I've owned two bricks with the B27. I had a '76 262 that did not go 6 months after the ticking started. I also had a '78 wagon that ticked for years. That one went to the boneyard when it needed a waterpump. I believe waterpump was a 6 hour job and with all the other problems the car wasn't worth it. Anyway, if you REALLY want to stay with the B27 you should take all of the precautions menetioned in the other posts in addition to making a special point of tracking the gas mileage. You will notice a steady decline along with a loss in power as the cams wear. If the mileage holds, you're ok. If it goes bad and you still want to stay with it I would defer to rebuild rather than replace. It is a fact that the cams have been replaced thru the firewall. The hardest thing will be finding someone that has done it before and is willing to do it again.

Richard

I have heard that some of the other cars that use the PRV V6 have a much
sturdier iteration of the engine and more or less interchangeable.
If you could work a deal like that it might set you up a lot better.

Note! This is strictly based on hearsay and carries NO weight of personal
experience! Hopefully others will weigh in on this issue!

I will say, however, that dropping in a B30, while sturdy and strong,
would probably not be easy, would require an M400 or M410 tranny or a
custom-made bellhousing, and I am not sure if there is enough front-to-back
room in there for such a long engine. It also uses a lot of gas.
--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma

It is difficult to advise anyone to keep a B27. However, if you must keep it, then yank the engine and overhaul it. Don't piecemeal one of these things. They will bite. I have overhauled a couple of them for various reasons.
If the ticking is just a slightly noisy valve train, and the cam lobes look to be smooth and shiny, then use 5W-30 oil in it, change it regularly, and drive the thing. If the lobes are going, you can withdraw the cams into the firewall - Volvo TSB's gave instructions on how the dealers could do this. Fairly straightforward. New rockers get installed too.
If it was me, I would dismantle the engine. The cams get insufficient oil because some bright spark in France decided to use smaller strainers in the oil passageways to the heads. When you overhaul it, remove them and increase the oil flow to the heads. Also the overhaul will include new chains and tensioners, and head gaskets, two other problem areas with this engine. The bottom ends, and the valves and heads are actually quite tough. But they tend to stop oiling the cams and rockers, throw timing chains, and pop head gaskets. And everything is very expensive compared to the four cylinder engines. And it is still an odd-fire engine.
On the other hand I have a customer who has 270,000 kilometres on his and the valve train is as quiet as the day it was built. I have used 5W-30 oil in it for the last ten years, and it sure seems to help. But I won't rebuild it for him even when it does go.

Unfortunately, the Volvo 6 cylinder engines (At least in the 240s) are pretty much junk.

I don't know if it would be possible, but the 160 engines are much better, or so I hear. If you can drop an old 160 engine in there, you'd still have a Volvo engine, and a 6 cylinder one as well.

Just an off the wall type idea, I have no idea if it's even possible at all.
--
If you listen to the radio in Portland, OR, you may know me as "Portland's Favorite Soul Brother!"

Could you pull the engine and just replace the cams? It shouldn't
run you $3000 to do that. I've also heard that the cams can be
replaced with the engine in situ by removing the dash and cutting
cam-sized holes in the firewall (and closing them up with sheetmetal,
bolts, nuts, and sealer afterwards). Or a V-8 swap? - I've heard
that kits exist to drop in a Ford or GM V-8 without too much
hassle.

-b.