Volvo RWD 140-160 Forum

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Head castings and compression ratios and such 140-160


I'm putting together the crazy motor I got from the trunk of a
$300 145 and I had some questions:

I've got two heads (no snickers please).

One of them has been skimmed all to heck. I forget the actual
thickness but it is *thin*. It also has double valve springs,
hardened seats and good valve guides and such. It is casting
number 4 rag / hf30 / 460441.

The other is pretty thick. It has hardened valve seats but
it looks like someone ran a tap through some of the guides (knurled?).
This makes me less than comfortable with how long they will last
but I've often been told "chris -- you worry too much." This one
has casting marks 3UCG / BB27 / 470908. This head looks identical
to the other except it doesn't have a port for the air idle bypass
thingy.

I'm going to be putting this onto a block with .40 over pistons
and using a 2.0mm head gasket (instead of the more standard 1.2 or
0.8).

Is there any way to tell the compression ratio just from the
head thickness assuming the combustion chamber has not been
modified?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which head is better?
thx,
chris








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    Head castings and compression ratios and such 140-160

    If you can accurately measure the head thickness from the upper head bolt boss to the underside, then the compression ratio can be calculated quite accurately enough for most purposes. Volvo varied CR by head gasket thickness, and cylinder head thickness. On the early B20E engines the "lip" of the head outboard of the spark plugs is noticeably thinner. Measure the head thickness with a dial caliper to within a couple of thou and post the result. I'll be able to give you a good ballpark idea of the CR.
    Back in the 1980's and early 90's I converted many B18 and B20 engines to the thicker head gaskets to reduce CR and allow stock ignition timing to be used with regular fuels here in Canada. In every case the thicker head gasket did what it was supposed to - lower CR by about .6, and allow normal ignition advance to be used. Pinging and run-on were eliminated. The gaskets were so much thicker that the water pump o-rings had to be 50% taller to allow a good seal. These parts were supplied, and recommended by, Volvo themselves.
    I am aware of the technical articles written by some famous engine builders, and the arguments for or against the effectiveness of "squish, quench, pocket gases" and so on. In Volvo engines the thicker head gaskets work well in my experience.








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    Head castings and compression ratios and such 140-160

    There are quite a number of different castings for B20 heads -- I don't have the numbers handy, but as they've likely been modified anyway, that wouldn't tell you much in any case.

    The ONLY way to know what the CR is is to do some basic measuring and some basic math. I've heard "rule of thumb" theories that don't even come close; worse than useless.

    Tell me the volume of the combustion chambers, how far the piston is below (or above) the deck of the block at TDC, and the height of the gasket after crushing (each gasket has a before and after crush number), and I'll tell you what the CR is (I already know you're .040 over and at stock stroke).

    Without those numbers, you will never even have a rough guess as to compression.

    Now, please please please do not use a thicker-than-stock head gasket in an attempt to reduce compression. It will reduce the CR and performance/economy along with it, but it will make pinging WORSE. I know of what I speak here, really truly. This is not just theory - there is a science to how this works.








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    Head castings and compression ratios and such 140-160

    What will really help is if you give us both the thickness and
    the depth of the combustion chambers. From that I could probably
    give a fairly close estimate based on manual data, and also probably
    tell you if it has really been milled or if it is just a thinner head.
    --
    George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma







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