1966 volvo amazon

1st thing I wanted to do was get rid of the auto gearbox and the best way to do this was to find a donor car ....and here it is

Engine back in and now she's a manual

Did that come from a front garden / driveway in south London? Colour, spec and work done all sound familiar to one that I remember from the Volvo OC forum quite a while back.

Watch out for backspacing with bigger wheels - due to the tight turning circle, there isn't much clearance on full lock even with the factory wheel & tyre set up.

What's the plan for the gearbox donor? Was it a regular M40 that it gave up, or an M41 (overdrive)?

Volvo OC forum used to be very good for tech info on these - I haven't logged in for years though, but guessing it still is!  Also, in case it's any help, all the factory workshop manuals & parts books etc can be downloaded from here:

www.volvoamazonpictures.se

I think this can go 15inch or 16 inch wheels with 7.5 or max 8j on rear

Is the donor a breaker, or do you have other plans for that?

With a plain M40, be glad it's not an estate, as they all run the same diff as the factory M41 cars, meaning that in 4th, 80mph is 5k rpm... Truly grim gearing as I found out when my o/d packed up, and even just 70 was uncomfortable. With the M41 (on the back of a twin carb B20), 80 is a light throttle easy cruise, as 84 is 4K with the 4.56:1 factory o/d diff & it was also happy to cruise at 90. In fact, on the motorway mine would easily creep up to 80 without trying, when fully laden, towing a large sailing dinghy whilst also running in the current engine. This was when it was my father's, and he said that he had to pay close attention to keep it down to 60. I worked out later that this was due to the torque curve peaking just above that speed when in o/d. Not sure how it will work out with a B18 & the non o/d diff though depends how hilly it is around your way. I have a vague recollection of someone on the Volvo OC forum finding that the non o/d longer gearing matched with o/d was a pain on Devon hills, whereas with the o/d diff it was spot on.

If you do find an M41, it's worth getting the correct o/d stalk set up too, as that allows finger tip operation from the steering wheel, which makes for very easy & pleasant to use. Great for confusing observant passengers too when they realise that you've changed gear without hands leaving the wheel. Even though mine has been off the road for seven years, I still occasionally reach to flick the rh stalk on other cars, trying to engage o/d...

Loads of tuning info out there if you want extra go - IIRC, there is no internal differences between single & twin carbs except the camshaft, & headgasket thickness & internals are tough. A B18 can be bored to 2 litre, but you'd need a B20 head as IIRC the combustion chamber shape is different. If looking at carbs, make sure that you match the cam & dizzy correctly too otherwise the results will be disappointing, as there are numerous cams & different advance curves. No doubt the Volvo OC forum will have all the data somewhere.


I've seen plenty with 17" wheels, but that means not much tyre sidewall. Steering is already quite heavy, so 7J wth the resulting 205 wide tyres may become tiresome for regular use. If I had the spare cash, a set of 6J ARE or similar wheels (or possibly 5 spoke Revos) would be on mine with 195/65s on the front & 205/65s on the back (to maintain correct speedo & gearing).