I have a 1993 940 non-turbo...just finished do a head gasket, water pump, timing belt and radiator, along with all the belts and hoses...I have had a lot of older Volvo's 122, 544, 444, P-1800 over the last 30 years...now I have this 940 and I was wondering is there any mods to get away from the fuel injection system, maybe a Webber set up or something like that...I know the injection system is tied in with emission controls...but I live in a State that has no checks (at least in my area)...I love the car...but I JUST want to simplify the intake set up....any help on this or any Ideas, would be great...it's and automatic trans but that may change...car looks like it just rolled out of the showroom...288,000 miles on it no noticeable run out under inspection with bore gauge, and compression as new...got to love Volvo

 

the carb setup on pre-FI volvos was dual sidedrafts, usually using SU's, much like a vintage british car. I believe there's a marine "Penta" version of the B23/B230 engine that has dual carbs, so you could use one of those manifolds. or the intake manifold from a B23A/B230A european/world market car, if you can find someone to ship you one. AFAIK, the B21 also had the same manifold spacing but confirm this! the B18/B20 didn't, I'm pretty sure.

you'll need to replace the fuel pump setup. if yours has dual pumps, you can probably use the in-tank 'transfer' pump with carbs, and just remove and bypass the 'main' pump under the car. if you have the single pump in the tank (regina/rex systems, also some later Bosch systems), you'll need to replace that in-tank high pressure pump with one of the low pressure pumps from a dual pump car. or something else entirely, I suppose. and of course, cap off the fuel return line, since carbs don't use this.

the ICU (ignition control unit) takes inputs from the ECU, so you'll probably need to replace the ignition system, too. the timing on yours comes from a crank position sensor rather than an in-distributor hall sensor, so you'll need to come up with something that can use this, or replace the distributor. You can probably use a mid 1980's 240 distributor that has a hall sensor and is installed on the side of the block rather than the end of the camshaft, they used the same head with a cap where your distributor is mounted (and you have a cap where hte 240 distributor was mounted). The Chrysler/Regina ignition from the 1980s 240s uses manifold vacuum connected to the ICU to manage the ignition advance.

of course, you'll need to remove and bypass the catalytic converter as the rich mixture coming from carbs will foul it very quickly. you'll need to rig up some sort of choke control for cold starts, oh fun!

you'll most likely either get lower performance or lower gas mileage (or both), its almost impossible to get carbs to run as efficiently across the full range of operation as a EFI system.

 

Maybe just a little too much to try and make it simpler...I still can't get over the distributor on the back of the head...without any real way to set timing other than use a adjustable cam gear and that seems like a lot of work for what may or may not be a gain in power...thanks for the input...it will stay stock..(maybe!)...

 

moving the distributor wouldn't change the ignition timing anyways, its set by the ICU computer from the crank position sensor, which is reading notches on the flexplate/flywheel

I've heard there ARE apparently some jumpers that modify the EZ116K ICU and advance/retard the timing to one of 4 presets.