Engine Rebuild

I got a bit bored waiting a few months for my media blasting guy to be ready for my car so I decided to tear the engine down.  Before I pulled the motor I ran a cold compression test on it, and got between 145 to 155 psi on the cylinders, so no real need to do any major work - except boredom...

 Redneck Valve Job

 When I pulled the rod bearings they looked brand new so I left the mains untouched and re-used the rod bearings.  a quick hone, new set of stepped rings (New Old Stock) on Ebay for $40 and we are on our way. Except... I overtorqued the cam nut on the timing gear and snapped the end of the cam off.  Oh well it could probably use a C grind rally cam and new lifters.  - that's what it got.

Olof also sold me a half a pint of the original Volvo orange engine paint he had on hand.  cleans up nicely.

 Oil leakage was a problem with this engine as it is in almost all B18 and B20 Volvo engines.  I got a new rear seal flange with a proper modern seal in it.  I left the felt one in the front housing though, it's easy to change without pulling the motor.

 Another upgrade I wanted to do was to put a modern alternator in the car.  I had a Delco alternator in my old '70 145 wagon, and it was great.  It solved a lot of electrical problems that car had before that.  Surfing around the 'net I found out that Hitachi alternators from the late 80's Nissans are better for this type of conversion because they have low output (35a) similar to what the Generator in the 544 had stock and a smaller footprint.  I decided to try this.  just a minor change to the existing genny mount and it will work perfectly.

Also put in a new water pump.  Back when I had my '73 145 wagon the water pump bearing broke and pushed the fan through the rad while I was driving on the freeway in rush hour traffic.  That is something you really only want to experience once.

Also needed to overhaul the carbs.  Again looking around the net, the big issue with the SU HS6 is the throttle shaft bushing wearing out and causing vacuum leaks around the throttle shaft.  Of course why would this common problem not be happening to this old car too.  I bought a 3/8" chucking reamer and replaced the bushings using some instructions I found on an old MG website.  With that and the rebuild kit, the carbs will hopefully work like brand new.