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head work on a B230F 900

posted by  9 on  Mon May 2 08:21 CST 2005
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last visit: Tue Feb 12 15:33 CST 2013
[RELATED]

i am hungry for power!!!!
i love my car...that is first and foremost. i would like it to be a little quicker, though. i was reading a turbobrick article about converting a NA B230 to a Turbo B230 and it was saying something about removing the lower subframe, and what not.......i don t want to do that. all i am looking for is a little more ooommph when i get on the parkway at rush hour and the escalade behind isnt showing me the part number on his headlight lens.

i was thinking of doing what most people do to vw's to get 'em moovin....headwork and a cam....raise compression a bit, with consideration of the cam, and put a nice cam in there....

any thoughts, ideas, suggestions. "molly" is up to 167,000 miles and seems to be going forever...no oil consumption, smoke, coolant loss, NOTHING!

ps: this is sparked by a feeling i got on sunday morning when i took full advantage of the morning dew on the streets and a u turn...a little opposite lock, BABY!!








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    head work on a B230F 900

    posted by  someone claiming to be Charles on  Mon May 2 21:13 CST 2005 [RELATED]

    Start by "baselining" your car. Replace the cap, rotor, plugs and wires. Adjust the valves. Install fresh air and fuel filters. In other words, make sure that the car runs as well as possible in stock form before you start to think about modifications.

    Modifications:
    Have the head and manifolds ported and polished. Delete the front muffler and install a 2.5" cat-back exhaust. These modifications will yield perhaps 10 horsepower over stock. I wouldn't recommend shaving the head or messing with gaskets because the stock motor has an already high CR of 9.8:1. If you increase the ratio, you will have to run a higher octane gas in order to avoid early detonation ('pinging'), and you will also increase combustion chamber temperatures. Additionally, shaving/decking the head will reduce the clearances between pistons and valves.

    You can try an aftermarket cam (e.g. "Isky") or one of the Volvo performance cams - search the archives for more info - but I have a feeling that your stock "M" cam is the best match for an automatic transmission unless the engine has been heavily modified.

    Speaking of transmissions, the single most cost-effective way to increase rear wheel hosepower is to swap out your AW-70 for an M46 (auto to manual). This is a fairly involved process, but it can be done for a few hundred dollars if you are a DIY'er with a garage. I can't prove it, but I am willing to bet that the difference in rwhp (rear wheel hp) with this swap is easily on the order of 10%.










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      head work on a B230F 900

      posted by  9 on  Tue May 3 11:41 CST 2005
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      last visit: Tue Feb 12 15:33 CST 2013
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      well, thank you for the information, Charles. you have a very good point about baselining the car and then going on. i was not aware that the engine i have has a 9.8:1 CR. because it is sort of slowish, in my opinion, i woudl have thought that the CR was like 8:1 or something.

      i hope i am not revealing too much ignorance, as i have not really researched this information at all. cam profile, compression ratio, piston shape, and fuel management among other things affect hp and ft/lbs.

      yes it dumb...i just kind of put the post up and waited for a couple of replies. and i do apologize to volvodad if this is a reoccuring topic...i hate to add the monotony of the posts.

      i am going to do more research and i'll be back with questions








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    head work on a B230F 900

    posted by  9 on  Mon May 2 14:09 CST 2005
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    last visit: Tue Feb 12 15:33 CST 2013
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    have i struck a bad chord with you guys on this thread???








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      head work on a B230F 900

      posted by  Volvodad on  Tue May 3 10:30 CST 2005
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      last visit: Thu Oct 23 16:18 CST 2014
      [RELATED]

      not at all...but this (or a very similar) question has come up many, many times before and I would guess that a lot of the BB contributors don't feel like covering the same ground again. So, minimal response.

      Troll through the archives and you'll see a lot of info on the subject.
      --
      Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and a few old motorcycles)







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