Introducing 122 | Project Amazon | Amazon Cabriolet | 123GT Production | Members Cars

 Jim Hekker's
1968 Volvo Amazon 122S Project History, Restoration, Improvements & Photos

Taking apart the front of the car started in early 1999, as shown on the photos, the battery must have been overcharged at one stage, causing quite a bit of acid damage to the paintwork, body work, bonnet and heater. Most acid damage wasn't visible at first but when I started sanding it down I exposed the real damage. Nothing structural, just surface rust. The body, although scarred by parking dents all around, was basically in a good rust free condition. The only rust was on the front wings, though not too bad.  The headlight cowls were badly rusted and were later replaced by new plastic cowls. I removed engine, gearbox, the sub-frame, heater, steering box and all components from the front of the Amazon cleaned everything and hand-painted the engine bay and spray-painted all suspension parts.  Everything was treated with transparent POR-15
Spray painting is easy and is also a good option if you need any touch up work done. Aerosol car spray paint cans may be used with a trigger which works like a professional spray gun for the best results.

Originally my Amazon had a B18A engine (1800cc, single carburettor)  which was in a reasonable condition. However I wanted a 2 litre engine with reasonable power and I had been looking for an old Volvo with a B20B engine for my Amazon. I found a Canadian 1974 Volvo 142 at a wrecker's yard in Auckland. All the good bits were already gone however the B20F (fuel injected) engine was still in the car, it also had a remote gear-change that I was interested in using in the Amazon. I brought the car home on a hired trailer and parked it in the orchard where my wife works (didn't want to upset the neighbours), where we removed the engine and gearbox in one piece with the help of a tractor and forklift. Nicolette, my wife, on the controls and myself easing the unit out of the car. I also cut out part of the tunnel with my newly purchased angle grinder. The tunnel cover was tidied up and later bolted in the Amazon to house the remote gear-change. The rest of the old 142 went to tip. Both the original B18A and the low compression B20F engines were stripped and delivered at Hart Bussas' workshop, the The Classic Engine Shop in Tauranga. He inspected the parts for possible use. Hart specialises in pre-1980 engine work and he loved to do work on my Volvo engine. He found that the B20 block wasn't in such a good condition at all, the "D" camshaft was worn and also its bearings, the cylinders were worn too, the pistons, crankshaft and conrods were OK. So we decided to use the B18 block, re-bore it to 2 litres, used the B20 head with the bigger valves, the old B20 pistons with new rings, 8 bolt crankshaft, conrods, flywheel, steel timing gears in the original re-bored B18 block.

All bearings, seals and gaskets were replaced. The felt crank seals were replaced by modern silicone seals used on later model Volvo engines, the housings had to be machined to fit the new seals, but that prevents oil leaks in the future. A new "K" camshaft and heavy duty oil pump were ordered from Brookhouse UK. The B20 cylinder head minus 1mm to increase the 8.7:1 compression a little to around 9.5:1, was used after a complete rebuilt with hardened valve seats. The injection holes were plugged. We ended up with a good engine which would be reliable with lots of potential for further tweaking, if we wish.

However, we had some problems with the machining of the B20 head to install the hardened valve seats (Lead free petrol in NZ) and decided not to use this head. We actually used another B20F head, which already had hardened valve seats, out of an US 1975 Volvo 245 - Thanks Hans. Hart Bussas rebuilt this head to a good standard, free of charge.

Special Bilstein shocks, which perform very well with the ipd lowered springs, have been installed on advice from Cameron Lovre, salesman at ipd and vclassics team member. All suspension rubbers front and rear have been replaced. Also most of the ball joints were replaced.  Changing an equal number of shims on each bolt on the upper A arms changes the camber. We added shims to achieve 1 degree negative camber for better cornering. For more details about front end alignment settings check out the vclassics Archive. A new water pump was installed, the main radiator rebuilt, the heater radiator leak fixed, the heater painted and re-assembled. The existing aftermarket brake booster was leaking and after a detailed examination of the parts I decided to buy a new booster, another $375. I'm still considering to install a dual brake system. Brake master cylinder and Clutch master and slave cylinders were re-slaved, all brake hoses were replaced, the front hoses by steel braided types from ipd. 

I bought a set of used original SU carburettors from another club member and had them rebuilt with new shafts and Teflon bushes. This set included an aluminium intake manifold which, after a good cleanup, looks really good on the engine. The exhaust manifold came off the old 142, which had a separate inlet manifold for the injection. I painted the exhaust manifold with heat-resistant POR15. On advice from Phil Singher, editor of www.vclassics.com  magazine, I had already ordered a set of SM size needles from Swift Automotive in Christchurch (SU agent who stocks 830 different type of needles). This combination worked perfectly. K&N aircleaners were ordered from ipd in USA to complete the set, they have a lifetime guarantee.

An Italian 14" leather steering makes a lot of difference, it feels good, and now I can look over the steering wheel rather than through it as was the case with the old one. On the photo you can see the remote gear lever, taken from a Volvo 142 and it works perfectly, the remote unit fits on the existing M40/41 gearbox where it replaces the top cover.

As you all know, black dashboards absorb a lot of heat and eventually they start to crack. My Amazon's dash was no exception. I removed the foam filled dash and sent it to a specialised dash restoration business in Auckland for repairs, but I found that they couldn't fix it without having the steel backing plate to ensure that the dash wouldn't deform during the process. LHD dashboards are readily available but new RHD dashboard are scarce and although moulds are available to produce new ones, nobody is prepared to order the minimum 1000 dashboards to make a production run economical. 

Brookhouse Volvo had a small number of dashboards available at £195, which is still around NZ$700 landed. Amazon Spares in Melbourne has some available for A$850. In the end I went to a local auto trimmer who has fixed the cracks, and recovered the dashboard with black vinyl for $80, the result is very good and a lot cheaper than buying a new one.