240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Good morn Dave,

Are you sure there are two camshaft seals? It is mostly different on a bike, there don't tend to be seals as they are almost all chain driven (usually from the middle of the crank), but I can't see why there would be a seal of the back end of the engine (the shaft looks like it ends inside the cam cover). I'll have look at the Book of Haynes today and order either one or two.

Yes and no Alan. There will certainly be a seal at the front to prevent oil getting on the timing belt and anywhere else at the front of the engine.

At the back, on later engines with the distributor mounted on the back of the head, there is another seal to prevent the dizzy filling up with oil.

I can't quite remember the arrangement on yours as it has the dizzy mounted on the front of the block on the left hand side. Either there will be another similar oil seal at the back of the camshaft to prevent the oil making a bid for freedom or, as something in the back of my mind says, Clifford also suggests and this photo from the listing would also suggest, a semi-circular rubber bung :



Looking at the new head, it doesn't have any of the studs on it for the exhaust or inlet manifolds, 'stat housing etc. I'd strongly suggest ordering new exhaust manifold studs (and nuts!) as a set and would also be inclined to order the inlet manifold studs as well. I'd probably go the whole hog and order the 'stat housing studs too.

Along similar lines, there are usually a pair of hollow dowels in the underside of the head that fit into two or more of the holes where the head bolts go for positive location on the block - again to make life easy i'd probably order these as well.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I don't know if Volvo dealers still carry shims, i know my local dealer is closed at the moment thanks to the Chinese - i'm blaming them for CV-19 and all the problems it's caused!

It is okay to blame the Chinese for the Kung 'Flu - after all, it is their fault.

Stay safe.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Yes and no Alan. There will certainly be a seal at the front to prevent oil getting on the timing belt and anywhere else at the front of the engine.

At the back, on later engines with the distributor mounted on the back of the head, there is another seal to prevent the dizzy filling up with oil.

I can't quite remember the arrangement on yours as it has the dizzy mounted on the front of the block on the left hand side. Either there will be another similar oil seal at the back of the camshaft to prevent the oil making a bid for freedom or, as something in the back of my mind says, Clifford also suggests and this photo from the listing would also suggest, a semi-circular rubber bung :

Looking at the new head, it doesn't have any of the studs on it for the exhaust or inlet manifolds, 'stat housing etc. I'd strongly suggest ordering new exhaust manifold studs (and nuts!) as a set and would also be inclined to order the inlet manifold studs as well. I'd probably go the whole hog and order the 'stat housing studs too.

Along similar lines, there are usually a pair of hollow dowels in the underside of the head that fit into two or more of the holes where the head bolts go for positive location on the block - again to make life easy i'd probably order these as well.

Just one rotary seal Dave, at the front where the sprocket fits (I've ordered one for about a fiver).

If the old head looks okay, is petrol tight and flat when I take it off I'll probably just clean it up and re-fit it, keep the new head as a spare (may need it one day, and it was cheap at £99). If I'm not sure I'll swap everything over to the new head and fit that. If any studs are damaged I'll change them as I go of course.

Stay safe,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

If any studs are damaged I'll change them as I go of course.

Stay safe,

Alan

These are worth their weight in gold Alan :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laser-Too...m/163095214936

The harder you work it, the harder it works, i've had impact wrenches on mine and shifted some very reluctant studs without any problems.
The jaws tighten as you try to loosen the stud (the chuck is a left hand thread) so the more you try to turn the stud, the tighter it grips. Whether you need one or not remains to be seen but i wouldn't be without mine now.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

These are worth their weight in gold Alan :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laser-Too...m/163095214936

The harder you work it, the harder it works, i've had impact wrenches on mine and shifted some very reluctant studs without any problems.
The jaws tighten as you try to loosen the stud (the chuck is a left hand thread) so the more you try to turn the stud, the tighter it grips. Whether you need one or not remains to be seen but i wouldn't be without mine now.

I have something like that Dave - different make I think, and I think mine is 3/8" drive (although I could be wrong, I have not seen it in the garage for some time - might take a while to find it if I need it!).

Stay safe.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I have something like that Dave - different make I think, and I think mine is 3/8" drive (although I could be wrong, I have not seen it in the garage for some time - might take a while to find it if I need it!).

Stay safe.

As long as it's more like the one i linked to earlier Alan and not one like this :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laser-029...m/362439915650

Although made by the same people, it doesn't do the job anywhere near as well and certainly doesn't cope with high torque!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

As long as it's more like the one i linked to earlier Alan and not one like this :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laser-029...m/362439915650

Although made by the same people, it doesn't do the job anywhere near as well and certainly doesn't cope with high torque!

... I have one like that as well. It is really useful for removing the very long studs used to secure heads and barrels to crankcases on 2 strokes, particularly air cooled ones. Invaluable for bikes and jet skis where space is tight and one does not want to use an impact driver on the soft aluminium.

[Stephen Edwin]

Re: The Two Heads


Othen.

The forum had a very similar situation recently. That member had the two heads assessed by engine engineers.

I commend that idea to you.

In that instance the advice was to use the existing head.

But hey. What if there is an issue with the existing head itself, not just the gasket?

As always, your choice.

Stay safe.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Am i right in thinking your HG set includes the camshaft oil seals?

The head gasket arrived with the postie - the delivery seems to get later and later in the day - perhaps due to the kung 'flu?

It seems a very complete set, and there looks to be a camshaft front oil seal included, so I'll have a spare. That may not be a bad thing :-)

Stay safe.

Alan

[Othen]

Along with the head gasket set for the Royal Barge, the postie brought a DVLA reminder to tax one of my bikes - a 1976 Suzuki 2 stroke. It seems like a very clumsy system: DVLA writes to me telling me the free tax is going to run out and I have to tax it again for free, I log into the DVLA website and type in a 16 digit number, DVLA knows all about the bike (that it is insured and MoT exempt), I still have to tick a box saying that it really is MoT exempt, a few screens later the bike is taxed until 1 June next year (free).

The above is wonderfully British bureaucracy - but it works and it is really generous of the government to let me ride a 44 year old motorcycle around without paying about £20 tax.

I mention this because the Royal Barge will qualify for the same scheme on 1 April next year, and it will make me happy to drive a ton and a half of car that only does 25 MPG around on British roads for free :-)

Stay safe.