Volvo RWD 444-544 Forum

Hello all. I just joined the brickboard, but have been a longtime Volvo owner since I started driving. Currently, I own a nice '72 1800ES, but am looking into adding a PV544 to the family.

I need some technical expertise on putting a B20E motor with M410 manual tranny in a PV544. Is it possible without having to cut and bend the engine bay/tranny tunnel? I would rather keep the structural integrity of the car intact. Understandably, there may be some drilling needed in the firewall for hoses, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

A B20E is as easy as pie. It's all bolt in. Not counting any D-jet stuff, you'd most likely want to block the injector ports and run the carbs. And it would be well worth the effort to replace the PV's puny single downpipe exhaust manifold and the rest of the system with the B20's manifold and downpipe. Years ago I plucked the very tired B18 (mostly stuck rings) out of mine and dropped in a B20. Keeping the same manifolds and trans made it a 4 hour job.

The B21/23/230 F/T OHC engine is a different situation. It's certainly doable, and google around a little and you'll see a few of them ripping up the roads. But it's out of the realm of more casual shade tree mechanick-ing, as it requires some fabrication. But in general theory, make some custom motor mounts (the B18/20 engine mount brackets won't fit on the OHC block, and bear in mind that OHC brackets custom made for a 122/1800 won't work well in a PV). Then swap the oil pump and oil pan and oil pickup tube from the B20 onto the OHC engine. In general terms, however, normally aspirated OHC motors don't really make any more power than OHV engines can, given the same attention. Of course, the turbo OHC motors can make plenty of HP pretty easily, but fitting all that plumbing in the nose of a PV is even harder than just putting an OHC motor in.

The M410 transmission is also not easy. The PV cabin narrows around the front footwells, and they tried to retain as much as possible by making the trans tunnel as small as possible. It really hugs the 4 speed trans, and pinches down around the tail end. An OD trans doesn't have room. Fitting one in requires chopping out a fairly substantial part of the trans tunnel and replacing it with something larger. I used a 122 tunnel in mine. Took several angle grinder wheels and most of a spool of MIG wire. Well worth the effort though, the car is actually usable at modern freeway speeds. Before, it just felt abusive to have the engine wound out enough to go 75 mph. Now, it's almost relaxing.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 +t

http://www.georger.com/gds/t5_transmission_conversion.htm
Yes, it is possible and not too difficult but cutting is required. I have had overdrives in my PV for years and driven many miles. This week I was in New Hampshire for a day ... from Buffalo. in April I did the bucket trip around the usa. very pleasurable. As for road noise... it's been so long I don't remember what it was with a stock setup. With an overdrive it is fine. When it comes to B23 FT or B234 etc.... I have thought of these as an upgrade because they are newer. Then reality comes into play and the fact that the B20 is just a great engine. Second is the B23 is Fuel Injected while the B20F/E can be easily retro fitted to carbs. I have had just about every carb on my car (SU H6, SU HIF6, Weber 32/36, Weber DCOE40, and now Mikuni HSR 42) and they all worked great. I have 2 B20F's in my 18000ES's and have dropped the FI in favor of the simplicity of carburation. All the wires are gone, all the sensors are gone, all the poor grounds are gone, all the injectors are gone... gone. Now All I need is fuel pressure and the carb takes care of the rest. I have the B20 in my daily driving 444 and have clocked 80,000 miles. The B20 fits into place easily, the tranny "cut" is not terrible, with a little compression and cam you can have great power AND reliability. For compression I have had head work done and shaved the head to get near 10.0 : 1. Recently I found that an easier way is to replace the stock head gasket that is .040 with a Copper one that is .016. That's the same as taking .024 off the head but it is for the entire combustion chamber and not "in" the head. There's about .6 increase in CR with this process. So, stay with the B20, go ahead and cut the tunnel to fit the tranny (T5's are nice) build the motor with a realistic goal of reliability and good grunt (125 HP is fine and easy to get) go with new Mikuni's to have the luxury of years of development compared to SU's, get a 123 Distributor for the same reason and then enjoy the ride!

VirgiltheVolvo,
I e-mailed yoy directly to your site when you where on your trip but you never responded. Oh, well . . .
You are mentioning Mikunis; are you referring to the same or an identical setup as it is offered by John Parker (about $600)?

I had a 544 that I liked a lot but the sound at 60 mph got to me. I sold it later I learned that a over drive could be fitted but needed more room it the transmissom tunnel. I wish I had known and made the modification. There is a way to add a T9 over drive transmission. I do not know if you have to make more room.
Joel the locksnith

I believe that if you keep the stock engine location, you will have to cut the transmission tunnel to the dimensions of at least a 120 series automobile. There are I'm sure archives on this common swap. I've often thought it would be fun to shake things up a little and put in a B23FT in a 544.

Thanks, Benski, It's funny, I justed added a response on the B230FT...it would definitely make the 544 move!

I forgot to ask about Option #2...a B230FT/manual is also a combo that I am thinking of doing. Any assistance on making this work is greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

My current project is fitting a B230F NA into my '60 P210. Nice thing about the PVs is that the frontend completely comes off.



Engine compartment is slightly different, but most would be the same fit issues. I have a working thread over on turbobricks.com:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=138942&highlight=544%2A

I haven't posted anything new since last fall, but have been working on the car, and will begin posting again once I figure out some things.

Somebody on TB is working on a 544/B230+16V head. Looks great:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=118058&page=3


Paul

Paul, I'd be interested to know how your project works out. Thank you all for the great insight on this subject.

I love it! I don't have the patience, time, money or skills to do the kind of engineering we are looking at about cramming 7lbs. of stuff into a 5lb. bucket and make it work reliably, but I get the biggest kick out of watching people who do and their advice! I do see a Wilwood brake upgrade in someone's future.