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740 NA: Clean Slate for Something More?

Timing belt is sub 30 minutes dude:e-shrug: knocked one out yesterday along with a cam seal in 25 minutes flat.

Your guys? insults are weak sauce.

You're weak everywhere...here is just an example--you say call John V and he'll talk 3 hours to make a 5 minute point... weak

From this side it seems "My gawd what a f***ing ret***, that little snot-nosed kid is SOOOOooooooooooooooOOOO dumb, so completely clueless, that it took FOREVER to answer the simplest thing...
That's not just you, although your 200+ post threads for stuff in any service manual show you are even worse than the average know-nothing, but a general trend..

Now then...since we know you have ZERO experience building any performance engines--why don't you go troll somewhere else where your brilliance and wit are fully appreciated???
Do you have some promise to keep?
 
How do you figure "a built bottom end is $8"?

I'm doing 2 more right now--just in to find the damn thrust bearings for engine no2---and they're all getting long rods and custom pistons and the bottom end will be under $2500 with parts and machine shop costs.

The crazy ass heads--yeah they're crazy ass but that's whataboutism at its worst..
Shame on you.

All for $14.99 right John?
 
You're weak everywhere...here is just an example--you say call John V and he'll talk 3 hours to make a 5 minute point... weak

From this side it seems "My gawd what a f***ing ret***, that little snot-nosed kid is SOOOOooooooooooooooOOOO dumb, so completely clueless, that it took FOREVER to answer the simplest thing...
That's not just you, although your 200+ post threads for stuff in any service manual show you are even worse than the average know-nothing, but a general trend..

Now then...since we know you have ZERO experience building any performance engines--why don't you go troll somewhere else where your brilliance and wit are fully appreciated???
Do you have some promise to keep?
Heard that lmao

Don?t need to build an engine to hold the boost that I?m happy dailying. Bottom end is good for 300+ whp and my trans is good for 75ft-lbs of torque, so I?m staying conservative here.
 
I couldn't help but think there may be some relatively straightforward mods which might allow one to merge and pass on US freeways without constantly taching the poor little redblock out.

To that end, I'm looking at getting a good bit more pull in the 3KRPM range. Indeed, I found this cam set over @ IPD which looks promising as a start:

https://www.ipdusa.com/products/8771/115454-vx-street-performance-cam-kit-b230

Bumping about, I've also gleaned that a 60mm (2.5") exhaust system will help a bit, too; but can't find headers anywhere for the 230 on this side of the pond (help?). Matter of fact, apart from the aforementioned cam kit, I can't find much of anything off-the-shelf for this car in the US which would give it the needed beans.

As an aside, I'm trying to stay out of turboland for now; as the required internal refits would be beyond my workspace/tool means at this juncture. In a nutshell, just looking for basic, modern roadworthiness with perhaps a bit of fun thrown in on top ;-)

Oh, lets run this back. It sounds like OP wants simple bolt-ons which are easily sourced and add mid-range grunt; making his free NA, Auto 740 more fun to drive. Right now something as involved as a +T is out of the question.

OP the short answer is there is hardly any "off the shelf" support for any of these cars, turbo or NA. If a +T is out, I assume swapping in a JV sourced longblock is not going to happen.

If you want easy bolt ons, you have what you've found... basically sourcing a turbo exhaust and retrofitting it to your NA for "more flow" and the VX cam. The exhaust really won't do much, but make it a bit louder (I know because I did this to my old NA940) and the VX cam won't do a whole lot, maybe a handful of hp at specific spot on the rev range. You'll lose some low rev power, so you'll have to couple that VX with an adjustable cam gear (Yoshifab, STS Machinine and IPD all offer variations). K&N filter won't do much, especially on an NA... so really yeah that's about it.

Honestly, the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to upping enjoyment would be from suspension mods. Some sport springs, sway bars, chassis bracing and if you want fancier shocks (bilstein or koni)... Be aware though... the older you are and the further you go down that road the less you'll like DDing the car. I recommend fresh gas pressurized shocks/struts, sways and lower chassis braces for a nice handling DD, sport/lowering springs if you want to hunker it down a bit.

That's my no BS 2 cents.
 
Pretty much any b21, and any 90+ b230 if it stays away from knock. Let me guess, I?m wrong? The hundreds of threads I?ve read are all wrong?:roll:

Hell, I?ve seen 300whp on a skinny rod motor for quite a while too:omg:

Why need decades of experience when you can just google your way throught life.

Please contribute to this thread or go away.
 
Oh, lets run this back. It sounds like OP wants simple bolt-ons which are easily sourced and add mid-range grunt; making his free NA, Auto 740 more fun to drive. Right now something as involved as a +T is out of the question.

OP the short answer is there is hardly any "off the shelf" support for any of these cars, turbo or NA. If a +T is out, I assume swapping in a JV sourced longblock is not going to happen.

If you want easy bolt ons, you have what you've found... basically sourcing a turbo exhaust and retrofitting it to your NA for "more flow" and the VX cam. The exhaust really won't do much, but make it a bit louder (I know because I did this to my old NA940) and the VX cam won't do a whole lot, maybe a handful of hp at specific spot on the rev range. You'll lose some low rev power, so you'll have to couple that VX with an adjustable cam gear (Yoshifab, STS Machinine and IPD all offer variations). K&N filter won't do much, especially on an NA... so really yeah that's about it.

Yes, a very bad $ to improvement ratio.

Honestly, the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to upping enjoyment would be from suspension mods. Some sport springs, sway bars, chassis bracing and if you want fancier shocks (bilstein or koni)... Be aware though... the older you are and the further you go down that road the less you'll like DDing the car. I recommend fresh gas pressurized shocks/struts, sways and lower chassis braces for a nice handling DD, sport/lowering springs if you want to hunker it down a bit.

That's my no BS 2 cents.

What about gearing?

it's the secret of happiness duuuuuuuuude.
 
@John V, outside agitator:

Love your AT diagram. Will quote. Thank God for locking converters...

OK.

Project Expectations: Modest improvement
Toolset: Modest, but always growing
Skills: Generally beyond "Toolset" ;-)

Seriously, IPD seems to be pointing at a flat torque curve of 136 ft-lbs from 2.9 to 5.4KRPM with some implementation of their VX cam. When coupled with their adjustable cam gear in the full kit offering, all would seem to be moving me closer to my goal at this point: 100 BHP in the 3KRPM neighborhood. Top end can drop relatively steeply, if needed, to reach this endpoint. Don't need a race motor here.

Inspectionwise, what goes on under the hood is my business; and it will remain as such without issue. Therefore, extra sauce for the goose is certainly OK as long as we don't head into washdown land. Need to have some semblance of fuel economy for both financial and tribological reasons. Might be enticed to entertain water-vapor injection, if such a system exists and would be absolutely necessary. Good exhaust is in the cards, too.

The goal: Have enough punch to get up on the freeway without causing a pile-up; and have the ability to change lanes once there without infinite tail clearance. Truly, I'd be willing to bet Volvos like the base 740 maintain a good safety record on the books despite all of the accidents they leave behind in their mirrors...

In the final analysis, I'd need to get to the goal without turning the car into a polished-fender octane poodle; and without tanking core reliability along the way. Can be an incremental development if necessary.

BTW, great sigline quote :)

Thanks a bunch --
 
Yes, a very bad $ to improvement ratio.



What about gearing?

it's the secret of happiness duuuuuuuuude.

OK. Sounds like he probably isn't interested in something that involved. He also mentioned that he wanted to haul the family in this thing, so I assume he doesn't want it running 4200 rpm on the highway.
 
The goal: Have enough punch to get up on the freeway without causing a pile-up; and have the ability to change lanes once there without infinite tail clearance. Truly, I'd be willing to bet Volvos like the base 740 maintain a good safety record on the books despite all of the accidents they leave behind in their mirrors...

In the final analysis, I'd need to get to the goal without turning the car into a polished-fender octane poodle; and without tanking core reliability along the way. Can be an incremental development if necessary.

Ahem, Ahem GEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
OK. Sounds like he probably isn't interested in something that involved and he also mentioned that he wanted to haul the family in this thing. So I assume he doesn't want it running 4200 rpm on the highway.

That's why overdrives exists.

It is the simplest bang for the buck solution.

Use the power you already have instead of throwing money for foo foo stuff that won't change much.
 
^^

B21 lower ends are as stout as it gets for stock Volvo engines. The PR is correct. Any 90+ 13mm rod engine can handle 300+ crank horse power for extended periods of time as long as it is tuned properly.

An 8 valve NA redblock is not going to make a good DD power plant for something like a full dress 740 at anything over 150 HP, IMO. It has to be wound up too high an RPM to make the power. That is what makes turbocharging so attractive. Good power, good manners, low compression, mild camshaft, quick starts and on and on. Put a 16 valve head into the mix and you have a different end result. Stock, they make the same HP as a stock B230FT.
 
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