How many Volvo B18/20 owners?

Thread View: net.auto.tech

3 messages

[T] Back to Threads [V] Tree View [G] Group Articles

3 total messages Started by Gregory Travis Wed, 27 Nov 1985 16:42

#156

Author: Gregory Travis
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1985 16:42

25 lines
1958 bytes

Hi,  I'm new to this group, but delighted to see it.  I'm interested in
finding out how many people who read this group own Volvos with either
B18 or B20 (also B30) engines (120 series, 140 series, 160 series, 1800
series).  I'm something of a Volvo fanatic - I've had 2 Vo's - a '74
142 (B20F (Fuel Inj)) and now own a '70 145 (B20B (dual Strombergs).
I'm getting ready to attempt an engine rebuild on the latter (120000
miles, never had the head off) and am interested in corresponding with
anyone who has ever done this.  I do most of the mechanical work on my
car but have never done much to the actual engine (I took off the head and
reground the valves on the '74) so I want to find out as much as possible
about the procedure first.

On another note, I've been putting in a tank of unleaded premium into
my semi-high compression B20B to eliminate knock & runon - can anyone think
of a reason this might not be a good idea?  I've talked to several
mechanics around here and they all have differing opinions.  On the bad side,
I might burn my valves, on the plus side damaging knock doesn't occur.
The engine is cast iron throughout (block & head).  I can't find anything
above 89 octane regular around here.

-- 
    Gregory R. Travis
    Institute for Social Research - Indiana University - Bloomington, In
    ihnp4!inuxc!isrnix!greg
    {pur-ee,allegra,qusavx}!isrnix!greg

Re: How many Volvo B18/20 owners? (reply to pinging of B20 problem)

#177

Author: Kevin Szabo
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1985 18:01

15 lines
1274 bytes

When I rebuilt my B20 (at 90k .. for something to do) I
noticed that the single carb B10 used a lower octane fuel.
This was due to a thicker head gasket that lowered the
compression of the engine.  Since high-octane fuel was
scarce, and anyone who owns a 145s/B20 probably doesn't
care about performance :-), I used the thicker gasket.
I have no problems running on regular gasoline.

If you decide to go with the thicker head gasket don't
forget to get the correct water pump gasket o-rings as
well.  They have to be longer than the regular ones.

			Kevin
-- 
Kevin Szabo' watmath!watvlsi!ksbszabo (U of W VLSI Group, Waterloo, Ont, Canada)

Re: How many Volvo B18/20 owners?

#195

Author: Eric McRae
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1985 14:35

17 lines
1484 bytes

>On another note, I've been putting in a tank of unleaded premium into
>my semi-high compression B20B to eliminate knock & runon - can anyone think
>of a reason this might not be a good idea?  ...

I owned a 71' 145 with a B20B (SU's).  The engine was designed for 95
octane gasoline...tough to find.  Volvo published a note saying that
you should use leaded gas at least 30% of the time.  The lead
additives help lubricate the valve guides.  The mixture is not
critical.  You can burn two tanks of unleaded, then a tank of leaded.
They (Volvo) also have a set of head gaskets that lower the
compression ratio and allow you to use regular.  Check with your
local dealer.

I sold the 145 at 140,000 miles.  It's never been reworked.  I still
see it every day.  I now have a 82 turbo wagon (intercooled - kit)
which I love and hope to drive into the next century.

Thread Navigation

This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.

Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.

Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.

Back to All Threads