VCH, your methodology sounds oddly familiar. I applaud your similarly well-sorted mind and very much look forward to more engine build progress. I lurked the hell out of your big-block thread, enjoying every bit of it. Keep it coming.
VCH, your methodology sounds oddly familiar. I applaud your similarly well-sorted mind and very much look forward to more engine build progress. I lurked the hell out of your big-block thread, enjoying every bit of it. Keep it coming.
volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to jfryjfry: So, basically, put the cam on, rotate it around and measure all the gaps, then take it back off again and insert shims? What math is involved? Seems like it's pretty straightforward- if there's supposed to be 0.010" gap and there's 0.020", then you need a 0.010" spacer (or a spacer 0.010" thicker than the one that's on there already, if there is one).
I just installed an IPD turbo cam on my B230, and that's exactly it. Get out the feeler gauges, measure the clearance under a particular cam lobe, and write down all 8 clearances. Then, pull the cam, and get out your micrometer and start measuring the thickness of the shims. Do some math to figure out how thick they need to be, then see if you can swap them around, or if you need new shims. Replace shims, reinstall cam, done.
The shims come in 0.05mm increments, so you have to do some unit conversion, but it isn't terrible.
Here's the Excel sheet I made and used. I'm happy to share if you PM me an email.
In reply to mck1117:
Cool, I understand it now. Out of curiousity, why did you chose the T cam? I'm doing some research on what to replace the stock (I believe M grind?) cam with, and the only internet consensus seems to be that the M sucks.
So, I guess any other cam will be an improvement. 
In other news, the rod bearings look like they have some life left in them:
And the journals seem fine, too.
The oil pan's a bit cruddy; it's soaking in Purple Power right now.
The bottom end:
Someone remind me to retorque the rod bolts on the #3 cylinder that I loosened to check the rod bearing.
Other than that, just a bunch of cleaning off of stuff, decreasing, and scraping old gaskets. The un-glamorous part of the build.
You can get to the shop manuals for 240 and such here; http://www.k-jet.org/documents/greenbooks/
When it came to disassembly when I worked a similar head, I used a VW tool I had built a long time ago...... it doesn't really fit, but it worked
In reply to volvoclearinghouse:
Yeah, the consensus is that the M is terrible for anything other than emissions (which only the EPA cares about). There should be a letter stamped in the back of the camshaft indicating what it is, but if that's the stock cam from a B230F, then it's an M.
The M cam runs out of steam at 4000-5000, but the IPD turbo keeps pulling past 7. It's not quite a stock T cam, but is a little bit more aggressive.
Are you planning on boost?
In reply to mck1117:
No boost for me. I'm a luddite, I like my engines to breathe naturally and I like my induction to not require electrons. I've seen a manifold out there that allows a Weber 32/36 carb to be installed- the manifold and carb kit is about $400, but I already have a good used 32/36 so I've been scouring CL and eBay for just the manifold. If anyone here knows of one for sale... 
So, yeah, the plan is, hotter cam, carburetor, new gaskets and seals, clean it up really nice and have a simple, cheap, reliable ~140HP into something that never had that much power stock. 
volvoclearinghouse wrote: ... simple, cheap, reliable ~140HP into something that never had that much power stock.
Which I may be picking up this afternoon... 
"Honey, I swear...I just went to drop off some parts to this guy, and he had this sitting outside of his shop, and he said I could have it if I dragged it away..."
Can't you use a shim removal tool so as to not remove the cam every time like on VWS and Italian OHC engines? Looks like a shepard's hook, goes under cam between the buckets, and as you rotate it it pushes down on bucket allowing shim to come out.
This?
And then pop the shim out with compressed air or pick tool.
In reply to vwcorvette:
The way I understand these things works, I'm not sure that tool will work. The cam goes in and out pretty easily, and it shouldn't be an iterative process- one and done, if measured correctly.
I'm psyched about that 1800ES shell. Not terribly rusty, very solid where it counts- frame, floors, etc.
If you can find a Canada-spec B230 single SU manifold, you can get one of these.
... does that piece of plumbing actually work well? It looks like fuel puddling in the intake might be an issue.
To VCH, very nice score with that P1800ES.
Needs more valves! Needs more cams! Needs more snail!
Sorry, I have bench-raced more Red Block Volvos than I care to admit. Love this.
In reply to EvanR:
I see a lot of single carb B230 manifolds on eBay, they seem to be for marine applications. This deal:
Saw this, too. Looks a bit "loggy"
The marine downdraft manifold will only work if you want to put a big hole in your hood. By the time you fit an adapter and a DGEV, it won't clear the hood.
There was a B230K sold in Europe that has a Pierburg downdraft carb on it.
I think the carburetion solution here is clear, build a manifold for weber side drafts or bike carbs, volvo was even kind enough to lean the engine over to give you more room.
Yes you can remove the shims with that tool, no need to remove the cam, of course you could remove the cam, but normally you would have the head on and the cam belt. The shims are the same for Volvo and fiat. One trick is to start with a thin shim, to ensure you will have a gap to measure. Much easier than my Maserati, those shims are under the lifter, which does require a lot of disassembly.
In reply to TED_fiestaHP:
I thought the Volvo shims were thicker than the Fiat/Ferrari ones? I remember reading that you only use them in the Italian stuff with reground cams.
volvoclearinghouse wrote:maschinenbau wrote: That's basically it, you got it. Just be sure to write them all down and measure twice so you only have to re-install the cam once.Or, in my case, measure once, realize I don't have a pen, go get a pen, measure again, discover the pen won't write, go searching for another pen, go get something to eat, forget why I came in the house, go back out to the garage, measure, realize why I went into the house, go back in the house and get a pen, come back, measure once more, write them all down, take the cam off, go to the bathroom, come back, forget which orientation the head was in when I measured, put the cam back on, measure again, write them all down, take the cam off, insert shims, put the cam back on, measure, then realize I used the wrong cam to set the gap... DRINK.
BrokenYugo wrote: I think the carburetion solution here is clear, build a manifold for weber side drafts or bike carbs, volvo was even kind enough to lean the engine over to give you more room.
Unsurprisingly (to anyone who's ever seen my garage, anyway), I think I may have a set of 4 motorcycle carbs laying around somewhere.
shims: The Volvo shims, from what I have heard at the same as the Fiat 128/124 valve shims.
The other Italian stuff uses under the lifter shims, those are different...
I also prefer a nice set of carbs, nothing like a pair of weber DCOE sidedrafts....
You want a set with accelerator pumps off a later bike. I imagine this is extra true on a 2.3 in a moderate weight car.
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