has anyone done this, my friend has acess to a free 740 wagon with 16 valve motor that broke a belt. and has a couple of 8 valve heads. he has the ability to do this. has anyone here done it? if so how much extry work, parts are involved. yea i know why slow down a brick. thanks for any help

While the 8V head will bolt on, I don't think it will be a workable option. The cc of the 16V head is considerably larger than the 8V head, and the 16V engine already runs a rather high CR (10.5:1 I think), so I believe you would end up with an unworkable compression ratio (i.e. pings all the time even on 94 octane.)
--
Speed Racer, '83 240 R, '93 940 OL1 (East Hartford, CT)

If a 16-valve B234F engine is in the salvage yard due to a broken timing belt, it may have some bent valves (hopefully only 2). The B234F engine was the only interferance 4-cylinder red-block engine shipped to the US market. If you decide not to undertake the project, I'm sure you could find a buyer for that head (even in it's current state) since they were only made for 3 years and parts are VERY RARE in salvage yards.

Regarding the question of putting the 16-valve head on your current 8-valve engine, this is a lot more involved than the "plug-and-play" solution that you're hoping for. There are people who have done it, and several examples come to mind of the top of my head. The best documented example is Ryan Wynott's 780 with a 16 valve head, turbocharger, and custom fuel injection system. His website apears to be down, but here's the link in case it comes back up later: http://bertone.wynott.ca/

Also check out the following webpage:
http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~amh110/16_valve_turbo_volvo.htm There's information and details that you're looking for.

Most people would opt not to undertake this project unless you're willing to have a long term time investment, a decent amount of funding, access to a machine shop to fabricate some parts, and a casual pace for building the beast. (in other words, have another daily driver and a garage spot you're willing to have occupied for a long time) It's not necessary to transfer the balance shafts to the new engine, but you may want to grab the crankshaft from the B234 since it's Forged and incredibly strong. Also, grab the AW-72 transmission since the 16-valve head will create a different Torque and HP curves than what your current transmission is valved for, and the AW-72 that's mated to the B234F will have the shift points at the proper spots. -I think they may have used a different rear-axle differential ratio too...

FYI, Volvo did build several 780 GT vehicles that had a 16-valve Turbo and utilized the European B204FT version. I believe they were sold in the Italian market, and at least one car was kept in Sweden for the President of Volvo to drive). I'm looking for more information about what ECU was used to power this vehicle, and if the standard Volvo 2.2 Turbo injectors were used for this car (they apear to be the Bosch 357-blue turbo injectors from the pictures I've seen). A documented example of this rare 780 GT version is here: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Garage/6570/10053/10053.html I believe the stock specs for this car listed something around 200 hp or more.

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 240 Wagon, 251k miles.
'88 Black 780, PRV-6, 146k miles.

hi fitz and thanks for the info, i will save it because its great info. exept in my post i guess i wasnt clear on what were thinking of doing. we want to remove the 16 valve head with bent valves and install the 8 valve head. for a daily driver, grocery getter. and probably sell the 16 valve head as is. thanks again.

Fitz,

I think that the original poster was looking to do the inverse of what you suggested. 8 valve head on a 16 valve block, instead of a 16 valve head on a 8 valve block.

I don't know anything about the b234 so I cannot be of much help there.

Jes