Cheap, mild N/A B230F build for racing?

Cheap, N/A, Fast 7XX-??? for Racing or Whatever?

Hi all, first post, sorry if I'm doing it wrong.

This is my first foray into anything Volvo, and my first time seriously taking on a build, so try to be gentle, or don't, whatever.

The build will be for an ice racing series, so we'll be doing the necessary stripping and caging first, then trying to squeeze in whatever suspension refresh and engine work we can. The rules state that the latter must appear stock and no turbos are allowed. We're also mostly broke.

I have what I believe to be a '90 740GL sedan. I'm working on identifying further details but unfortunately right now as I post this I only have photos of the sticker on the timing cover (so I know it's a B230F, with a K on the far right side, likely original,) and the vehicle ID. It's an auto, but this might change.

Wanted to present ideas I have had to see if they make sense, or I'm out to lunch and my priorities are whack:

• Though well maintained, it's s-l-o-w. Particularly bad above 4k RPM and I'm reading that the "M" cam in this engine may be partially responsible. Used parts may be available nearby but TBD, so I'm wondering if there's a source I've missed for new camshafts for a Redblock (since IPD doesn't seem to stock an N/A cam.) Or will an adjustable gear + what's below more or less fix this for less cash? FWIW, emissions, mileage and "street drivability" are not concerns. Loud, rough and smoky is just fine.
  
  
• Seeing various tricks for for breathing (porting head/intake manifold, 960 throttle body, 2.5" straight pipes, etc.) and compression (thinner gasket, decking block/head,) but tough to quantify what I might actually gain, and potential pitfalls of such (what might I lose?)
  
  
• A/C is already gone, but removing power steering pump and adding an electric fan seem like no brainers, right?
  
  
• Does anything need to be done to the computer to support any of this?

Thanks in advance!

Really the only thing you can do for cheap is a better cam and strip it if you have to keep it n/a. Manual swap will help but it's a little harder to source all the parts for a 7/9. I ran a straight pipe and it made it sound faster but didn't improve anything. You can do engine work but it will not be worth the money for what you're doing.

Unless you dump money into it it's still going to be s-l-o-w

Ignition chip if your car is lh2.4 would help a bunch with premium gas. If you take the head off and have it shaved down a bunch and run a pinto belt you can up the compression that would give you more power. I like the A cam instead of M cam or B cam is similar to A cam. More power up top, okay with automatic transmission.

sbabbs said:

Ignition chip if your car is lh2.4 would help a bunch with premium gas. If you take the head off and have it shaved down a bunch and run a pinto belt you can up the compression that would give you more power. I like the A cam instead of M cam or B cam is similar to A cam. More power up top, okay with automatic transmission.

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b cam was a pretty decent improvement in my case, for what i spent on it

Many thanks sbabbs and esmth.

From what it sounds, a cam is probably the best first step, and looking at the cam spec reference, I'm hoping the A or B should be available in a junkyard car since it seems common. Otherwise I'll probably be posting in the classifieds, because I'm not even going to bother quoting a shipped cam from Sweden.

Very dumb questions ahead:

esmth, does 7/9 just mean a 7xx from c. 1990? Is it that weird?

sbabbs, any rough idea how much material you can remove for compression before you're breaking stuff? Is it not worth trying to accomplish something similar with gaskets?
And do you mean a timing belt made for a Ford Pinto motor, because you've removed enough that the tensioner no longer works with a normal belt?

Also, a 16v head swap is also not off the table if a head is available at the right price, and the conversion isn't too onerous. I saw an old forum thread (this will be a common theme) that suggested the DOHC motors benefit more from a chip, but I don't know if that applies to a B230/B234 Frankenstein.

Of course, all this needs to be accomplished before ice racing season, so I guess I'm really just trying to determine just how much to bite off right now.

The biggest improvement you can make to your NA engine is the swap to the 16 valve head. With the same fuel injection system, same compression ratio etc, they are rated at 160 HP vs. 115 HP with the 8 valve B230F. That head just flows so much more air you aren't going to come close to it with the parts you have.

rwb said:

esmth, does 7/9 just mean a 7xx from c. 1990? Is it that weird?

Also, a 16v head swap is also not off the table if a head is available at the right price, and the conversion isn't too onerous. I saw an old forum thread (this will be a common theme) that suggested the DOHC motors benefit more from a chip, but I don't know if that applies to a B230/B234 Frankenstein.

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By 7/9 i mean 740 or 940. A good amount of parts interchange between the two.

a 16 valve conversion would be decent/cheap if you can find a car to take the parts from, and you might as well take the entire engine so you don't need to grind valve recesses into the pistons

I had read and forgotten that the B234 was interference. If the head swap involves either new pistons or very precise grinds, grabbing the whole engine sounds easier if I can find it, but that sounds expensive unless the engine in the car currently is worth something in trade.

Which leads me to:

esmth, I am also in MA, and this car will be built slightly north. Do you have any recommended sources for parts used or new? It would be just awesome if I could pull a strong 16v motor, though I need to make a conscious effort not to overextend on this, so if there's a place to find at least a camshaft that would be a good start. I have secondhand verbal reports of "junkyards fulla Volvos" but I'm trying to collect as much info as I can.

Remember the stock 16v 740 motor is called a b234 and the 740 chassis takes a different front crossmember to bolt it to. It is a different block a little bit then the b230 block. It has balance shafts to eliminate the shakey idle plus another belt that can break and then break the timing belt. Volvo made b230 motors with the 16v head on them stock in boats, find one of those and bolt that in. 2.5L steel stroker crank for more liters.. Also better PZ cams for 16v. You might get one cheap if your near boats.

Search for aq171 or aq251 both same b230 motor with 16v head in boats.

A hundred and seventy one horseypower more then the car motors...

IF your really ice racing, racing on ice, is more power really needed? I'd invest my money in one of those tools to put studs in tires myself....

The A cam came in volvo penta boat motors in USA. The B cam came in all the 70's b21f motored volvos in usa. If you can get to a junkyard in canada, more options for cams there also. Also more cams in boat motors like D or V. Boats in usa got all the real performance stuff for volvo. They even got the 531 8v heads.. No sense in going cam crazy with automatic transmission..

rwb said:

I had read and forgotten that the B234 was interference. If the head swap involves either new pistons or very precise grinds, grabbing the whole engine sounds easier if I can find it, but that sounds expensive unless the engine in the car currently is worth something in trade.

Which leads me to:

esmth, I am also in MA, and this car will be built slightly north. Do you have any recommended sources for parts used or new? It would be just awesome if I could pull a strong 16v motor, though I need to make a conscious effort not to overextend on this, so if there's a place to find at least a camshaft that would be a good start. I have secondhand verbal reports of "junkyards fulla Volvos" but I'm trying to collect as much info as I can.

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Awe the yards near me rarely have the old volvos anymore. I'm in northeast Mass (near Newburyport). I've only seen a handful of redblock volvos in the yards the past year or two. I've never seen a 16v that didn't have the timing belt snapped in one.

Just keep checking craigslist often and you'll find some stuff for cheap. And call local junkyards and ask what volvos they have, or if you need a specific part, see what other cars use the same part and see if the yards have it. Some indy Volvo shops have stashes of parts as well

On the cheap, you can get the head shaved 40-50 thousandths, and use a thin Cometic head gasket to bump up the compression a bit, K cam works well with this. Stock computers handle fine.

Don't take off the power steering, it will steer like crap.

For ice racing, just get out there at first, don't bother trying to make the engine better until later.

Unstudded class or more serious?
In the unstudded class, a bigger front bar and an expensive (relative to Volvo parts, not to cars in general) used limited slip might make more difference for you than even 10 (generous estimate) more hp you'll get with the likely bolt-on-n-offs. You'll need to be able to pilot it around curves in various ways, not spin a dyno roller harder.
Maybe install yourself a narrowband mixture guage so that you'll have some insight into how future tuning changes or parts failures and cold temperatures affect it. Possibly baseline the car's general operating condition like brakes, suspension, cooling system so that you can focus on your performance and the events rather than surprise repairs.

megulon-7 said:

Don't take off the power steering, it will steer like crap.

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Do 700s have a different power steering setup than a 240? I've been running no power steering for over a year now just fine on my 240

Cheap and racing? Is that possible?

CAPT_BLOTTO said:

Cheap and racing? Is that possible?

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Lob a B cam in there and go out on the ice.

esmth said:

Do 700s have a different power steering setup than a 240? I've been running no power steering for over a year now just fine on my 240

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If you look at any race car that weighs over about 2500lbs, you will find they all have power steering. Even sprint cars (1300lbs) have power steering. There is a reason for this. You will get worked over without it.

If you're going for steering "feel", disconnecting a power rack is not going to do anything. There's still the servo/spool-valve that's flexing and reducing "feel".

I appreciate all the info, this is extremely helpful.

RE: the question of whether I really "need" more power for racing on ice is valid.

I believe we can use pretty aggressive V-bar chains on the drive wheels, and timing chains around the front so the traction isn't as terrible as it could be. We're also planning to just weld the diff since it only needs to work in one context for now.

I have no real expectations of setting the world on fire since this is several firsts for me, I'm just trying to preempt getting totally tooled on, because I've seen that happen.

Removing the power steering pump was suggested to me as a way to remove another parasitic load from the engine, and I didn't see a problem with it because I don't mind manual steering and these races are relatively short (small oval track, quick heats.) If that's only worth 0.35 WHP, I don't really care and I'll take the power steering.

brian smith, baselining is a good point. Thus far I've driven the car briefly and been assured it's well taken care of, but all this talk of engine mods assumes nothing fundamental is ready to disintegrate. Honestly, brakes only need to work, they won't be used severely; suspension was just going to be new bushings/rods/joints, finding camber/caster, and maaaybe struts. I focused on the engine for my questions here because there are so many variables, and man it's slow.

We'll probably actually end up with something like Redwood Chair's philosophy, assuming I don't get stuck just trying to build the cage.

Ya you won't get anything out of a hot cam with the autotragique anyway unless you wind it up tight manually with the shift lever.

Even then full power on late shifts slamming in may affect your control of the car.

I have some actual experience with road racing n/a "stock" b23's/b230's.

Shaving the head to raise compression, throwing the best cam you can find/afford at it and opening up the exhaust will be best bang for the buck hp wise.

If you can find/afford a 16v head and the parts to make it work, big improvement. Good upgrade for later on maybe?

Power steering doesn't rob enough hp to put up with not having it.

Gearing will help a lot also so be mindful of that as well.

I will be somewhat disappointed if I'm not able to find and install a manual, that is definitely a goal. Worst case scenario is just leave the auto in 2nd, which is way less cool.

I figure if I'm likely to find anything that fits without a hassle, it would probably be an M45, which sounds like it's crap. Are any other Volvo manuals also a direct fit without needing a new driveshaft or other significant fabrication or modification?

From what I can tell the auto cars had shorter rear gearing, which seems like what I'd want...