Marcos Maniacs

Hello from a newbie to this forum.  Happy New Year to all.

I'm looking at buying a '70 Volvo V6 here in the US where I currently 
reside.  I've previously owned a '69 Ford V6 in Hong Kong (an 
interesting motoring experience, mind the ducks) and thrashed my '91 
Mantula Spyder around most of the difficult roads in Europe, complete 
with snow chains.  And how ...

I am no techie, however, and something is confusing me.  My Ford V6 
had very low (rear axle?) gearing.  Although it would leave the grid 
like a Geordie offered a Belgian Beer, it used to make horrible whiny 
noises at 65 miles an hour in top.  No overdrive, of course.  At the 
time, I put it down to a previous owner having played with the cogs 
to impress his local ice cream parlour, never intending to actually 
leave his village.  

My '91 car was 'normal' and the only problem I seemed to experience 
at high speed was take-off.  

However, the Volvo V6 I am contemplating adding to my wife's problems 
seems to have the same set-up; that is, wheelie capability to put 
most dragsters to shame but a realistic top speed in fourth of the 
average ice cream van.  The owner is mumbling something 
about 'probably 441 gearing', and knowledgeable friends with De 
Tomaso Mangustas are simply suggesting replacement of such cloggy 
coggies by 340s or 355s.

I bow, however, to the assembled wisdom of this esteemed group and 
would be pleased to hear from Volvo V6 owners about whatsitallabout.  
Were low ratios standard fare for this car?  Or did good ole Jem give 
us cheeky options at the time?  I dunno, I woz only 19, guv ....

Awaiting all friendly assistance in my deliberations, with thanks,
Mark Beaumont

Welcome Mark and a happy new year to all.
My 71 Volvo powered car  does wind up pretty quickly too.I  have been told 
that the origenal rear end is a 3.90 or so.Not so good for freeway cruzing 
but it does leave the stoplights in a hurry and gets out of corners smartly 
as well.It is one of those  trade offs in life that are left up the 
individual.This can be changed to suite your taste .I have also considered a 
5 speed tranny to solve this problem and get the best of both worlds but it 
aint brokke so I will live with it for now . 
Good luck
Mark P

Hi Mark,

I'm hope you really mean you're contemplating the Volvo in-line 6 Marcos
because if it has a V6, then someone has messed with it royally. The
standard Marcos 3 litre Volvo used the B30A in-line 6 engine and came with
gear ratios that provided the following speeds in each gear at the 5500 rpm
red line, using, I believe, the 3.71:1 ratio rear axle:

	40 mph in first, 60 mph in second, 90 mph in third and 120 mph in
top. If you have the overdrive gearbox, you can get around 130-135 mph.

I've heard of some owners who replaced the original rear axle with a much
lower ratio one because they couldn't find, or didn't know what was, the
correct replacement. There was one such beast in the Toronto area years ago
but I haven't heard any reports of its whereabouts for many years.

As far as I know, all the 3 litre Volvo models were factory built with the
same gearbox and rear axles, so the problem is most definitely due to a
retrofit of some type. I've had my 3 litre Volvo for 26 years and I can
personally verify the above gear speeds.

Regards,

Paul Dransfield
3 litre Volvo

-----Original Message-----
From: darkmoment [mailto:MABeaumont@...]
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 2:10 AM
To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MarcosManiacs] Rear Axle Gearing


Hello from a newbie to this forum.  Happy New Year to all.

I'm looking at buying a '70 Volvo V6 here in the US where I currently 
reside.  I've previously owned a '69 Ford V6 in Hong Kong (an 
interesting motoring experience, mind the ducks) and thrashed my '91 
Mantula Spyder around most of the difficult roads in Europe, complete 
with snow chains.  And how ...

I am no techie, however, and something is confusing me.  My Ford V6 
had very low (rear axle?) gearing.  Although it would leave the grid 
like a Geordie offered a Belgian Beer, it used to make horrible whiny 
noises at 65 miles an hour in top.  No overdrive, of course.  At the 
time, I put it down to a previous owner having played with the cogs 
to impress his local ice cream parlour, never intending to actually 
leave his village.  

My '91 car was 'normal' and the only problem I seemed to experience 
at high speed was take-off.  

However, the Volvo V6 I am contemplating adding to my wife's problems 
seems to have the same set-up; that is, wheelie capability to put 
most dragsters to shame but a realistic top speed in fourth of the 
average ice cream van.  The owner is mumbling something 
about 'probably 441 gearing', and knowledgeable friends with De 
Tomaso Mangustas are simply suggesting replacement of such cloggy 
coggies by 340s or 355s.

I bow, however, to the assembled wisdom of this esteemed group and 
would be pleased to hear from Volvo V6 owners about whatsitallabout.  
Were low ratios standard fare for this car?  Or did good ole Jem give 
us cheeky options at the time?  I dunno, I woz only 19, guv ....

Awaiting all friendly assistance in my deliberations, with thanks,
Mark Beaumont



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Thanks, Paul.  Having inadequated details, I had assumed that the Volvo was 
also a V6, but of course that doesn't make sense as I recall now that the V6 
Ford (in Zephyrs or Zodiacs?) was something of a groundbreaker at the time.  
I also know that the bonnet shape is different on the Volvo car and I have 
now seen a picture of the insides too ... definitely an in-line engine, yes.

I'm encouraged by your comments, and glad to hear the cars were factory 
built.  Also glad to hear you have one and enjoy it!  I'll keep you posted if 
I secure the car.

Mark

> I am no techie, however, and something is confusing me.  My Ford V6 
> had very low (rear axle?) gearing.  Although it would leave the 
grid 
> like a Geordie offered a Belgian Beer, it used to make horrible 
whiny 
> noises at 65 miles an hour in top.  No overdrive, of course.  At 
the 
> time, I put it down to a previous owner having played with the cogs 
> to impress his local ice cream parlour, never intending to actually 
> leave his village.  


Mark,

I was under the impression that all v6 Ford equipped cars had OD. I 
have a '71 with the Essex V6, 4 speed, and OD.  Cruises at 65-70 MPH 
at about 3000 RPM in overdrive.  Real smooth.  May be your previous 
owner had just removed the switch and electricals.  They were 
problematic due to the location of the OD switch on the shift lever. 

Good luck with your shopping!

Don Lattimer
#3M5759 V6
Willits, CA