Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

[EJ392]

alright guys, so i went an surveyed a boat today... the boat was awesome... it was a partially restored fiberform 28, new interior, appolstery, new wiring.... the appliances were old (but very functional), no leaks, the only thing i didnt like were the engines, but the drives are 270s, but at least on the outside look like they are pretty rough.....

the engines are volvo AQ170s... from 1973........

now, i dont know much about hte 170s, but from what ive know, they are a cast iron block, raw water cooled, tripple carb inline sixes...

from what ive gathered, they were quickly relpaced and antiquated by the advent of the marinized small block v8 and the marine v6... needless to say, i have heard that these engines were bullet proof workhorses back in thier day (meaning like 50 years ago)....

what im trying to figure out is "how bad can these engines really be?" i know that because of thier age, parts are expensive and far and few....

lets make a thread thats just volvo 170... what do you guys know about them? how bad are they? once they are in good running condition, are they worth keeping? or does the headache outweigh the 5000$ to drop in 2 brand new chev 350s? (or whatever mates up to a 270 drive)


id love to hear all i can about these things, and if the boat is even worth the headache......

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

Imo, you're pretty much right about the aq170. I don't know if they were known as workhorses or not. Converting to sbc would be very expensive since you need more than just the engines to do the conversion. You also need the exhaust y pipe, V8 flywheel covers, and the outdrives are most likely the wrong gear ratio for the sbc. Essentially, you'd be looking at complete drivetrain swaps, X2...

Unless you've found a good deal on an old, fresh water only, boat with working twins and a rotted out hull, you're looking at big money to repower.

However, some people like projects, and money is no object...

 

[Bondo]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

Ayuh,.... Another thing to check for when going from In-line twins to V-motor twins, is their Spacing....

Odds are, they ain't far enough apart to fit the wider motors...

 

[billbayliner]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

These are good engines. The 1973 drives might be the 250s.
The problem is finding parts like exhaust manifolds. The HGE 6095 is $1,877. There is a used one on Ebay for $1,200.

The center to center spacing is the issue if converting to v-8's. I think the v-8 center/center spacing is 34" or so.
The conversion itself is pretty straight forward, you can find the parts, and you can even change the drives to a 270, 275, 280 . You have to change the lower unit ratio to 1.61:1 anyway.

If the spacing works it could be done. But if you need to fill the transom in and cut new openings, you're looking at a lot of work.

A pair of OHC 4s would work, but might under power this boat. The 170s were probably right at the border line anyway.

The GM 250 cu in 165 inline 6 with the SBC flywheel covers could be made to work and you can stay with the same 1.89:1 ratio drives. But the exhaust is Port side so you'd have to go thru hull with the exhaust or modify an AQ200B Y-pipe and use the port side only.

 

[EJ392]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

the smallblock was just the first engine that came to mind, i know there are better options out there, but like i said... first engine to come to mind. getting back to the 170...

it would probably help if i posted a picture.

http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/washington-state/399336-what-marine-engine.html

that link is from another message board i post on, those are the exact engines that are in this boat

the guy said the port engine needed to be rebuilt when he got the boat, so he swapped the old one out and put a newer 170 motor in, so, one engine is newer than the other... they dont look like they are that complicated and seem to be very simple engines....

these engines run, the drives shift, it seems like you could put this boat in the water, and go somewhere (only god knows how far you will go though...might be just to the other end of the marina...)

what are these motors known for? what parts are most commonly replaced (riser/elbow, manifold ect...)? id immagine that its the standard stuff...

 

[captmello]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

I agree with the poster on the other site that the deck has clearly been repaired incorrectly and covered with some indoor/outdoor carpet.

Seeing that, tells me the boat is not viable for restoration. You can buy plenty of boats with bad motors and rotten hulls, why have you fallen inlove with this one?

 

[billbayliner]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

what are these motors known for? what parts are most commonly replaced (riser/elbow, manifold ect...)? id immagine that its the standard stuff...

Did you read where I posted the price of a replacement exhaust manifold?

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

I wouldn't say they were quickly replaced. The 165/170 had a little over a 10 year run, give or take. They were phased out as Volvo stopped using the old B18/B20/B30 OHV engines in their cars in favor of the OHC engines.

Well maintained and tuned they are powerful, and reliable. Not many marine 3.0L can boast 170 HP.... If yours are in good shape, have good compression, and don't have rotted exhaust manifolds then run them till they drop.

The expensive bits are the exhaust manifold proper, and the circulatory pump. There are some parts that are made out of unobtanium, but for the most part those parts don't really break. The only other thing you really need to watch out for on these is to be sure they don't/haven't overheat. The heads are prone to warping if they do.

 

[HorizonblueDK]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

I have recently purchased a 17 footer with a Volvo AQ170, haven't tried it yet. The boat needs a few jobs, before it's seaworthy. The engine runs fine and has fresh water cooling.




Here in Europe, the AQ 170(which is a B30 engine from the Volvo 164 car) was quite popular in the 70's. Many Scandinavian boats from that time has them. Maybe because the engine is built here

If the engine has not rusted away, it's a fine machine that will run for many years. The most expensive problem is the exhaust manifold. And there are only two options; secondhand or HGE.

As far as I know, it's quite a thirsty engine. But it doesn't suffer from any design faults, like some would say that the Mercruiser 470 does. I have a friend who once had an AQ170 in a very old 14 foot Donzi, and he really treated it bad, but no problems.

 

[EJ392]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

hmmmmmmm.......... yeah i am really on the fence about this boat.... the engines have around 1700 hours, are in need of a rebuild, but they run. but they still gotta get rebuilt, and i doubt the value of the boat will increase that much after an overhaul... im kinda loosing faith in this boat... im leaning to stick with my glasply...

hey now, dont be hating the 470! i have one in my boat and i love it.... its a headache, but you have to get to know it, spend time with it, talk to it... and if you listen it will tell you what it needs..........just like a woman... be nice to it, and keep it tuned up, and dont romp on it, and ive found it to be a reliable engine..... but this isnt a 470 thread.....

 

[Don S]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

hmmmmmmm.......... yeah i am really on the fence about this boat.... the engines have around 1700 hours, are in need of a rebuild, but they run. but they still gotta get rebuilt, and i doubt the value of the boat will increase that much after an overhaul... im kinda loosing faith in this boat... im leaning to stick with my glasply...

hey now, dont be hating the 470! i have one in my boat and i love it.... its a headache, but you have to get to know it, spend time with it, talk to it... and if you listen it will tell you what it needs..........just like a woman... be nice to it, and keep it tuned up, and dont romp on it, and ive found it to be a reliable engine..... but this isnt a 470 thread.....

Do you intentionally go looking for the most expensive, obsolete, engine and drive systems intentionally :facepalm:

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Volvo AQ170.............................for dummies

hmmmmmmm.......... yeah i am really on the fence about this boat.... the engines have around 1700 hours, are in need of a rebuild, but they run. but they still gotta get rebuilt, and i doubt the value of the boat will increase that much after an overhaul... im kinda loosing faith in this boat... im leaning to stick with my glasply...

hey now, dont be hating the 470! i have one in my boat and i love it.... its a headache, but you have to get to know it, spend time with it, talk to it... and if you listen it will tell you what it needs..........just like a woman... be nice to it, and keep it tuned up, and dont romp on it, and ive found it to be a reliable engine..... but this isnt a 470 thread.....

IMHO, you need to look for a different boat. It's one thing if these engines had low hours, and didn't need anything more than some maintenance work. But since you say it's time for a rebuild, I would pass. It's not that it can't be done. But keep in mind the cost of freshening these up VS the cost of finding a boat with engines in top shape.

I dare to say the cost of rebuilding these would probably set you back more than a pair of BBCs. In fact, I'm quite confident in saying it. The over sized piston and ring kits alone will total over $900 (price is both engines totaled together). That's not including bearings, oil pumps, cam and lifters if needed, and the dreaded exhaust manifolds and water pumps. Allot of this stuff is now NLA on the VP website, so your going to be spending many hours making phone calls and surfing the web to find all of it. This isn't even scratching the cost of the machine work either. FYI chances are high when you brought the block and heads to the machine shop, they are going to find cracks in one or both of the heads (these castings were prone to cracks).

The crack(s) may not do much, in fact the head on my 170B has a crack in the exhaust pocket of cylinder 4 that was discovered the last time it was off about 7 or 8 years ago. It hasn't made a difference to the running of the engine, and I bolted it back on without a second thought. Why? Because I didn't just spend thousands to have that engine rebuilt. It was still in working order, but if it tossed it's cookies it's not like it owed us anything (the boat was purchased in '89). You on the other hand would have to either find scarce heads or make the decision to roll the dice... It may work out, or it may cost an engine.