Learn Me Volvo B20

I am considering buying a rally car that has a dead B20 in it. I really don't know much about these engines- what should I be planning on? Rebuild? Megasquirt? Toss it and drop in something modern?

Car is a 142 and would be a long distance purchase.

Wow. A dead B20? I'd be worried about the rest of the car, if they killed a B20. ;-)

B20's are still somewhat available (I think I have 2 or 3 sitting in my shop) and rebuild parts aren't expensive. Machine work is no more complicated than on any other old pushrod engine.

I like driving them- they're torquey, reliable little buggers and can spin to about 6500 stock. With an 'E' head they can make up to around 130 HP basically stock, and up to 160 is possible in a still streetable form. The bottom ends are pretty stout, so they can take some boost, too. Forged cranks IIRC.

There's lots of bearing surface, which tends to make spinning them really fast a problem, and you get into the laws of diminishing returns pretty quickly if you do. And they really, really, really don't like being run without oil. Don't ask me how I know.

What's the compression like on this one? Any idea why it died?

It's a rally car, so it probably died due to either over-revving, oil starvation, or just years of abuse. 130hp at the wheels or the flywheel? I don't need a monster, but decent, reliable, easy to drive horsepower is the goal.

A very common failure on these is the timing gears. The cam gear is made of something like particle board. Steel gear-sets are available, but noisier.

I am not an expert but in most cases, won't a B23 or B230 bolt up where a B20 was?

If so you get 300cc of extra displacement and an OHC motor.

Is this the one in CA? I'd do a b230f and +t when you get the required coefficient points (if you plan to run RA).

Well, that's sort of my question- for competition purposes, do I want to keep a B20, or is it equally cost effective to swap something more modern?

Edit: Thanks to RallyMoto, the coefficient points are taken care of. I can drive whatever I want.

I think it would be more cost effective to swap in a newer b23 or b230 just for availability of dirt cheap replacement engines.

I think a b23x might work, but check the hood clearance- it's a little tight in these cars. A B20 would be more "vintage correct" if you care at all. I've never had any trouble finding B20's or parts, though.

The 130 was SAE Net, but at the flywheel, I think.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Well, that's sort of my question- for competition purposes, do I want to keep a B20, or is it equally cost effective to swap something more modern? Edit: Thanks to RallyMoto, the coefficient points are taken care of. I can drive whatever I want.

Well if that's the case, then just get John Lane's Fire Breathing Monster (Turbo-charged PRV goodness) and don't look back!!!

I would definitely go at least B23, if not a B230. On the Volvo's, doing that and a +T is the Easy Button.

In reply to NGTD:

Yeah, he's been trying to sell the FBM for a while. It's really cheap for what you're getting!

In reply to Knurled:

Yeah, I bet the Jerico transmission and Selholm suspension is probably worth what he is asking for it.

Speaking of deals - to the OP - did you see this one? I know it's not RWD, but it seems like a deal.

http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?74250-94-Golf-Project-90-Complete-7-000-(Seattle)

You can go 2.2 liters on a B20 easily. Head gasket might be an issue, but it used to be available from Volvo R sport. Long since dead, I'm sure.

The big pistons are 93mm. Two different options, early is English sized (73 and prior), later (74-75) are metric. Used to be lots of cams available, I bet IPD still has some in the back room, but it would take a phone call for that. Online barely has 240 stuff anymore.

If you are really interested, I can scan my late 70's R-sport catalogue, so you can see all the coolness that is NLA.

Streetwiseguy wrote: If you are really interested, I can scan my late 70's R-sport catalogue, so you can see all the coolness that is NLA.

Oooh, yes please!

I've never figured out how or where to hotlink pics from other than facebook, because old, but I can scan it and email to you, or post on FB and friend you, or whatever the youngsters do with such things now.

Swaps into a 142 can be tough for the same reasons swaps into an 1800 can be tough. Lots of room up in the top of the engine bay, but down by the suspension it gets tight where the steering shaft and upper control arm mounts are. Surprisingly, I recently saw a Miata engine/trans swapped into a 1800 that required very little in the way of modifications. Later Volvo OHC engines don't swap easily, unfortunately. Many have been done (at least in 1800's) with marginal success. Fortunately, the 140 series engine bay as a tad larger and may be easier.

The 130hp was the 70/71 E versions. At the crank (and probably high). The B20E is also fairly high compression (10.5:1 IIRC) and pretty much requires premium (a friend's '71 1800E will still ping on certain brands with an octane honesty problem).

The easy-button is to contact V-Classics on this forum. He's pretty much the expert in North America when it comes to getting power out of a B20. It's literally what he does for a living.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I've never figured out how or where to hotlink pics from other than facebook, because old, but I can scan it and email to you, or post on FB and friend you, or whatever the youngsters do with such things now.

photobucket is where I link all mine from.

Nonack, in something not RWD? lol....

I'm building a B20 (punched out B18 block) with an E head and IPD torque cam right now to put in my 122s. There are lots of performance parts available and a ton of information on the web. The Brickboard has a lot of great info and IPD is great to deal with. There is a fairly easy conversion to add a world class T5 behind a B20 if you want a real 5th gear.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy anything from John Parker at Vintage Performance Developments in New York. I ordered and pre-paid for over $400 in parts well over 2 years ago and have never received a thing. After a little research I found out that this seems to be a common practice of Mr Parker. Multiple emails, phone calls, etc. have gotten me nowhere. Stay away from this vendor.

Also beware punched out B18s. The later castings were good, but some earlier ones can have porosity that gets unearthed during the boring process. There's plenty of B20 blocks out there so punching over a B18 is kindof unnecessary.

It's also possible to build a 2.5 stroker out of these...overbore the B20 to 2.2 and use a crank from...I forget now, but I'm sure I could find it easily on google. I have lots of used parts, if you need anything for the engine (timing covers, water pipe, heads, cranks, pushrods, etc, etc).

In reply to volvoclearinghouse:

Yes. I only built this block because it already had a ton of work done to it from a known shop when I acquired it. If I had to do again I would have just built a B20. I like the idea of a stroker. I'll have to look into that for my next build.

Did you use the steel cam gears on your race motors or the fiber ones?

I just use the fiber gears, they're easy to change and the steel ones can be $$$. Change the gear every 50k miles and they tend to do pretty well. I think I have about 3 or 4 fiber gears in "stock".

Also, I remember reading somewhere that Volvo used a special type of cast iron in their B18/ B20 blocks...IIRC only they and Rolls Royce used such a high-quality iron. They're heavy, but they wear very well.