• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

400whp sanity check and questions.

B

bjartur1007

New member
Joined
Jan 19, 2026
heyooo everyone

i am currently in the process of getting everything ready for my volvo 240 for hopefully around 400whp we shall see where we end up, this is a daily/fun street car

my current settup is a 89 block with a 531 head, turbo pistons and h beam rods, ls coils and a vx3 cam and to controll everything a ms3
compression ratio is around 8.7
i am planing on running a hx35 12cm3 (twin scroll) and the kangaroos team twin scroll manafold
i have 1260cc injectors and am debaiting on if i should go down to 1000cc or just keep these ones for now
i plan on running the kl racing oem style intercooler
i plan on running the bmw gs637dz since they are a dime a dozen
car will be ran on RON98 since e85 costs 3 times as much per liter
car will be ran on 2 maps. low boost and high boost since well this is technically my summer daily and 400 whp on a day to day basses seems like a pain in the ass
i have a spare 531 head that i am thinking about porting and maybe going bigger valves if thats something that would be recommended
i plan on running 1.8 bar of boost or whatever the car is happy with (since id rather have a tiny bit less power and have it last longer) for high boost and 1 bar for low boost
-------------
questions
is there anything major wrong with this settup and if so please do tell
what fuel pump would yall recommend running and do the oem fuel lines sufice or should i upgrade them and if so what size should i go up to. i do plan on running the oem gastank
criticisms is welcome.
 
What trans are you going to use in the meantime?
I wouldn't suggest using a VX3 for anything but a slightly tuned n/a car. It's not a bad cam but it's not a high performance cam either. Browse cams on Enem.se or Agap.se for better support for that powr. Something like a V16 or K series of cams from Enem and Agap has a wide range of choice. They speak English so don't hesitate to ask them a question.
 
dl242gt said:
What trans are you going to use in the meantime?
I wouldn't suggest using a VX3 for anything but a slightly tuned n/a car. It's not a bad cam but it's not a high performance cam either. Browse cams on Enem.se or Agap.se for better support for that powr. Something like a V16 or K series of cams from Enem and Agap has a wide range of choice. They speak English so don't hesitate to ask them a question.
Click to expand...
for now its being ran NA till i can get my hands on a gs6 so just the orginal m47 thats in the car, is there any spesific cam you would recommend?
 
bjartur1007 said:
for now its being ran NA till i can get my hands on a gs6 so just the orginal m47 thats in the car, is there any spesific cam you would recommend?
Click to expand...
One of our users vb242 runs an Enem V16 and makes a lot of power. Or something like a K13 or K15. For Agap I'm not sure. Make sure that you buy a cam that is on the stock base circle so you can avoid running lash caps. I have run both n/a and turbo versions of the V15 which is a street performance cam but is stage one. It's mild enough to easily pass emissions. Good for up to 300hp I'd guess.
 
dl242gt said:
One of our users vb242 runs an Enem V16 and makes a lot of power. Or something like a K13 or K15. For Agap I'm not sure. Make sure that you buy a cam that is on the stock base circle so you can avoid running lash caps. I have run both n/a and turbo versions of the V15 which is a street performance cam but is stage one. It's mild enough to easily pass emissions. Good for up to 300hp I'd guess.
Click to expand...
i luckily dont have to worry about emssions i can go for a bit more agressive cam. ill have a look at those cams. thank you for your advice
 
I think it'll be tough to reach 400 whp with the HX35 and the fuel you want to use. In my opinion, a GTX30/G30 turbo would be the better choice.

Best Regards
 
bjartur1007 said:
heyooo everyone

i am currently in the process of getting everything ready for my volvo 240 for hopefully around 400whp we shall see where we end up, this is a daily/fun street car

my current settup is a 89 block with a 531 head, turbo pistons and h beam rods, ls coils and a vx3 cam and to controll everything a ms3
compression ratio is around 8.7
i am planing on running a hx35 12cm3 (twin scroll) and the kangaroos team twin scroll manafold
i have 1260cc injectors and am debaiting on if i should go down to 1000cc or just keep these ones for now
i plan on running the kl racing oem style intercooler
i plan on running the bmw gs637dz since they are a dime a dozen
car will be ran on RON98 since e85 costs 3 times as much per liter
car will be ran on 2 maps. low boost and high boost since well this is technically my summer daily and 400 whp on a day to day basses seems like a pain in the ass
i have a spare 531 head that i am thinking about porting and maybe going bigger valves if thats something that would be recommended
i plan on running 1.8 bar of boost or whatever the car is happy with (since id rather have a tiny bit less power and have it last longer) for high boost and 1 bar for low boost
-------------
questions
is there anything major wrong with this settup and if so please do tell
what fuel pump would yall recommend running and do the oem fuel lines sufice or should i upgrade them and if so what size should i go up to. i do plan on running the oem gastank
criticisms is welcome.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity did you ask AI for this engine bill of materials.

That M47 is going to have to go. How many engines are you ready to blow up?
 
ludi said:
I think it'll be tough to reach 400 whp with the HX35 and the fuel you want to use. In my opinion, a GTX30/G30 turbo would be the better choice.

Best Regards
Click to expand...

Would a GTX3071R produce significantly more power than a 54/60mm HX35 on a 8v redblock?
Is it possible to quantify how much better it is?
 
400whp/2.8 bar absolute = 142whp atmospheric. (approx)

To make this kind of power you need head flow and cam lift.
If I were you I would use the ported 531 (since you have it) with stock valves, and a cam with mild duration but at least 12-13mm lift.
If you are not scared of running lash caps, the KL T3 is a nice turbo cam with 112 degrees LSA and 12.2mm lift.

Porting wise:
The intake port area is already (too) large for most of our applications.
Clean up the bowl and the SSR casting marks. Do not enlarge the intake ports.
Make a good exhaust SSR and clean up the bowl.
Deshroud the valves.
This should give 140/190 cfm @12mm without too much work.

Get rid of the LH intake. The KL plenum works well.

Show us that redblocks are still a force to consider. :mad:
 
Last edited:
ludi said:
I think it'll be tough to reach 400 whp with the HX35 and the fuel you want to use. In my opinion, a GTX30/G30 turbo would be the better choice.

Best Regards
Click to expand...
Thank you for your adcice. Ill keep that in mind when searching for a turbo.
Best regards
 
spock345 said:
Out of curiosity did you ask AI for this engine bill of materials.

That M47 is going to have to go. How many engines are you ready to blow up?
Click to expand...
This is more or less just from talking to a local who has built a few of these redblocks and knows people whov been doing it for many years. Just wanted a quick sanity check from an outside pov and not someone i know. Plus as mentioned im going with a gs6 not the m47
 
Sjeng said:
400whp/2.8 bar absolute = 142whp atmospheric. (approx)

To make this kind of power you need head flow and cam lift.
If I were you I would use the ported 531 (since you have it) with stock valves, and a cam with mild duration but at least 12-13mm lift.
If you are not scared of running lash caps, the KL T3 is a nice turbo cam with 112 degrees LSA and 12.2mm lift.

Porting wise:
The intake port area is already (too) large for most of our applications.
Clean up the bowl and the SSR casting marks. Do not enlarge the intake ports.
Make a good exhaust SSR and clean up the bowl.
Deshroud the valves.
This should give 140/190 cfm @12mm without too much work.

Get rid of the LH intake. The KL plenum works well.

Show us that redblocks are still a force to consider. :mad:
Click to expand...
Was trying to avoid having to go plenum but at this much money spent ir may be worth it. Since woth shipping here it almost doubles an already expensove build. Thanks foe rhe advice

Best regards
 
Harlard said:
Top end package is meh, as others mentioned. What do you plan on using for an intake manifold?
Click to expand...
What would you change about the top end package. And im still figuring the manafold out. Ill probly end up going with a klracing plenum intake

Thanks in advance
 
In my opinion the best 400whp 8V top end would be a 46x38 valve ported 530 and KLR T3 cam with a good intake manifold. That would probably be around 140-150whp NA, so then you'd want to choose a compressor that is most efficient for 400whp.

The 531 needs a large cam to take advantage of the port size and shape, I'm a fan of a nicely ported 530 and larger cam, they can be nicely mannered with good drivability.
 
OVERDRIVE said:
In my opinion the best 400whp 8V top end would be a 46x38 valve ported 530 and KLR T3 cam with a good intake manifold. That would probably be around 140-150whp NA, so then you'd want to choose a compressor that is most efficient for 400whp.

The 531 needs a large cam to take advantage of the port size and shape, I'm a fan of a nicely ported 530 and larger cam, they can be nicely mannered with good drivability.
Click to expand...

This 100%.
531 needs big lift cam and lots of revs to make it work well vs a decently ported 530.
 
with 531 you are stuck with what ya got. but with 530 you can shape and transition like you want. Dont just grind out the short side radius, I see alot of screwed up heads where they take the short side out, causes turbilence and wrecks the flow.
 
OVERDRIVE said:
In my opinion the best 400whp 8V top end would be a 46x38 valve ported 530 and KLR T3 cam with a good intake manifold. That would probably be around 140-150whp NA, so then you'd want to choose a compressor that is most efficient for 400whp.

The 531 needs a large cam to take advantage of the port size and shape, I'm a fan of a nicely ported 530 and larger cam, they can be nicely mannered with good drivability.
Click to expand...
I am kinda stuck with the 531s for now. Any advice on how to get morw out of it or should i go searching?
Thanks foe your input
 
fastcomet said:
with 531 you are stuck with what ya got. but with 530 you can shape and transition like you want. Dont just grind out the short side radius, I see alot of screwed up heads where they take the short side out, causes turbilence and wrecks the flow.
Click to expand...
Is there anything i can do to get better preformance our of the 531 head or am i just kinda stuck suffering? I am kinda just stuck with rhe 531 heads for now.

Thanks for your input and thanks in advance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top