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93+ block, is it really worth it?

sc0terdad

sc0terdad

Active member
Joined
May 1, 2020
Location
Victoria, Bc
so I am starting my very first build here, I have read and seen that by all means it is a better "cooler" option to have a 93+ block for a turbo build as it keeps the engine from knocking, but I have also seen that there are plenty of people out there running non squirter motors in their cars and are making similar power figures to what I intend to make (250-300whp(ish))

the intent for the car is that it will be regularly driven two or three times a week and needs to be relatively reliable.
if anyone has applicable experience I would love to hear it.

thanks
 
additionally if the answer is yes; I cant seem to source a decent 93+ block, how difficult is the squirtsential rental kit for someone who has EXTREMELY little machining experience?
 
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A 93+ block with squirters doesn't prevent knock, which most would interpret as rod knock or spark knock, it prevents piston slap, which is an issue with B230 motors. Not really a big issue. I always saw it as an annoyance.

If you can get a squirter block for a new build then go for it, but it is a nice to have in my opinion, not essential. For your use case I wouldn't sweat it.
 
sc0terdad said:
additionally if the answer is yes; I can seem to source a decent 93+ block, how difficult is the squirtsential rental kit for someone who has EXTREMELY little machining experience?
Click to expand...

My first question would be how much experience do you have tearing down & building engines? If you are NOT familiar & comfortable with that process, it makes zero sense to embark on the DIY machining to add the squirters.
 
lookforjoe said:
My first question would be how much experience do you have tearing down & building engines? If you are NOT familiar & comfortable with that process, it makes zero sense to embark on the DIY machining to add the squirters.
Click to expand...

yeah so in terms of engine tear down my experience is next to none so that answers the question I guess.
 
not worth it, just find a 90+ NA motor and put turbo parts on it. The NA motors tend to be less clapped out at this age.
 
Find whatever 90 or newer engine has the lowest miles. Oil squirters are nice but not a make or break. They?re certainly not going to save you from a bad tune and/or too much boost.
 
Marvelous3 said:
Find whatever 90 or newer engine has the lowest miles. Oil squirters are nice but not a make or break. They?re certainly not going to save you from a bad tune and/or too much boost.
Click to expand...

in terms of miles, two engine I am looking at are both 92 one has 70,000 miles on it for 1k
the other has 140,000 miles for 600

will a gap like this make much difference in performance or would it be wiser to save some money on the higher mile engine?
 
IMO, it is worth it. I wouldn't put anything else in a Volvo I intended to keep. I've had 93+ B230s with 300,000 miles on them that were as quiet as the day they left the factory. I've also had countless non-squirter B230s with less than 150,000 miles on them that sounded like they were coming apart. One thing I have noticed for sure, the squirter motors always run better/stronger when they are higher mileage than the non-squirter engines. I have a couple of theories about that. One, they maintain tighter piston to cylinder tolerances longer. Two, the "noise" from piston slap is interpreted as knock by the EZK. I have never data logged to determine if that theory is correct. The EZK pulls timing when it detects pinging/knock. Having a rattling lower end is not a good thing when running the LH system.
 
sc0terdad said:
in terms of miles, two engine I am looking at are both 92 one has 70,000 miles on it for 1k
the other has 140,000 miles for 600

will a gap like this make much difference in performance or would it be wiser to save some money on the higher mile engine?
Click to expand...

70k is basically brand new.
 
2manyturbos said:
IMO, it is worth it. I wouldn't put anything else in a Volvo I intended to keep. I've had 93+ B230s with 300,000 miles on them that were as quiet as the day they left the factory. I've also had countless non-squirter B230s with less than 150,000 miles on them that sounded like they were coming apart. One thing I have noticed for sure, the squirter motors always run better/stronger when they are higher mileage than the non-squirter engines. I have a couple of theories about that. One, they maintain tighter piston to cylinder tolerances longer. Two, the "noise" from piston slap is interpreted as knock by the EZK. I have never data logged to determine if that theory is correct. The EZK pulls timing when it detects pinging/knock. Having a rattling lower end is not a good thing when running the LH system.
Click to expand...

This^^
My 442k mile 93 B230 is nice and quiet. I did do the hushers when I put the cam in at about 375k miles. Synthetic oil since I got it a 230k miles.

The squirter mod is very straight forward for a competent machine shop. I bought the BMW
squirters to put in my B21FT.
 
If you're aiming for 300hp then you want the 90+ block for the stronger rods and not necessarily the oil squirters. Then you can leave it stock and not have to open it up.
 
people are charging a GRAND for redblocks now? Damn I better go get that 30k mile 760 out of the field up the road toot suite.
 
 
No one wanted any of my engines so I'm keeping them all. It was a few B21FT and one B23FT. No longer for sale. Most are mid to high mileage anyway so certainly not the cream of the cheese.
 
VB242 said:
I thought the group A engines were 60,000 mile blocks, because work hardening
Click to expand...

Real Group A engines probably have some process done to them. They spared no expense
to take advantage of the rules. But the ones we got in the flathood homologation cars are
regular engines. My friends went to about 300k before he sold it and it moved around
to several Tbrickers before disappearing.
 
dl242gt said:
This^^
My 442k mile 93 B230 is nice and quiet. I did do the hushers when I put the cam in at about 375k miles. Synthetic oil since I got it a 230k miles.

The squirter mod is very straight forward for a competent machine shop. I bought the BMW
squirters to put in my B21FT.
Click to expand...

where did you get the bmw squirters and which ons did you use, additionally how much did you have to pay the machine shop to have them installed?
 
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