I recently acquired a 73 P1800ES. It sat for years and doesn't run. It this Bosch system reasonable serviceable? Are parts available? Am I better off getting a carb setup? I'd really like to keep it original. I am somewhat familiar with the old Bosch systems, although it's been MANY years. I used to work on Audi's from the 80's that had this system. What is my best option?

 

I LOVED my P1800ES it was my dream car, although it was not a manual trans.
he injectors get fowled up where they spritz fuel. So remove them and clean them good. They are also electrical activated instead of fuel pressure activated, so the solinoids in them may wear out.
Also the hinges for the hood were poorly machined and tend to bind, then bend off. Then you must weld them back and the hood gets discollored from the heat. Recommend removing the hood and working on the hinges so they work freely.
And the plastic splash guards behind the front wheels tend to get a gap behind them. This allows dirt and pebbles to collect, then rust. Reommend removing them, cleaning and glueing or fixing them to the body so they won't loosen.

Enjoy it - David

 

I had a 140 with a similar sytem, if my mempry serves me right

it wasin my opinion the best they got , before they started overcomplicating their cars with ECU's and complex electronics, it had a fuel distributor. it had fuel injection but it did not involve an ECU.
you might find comparisons with some porshe 928''s basiacally what happened was Porsche teamed up with VW to build a sports car using an audi engine. well people didnt want to pay Por$che money for a volksawagen powered car. Next porsche built the 944 with a porsche engine. and they sold lots.

Id try to maintain what you have there but yes , your 1800 will have a B18 or B20 so you can get manifolds and dual SU carbs.

in earlier models the intake and exhaust manifold was combined, around 67 there was a 2 into 1 exhaust manifold which is a bit higher performance. the intake manifold was aluminum the exahaust manifold was cast iron. Thats the one yoiu want if you have a choice.
early 240's didt need ECU's but later ones got more and more electrically complicated. The thing is it won't break if you dont have it , and that is why the early cars were much more reliable and easy to maintain. youll never struggle with strange engine codes and check engine lights and crazy wiring issues and such with your 1800.

I put dual carbs and the 2 into one and used a head from an early 240 tht was fuel injected, it has larger valves so fortunately ( I think ) you should have that larger valve head in your 1800 you can simply plug off the injector ports and install carbs. but you need to find the 2 manifolds or at least the intake.

it may be possible to cut away the intake manilfold and retain your exhaiust manifold.

the system you have was rather short lived, not because it wa sunreliable, but because thechnology changed and the at that point Volvo when crazy with over complex electronics. from that point it was a downward spiral to more and more electronic complexity. There is benefit to maintaing the old mechanical system. No 1800 needed electronics so they just can not have electrionic failures.
your car may have the D cam, it was higher performance than the previous C cam.
I boired my 1800 to 2 litres so it is essentially now a B20 engine. those are tough cast iron blocks with cast iron heads.
i put in the D cam, 2 litre jets in my SU's had it balanced I polished the ports. it really screams.

I felt that was enough, more is building a race car. You get a lot a lot more power but then you can also make the car uncomfortable to drive. My target was to increase power by about 30 % and make it keep up with modern cars in traffic but to not change the visual appearnace by much.
hood and door hinges will last fine, just dont forget to grease them or you will wear the door hinges out and yes you can snap the hood right off. Just make a habit of greasing them every tine you do an oil change or if you sense any binding.

if you re out on the road and break off a hood hinge, It can be very frustrating.