Alright, let’s talk about this Volvo straight-six engine I’ve been tinkering with. It wasn’t exactly planned, you know? I stumbled upon it pretty cheap from a guy clearing out his garage. Looked a bit rough, honestly, covered in grime, but the price was right, and I’ve always had a soft spot for these smooth inline engines. Figured it’d be a good project.
First thing I did was get it onto an engine stand. That itself was a bit of a wrestle, those things aren’t light. Once it was secure, I just stood back and looked at it for a bit. You gotta size up the job, right? It was mostly complete, thankfully, just really, really dirty.
Getting Started: The Cleanup and Teardown
I decided to clean the outside first. Didn’t want all that gunk falling inside later. Lots of degreaser, scrubbing with stiff brushes, and patience. Took a good afternoon just to get the worst off.
Then the actual teardown began. I approached it methodically:
- Started with the easy stuff: alternator, power steering pump, intake manifold. Bagged and tagged every bolt. Learned that lesson the hard way years ago!
- Next came the valve cover. Always curious to see what’s underneath. Looked okay, a bit sludgy, but nothing too scary.
- Pulled the cylinder head off. This is always a big moment. Needed a breaker bar for some of those head bolts, they were really on there. Lifted it off carefully – heavy piece of metal.
- Flipped the engine over on the stand to get the oil pan off. More sludge. Typical for an older engine that maybe didn’t get oil changes on the dot.
- Then I started on the bottom end: pulled the pistons and rods out one by one. Checked the bearings as they came out. Some wear, as expected.
Inspection and What I Found
With everything apart, I laid it all out. The cylinder bores actually looked pretty decent, minimal scoring. Crankshaft journals seemed okay too, but I knew I’d get them measured properly just to be sure. The head needed a good cleaning, especially the combustion chambers and valve ports. Lots of carbon buildup there.
Spent a lot of time cleaning individual parts. Wire wheels, solvent tanks, scrapers… you name it. It’s messy work, but kind of satisfying seeing clean metal emerge from under the grime. Found one slightly bent valve, so that went on the replacement list along with gaskets, seals, and bearings. Just makes sense to do it while it’s all apart.
Putting It Back Together
Reassembly is where the real care comes in. Cleanliness is everything. I started with the crankshaft, fitting the new main bearings, carefully torquing the caps down in sequence. Used plenty of assembly lube.
Getting the piston rings on the new pistons without breaking them requires a gentle touch. Then using a ring compressor to slide the pistons back into the bores. Slow and steady. Bolted the connecting rods back onto the crank, again, careful torque specs are key.
Got the cleaned-up head back from the machine shop (they sorted the bent valve and gave it a light skim). Fitted the new head gasket, lowered the head back on, and torqued down the head bolts in the specific pattern Volvo recommends. This part always makes me a bit nervous, gotta get it right.
After that, it was mostly bolting the rest back on: timing gear, oil pump, oil pan, valve train, manifolds. Took my time, double-checking everything. It’s easier to fix mistakes now than when it’s back in a car.
Where It Stands Now
So, the engine’s mostly back together on the stand. Looks a whole lot better than when I started. Haven’t tried to fire it up yet, still need to sort out fuel and spark setup for a test run. But just turning it over by hand, it feels smooth. It was a good bit of work, definitely got my hands dirty, but working on these solid old straight-sixes is pretty rewarding. Just feels like proper engineering, you know?
