Hello. (New member) I brought pics!

[Joris]

Regarding the b230et, its pretty easy to swap the 'old' motronic system for the newer and widely available lh2.4 system! The b230et has 180hp standard, so should be enough for a 360!

[Number 47]

Engine is a manual so that's one problem sorted.

[Number 47]

Regarding the b230et, its pretty easy to swap the 'old' motronic system for the newer and widely available lh2.4 system! The b230et has 180hp standard, so should be enough for a 360!

I don't see me messing with the engine. There is enough to go wrong without trying to force more power out of it, 180 is perfect as is. It's going to be a daily driver and I hope to run on LPG. The lh2.4 system is tempting but I reckon i can get a rake of parts for this engine in Poland, there are still loads of old cars on the roads and in breakers. I speak a bit of Polish and go there a fair bit so I will probably start a collection of bits I may need for the motronic. Going to try and keep it looking as standard as possible. Will do all the engine prep over the summer with a target of fitting it late summer/autumn. The fact it is a manual has just decided it for me. A true stroke of luck just landed on my doorstep!

It is going to be a big shiny lump when I'm done. Really looking forward to this now.

[classicswede]

I would suggest you look for a better bottom end. The 9mm rod engines will chuck a rod through the block with no warning. I have seen 5 of these engines myself with a rod through the block and 3 of them were not even turbo engines. Everything else about the package will work well for a 360 conversion. The Motronic weak point is the crank sensor so always worth having a spare one.

The turbo should be the T3 and is a much better turbo that the late cars but does give clearance issues on the 360 engine mounts but that is very easy to solve.

Engine wise the B23 is the right engine for the age and come with strong M rods and the 410 head. The other option is a late model 940 engine with 13mm and factory oil squirters.

[360beast]

I would suggest you look for a better bottom end. The 9mm rod engines will chuck a rod through the block with no warning. I have seen 5 of these engines myself with a rod through the block and 3 of them were not even turbo engines. Everything else about the package will work well for a 360 conversion. The Motronic weak point is the crank sensor so always worth having a spare one.

The turbo should be the T3 and is a much better turbo that the late cars but does give clearance issues on the 360 engine mounts but that is very easy to solve.

Engine wise the B23 is the right engine for the age and come with strong M rods and the 410 head. The other option is a late model 940 engine with 13mm and factory oil squirters.

13mm rods are around £80 for a set of 4 on eBay, you just fit the ET pistons to the bigger rods as they're higher compression than the FT pistons.

I didn't know the crank sensor is a weak point, what's goes wrong with it?

[Number 47]

I would suggest you look for a better bottom end. The 9mm rod engines will chuck a rod through the block with no warning. I have seen 5 of these engines myself with a rod through the block and 3 of them were not even turbo engines. Everything else about the package will work well for a 360 conversion. The Motronic weak point is the crank sensor so always worth having a spare one.

The turbo should be the T3 and is a much better turbo that the late cars but does give clearance issues on the 360 engine mounts but that is very easy to solve.

Engine wise the B23 is the right engine for the age and come with strong M rods and the 410 head. The other option is a late model 940 engine with 13mm and factory oil squirters.

I won't be ragging it too much, no drifting or 1/4 miles. I will consider swapping them out later maybe but with good maintenance i reckon I should be ok as a daily. If compression is good I don't really want to go messing down below. Still, this ws only supposed to be a few new shocks and on the road, that didn't work out so watch this space i suppose...

i saw engine mounts in your shop Dai that said they were good for b230. Are those bolt on cures for the turbo clearance? If so. Can you get for me? Will be onto you soon for the coilovers and bolt set. hope to drop the rear next weekend.

[classicswede]

Yes the replacement engine mount kit does give much better clearance for the turbo leaving the chassis rail as the only limiting factor. I've made a couple more but will drawing up something a bit neater to be laser cut

[Number 47]

Cheers Dai, will be in touch.

For now I am going to put the engine to one side. I still have a mountain of work to go, still painting the front subframe, then i have to do rust removal on the underside of the car and get some protection under there. Then I need to drop the rear suspension and rebuild and renovate that, derust and protect the body there and then replace a sill. All of this is taking much longer than i expected and is blowing my budget. I am dog tired with the hours I am putting in but it will be worth it in the end.

Hope to have the front subframe etc painted over the next few days, got a layer of primer over the zinc last night, will get the other side done tonight. Then the top-coats are another couple days. After paint I have to vacate the garage till it dries. Even with a mask the fumes get a bit much.

Hope to have the front back together by the weekend and the rear dropped for cleaning. Then the sill, then get her running right. Then get her on the road. When she is running I will turn my attention to the engine. I know I'm going to rebuild it. I know I'm going to put the 13mm rods in it. Probably new rings and have the bores honed. I'm a glutton for punishment but it will be nice to have a powerplant to work on that I don't need to do the school runs. Will be my first full engine out rebuild and when I get to that stage I will be closing this thread and opening one in the project car section.

[SteveP]

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about the B230ET having 9mm rods. It'll be perfectly fine in standard tune. They are weaker, granted, but I've never heard of any original 740/760 turbos blowing their engines because of them - even when lightly fettled. 1stRaven and CHESH740R ran their ET's at upto 220-230bhp and the rods didn't cause a concern, just other (unrelated, mostly Motronic!) issues...

[classicswede]

Steve, I have seen a lot of these chuck a rod and only one of the engines had been tuned. It had been running around 300BHP for quite some time bfore that went and it broke in a 40mph limit at about 2000RPM so not even on boost. Again you hear these kind of stories on TB. If you are not bothered about loosing a bottom end the 9mm rods are no problem but if you want an engine to last then 13mm rods all the way.

1987 was probably an especially bad year for rods as 75% of the ones I've seen let go were 87 engines. Here is one from a 87 240 GLT so non turbo

[classicswede]

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I didn't know the crank sensor is a weak point, what's goes wrong with it?

I don't know what actually goes work but I have replaced quite a few of them due to failure. They do tend to fail dead and will just not run but I have had some ok one moment and wont run the next

[Number 47]

Thanks for the info Dai, very helpful.

I was talking today with a guy who works with an engine re-manufacturing company. We send heads for skimming and other work we can't do with them once a week, i asked him about prices and I'm pretty impressed with them. I have decided i will be completely rebuilding this engine. longevity is my aim and I think doing it right first time will keep my maintenance down. I don't know this engine, never seen it run so I will not be happy till it is stripped and put back together with new bits where required. I may as well do the rods while I have it in bits. Parts are superseded for two reasons, they were no good or more economical for the manufacturer. throwing more metal into the rods tells me this was not an economy super-session.

Can anyone advise what parts are like? I'm hoping crankshaft bearings, piston rings etc will still be available from dealers? Sensors and stuff i can find. I have tecdoc at work, it is a great tool for hunting corresponding parts. I will be having the cylinders honed for a start and new rings. Will see what the head is like and of course replace all seals and gaskets.

Never attempted anything like this before, I am a parts man, not a mechanic but I'm fairly confident. Will start a thread under engine to chronicle my progress and ask for help as required. Waiting for a haynes for the 740 which will be a great help.

tonight I got the subframe completely primed, Tomorrow is top coat, taking forever but getting there. I'm going to forget about the engine for now. have to stick to schedule and get the suspension finished. Thanks for all the advice and assistance so far.

[360beast]

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I didn't know the crank sensor is a weak point, what's goes wrong with it?

I don't know what actually goes work but I have replaced quite a few of them due to failure. They do tend to fail dead and will just not run but I have had some ok one moment and wont run the next

Bugger, luckily I've got a spare engine in pieces and it's an 87 luckily the one going in is an 88 and I've got a set of 13mm rods ready to go in.

You can get new parts for the engine etc from skandix but they tend to be quite pricey, plus shipping is something like £20 for the light stuff

[Ride_on]

If you are going for longevity, statically you might make it worse by working at it. A b200 will last indefinately with normal servicing and driving. Overhauling it might make it quieter, smoother and less leaky but you not make it last longer. Volvo used well qualified good quality parts, approved by specialists with life time as the prime requirement. You will be doing very well if can do as well a job.

[macplaxton]

I was talking today with a guy who works with an engine re-manufacturing company... i asked him about prices and I'm pretty impressed with them.

May this be something to do with the VAT rate on the job? Last time I had work done on a head (no parts required, just machining/pressure test and the like) I noticed that it came in under the reduced rate of 13.5%, not the standard rate.