Great picture. I'd agree with you about the parts, but there are very few people making stuff for these cars now. It's always been that buying a matching set of pieces from one maker is the best way to ensure the parts fit correctly. Now we mostly have mix an match as we can unless we go to one of the Swedish specialists like KG or perhaps TT in Holland. This inlet would almost certainly fit with the normal Volvo twin outlet manifold. Either one from an F.I. car or by cutting out the inlet part from a twin outlet B18/20A combined manifold. This is fine up to about 145 bhp and a much better choice than either types of tubular 4 branch ones. Don't cut out the twin carb section from one of these unless it is one of the nasty emissions type.

Probably a bit too late for the OP but general mind-wandering thinking on this, i wonder if a tame exhaust builder could fabricate a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold and an inlet manifold that weren't an interference fit with each other? :thinking:

As I said, I don't think that the interference here is of any consequence and is easily fixed. Not like some repro panels that have to get lots of fettling before they can be fitted to the car. These tubular exhausts are built on a jig and this one likely to match with the earlier Volvo alloy inlet manifold. After a while jigs often get a bit "loose". Volvo themselves sold an alloy inlet like this one for a downdraught Solex/Weber in one of their R-Sport range of tuning kits. Rarely seen though.

That wasn't quite what i was getting at - rather than buying the bits ready made, have them made so they definitely fit, more for someone else contemplating a similar conversion.

Volvo did a tuning kit for the 740 which had bigger valves, higher compression and a VX cam couple with a 4-2-1 manifold and 60mm exhaust system - can't remember if there was an uprated FPR included or not but it boosted power from IIRC 112bhp to 136bhp on the B230F engine.

Bigger gains are likely to be had on the older B18/20 Amazon engines as they're not so constricted by emissions control kit.

Do the two centre pipes just need pushing closer together to clear?

Not a simple as that ... they need pushing back and down around a half inch.

Now all sorted and running like clockwork .... :regular_smile:

Gave up on the shoddy header in the end and had the village blacksmith cut the inlet off the factory one piece unit. [his cutter is bigger than mine. lol]. Also had to grind down x2 of the original stud shoulders as the Webcon inlet mounts sat 3.5mm lower.

The car drives beautifully as is ... but will check the overall jetting on the rollers when all's bedded down. Happy days ....

Good stuff, the cast exhaust manifold flows well and will last for ages more.