B30 engine length
 

I'm hoping that someone out there with a B30 engine sitting under his workbench can run a tape measure over it and tell me the length from the gearbox mating surface to the front of the crank pulley. I've been Googling forever and I'm unable to find this measurement. Anyone?

I have a tape measure in my hand and would guess about 28 - 30 inches ...

Appreciate the effort, but I'm actually looking for a more preciuse figure, within at most, +/- 1/4". I need to know if it's going to fit the engine compartment before I commit.

of course , what's it going in?

It will fit an Amazon if you move the rad in front of the front panel and you don't want a heater box.

Land Rover

A Landrover, that will be an interesting project is it an old series type?

Talking of B30 engine transplants take a look at this

https://lirp.cdn-website.com/898b2e8...Web+3-480w.jpg

it a factory installation of the B30 for the Marcos 3 Litre

https://www.rory.uk.com/marcos-3-litre-volvo

Definitely a Series Land Rover - the only kind!

A mate of mine years ago drove a B30-engined Land Rover. It ran like a sports car and sounded just as great. I'm thinking of duplicating it, but the extra length could be an issue.

I suppose the massive weight wont matter in a land rover , it might even be a bonus for traction ... however consider the alloy straight six Volvo 960 engine , probably shorter with its close bore spacing to allow front wheel drive in the later S80 . not to mention 65 extra bhp :-)

I'm strictly old school. That engine is far too complex and modern for a Land Rover, and it's probably rather delicate. You're not going to fix something like that in the woods, or alongside the highway at 3 a.m. in a snowstorm, using hand tools and a roll of duct tape. This is Canada, don't forget! Most damning of all, it's almost certainly wearing electronic fuel injection (shudder). Death before digital!!! Electronics put me at the mercy of those evil, money-grubbing masters of the add-on charges, the "professional repair shops". No thank you! If I'm staying with gasoline, it has to be carbs and mechanical ignition.

I have an offer from someone who says he has the dimensioned installation drawings for the marine version of the B30, the Penta AQ170, if he can lay his hands on them. I know those are dimensioned to the millimeter, but I'm not sure if it would measure to the bellhousing line.

Of course, he'd really be my friend if he had the triple-carb manifold that went on the AQ's... :icon_smile_lachuh:

The Volvo C303 was fitted with a B30. Rather more akin to a Land Rover so might be worth Googling for pictures.

Pretty sure they use to fit Holden 186 and 202 straight 6s back in the day in Australia. No idea sorry how they compare size wise.

B30 for sale on eBay, message the seller he might measure it for you:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373628888...wAAOSwu1dg158a

Rover 3 litre P5 engine not your cup of tea? A common swap back in the day.
Factory six pots were 2.6.
Marginally less easy to find than a B30 though..

Comprehensively Googled, my son! Got a file of bright red engine photos as thick as your arm. Not one length measurement in the lot, B30 or AQ165/170 included.

Marginally??? :laughing-smiley-003

The 3-litre is virtually unknown in this country except in a few specially-imported collector cars, never having been sold here (Canada, remember?) The 2.6 is only slightly better known, but there were only a handful sold, mostly in Land Rovers (I've owned some). The B30 is far more numerous, and I've owned a couple of those also. We had a Volvo plant in this town for 35 years. The B30 is more reliable, more powerful, and you can actually buy parts for them. And I like them. A lot.

The Volvo B30 is stronger more powerful if I remember right a little bit lighter, more reliable then the 2.6 and 3.0 BMC straight six motors as fitted in the Austin Healy 3000, MGC, Austin 3 Litre saloon.

Also more tuning parts like cams heads exhausts etc

B30 will fit in a series land rover, it fits in a P1800 see here https://www.glenngoodspeed.com/volvo/six-cylinder.htm

you could change the front to a defender or a stage one type front grille that will give some extra space if needed

That's definitely a shoehorn job for sure! Switching to a different manifold would have alleviated the crowding on that side. I really can't see room for the radiator in that set-up, but it must be there. I certainly like the concept, but the stupid boy-racer "wheel arches and wide wheels" look really spoils the whole thing. The Mad Max beer-keg/tank is a humorous touch. Possibly the stock fuel tank was too far gone to be saved.

Looking at this conversion reminded me of another question I have about interchangability between the B30 and the 4-cyl engines, but I've posted that as a separate thread.

Luckily, a flush-grille modification on the Land Rover isn't necessary. The one I rode in years ago still had the Series IIA front end. All that was required were some basic sheetmetal mods to the engine side of the radiator panel. You have to use the 164 rad anyway, and since it's wider, thinner, and not as tall, you can move it farther forward into the radiator panel without affecting the outward appearance. Flat-fronting a Series ruins the distinctive front end and reduces it to Defender status.

Correction: Just spotted the rad - in the exterior shot. Guess he wasn't planning on speed-bumps/sleeping policemen. Must be strictly a circuit car.

I think that there has been B30 conversions which have used twin rads, one each side of the front of the engine. Rads don't have to be conventionally shaped.

I've seen twin rads in other applications, you're right. The P1800 is a tight fit, however you look at it, but it would be wonderful as a 6-cylinder, that's for certain.

Circling back to my original question, I'm still stuck trying to find out a length measurement for this engine. Otherwise, I've got a two-hour round trip to completely empty out and repack a large storage unit to get the measurement myself, whether I end up taking the engine or not. Also, I have the seller of a 3-carb manifold on hold until I find out if this is a going concern or dead in the water, so if anyone has a B30 and some time on his hands this weekend....:regular_smile:

yeah the 1800 is a bit of a bodge up for sure but it does show the size of the engine.

You are not wrong about the flat fronts on a series land rover, surely a step too far as styling goes and yes it brings down the series vehicles to a lesser beast even if that does look like a factory stage one model.

This might be of help.

bdhurley, you are my new best friend!!! I don't know where you found this diagram, but it's exactly what I'm after. There's enough there for me to calculate the dimension I need, plus every other aspect of this engine. I cannot thank you enough, sir!