1971 Volvo 164

Friday after work I stopped by Autozone (mistake) and then Advance to get some parts.  I got plugs at Autozone but I’m not convinced they’re the right ones because the old wires didn’t fit with them.  Nowhere had the wire sets in stock (which sorta puzzled me) so I’m either going to have to order them or try Edgecombs.  They also couldn’t tell me what vacuum hose size the car used.  Guy at Advance suggested getting 5 feet of a couple sizes and that was good advice.  Also got a vacuum gauge but didn’t end up needing it yet.

After reading up in the Chilton book I learned a bit more about the charcoal canister in my car.  Pictured below, it apparently filters fumes from the gas tank and carbs so that there’s not a lot of gas fumes floating around when the car is running.  It pulls right out and is easy enough to disconnect.  The filter in the bottom needs to be replaced about every 45,000 miles according to Chilton – mine obviously needs a new one.  The whole canister may also need to be replaced – you can’t refurb them.  I’m not sure if the engine will run without it?  Without a clear vacuum diagram I don’t know where the hoses go anyway.  It looks like just a little detective work should be enough.

Charcoal Canister – hose on the right is connected to the fuel tank for capturing gases?

Crumbling filter and the bottom of the canister

Saturday afternoon I got a bit more done.  I worked on the choke and carburetor linkage to try to free those up.  The choke is really stuck with gunk.  After working PB Blaster into all the springs and wiggling it by hand for more than an hour I finally got the choke to move and the carb linkage to move smooooothly.  The gas pedal goes down easy and I could hear the valves on the engine side of the carbs opening up.  It’s close!  I was able to open the choke with the manual release inside the car but it was tough.  I think the metal cable is sticking inside the rubber tubing of the choke cable.  Next time I’ll spray some silicon in there to grease it up.

This is the pretty picture of the choke and carb linkage before I cleaned it.

For my own future reference (and because I wish I’d found a photo like this online before I started figuring mine out) here is a poorly edited version of the same photo above.  Clicking it will open it in a new window and it’s a big file – hopefully you can make out some detail.

Yellow = valve between the carb and engine
Purple = carburetor linkage
Green = choke assembly
Red = choke cable