Volvo penta MD1

Kev Goz

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Morning all. Just joined this forum in hope to enlighten other people with any problems or information that is required. We are trying to rebuild a old but hopefully reliable Volvo penta MD1 single cylinder in board. We have gaskets new valve springs etc. But we are have problems to locate four valve Colletts to proceed. I have tried Asap supplies and Volvo them selves with no joy. Can anyone please let us know where we can purchase these. In Hope thank you. Kev Goz
 
I was a Volvo parts man for many years. I have looked to see if the collets come in the rebuild/de-carb kits. Nope, seems they really are an obsolete item.

The only way to get them is from a used engine being broken for spares, which defeats the object I guess. Sorry.
 
This is a long established Glasgow company pedro@pistoncomponents.co.uk
most Towns used to have similar
I doubt that the collets would be only ever used on this engine
My father used them a lot, they supplied the bits when he was rebuilding a Volvo B18 engine for his car, back in the late 1960s, I've used them for various motorbike items over the years.

on a side note they had one of the James Bond Aston Martins for the premier of Goldfinger when it was first being shown in Glasgow, it's when I got a look at it :)
 
I’m assuming you have one as a sample. How about having them turned up in a machine shop. You won’t know the heat treatment but maybe have them done in titanium. Await others comments for sanity check of my suggestion.

I've made retainers from titanium but wouldn't have thought it necessary for the collets as aren't they basically under compression the whole time?
Is it worth seeing if any of the md11 parts are interchangeable with the md1?
 
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DO you definitely need new valves.? The valves as originally supplied had enough beef on them for several recuts. In the era of the MD 1 if it is similar to the MD1A then the valves may have been finished to 49 degs seat angle. I would recut the seats using a Pickavant BMC seat cutter which is 45 degrees. and get the valves turned to that angle minus !/2 degree. The alternative is to pay for the head to have two new seats fitted and machined to the Volvo angle. Note the should be a 1/2 degree difference between the seat and valve angle to give a thin line of contact. This work could be done at many non marina workshops for sensible prices.

The MD1 is a lower power rating to the MD1A so the vaves are slightly smaller as is I believe the bore.

Some early BMC valves were the same dimensions the MD2B valves and have no doubt that a visit to a car components supplier would bring up various alternatives that can be used or modified in a lathe to fit.
 
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