No. Something is wrong. I had the very same issue years ago on a 1982 vintage GM 3.8. What we discovered is that a couple of the bearing caps on the rods were put on backwards and the wrong rod. Switched it all around and it turned over smoothly.

 

No, it's not normal but hard to tell what's really causing it without knowing what the rebuilder did and how much he knows... unfortunately, well, in this case you may have to start from scratch.

 

I would pull the pan and mains and check for clearances. See what the plastigage says. Go from there.

 

 

 

 

This would be back to tearing down the engine and rebuilding it to spec. With the plugs out the engine should turn pretty freely by hand. Someone didn't do something right so now you need to start over again. At this point you don't know if it's the mains , rods or rings that are causing the problem.

 

Engine rebuild is not for the novice! I tried it once, in 1973, Pontiac 215CID, and it ran, badly... I would never do it again: way too much work requiring a lot of measuring, machining, special tools, trips to the store, etc. To do it right is cost prohibitive. Luckily, Volvo motors are rarely in need of a total rebuild, and if you need a motor just get a used one--they are plentiful and cheap, or just buy a whole running car and get the motor, you'll still be much cheaper than doing a rebuild unless of course you want to... I actually stay away from "rebuilt" engines. Of the eight Volvos I have the worst one has a rebuilt engine, I'd much rather have a miler with good past maintenance. Same with transmissions, a rebuilt never last well, usually 25% of the original... My experiences.

 

These are not old small block Chevy engines. Rebuilding engines is basically a thing of the past. In days gone by, those old cast iron blocks would wear out. Today, you can measure the cylinder walls and find that they are still new specs even after 150k miles. These are aluminum block engines with high silica content.

However, the red block engine he has I wouldn't give up too easily.

 

I've managed to rebuild 2 engines in my lifetime as a shade tree mechanic. The 1st was a 63 Corvette 327 CI 300 hp and other then doing the boring and honing everything else is just measure/size and assemble. Didn't need to plane the deck or heads as they were in spec. The other was a 76 Jaguar 5.3L V12 which was a sleeved engine so no machine work but replaced some sleeves. That one cost me but it was a fun winter project. Other then that I did a 350 CI GM but started with a short block and built and assembled the components. I see the Red block as a pretty simple job but as mentioned they usually don't go bad or the worse thing would be to replace rods and pistons. Then again to get one from a wreck would be the easiest way to go. We have 373 K on our 89 740 so when it goes I'll most likely just pick up a used one . If the OP wants to pull his motor apart and fix what the problem is well good for him. If he doesn't have the skills then he'll have a problem. So I guess he needs to make a "make or buy" decision.