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B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

I am partially rebuilding the B18B engine in my 65' 1800S. After much research I plan to upgrade it to basically the 67'-68' 1800S spec. (approx 118HP) So that means a "C" grind cam, a small raise in compression ratio, dual outlet type exhaust manifold and some "KD" needles in the twin SU's. Seems easy enough and i have a very solid lower end (rebuilt in 1990) I checked compression before pulling it out and got 214-217 PSI across all four cylinders, seems healthy. Upon dis-assembly and measuring to see exactly what i need to do to get the 10.5 to 1 compression ratio i have found what seems to be a semi low compression engine, the specs do not make sense to me. I have the correct for the car high compression head (86 mm thick) and am getting a combustion chamber volume of a rather high 47cc on all four chambers. It does not appear to be ported in any way. Also i have what seems like a tall .030" deck height. If i plug in the factory bore and stoke, this deck height, a .030" head gasket and the 47cc volume i come up with a 9 to 1 compression ratio. I thought this was supposed to be a 10 to 1 engine? even if i zero out the deck height i am looking at 9.65 to 1. My engine actually is already .040" over on the bore which helps the ratio a bit but is something odd about the chamber volume on my head and tall deck height? Also how much would i need to mill the head to drop the 47 cc to say 43cc?








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    B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

    I would upgrade to a B20B or F head & gasket and K cam. Breathing is FAR more important than compression and you might be able to use a lower grade of fuel.

    --
    69 142S Overdrive + 69 164S Manual








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    B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

    Any chance that the replacement pistons that went in with the .040 overbore were de-stroked, with the resulting increased deck height? These used to be standard in overbore rebuild kits as a way of maintaining compression ratios. I seem to recall catalogs specifying .020 de-stroking on replacement pistons.








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      B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

      i did not know such a thing existed, to check that i would have to measure wrist pin height , correct? That is the distance from pin center to top of piston and check that against factory specs. The pistons are marked Std. and .04 so i believe they are a standard piston just .040 over. I can certainly check though. I am still puzzled by the large volume of my combustion chambers on a non ported factory high compression head. I am going to pop in my new valves when they arrive and measure with a 50cc burete next time i cc the chambers. Thanks for the tip!








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        B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

        Are you using a spark plug to plug the spark plug holes while ccing the combustion chambers?
        --
        Eric
        Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
        Torrance, CA 90502
        hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com








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          B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

          yes, using the correct spark plugs. I have discovered it was my old valves, i think someone cut/turned them as opposed to replacing them. My new correct valves sit lower in the chamber and have brought my measurement down to a workable 45 cc's








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    B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

    Any chance you have a B20 cylinder head?

    A B20 head will bolt in place of a B18 and the B20 combustion chambers are larger.

    A B20 head will have the part # and casting #'s underneath the valve cover while the B18's are outside of the valve cover next to the head bolts.
    --
    Eric
    Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
    Torrance, CA 90502
    hiperformanceautoservice.com or oldvolvosonly.com








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      B18B compression ratio help please! 1800 1965

      No, it is not a B20 head, i measured the valve sizes and they are the correct B18 smaller sizes. Also my casting numbers are not under the valve cover. looking at the valves though i noticed the "dimples" on the face of them are rather on the large side of what i have seen on most valves. Is it possible that at sometime valves with extra large face depressions were made? This engine had some very odd Melling lifters with NO oiling holes so some odd valves would not shock me. I think i will order my new valves and re-measure at this point. I am all out of other ideas.







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