B-Motor TURBO build?

[paulh]

so ive been kicking around ideas for my 73 EMS, and lately ive decided on using a 78 turbo engine that i have from a parts car, supposedly rebuilt, but who really knows. thinking of putting my d-jet intake on the thing and running megasquirt along with a newer 8v exhaust manifold and most likely a TD04-16t that i have laying around. anything i should be particularly concerned about with the b-motor? im planning to give it a fresh head gasket at the least and was thinking about swapping in some later 9.0:1 turbo pistons to make it a bit peppier on the low end, perhaps along with my 73's original pre-smog cam. how high can i rev the thing without stuff breaking? Any ideas are welcome, and feel free to call me a fool and tell me to just put a 16v h motor in the thing :lol:

Paul

[Jordan]

I'd say go for it. Later pistons and megasquirt will probably decrease the big kick from the 8v turbos, which is probably a good thing. I believe the 'turbo' cams move the power curve down the rev range a bit for more low end, the opposite of the hotter N/A cams.

What will you use for knock detection?

Fitting a 16v motor is certainly doable, but the constant fabrication of parts would get annoying, imho , along with decrease engine bay space.

What do you plan to do with the car?

[paulh]

yeah i was thinking that the 73 ems cam would help make the powerband a bit more reasonable, im not looking to make the thing into a huge low end torque monster. for knock detection, nutcase over on saabcentral installed a knock sensor on his 99, looks fairly straightforward, just some drilling and tapping. the other issue with the 16v swap is that my car has the early master cyl, and it looks like it might be an issue as far as clearance is concerned, and from what ive seen theres no reasonable way to retrofit the later master cyl setup. not really sure what i plan on using the car for, probably just a fun street car, maybe some auto-x and track days, its not my main car so theres no real need for any reliability, otherwise i would definitely be going for the 16v swap.

Paul

[Geoff]

I say go for it! Just be aware that some of the parts are getting tougher to find (timing components, head gaskets maybe). The H engine manifold and later turbo (does the TD04 have the same bolt pattern as the T3?) would be perfect, so would the MS.

Yes, run APC or something like that!

You can rev a NA B engine to 9000rpm (keep it below 8500 to be safe) if all of your components are in good shape AND you have dual valve springs. So you could probably do the same with a turbo but maybe keep it lower than that since you'll be forcing a lot of air in too.... Without the dual valve springs keep it below 6000rpm. Jack Lawrence sells the dual valve springs and necissary components.

[paulh]

well, sounds like i need dual valve springs then

yeah the TD04 is from a volvo 850, its sorta a t3 flange, same bolt pattern but volvo has this screwy interlocking flange, so you just need a small adapter to turn it into a regular t3 flange, looks like this:


Paul

[GRMPer]

There's a trend in the Volvo 240 crowd to do light pressure turbos on the stock B230 NA engine. I've been thinking that a junkyard manifold, rebuilt turbo and some plumbing would be good for at least 30-40 horsepower on a B-motor...adding just that little extra kick, without too much hassle.

[Luke]

I had a 73 ems cam and non-lamda fuel metering plate in a B motor turbo and it scooted pretty well. The B motor turbos tend to crack cylinder heads pretty readily.

[Crazyswede]

Per, the volvo 240 turbos from the early 80's had a 6 port CIS fuel distributor with 2 of the ports either plugged or just not drilled out. The 6 cylinder distributors were supposed to flow a little more fuel. A common easy change for a CIS car is to swap one of these in. I happen to have one sitting in my spare bedroom if you want it. Just let me know and you can have it for shipping.

[GRMPer]

Sure...would that just be for the turbo idea or would it also help an NA? More fuel typically doesn't make power, so I'm thinking that this would just help keep the motor together under boost....

Anybody have B Turbo bits like the intake tract and manifold?

[Luke]

Sure...would that just be for the turbo idea or would it also help an NA? More fuel typically doesn't make power, so I'm thinking that this would just help keep the motor together under boost....

Anybody have B Turbo bits like the intake tract and manifold?

I still have all the bits for a B motor turbo: Manifold, oil feed/ drain lines, oil filter assembly with outlets for oil cooler, distributor, intake ducting, pressure ducting, rebuilt turbo (later internal wastegate type) ... I also have a turbo block with turbo pistons and a brand new jackshaft from saab with about 10k miles on it, would need a hone job since its been sitting without a head on it for some time.

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

poo on turbos

[Crazyswede]

Per I was also cleaning out my Saab pile at my parents house today and I came across the black coolant reservoir out of my 75 99. You can have it if you are still in need of one.

[GRMPer]

Yes to the tank...email me at per@grassrootsmotorsports.com for payment/shipment info.

Luke, I'll get with you on that stuff.

[Luke]

A 75 tank, although black, would still be setup for the later coolant lines and be smaller in diameter than the earlier ones.