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Oddz-
I have a car that sounds identical to yours. Same year, same trim-line, same transmission, and same engine. The engine is a 114HP B230F, which is a 2.3L 4-cylinder with 8 valves. A few years after our cars were made, Volvo tried a new version of our engine called the B234F. This had basically the same block, but a new head with 16 valves instead of the 8 in ours. The result seems to have been much more power but more problems. I don't have any personal experience to go on, but I've read a lot on this board about reliability problems with the 16V head. I guess it was a good idea that didn't quite execute the way it should have. I've only ever heard of this engine being put on 740GLE models in around '90, (maybe '89), and perhaps later. So what we're stuck with is a really reliable car, (if you take care of it), that doesn't exactly fly and is hard to get more power out of.
Personally, I'm planning to do a few things like replace that fan clutch with an electric cooling fan and maybe install a new cam of some kind if I can find one that doesn't get me horsepower at the cost of the low-end torque which is the best part of the engine. Little things like that will squeeze out a few extra horsepower, but it's not going to be anything like a 160HP Turbo of the same era. Instead, I think that there's a lot to be done with the handling of this car. Swaybars, wider wheels, loweing springs, shoocks, and not to mention new bushings all around would make this very nice in the corners. I think that it would also make it a little safer, should I need the extra handling capability in an emergency situation. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)
Anyway, appreciate your car for what it is: a well engineered, very safe vehicle that has the potential to get you where you're going for a disgustingly long period of time.
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