Hey guys,

I have just purchased a B20 from a 122 owner that bought it as an upgrade, which never happened, so let it go for not much money. He did not remember the year of the engine, but he did say it was from a Volvo 140. This is what I know about the engine;

It is a B20B
It has the dual HIF SUs
It has the all cast siamese manifold with dual downpipe.

I know B20Bs in 71 had a 118HP rating and 97HP from 72 on, mostly to compression ratio changes... is there a way to find out what engine I have?

Also, did the B20B come with hardened valve seats?

Now, I need to find a local machine shop to do some work on the head.

Thank you,
Marco

"I know B20Bs in 71 had a 118HP rating and 97HP from 72 on, mostly to compression ratio changes... is there a way to find out what engine I have?"

Actually, I have documentation (admittedly in the form of a '72 sales brochure... not the shop manual) that says the B20B was still 118 hp for that last year of sales here in the USA. If that's the case, and if the head on your engine is a US spec B20B, it would have 9.3 to 1 compression ratio... regardless of year. Maybe someone on here with a '72 shop manual can confirm or deny?
--

Gary L - 142E ITB race car, 73 1800ES

Gary, from my own somewhat age compromised memory and an owners manual for the '72 140 your information is correct. B20B-118hp@5800rpm--SAE rating. The B20F motor is listed as having 10.5:1 compression, 125hp@6000--SAE. The next manual I have is for the '73 B20F -- 8.7:1 c.r. - rated at 112@6000--SAE. Keep in mind that 1973 was the year the auto industry adopted new SAE standards called SAE-J, I think. Previously accessories (wp/alt/ps) and exhaust were not part of the test procedure. SAE-J tightened it up - more like - or tighter than European DIN standards. Remember the era of 150hp rated "muscle cars"? Pollution controls became more involved then too--so the consumer was left to figure it all out without a point of reference. -- Dave

I have the 1972 manual. It would be nice if we had his motortype number to verify.
For 1992, B20 had 90 hp at 4800, B20B had 118 hp at 5800, B20E had 135 at 6000, and B20F had 125 at 6000.
Max torques were B20A, 119 ft-lb @3000; B20B, 123@3500; B20E, 130@3500; B20F 123@3500.
Looks like the additional compression really helps.

"I have the 1972 manual. It would be nice if we had his motortype number to verify."

But do we need it? If the 1972 manual shows all B20B engines (US Spec included) at 118 hp, it follows that my brochure is correct... the very last of the B's imported to the US (1972 model year) were still 9.3 to 1 compression. This despite the fact that the 1972 D-jet engines were detuned - using the newer (B20F) head and lower compression ratio.

Besides... as I've pointed out before, the motortype number identifies the engine configuration as it left the factory, nothing more. By now (nearly 35-40 years later) engine blocks and heads have been mixed and matched to an unknown extent.
--

Gary L - 142E ITB race car, 73 1800ES

It would help to know if that is the original engine.

Thank you all for the help and valuable information provided... Here are the numbers I got from the engine block. This is a stock engine, and it does not seem to have ever been opened. It has spent the last 10 years inside the barn of a horse ranch in nothern WA. I removed the valve cover and given how old things look, I think this is a stock engine. Anyway, to the nubmers:

Casted into the block: 4969
First two stamped: 12
last five stamped: 85795

Do these come with hardened valve seats?

Again, thank you all!
Marco

496912 is an early B20B, 118 hp, originally supplied with 2 HS6 carbs and a C cam.

I am not at my computer that has the motor type numbers but from the low number I can tell you
that it is a very early B20 and would not have hard seats.
But unless you plan to get into it and do a valve job, I would not sweat that until you start seeing
decreasing valve clearances.

496912 indicates a B20B, 118 gross SAE hp, "C" camshaft, installed in various 140's in various markets, to include the USA. I don't know how to prove this on paper, but I doubt seriously if this engine could have had hardened valve seats as part of the original build.
--

Gary L - 142E ITB race car, 73 1800ES
BlueBrick Racing Website
YouTube Racing Videos

496912 indicates a B20B, 118 gross SAE hp, "C" camshaft, installed in various 140's in various markets

Can I get a copy of the engine number list you & George have please? I have un industructable B20E block that seems to last forever & I would like to know what it was originally.

--
Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

I don't know what George uses, I have an excel spreadsheet that is a condensed version of a file (specific origin unknown) I found on a German website some years back. I can no longer find that website, but send me your email address (glearned AT msn DOT com) and I'll shoot you the file. Similar data is also in the front of the various parts catalogs, but it is usually tedious to sift through. The excel file is probably just a compilation from those lists.
--

Gary L - 142E ITB race car, 73 1800ES
BlueBrick Racing Website
YouTube Racing Videos

Thank you, Walrus3 and Gary L - very helpful.

In terms of keeping the engine with the stock valve seats (whatever they are), I have an issue bolting an engine that I have not gone over; particularly one that has sat for a long time and one that appears in need of all available gaskets and seals (there's oil and dirt everywhere).
The inside of the engine appears to be fine, so I could just change all gaskets and seals and call it a day, but I have the engine out now and I want some more performance. I’m driving my 64 122 with a B18 and I want more performance than that for sure. Nothing crazy, just improved drivetrain (dual valve springs, seats, pushrods) and a good cam (K series from IPD sounds promising) with about 10:1 compression ratio with slight port on the head (mostly exhaust ports).
I also want to use the aluminum intake manifold from the earlier version, rather than the all cast siamese version. I do want to keep the stock header as it does have dual downpipe.

Again, thank you all for the help and valuable advice!
Marco

with slight port on the head

If you can't get some one that knows what they are doing to port your head then leave it alone, it's so easy to make them flow worse by taking metal out & then it's a bin job. You actually need a 73+ head which you can have ported prefessionally latter.

K cam is good if you want to stay with the stock springs, D cam needs dual springs. If the iron manifold is the early version with butterflies, use that instead of the aluminium manifold because it is better. Just radius the balance pipe (It's HUGE compared to the aluminium version). If you are bored, open up the exhaust manifold at the head face towards gasket size & polish the outlet to 1.625". KD or KN needles & stock springs in the HS6 SU's. If you do any good work to the intake ports, you may need stiffer springs & different needles.

If the head is B20B thickness & straight, leave it as is & just use the thin B20E head gasket. I would pull it apart, polish the crank, possibly hone it & clean, clean, clean it. You should be able to get some moly top rings for it pretty cheap, get a set foo some Chev or similar that has 3.5" bores.




--
Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

There will be a motor type number partly cast and partly stamped on the block just above the breather
box and oil dipstick, just below the joint between the block and the head.
If you can give me the six digits starting with 49, I can give you some more info on your B20.

For machining I would recommend Accurate Engines in Kirkland, they are who rebuilt my B20.

Thank you - they seem to be behind my GF's apartment in Kirkland ;-)

Thank you, walrus3 - I'll check the numbers when I get home tonight and pass them along. I want to have some work done on the head and knowing whether high comp or not would help.

Marco

If it is more than 3 3/8" thick it is low compression.

Is this is a different country? Here in the US, B20B's were discontinued by that time, and it was all either B20E or B20F.

You can measure the thickness of the head, the lower compression heads were mostly just taller, to make the combustion chambers larger. But I don't know the various thicknesses off the top of my head (no pun intended).
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

140 series were available with carbs through the '72 model year for the US market.

Best,

Cameron
444,122SC
Rose City

I've worked on many '71 and '72 140's with carbs. They were still available--at least here in the northeast. 1973 marked the first year that the injected motors were standard across the board. I know there are folks on the BB who have production info--maybe posting the numbers from your motor would be of value. Since the carbed motors all came with the same "C" grind cam the only real difference between years is compression ratio--which can be determined by measuring the deck height of the head. From what I've seen as original -- Stromberg CD carbs on '69-70 and SU carbs on '71-72. -- Dave