Windshield Washer.

My Amazon didn't have a windshield washer installed when I got it. (I'm not sure if US-market Amazons didn't come equipped with washers, or if it was removed by the previous owner?) Being cheap, I wasn't about to pay a hundred odd dollars for a genuine Volvo setup.

During my last trip to the wrecking yard, I picked a $10 washer reservoir and pump out of a 70's era Toyota pickup. (Side note: it's surprisingly difficult to find a simple, no-frills washer tank and pump. Vehicles made after 1980 seem to employ incredibly labyrinthine washer tank designs.)

I made a bracket for the washer tank out of some 1/16" steel bar and fixed it to the driver's side radiator mounting.



The wiring harness already had a lead for the washer pump located near the voltage regulator on the passenger side. It supplies +12 volts to the pump when the wiper switch is pulled fully out. I connected the other lead of the pump motor to a good chassis ground.



I ran about 6' of new 9/32" tubing from the pump through an opening in the firewall (I used the temperature gauge sender opening), into a 3/16"x1/8" x 1/8" tee, and then into the nozzles via two shorter (about 3' total) lengths of 3/32" tubing.

I used zip-ties to secure snug down the hoses around the nozzles. (Unfortunately, I managed to flood my stereo before realizing this was necessary.)

I can see clearly now, the grime is gone!

Fuse Labels.

A while back, I saw a picture of a fusebox lid with the original cardstock insert.



I thought it'd be handy to have one, since I can never remember which circuit is on which fuse without referring back to my Haynes manual. I fired up the desktop publishing suite and got to work.



Aside from adding an "R" (for "Reproduction") to the Volvo part number, I tried my best to match the original, including the perplexing reference to "Saxomat" on fuse #1 (possibly an electric clutch mechanism on automatic transmission equipped Amazons?).

For best results, print on 80lb or heavier cover stock, and use a 1/8" punch for the hole in the center.



I've uploaded a template for 8.5x11 paper here and one for A4 paper here.

Dome Light.

I'm cheap and I refuse to pay $70 for a proper dome light. Cringe if you will, but I don't care that much about keeping my Amazon completely stock.

I'd searched far and wide for aftermarket dome lights, and found nothing that looked appropriate. It's also surprisingly difficult to find an aftermarket dome light with a three-position (off-on-door) switch.

Shamir and I were at the wrecker's last weekend, where I poked my head in a first generation Suzuki Sidekick and spied the perfect dome light. Modest, minimal, with a three-position switch. I boldly drilled a couple of mounting holes for the new light in the original dome light mounting plate (not through the roof), and installed it with self tapping screws.



It's not original, but the new light is functional, and more or less fits the mid-century styling of the car. I think it actually looks quite dapper. (I just hope Jan Wilsgaard doesn't find it an offense to his sensibilities.)



Next, I need to shampoo that headliner...

Headlight Flasher.

I'd read on Ron Kwas's website that the Amazon was originally designed so that a pull back on the turn signal stalk would flash the high beams (as on most modern cars), but that the feature was disabled for the American market during the 60's due to Department of Transportation regulations.

With wiring already in place, the addition of a three-terminal relay is all that's needed to reactivate this feature. Three wires (red, black, and grey) are wrapped into the wiring harness together near the reverse light relay.



I couldn't find a three-terminal relay, so I picked up a standard 30 amp, 12 volt, SPST relay from Radio Shack. The Radio Shack relay has four terminals (coil power, coil ground, and two poles of a normally open connection). I made a "y" harness and split 12V from the black wire to supply power to both the relay coil and the headlight. The grey wire is the "control" wire (grounds when the turn signal stalk is pulled back) and connects to the coil ground terminal. Red connects between the headlights and the other pole of the relay.



I mounted the new relay next to the reverse light relay using an existing screw. A pull back on the turn signal now activates the high beams momentarily, while the foot dipper next to the clutch still switches between high and low.

As Ron Kwas cautions, this setup isn't designed to deal with continuous loads (would need a heavier duty relay, and a dedicated wire from the battery to power the headlights), but works fine for momentary signaling.

Fuse Block.

Even after cleaning it with a wire brush and sandpaper, my fuseblock was looking a little crusty, and I knew there was even more crust deep down in between the terminals.



I decided it was time for a rebuild, and while I was at it, I decided I was going to modernize the block to accept 1/4" glass cartridge fuses. (I have visions of blowing a fuse in the middle of nowhere, in the dead of night, and not being able to find euro-style fuses at a gas station...)

As usual, the process started with disassembly:



I wasn't careful when drilling out the rivets holding the terminals to the block, and as you can see in the picture, I ended up damaging a corner of the relatively brittle Bakelite block. I started reading up on Bakelite repair, only to discover it's supposedly impossible. Just as all hope seemed lost, I decided to try gluing the piece back in place with Zap-A-Gap.

Bingo. It turns out that Zap-A-Gap (which I swear is superior to other CA adhesives) mends Bakelite just fine. I glued the piece back in place, sanded the area with 800 grit sandpaper, and the repair is completely invisible. While I was at it, I patched a previously broken corner with some black plastic (I used some ABS I had lying around) as well.

Next, I set to the dull- albeit rewarding- task of cleaning each terminal lug with a wire brush attached to my Dremel. Seeing the amount of oxidation that had developed in between the lugs, and the difference before and after cleaning, made me feel that my efforts would be well worth it for the long term health of my Amazon's charging system.


before


after

I had a hard time finding cartridge fuse clips, so I ended up buying a fuse block from Radio Shack, and using just the clips. Because the Amazon's original fuse block is sized for euro fuses, I ended up having to do a good amount of modifying the clips by fitting, drilling, filing, refitting, redrilling, and refiling to get the spacing right for 1/4" cartridge fuses. At first, I was obsessed with centering the fuses in the block, but in the end, I ended up offsetting them.



Before reassembling the block, I followed Ron Kwas's excellent advice, and tinned and soldered all of the terminals to prevent future oxidation between the lugs. Then, I reassembled everything using screws so that future disassembly would be easier, should it ever be necessary (i.e., in another 580,000 miles). I searched to find super-flat pan head screws (necessary to fit between the fuse clip and the fuse itself). After scouring all the local hardware stores, I gave up, bought flat head screws, and countersunk the terminals slightly.


back together - terminals were tinned, assembled, then heated to fuse the solder.

Back in the car, with the cover on, the fuseblock looks stock. Hopefully, this bit of preventative maintenance will save me from having to deal with a charging system calamity or, worse yet, engine compartment fire.


De-Ox was applied to all of the fuse clips and spade connectors

Tail Lights.

Although the Volvo is rarely on the road, much less on the road at night, I thought it'd be wise to improve the anemic tail lights. I'd considered installing some LED bulbs, but after reading more about the pros and cons of LED conversion (unidirectional, current matching issues), I decided instead to improve the stock incandescent setup.

Upon removing the tail light lenses, it was immediately evident that a large part of the problem was simply corrosion rendering the reflector basically useless.


before cleaning. gross.

I started by cleaning off as much oxidation and rust as possible with a wire wheel, and then steel wool. I also used a battery terminal brush to clean out oxidation from the bulb sockets, and gave all the contacts a light sanding.


mostly cleaned and looking much better.

I was originally planning on wet sanding and polishing the reflector to a mirror finish from there, but realized a few minutes into polishing that rust would very quickly render my efforts futile. So I changed courses and "resurfaced" the reflector with aluminum duct tape. After sticking and trimming the tape, I burnished it down with a soft plastic spatula, and then polished it with polishing compound, leaving a pretty satisfactorily reflective finish.



not the Hubble Telescope, but it's acceptably shiny.

Next, I cleaned the lenses (which had been caked with grime) with Simple Green and a soft toothbrush, then used polishing compound to bring it up to a shine.



I was actually somewhat surprised by the efficacy of this approach. I'd say that perceived brightness was improved by about 50%.


dirty on left, cleaned and polished on right

Temperature Gauge.

The capillary tube on the original Bourdon tube temperature gauge had ruptured, rendering it useless. Evidently, mechanical temperature gauges can be repaired, but I opted to convert my 122 to an electrical gauge setup.


original gauge, with weird Bourdon appendix squiggling around in foreground

Figuring I was just going to tear it apart anyway, I bought the cheapest electrical gauge I could find at my local auto supply shop. For $16 plus tax, I got the gauge, sender, and 4 fittings with different threads.

Unfortunately, none of the fittings had the right thread for my B18 head, so I ended up drilling out the fitting from the original sender, and tapping it to 3/8" NPT for the new sender. (Supposedly, electrical senders from B20 heads will also fit, but I decided not to chance it.)


new sender unit on left, original fitting on right drilled and tapped with 3/8" NPT thread


new sender installed

I was able to remove the old temperature gauge while keeping the rest of the instrument cluster in place. I unceremoniously disassembled and discarded the guts of the old gauge, retaining the backplate, instrument face, and needle for the retrofit.

It felt a little weird ripping a perfectly good new gauge apart, but a pair of pliers and some brute force were all that were necessary to free the internals for "re-purposing."


old and new gauge parts meet on my workbench.

Hacking old and new together was relatively straightforward, but required some trial and error fitting. I was hoping to use the standoffs from the original backplate, but they were not spaced far enough apart, so I had to drill them out. I elongated the remaining holes, and made some new standoffs from aluminum tubing. Bolts through the backplate, standoffs, and into the flanges on the new gauge (tapped to receive the bolts) hold it all together. The bolts are a tight fit next to the screws that affix the gauge face, but it all comes together, albeit with minimal room for error. Wires exit through existing holes in the backplate (enlarged slightly).


original standoffs can be used to determine correct distance between backplate and face

In order to mount up the original needle to the shaft of the new gauge, I drilled it out using a miniature wire-gauge bit. In my haste, the hole is neither centered, nor the correct diameter. Because of the loose fit, I had to use some silicone adhesive, rather than friction fit it onto the shaft. I also accidentally drilled through to the front of the needle. Doh. Luckily, the bottom third of the gauge is hidden when the assembly is installed in the instrument cluster.

"Calibrating" the needle to the correct angle and whatnot was a complete shot in the dark. Accuracy will not be a forte.


managed to only slightly damage the original gauge face.

Back in the car, I pulled +12 volts off of the fuel gauge, grounded under the nearby turn signal flasher bracket (where another ground is already located), and ran the sender wire back into the engine compartment along the same route as the original capillary tube.


back in the dash and looking stock

It was surprisingly satisfying to power it up and see the needle jump to action! And now I can tell (relatively speaking) when the car is warm.

Honk Honk.

Evidently, horn failure is pretty common in Amazons. Rather than fix the horn button, or simply disconnect the horns, the previous owner of my car (out of frustration?) went ahead and removed part of the horn switch entirely.

Figuring it'd be faster and cheaper than trying to locate a replacement, I took it as a challenge to fabricate a new switch from scratch, using a diagram from GCP as a guide.


parts 34 through 38 were missing on my Amazon

To form the main body of the switch (part 36), I soldered a 1/2" x 1/8" ring made from copper plumbing pipe to a length of 17/32" brass tubing. I sealed the other end by soldering on a piece of flattened copper pipe (I didn't have any plate handy) and drilled a hole for the wire (part 35). I found a suitable spring (part 37) from my local hardware store, along with a nylon spacer (part 38) that fit snugly inside the brass tubing. I soldered the wire to a rivet (part 34), and soldered an extra glob of tin to the rivet to give the end a little extra "crown."

(As a side note, I whacked the whole thing together in about an hour using only a drill, a pipe cutter, a hacksaw, a butane torch, and a file. I'm constantly amazed at how much you can do with basic hand tools. Then again, they made some pretty crazy stuff back in the days of antiquity, long before there was such thing as an Epilog.)


completed switch


in situ

I proceeded with the standard fix of making a new foam insulator (part 23 in previous diagram) to hold the two halves (parts 22 and 25) of the horn switch apart. I got a rubber overflow washer from the plumbing section of my hardware store and cut a section out to fit the diameter of the horn ring, then glued it back together with hot glue. I had to trim the washer, which was originally 3/'8" thick, down to about 1/4" to get the correct "springiness." Finally, I punched some holes in it to fit the posts and nylon insulators.


ugly, but functional

Because the new assembly is much "springier" with the new rubber washer installed, I had to use some C-clamps to compress the whole sandwich before re-installing the clips which hold it together.



The last step in bringing my Amazon's horns back to life involved disassembling and cleaning the horns themselves. I discovered that one of the contacts inside the horns was severely oxidized. I used electrical contact cleaner and some 400 grit sandpaper to renew the contact, then treated with De-Ox before reassembling.


arrow indicates location of oxidized contact

I ran a new wire to horn switch through the steering tube (much easier to start at the steering box and feed it up through the steering tube) and hooked the whole thing up.

Honk honk! My 122 can sing again.

Bulbs.

I was having a tough time locating exact replacements for the type 12913 bulbs that were used in the glove box and instrument panel lights, so I started looking for other 12V/2W replacement bulbs with a mini bayonet base.

The closest modern replacement I could locate was a type 3797 bulb, but didn't want to mail order just two bulbs, so I kept looking for something available locally. I finally discovered that a type 53 bulb, available at most auto supply stores, should work.


new Sylvania 53 bulb on the left, old Phillips 12913 bulb on the right.

The 53 is technically a 14.4V bulb rated for 0.12 amps (14.4 volts X .12 amps = 1.7 watts), but that ought to be close enough. It's also globe-shaped rather than tubular, but the globe is narrow enough to fit in the openings in the dash.

Fresh Air.

Since I fixed the exhaust downpipe, a working fan hasn't been as high a priority, but it's been something I've been wanting to fix since I got the car.

I thought faulty wiring would be the culprit, but it turned out that it was simply forty-some years of accumulated dust, pine needles, and automotive goo.


there's a fan motor somewhere underneath all that dirt

I got the motor partially apart before realizing that complete disassembly would only be possible after removing the brittle plastic impeller. It's a friction fit, so I wet the shaft down with WD-40, twisted back and forth slowly and carefully, and used the mantra "please don't break, please don't break."

Once apart, I gave the motor and impeller a thorough cleaning, polished the commutator and contacts, and relubed the bushings.



back to life, running on a bench power supply

Back on the car, the ground wire was making an intermittent connection due to dirt and corrosion. The fan ground is connected to the nearby brake line union (where the brake light pressure switch is located).


bolt at upper left of brake union serves as chassis ground for fan

After a good cleaning all around, and some preventative Ilsco De-Ox on the contacts, the fan is back in business.

Coil Plate.

The original coil with armored cable had been replaced at some point with a Bosch blue coil. The previous owner left the old coil (not connected) in place simply to plug the hole in the firewall. I found this an inelegant solution, so I crafted a blanking plate from some aluminum and chucked the old coil.



Cage nuts are used to secure the coil to the firewall. I'm missing one, and I've had a terribly difficult time locating a spare. I finally realized that they're used in rackmount equipment; unfortunately, they're typically sold in bags of 100, so now I have to find a way to get just two. In the meanwhile, I'm using some 3/8" nylon body nuts.

Coil wire was rerouted (for now, through the temp sender grommet).

Door Contacts.

The door contacts for the dome light aren't really designed to be serviced, but the spring in one of mine had snapped, requiring either replacement of the entire switch, or figuring out some way to disassemble and repair the assembly.

I opted for the latter and found that, after carefully filing away the rivet at the rear of the assembly, it was possible to disassemble the contact into its component parts.

from left to right: new screw (with allen wrench attached), new plastic washers, copper contact, plastic insulating spacer, fiber washer, switch body, spring, plunger (drilled and tapped)

I cleaned up the copper contacts, replaced the spring, and reassembled. I drilled and tapped the end of the aluminum plunger, and replaced the rivet with a small screw, using a stack of two plastic washers to hold the copper contact in place while insulating it from the rest of the switch.

Fuel Feed Line.

While working around the carbs, I knocked one of the fuel feed lines from its jet. After scrambling to stop the flow of fuel, I consulted the folks on Brickboard. They set me straight: on a SU HS6 carb, the feed line and jet are supposed to be one assembly, but if the feed line is worked loose over time (as mine was), it can be reattached by removing the jet, twisting off the brass compression fitting, reinserting the tube in the jet (making sure it fits between the brass inner nipple and Bakelite outer housing), and working the compression fitting back on the Bakelite housing.



While I was tinkering around, I replaced the oil pressure sensor wire, which had become brittle from the heat of the exhaust.