1959 volvo pv 544

[Fiorano]

you can shove anything in there.
a Buick-nee range rover V8 215 works to fit no mods other than motor mounts.
a ford 302- drops in without cutting, maybe a little to the trans tunnel
any 4 banger Volvo motor up to the 244 turbo from 1992 will fit same block (the Red Iron block) and it can make enormous power with some turbo tweaks.
this is a nice platform.
I have an Amazon- 122 coupe. have a 2.0 block bored up different crank- i think it is 2.4 liters about now, with an adapter and a TKO T-5 form a mustang-
go crazy- check out turbobricks dot com or brickboard.. these have lots of info

[Hellfish]

I had a '67 122s... different body, but essentially same driveline. GREAT car! The PV444/544 kept the same design until the late 60s or early 70s.

There are several threads on the HAMB about custom/hot rodded Volvos. They are popular cars the world over and lots of parts are available in the US and Canada. Volvo still made many parts for them up until the time Ford bought Volvo

[SurferRob99]

Originally Posted by HOTRODKID91

My dad has a 60 544 that we r putting a ford 351w in with a t-5 out of a 99 cobra and a 9 inch rear end in

Do you have any pictures? Im putting a ls1 - T-56 and a narrowed ford 9'' in my 1963 Pv 544. I have some pictures in my photo album.

[patrick66]

A 2/3-scale '46 Ford! I love these cars! There was one for sale in KS last year, on the HAMB that I really thought about getting, but a lack of $$$ kinda shot that idea up. Good luck on your build!

[falcongeorge]

Originally Posted by squirrel

I don't know about a 59, but I learned to drive standard shift in a 64 544. Of course I had to put it together first....

My dad had one of these with side-draft webers on it in the early sixties

[falcongeorge]

I had a 122 when I was a kid, a sbc/sbf wont fit without cutting the firewall. The chevy needs the shock towers notched too. I would like to get another 122 to put a sbc and solid front axle in. There was a sbc 122 in one of the east coast mags in the early 70s, if anyone is interested, i will dig it up and post it.

[cecce]

A lot of good ideas out there!
I have this for my 121 / Amazon. It's a twin screw supercharger on an original 2 liter engine (it might not classify as traditional, but the twin screw s-c was actually invented in 1932). I'll put a newer 4sp+overdrive from a Volvo 240 in it. By using a bellhousing from an early (1975 I think) 240 you can mate the old engine to the newer gearbox, though I don't think the 'box will fit in the 544 without modifications to the transmission tunnel.

Let's see if I can manage to post a pic here…

[nitrohonkey]

I knew a guy back in the 80's who had one with a chopped top and a small block. Not too sure what became of it?

[Russ B]

Back in '64, a Yreka HS buddy (in no. calif.) had one and put a 265 sbc in it. tight, but it fit. I recall he had to use some chain and gears to offset the steering a couple inches to clear the exhaust.

[dawford]

I just bought a 1965 544 a week ago.

It took a week to get the bumpers back on and to get the engine to run right.

I think that it runs about as good as it can with the 1800 engine it came with.

I intend to put one of my 470 Mercruiser 224 cu/in 4 cylinder engines in it.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=256713

These engines don't weigh much more than the cast iron 1800 but they put out 225/230 reliable hp and substancial torque.

I have measured the engine compartment and I think that a 470 with a T-5 transmission can be made to fit quite nicely.

My only concern is the handling and braking.

I have read about putting a narrowed Ford Ranger 8.8 limited slip rear end in a 544 and think that that is what I will do.

The ranger rear end has very good drum brakes and I could put the later disk brakes on it if I felt the need.

I have also read about putting a later model Volvo front end under the 544. They have disk brakes.

One person put a Buick V6 in his and uses a Mustang II front end. I don't know how he handled the extra width.

Anyway I want the car to handle well and with the 10 to 1 weight to Hp ratio it will have to have good brakes.

The 544 that I bought has a very rust free body that is almost perfect.

It needs good prep and some red paint.

I want the car to look as stock as possible but I do like the wide chrome wheels that came on it.

In order to make it stealth I might have the centers of the stock wheels that also came with it welded to wider rims.

It will still have the 4 cylinder sound so the chrome wheels won't be a real give away to it's go-power.

If any of you go to my Profile and view my Pictures and albums you will see that I am a Model A Ford guy by nature but I think that the light body 2160 lbs and the better Aerodynamics of the volvo will make for a better daily driver than the Model A's.

.

[porknbeaner]

Originally Posted by thomas.marc

thats close but thats an older modle do to the split windshield

The only real difference is body wise is the split glass. I know that a 283 goes right in so I don't doubt that the SBF will fit fine. Probably if you look at one of the engine swap companies like trans dapt or any number of other companies out there you will find someone what makes swap kits for them.

The '59 came with a pretty snappy [for the time] banger with twin SUs. They were the smaller SUs. I don't know if they came with a 3 gear all iof them I swapped engines were 4 gears. The original 4 gear won't hold up behind a small block that produces any kind of HP/torque.


They used to be a pretty popular car for a V-8 swap, because they resemble a Ford only about 3/4 size.

[CDXXVII]

Years ago there was a photo in Hot Rod mag showing a heavily chopped/sectioned one. Not sure if it was the exact model. It looked really cool. How would one ever find that pic?

[Heo]

Check out Brazuka racing at youtube. 544 with chevy bigblock
I have made some work on the body for his new car

also check out huchbackracing 444 with B21-133 cuin
7,76 in the quartermile

[Hellfish]

Originally Posted by dawford

My only concern is the handling and braking.
.

My 122s handled and stopped fine, but it came stock with disk brakes. I bet 122 brakes would be a direct swap. There used to be a forum called the BrickBoard for vintage Volvos. I bet you could find easy swap upgrade info there

[Heo]

brakepads is the same as 427 cobra on 122 brakes. Almost
a direkt bolt on on the 544 and the handling is better than
most american cars. Rear suspension is almost like the
truck bars they use in nascar but it got two upper bars
Stiffer springs a litle lower and god koni shocks and
you got a real god handling car
Have owned a lot of them my son is building a 65 544
with B23 and a supercharger from a Thunderbird S/C
245 rearend with powertrax dif 142 frontend with
rackandpinion

[60 Belair]

a 67 I did a lot of work on

[earlymopar]

I had a 59 544 in 1967 with a 283 Chevy and powerglide with fenderwell headers. A fun car. A 4-speed would be even better. The space isn't as bad as one might think with the exception of the radiator. It's just a matter of laying out everything and optimizing space as best you can.

- EM

[shooter54]

Originally Posted by 1971BB427

There's a guy running around town here with one that's got a SBC stuffed in it, and looks really stock from the outside. He had to plumb lines back to the rear and lay a 2nd radiator flat behind the rear axle to keep it cool enough.

here is a link to that guy's car

http://www.pdxcarculture.com/pdx-car...-chevolvo.html

[LowKat]

I always thought these made cool little hot rods.

426 Hemi powered "Lil' Crawl Along"

pretty cool customs too


I have a stock '61 PV544 Sport in the classifieds.
Near Portland Oregon.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=566371



and here's a couple more threads on the PV444/544
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=277235

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=497938

[cecce]

The original upper A-arms use to be a weak spot. Might be worth thinking about. Swapping to front Disc brakes from Volvo 121/Amazon used to be a popular modificartion here in sweden, but remember that the bolt pattern is the same as US Ford so you may find some "local parts" to use. Also for wheels you have loads to choose from.