more hp?

B14, B172, B19/200, D16 engine, ignition, cooling, fuel & exhaust system, gearbox, variomatic, final drive... | Tuning: engine swaps, welded diff, clutch upgrades...
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spike4073
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more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 15 Jun 2011 04:01 pm

does anybody know of any ways to get a little more bhp from the b14 4e 1.4 without the expense of engine swap or turbo conversion.... im not after a massive increase. just a little more than they have with the factory setup (extra 5-10 bhp)

all suggestions welcome

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volvodspec
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Re: more hp?

Post by volvodspec » 15 Jun 2011 04:08 pm

remove the downpipe and grind the excess welds on both tubes at the flange down, this will slightly increase higher rpm exhaust flow
if you have a catalyst; replace it with a straight piece of tube or empty it (don't forget to unplug the C-plug on the Renix ignition afterwards)
reverse the wires on the TDC sensor, this gives 3 degrees timing advance; now use Ron98 fuell only!!!

that and a well serviced engine and properly refurbished carb will get around 6 or 7 bhp more out of the engine and that's about the limit of the easy things you can do.

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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 16 Jun 2011 03:22 pm

hmmm, dont realy know what to do tbh, my mechanic keeps telling me that the best way to get extra bhp from my 340 is th convert it to turbo or fit a supercharger?

however these are both quite expensive upgrades. besides these 2 options there must be some less costly ways to boost the power output.... sports cam exhaust etc..... i understand that back in the day volvo did a sports upgrade kit for these cars (obviously these are near impossible to come by these days)

dont realy know where to start

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Re: more hp?

Post by volvosneverdie » 16 Jun 2011 04:01 pm

spike4073 wrote:hmmm, dont realy know what to do tbh, my mechanic keeps telling me that the best way to get extra bhp from my 340 is th convert it to turbo or fit a supercharger?

however these are both quite expensive upgrades. besides these 2 options there must be some less costly ways to boost the power output.... sports cam exhaust etc..... i understand that back in the day volvo did a sports upgrade kit for these cars (obviously these are near impossible to come by these days)

dont realy know where to start
Cam, bigger manifold and exhaust, and carbs wouldnt be good. Wouldnt be cheap though.
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Chris_C
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Re: more hp?

Post by Chris_C » 16 Jun 2011 04:05 pm

What do you want to do with the car? I'd suggest the best thing to do would be to get a stock 1.7 and drop that in, they are noticably quicker than the 1.4. Changing the cam on a B14 is a fairly epic job in itself, due to it's location the engine has to come out. That's not a lot of work (me and Adam got down to about 45mins to pull engines at one point :lol: :oops: ) but if it has to come out anyway it's no more work to put in a stock 1.7.

Unlike the 440/Renault swaps you wouldn't have to muck about with the conversion to fuel injection, so really is just one out one in. Fighting against a 1960's designed pushrod isn't worth it unless you want to prove a point to yourself ;)
'89(G) 340 GLE B172k
'03 S60 D5 SE, '91 (J) MX5, 1954 Cyclemaster
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'89(F) 340 GL F7R (ex B172k) - Fake -> SBKV 300 Runner Up 08, 12; '91(H) 340 GL B14.4E - Kar; '88(F) 360 GLT B200E - Jet -> BKV 300 Runner Up 09; '89(G) 360 GLT B200E - Beast

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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 16 Jun 2011 04:49 pm

i have thought of dropping in a stock 1.7 ... wasnt sure if the mounts would need adjustment or not...... also mines a cvt transmission, anybody know iff the cvt can handle more power?

and is the 1.7 fuel injected? i wanted to keep it running with a carb realy.

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Chris_C
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Re: more hp?

Post by Chris_C » 16 Jun 2011 07:10 pm

The CVT makes it harder, centrifugal clutch won't fit onto the 1.7 without some thought. I've often thought about putting a CVT behind a manual clutch but you've just gone from super simple to needing to change pedal boxes and random other stuff :(
'89(G) 340 GLE B172k
'03 S60 D5 SE, '91 (J) MX5, 1954 Cyclemaster
Ex:
'89(F) 340 GL F7R (ex B172k) - Fake -> SBKV 300 Runner Up 08, 12; '91(H) 340 GL B14.4E - Kar; '88(F) 360 GLT B200E - Jet -> BKV 300 Runner Up 09; '89(G) 360 GLT B200E - Beast

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Re: more hp?

Post by volvosneverdie » 16 Jun 2011 07:12 pm

Props are different lemgths too.

K4M 1.6 engine is a fit in a vario. I think it would handle the power.
16v, 115hp.
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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 16 Jun 2011 07:22 pm

arent they fuel injection tho?......... i dont get on with those... would deffo prefer a carb setup :)

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Re: more hp?

Post by volvosneverdie » 16 Jun 2011 07:23 pm

spike4073 wrote:arent they fuel injection tho?......... i dont get on with those... would deffo prefer a carb setup :)
Never thought of that. :oops:
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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 16 Jun 2011 07:27 pm

its a shame too they look like good little motors

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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 16 Jun 2011 07:29 pm

ive been told the renault 5 drops in pretty easy but i hear bad things about them blowing the head gasket

Jaspersilus
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Re: more hp?

Post by Jaspersilus » 16 Jun 2011 07:57 pm

Hi Mate,
my brother gas flowed the cylinder head( not on a flow bench, but with a drill with polisher tool ), and fitted a k & n air filter, it seemed to make a big difference!
This was on a 1.4!

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Re: more hp?

Post by CBA » 17 Jun 2011 02:07 pm

On my B14 I adjusted the valve clearances as close as possible (how close is up to you), and removed most of the fluff from the exhaust back-box. On top of that I increased tyre pressures to about 40 Rear, 44 Front. It's free and it works.
Adjust the valves hot and just give a few thou clearance, Maybe gives 1/2mm extra valve opening.

Nothing does the b14 better than a good motorway trip....

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spike4073
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Re: more hp?

Post by spike4073 » 18 Jun 2011 12:27 pm

i re-set the valve clearances when i had the cylinder head re-built, as for what i set them at?.... i think i just followed the haynes book,....
anyone know what ideal clearance is?,,,
also think they aint at their best anyway as it does idle a lil rough,,, nothing to be of concern (just annoying)

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