I finally took the motor apart on the mystery motor
that came in the trunk of my $300 68 145.

For those who don't remember, the mystery motor had a
crazy oil pan (that had a hole in it), double wound
valve springs and IPD pushrods.

The motor looks like it has zero miles on it. It has
volvo pistons and the rods look like they were balanced
(as had the crank). Oddly, the rods were in a crazy
order -- 1342. Is the whole reciprocating mass balanced
together or is each individual part balanced by itself?
Does it matter what order the rods are put back in as long
as they've got the correct bearings?

Anyhow, the car has a cam with the following numbers on
it. It would be wonderful if anyone knew what they meant.

I5

made in USA
T5

K235
cwc

The cam looks to be in perfect shape. I'm debating as to
if I should reuse the IPD pushrods or have them resurfaced or
if I should get new ones. Anyone know what they are, if there
is a cheap source of them (as long as I've already got the
pushrods I don't need to go through IPD to get another set).

The car will eventually be fuel injected but for now I
will be putting SU HIF6s on it.

What is the cheapest anyone has found the super thick head
gasket? This head has been milled a couple times. Would it
be possible to reduce the compression ratio by taking material
out of the combustion chamber? I guess I'd have to CC the head
after doing that.

thanks,
chris

I think cwc stands for Crane World Cams. You can go to their website
(CraneCams.com, I believe) and by entering a part number of the form 790-0012
you can pull up a spec card. Mine looks like this:
Part Number: 790-0012
Grind Number: F-232/294-2-10
Engine Ident: 1962-75 VOLVO B-18 & B-20 4 CYLINDER
1780-1990 C.C.


VALVE SETTING: INTAKE .016 EXHAUST .018 ----> HOT

LIFT: INTAKE @CAM 294 @VALVE 441 ROCKER ARM RATIO
EXHAUST @CAM 308 @VALVE 462 1.5
ALL LIFTS ARE BASED ON ZERO LASH AND THEORETICAL ROCKER ARM RATIOS

CAM TIMING OPENS CLOSES ADV DURATION
@ .016 INTAKE 29 BTDC 61 ABDC 270 °
TAPPET LIFT EXHAUST 74 BBDC 26 ATDC 280 °

SPRING REQUIREMENTS
TRIPLE DUAL OUTER INNER
PART NUMBER 902-0004

LOADS:
CLOSED 80 LBS @ 1.531 OR 1 17/32
OPEN 205 LBS @ 1.111
RECOMMENDED RPM
RANGE WITH MATCHING COMPONENTS
MINIMUM RPM 2200
MAXIMUM RPM 5600
VALVE FLOAT 6200

CAM TIMING OPENS CLOSES MAX LIFT DURATION
@ .050 INTAKE 11 BTDC 41 ABDC 105 °ATDC 232 °
TAPPET LIFT EXHAUST 56 BBDC 6 ATDC 115 °BTDC 242 °

REMARKS:
----------------------------------------------------
The grind number is on the rear end of the cam. Crane's search
engine ONLY finds specs by part number, but they give a FAX number
where you can fax the other info on the end of your cam and they
will send you a spec sheet.

You can re-use IPD pushrods with no problems. The lifters are OK
if in good shape but should be rematched with mating cam lobe, so
number them when you take them out.

I think you can get the thick headgasket for a standard bore engine
from about any reputable supplier. I wouldn't be overly concerned
with having one any thicker than the standard "F" engine gasket.
(A big bore engine may present additional problems.)
I would NOT recommend taking material out of the combustion chamber
to reduce the CR.

While it is good practice to put the rods on in order they are supposedly
identical and the most important thing is to make sure that the cap is
the right one for the rod and you don't put it on backwards. Should be
marked to help prevent this.

I understand that the crank is pretty much balanced by itself and if the
big ends, small ends and pistons are all matched your balance should be
pretty good. If you have a gram balance you might want to check them out.
I was surprised how much I had to remove from a piston skirt to get 5 grams
off the weight.

If put together anywhere near right and not unduly abused, Volvo engines
are surprisingly rugged, so don't sweat the small stuff too much unless
you've got your life savings invested in racing. (In Spanish they call
that «locura».)

Hope the above is helpful,

--
George Downs, The "original" Walrus3, Bartlesville, Oklahoma