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Could use some advice on a B230FT build

cmsuter

cmsuter

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
I'm looking to start a build for a B230FT. I essentially want to build this motor a bit and then hunt down a 70s 242 shell to drop it into. I'm not in any rush and don't have much restraint on budget. That being said... I think my goals are a bit conservative: 250-300hp. I have read that it's fairly easy to do with a stock block and a few stock internals. But I'm not opposed to over-building it a bit (within reason). I want 250-300 VERY reliably.

I plan on finding a 940 turbo motor and I think I'm going to go ahead and upgrade to the bigger rods (if it doesn't already have it). What are other things I should look into? Rings? Pistons? Etc.?
 
Maybe look for a 93+ non-turbo motor. From what I understand, a lot of the turbo motors have excessive bore wear. My junkyard 93 turbo bore wear was so much I had to re-sleeve bores 1 and 4. With a re-sleeve I was able to get the machine shop to machine to fit new +1 size stock Mahle pistons.
 
If it was still 2004-2010ish I'd say just go to your local pnp and grab the latest squirter block you could find and give it a red-paint engine rebuild (wash-paint-new gaskets) and call it a day... but today? Where are you finding decent used redblocks?

Are you stuck on volvos? Willing to hold onto it forever? Independently wealthy? Ok. Do it.

Invest the money into an engine swap... find a modern powerplant that has everything you're looking for... especially if you have manual transmission dreams. Lots of newer powerplants that have sticks behind them that you can find in the local pnp and get you what you want without the eventual redblock heartache-heartburn.

Sorry... I happened to log into Tb and this was the first post I saw.
 
'^^^good advice. I'd also put aftermarket rods in it for a bottom end that you could only mess up on purpose. An N/A engine is probably going to have a compression ratio in the very low 9's, an when coupled with a modest camshaft like the V15T from Enem or equivalent, will still be reasonable to drive off boost but allow for *some* ignition timing under boost to make decent power. Given that you said budget is not much of an issue, spend your money on the best stuff you can. Upgrade the engine as a package, don't just throw a Holset on it, crank it up to 11, and see what happens.
 
Yeah I would say I'd prefer to stick with a Volvo motor. I'm not really looking to do something "interesting". I just want to do a simple, reliable build. But I plan to not cut corners. I want to build the motor and T5 trans over the fall/winter as I get to it and then maybe next year seek out an appropriate shell to drop it all into.
 
I'm starting 2 builds right now, might sell one.
A 92 NA block that will get nice rods, pistons and rods have not been sorted out yet.
88 block, with the latest thrust placement but still skinny rods. It will get 13mm rods.
I have a set of new standard B230FT pistons, haven't gone far enough to see if they would go in either block. Both have a bit of a ridge. I did an exploratory hone to see the taper, etc.
I also have a low mileage B230FT from a 740. It was a deal I couldn't pass on.
And to think I was real close to installing a 3.8 Buick in this 245.
 
Reliable means being able to survive some tuning missteps along the way. Which means being pretty much overbuilt for whatever HP level you're aiming at.

And if you're saying 300 hp, you're going to be pushing an 8V motor pretty hard. Certainly doable, but again, a little too much timing, a bad tank of 93 octane that's more like 87, an injector that starts flowing a little less, a fuel pump that starts fading at higher boost/high rpm/WOT, and you get ping ping boom.

H-beams and forged pistons go a long way toward making it survive those sorts of things, as long as they don't persist.

And hell, I know you say you want to keep it volvo, but if you're really after 300 hp and really want reliability, it's worth considering something else under the hood. A 2.3L motor is just going to be under a lot of stress making that much HP, something with some more displacement won't be stressed as much, and not trying hard means they last longer.
 
JohnMc said:
Reliable means being able to survive some tuning missteps along the way. Which means being pretty much overbuilt for whatever HP level you're aiming at.

And if you're saying 300 hp, you're going to be pushing an 8V motor pretty hard. Certainly doable, but again, a little too much timing, a bad tank of 93 octane that's more like 87, an injector that starts flowing a little less, a fuel pump that starts fading at higher boost/high rpm/WOT, and you get ping ping boom.

H-beams and forged pistons go a long way toward making it survive those sorts of things, as long as they don't persist.

And hell, I know you say you want to keep it volvo, but if you're really after 300 hp and really want reliability, it's worth considering something else under the hood. A 2.3L motor is just going to be under a lot of stress making that much HP, something with some more displacement won't be stressed as much, and not trying hard means they last longer.
Click to expand...

I've seen plenty of people push more than 300hp with a stock block. The block itself is more than capable of handling it. Its more the internals that are the weak link, which is what I'm wanting to upgrade. I know I'm aiming for 250-300hp (I'd be more than happy with 200 if that's what it ends up being), but I want to build the motor to handle much more than that. Maybe consider Maxxecu if it isn't too much of a pain. I'm not entirely sure. I'm just kind of in the beginning stages of planning it out. I want to stay Volvo because I don't want to have to do any fabrication or anything. I want to be able to drop it in and call it a day. Obviously I'm oversimplifying. I know it will take some tune tweaking and whatnot. But that I don't mind.
 
mikep said:
I'm starting 2 builds right now, might sell one.
A 92 NA block that will get nice rods, pistons and rods have not been sorted out yet.
88 block, with the latest thrust placement but still skinny rods. It will get 13mm rods.
I have a set of new standard B230FT pistons, haven't gone far enough to see if they would go in either block. Both have a bit of a ridge. I did an exploratory hone to see the taper, etc.
I also have a low mileage B230FT from a 740. It was a deal I couldn't pass on.
And to think I was real close to installing a 3.8 Buick in this 245.
Click to expand...

Did 740 B230FTs get squirters or was that just a later 940 thing?
 
They got bumps that make room for the squirters earlier on, but most didn't have it. Then there is a somewhat random sounding patterns of them being on some engines, some not. AFAIK the only way to be SURE a block has them (short of pulling the pan to take a peek) is to get a round-toothed timing belt B230FT motor. 1993+.

FWIW I once spent an hour and a half driving to a junkyard to pick up a '1993 B230FT' motor. Got there, it had a square toothed timing belt on it, I just left and went home without it. Maybe someone had swapped a motor in a '93 car.
 
Have a look for "overboost racing" on You Tube. There is a three part series in English on how to build a redblock bottom end to take 600hp.
Tim
 
You live in Charlotte? I?ll make you a deal on a squirterizable package. Want a nice rebuilt head too? I?m working on 2 of those. Intake, the whole shebang.
 
mikep said:
You live in Charlotte? I?ll make you a deal on a squirterizable package. Want a nice rebuilt head too? I?m working on 2 of those. Intake, the whole shebang.
Click to expand...

Definitely might be interested. I haven't completely landed on exactly where I want to go but I'll PM you.
 
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