1000398 Head and engine block: now what?

[vegasbrick]

I recently sourced an 198x volvo engine that had been pulled and had been stored in a school bus for a few years here in Las Vegas. It is missing the intake and exhaust manifolds. It looks like it has not been exposed to the elements like Don Volvo's. (I did not want to threadjack).
It has an 1000398 head and that is as much as I can tell so far. Can't find the block casting information... may have to wait till I get it on an engine stand and some cleaning to find it.

Being new to Volvo performance...is this a good engine to use as a starting point for making some decent power or is this just a money pit waiting to happen? I'd like to know up front if there is some hope of getting 250WHP out of it without breaking the bank in the process.

As for cleaning it up... Any suggestions on what to use for the head? the block?
Both are fairly clean but could use a good cleaning to bring out the details like the block casting number, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[Mueller]

soap and water (hot if you can access it) work fine...Castrol Superclean (purple stuff) sold at Wal-Mart or the autoparts store works even better....

those hp numbers are fine as long as plan on adding a turbo

[DBeum]

Load it on a trailer and take it to a carwash...thats what I do.