B23et lpg 122

As my '66 122S is almost finished I thought I'd share some pics and info. Some of you may have seen the car on the volvoforums uk site.

It's gone through various stages, firstly it had a mild 2.1L B20 with the usual D Cam, extractors and the twin SU's. Then I added Megajolt distributorless ignition, then it was supercharged (never finished), then turbocharged which ended up badly for the motor.

So then I got hold of a B23ET from a 760 turbo and have been slowly working to make it all fit.
My aim was to run it on straight LPG (Propane) and after many months I have finally succeeded.



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As you can see it's not finished yet, I have not got an intercooler so have just ran a hose across the front of the motor for now. I have water injection to plumb in as well.

Engine Details:

1983 B23ET
Custom made engine mounts to make it upright (and bolted to the standard M40 gearbox)
B20 oil pickup and pump
B20 Sump
Volvo 240 radiator and header tank
Remote oil filter
Volvo 360 water pump
Daihatsu 65A alternator on custom made bracket
Holden Commodore thermo fan controlled by radiator mounted switch
Volvo Penta AQ125 intake manifold modified to take the throttle body
B23ET throttle body, all ports filled, modified throttle linkage
Volvo 240 distributor
Volvo 240 accelerator pedal and modified cable + bracket
Aussie B2 LPG converter
Impco model 225 LPG mixer
85L APA LPG tank (not fitted yet)


Still got the exhaust to fit and the tank and lines before I can drive her but I am happy now that it is finally running.
One day I might even get around to fitting the 16V head I have sitting on my shelf.

Thanks for looking.

Looks pretty nice!

nice! LPG is a great fuel. clean, high octane.
Better keep a close eye on valve lash and keep ignition components in top condition. To avoid backfires.

Tank is in, LPG line is in.

Took it for a short drive and the alternator belt twisted itself into a knot, I think it went loose.

So far it goes well, some tuning needed. The converter froze up until I put the heater on, so either there was an air lock in the system or I will have to change the heater lines around.

Solid!

when you figure out the exhaust side, let me know!

The water lines need to be T'd into both the rubber hose that comes off the metal pipe that runs around the engine from the water pump and the second line goes to the pipe into the head under the inlet manifold.

Your running suck through?

No I can you are on Suck through looking at the photo again. Is the reducer balanced for boost?

Actually it's a blow-through system but I have not got an intercooler fitted yet. There is a boost reference line going from the turbo compressor outlet to the cover on the LPG converter. When it's boosting, this line forces boosted air against the converter diaphragm, allowing extra LPG to be sent to the mixer.

I see where I have made the mistake with the coolant lines, I have them in series with the heater core, not just tee'd off. Will fix it that today.

What are you running to get the exhaust side to fit ?

TonyMastodon said:

What are you running to get the exhaust side to fit ?

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I have actually temporarily welded up a piece from the stock 760 exhaust so it dumps down instead of blowing straight onto the remote oil filter lines and there is plenty of room for the exhaust. With the engine on a slant the turbo wouldn't even fit without a custom high mount manifold, however with the engine upright there is just enough clearance.

I sourced an intercooler today, and it fits in really well, the only problem being the bonnet latch doesn't fit! I might end up fitting quick release bonnet pins if I can't work something out.





It's from a Ford Falcon XR6 turbo which has 270kw from the factory.

Looks great, can't wait to see more of this car.

Also, aren't XR6s 240kW and F6s 270kW? I think F6s have a larger intercooler.

The intercooler is from a mark 2 FG XR6 270kw and is bigger than the BA-BF intercooler. The FG F6 is 310kw and has a slightly larger intercooler.

classicswede said:

The water lines need to be T'd into both the rubber hose that comes off the metal pipe that runs around the engine from the water pump and the second line goes to the pipe into the head under the inlet manifold.

Click to expand...

^^^this +1, the evaporator needs an independant continous stream of hot coolant.

Can you tell me where the factory coolant lines go starting from the pipe that runs from the water pump around the back of the head? Cheers

**EDIT** I've seen a pic of the factory turbo setup and it has the coolant lines for the turbo connected to the lower radiator hose and the header tank. I'll see what I can fab up.

Rick122S said:

I have actually temporarily welded up a piece from the stock 760 exhaust so it dumps down instead of blowing straight onto the remote oil filter lines and there is plenty of room for the exhaust. With the engine on a slant the turbo wouldn't even fit without a custom high mount manifold, however with the engine upright there is just enough clearance.

I sourced an intercooler today, and it fits in really well, the only problem being the bonnet latch doesn't fit! I might end up fitting quick release bonnet pins if I can't work something out.





It's from a Ford Falcon XR6 turbo which has 270kw from the factory.

Click to expand...

very cool!!!
I didnt know the factory turbo with factory exhaust would fit.

It goes, then it stops...back to the start again.

So, I got the car running well and went to fill then LPG tank up.

About 6 km down the road doing 100km/h, the car starts to make some noises, it's hard to hear because I have no exhaust yet and it's loud. So I look down and noticed the oil pressure on the gauge was zero...

Pulled over to find the engine bay and the whole underside of the car coated in oil.

Checked the dipstick to find the sump empty. Found the source of the leak - my oil pressure gauge plastic hose had melted. I had the hose inside a heater hose for protection because it looked like it wouldn't take heat too well and it runs along the block under the manifold. The hose had melted halfway along the heater hose. Bloody cheap hose. By now I'm cursing at myself for not taking the extra time to fit the oil pressure light sender as well as the gauge - at least I would have seen it lose pressure earlier!

So I walked a km to the servo where I was heading to buy some oil, when I got back I added enough and started it. The ticking went away after a few seconds so I limped to the servo and filled the LPG tank, which worked a treat.

Heading home, as soon as I put any load into it the knock started. So I made the 10km trip at 60km/h but by the time I got to my house the knock was loud (I didn't want to leave the car on the side of the road, it had to get me home).
So this morning, I came to the conclusion the engine had to come out.

This is what I found:









The number 3 big end bearings were completely spun around (both shells were joined together in the piston end!) and the crank is scored. The rod is also tight to move on the gudgeon compared to the other 3, not sure if it was a contributor or a victim.
The pistons look OK, as do the bores, good considering the engine had supposedly done over 300,000km. There was a lot of copper in the sump...

I'm going to get the crank ground on the mains and big ends.
I don't think I can re-use the number 3 conrod as it's too scored on the back side of the bearing surface for my liking.

Now, I know the B23ET has forged conrods but they are pretty rare here so I'm not liking my chances of finding a good second-hand one. I have heard that the '83-'84 B23 also has the forged rods. Can anyone say for sure that this is true? If it is, then the chances of me finding a replacement are a lot better. Is it only those years and only the B23?

you are thinking of the B23FT engines. they were forged internals. the standard B23 motors were cast. a competent machine shop should be able to rebuild the connecting rod. the piston will be the difficult thing to find.

83 B23E rods are the same as B23ET!

quillc said:

you are thinking of the B23FT engines. they were forged internals. the standard B23 motors were cast. a competent machine shop should be able to rebuild the connecting rod. the piston will be the difficult thing to find.

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Not that I didn't believe you, but I have read in other posts on here and other sources that the early B23's also had forged crank and rods.

Anyway, I wanted to find out for myself so I went to the wreckers this morning and pulled a conrod and piston out of an '83 240GLE, standard B23E automatic. What a task to get the sump down far enough to get to the rod bolts! Would have been easier if I had a 15mm spanner to remove the nuts but I only had a socket, so I had to lift the motor up a bit on one side for clearance. Then I had to lift the head up enough to get the piston and rod out. Anyway, I managed in a couple of hours to get one out and here it is.

On the left is my scored B23ET rod and piston and on the right is the B23E. As far as I can see from the markings and dimensions, they are the identical M rod.





So there you have it. Some stock early B23E's have forged M rods.

Now to swap the cast piston for my original forged one.

It lives again!

At long last, the B23ET has been rebuilt and is now back in my engine bay.

The crank had to be ground 0.030" on the big-ends and I had the mains ground 0.010" as a precaution. All the rods were re-sized at the same time as fitting the original forged piston onto the B23E rod. I fitted new rings, seals and gaskets throughout of course.

I also had the head reconditioned and fitted 38mm stainless exhaust valves.

All I have left to do is get the front section of the exhaust bent up to go to the dump pipe and then tune it.

At the moment I am making an ignition controller which uses a knock sensor to adjust for detonation.

Rick122S said:

At long last, the B23ET has been rebuilt

At the moment I am making an ignition controller which uses a knock sensor to adjust for detonation.

Click to expand...

You making up the controller from scratch?

I'm not completely sold on knock sensors yet. Except for BIG $ ones.
I think tuning with a Det-Can is still the best. At least I can trust my ears & brain somewhat.
I have a poly-tube just under the dash, & just chuck some clear flex hose on & hold to my ear. (easy to drop the hose if the Boys drive by)
Easy to check each tank of fuel is good too.

As far as I know all B23E's have forged Rods & crank. The B23ET just had forged piston as well.

Bad luck with what happened to the bearings. Looks like it should serve you well now though.

Nice clean set-up!

What's your cam-cover of? (without the PCV)
Cheers