Head Off anything I should do while Im at it?

[bjs2oo7]

Have 86 740gle D24T, it had a blown head gasket. I have new timing belts and thermostat. Now that I have the head off is there anything I should replace before I put it back together?? I want to do one of the cooling system mods since I have already had a blow hole in of the heater core hoses. I have 740turbo intercooler but TD intake manifold, I would like to get bigger turbo and n/a intake if anyone has them. I want more power and for the motor to last forever. Anyone ever twin turbo one of these? Just that I have 2 stock turbos from 740turbo gasser and access to a machine shop. I have time and money. Any help is much appreciated

[v8volvo]

While the head is off you have a good opportunity to assess the condition of the rest of the motor. How big is the ridge in the top of the cylinder bore? If you can get your hands on a bore diameter measuring tool, it would be good to find out how much cylinder wall taper/wear you have. Will give you an idea of how much life is left in the bottom end. Inspect the piston crowns for signs of wear/pitting from a leaky injector, etc.

If you have money and want the motor to last forever, you are now in a position to get the following important things done:
-replace all glowplugs
-have all injectors rebuilt
-have cylinder head cleaned, checked, and consider having a valve job done or installing new valves/guides/etc
-fill it with good coolant and good synthetic oil (Mobil 1 TD Truck, Amsoil, Lubro Moly Synthoil Premium, or whatever brand is your favorite)

Another thing I would do if I were in your shoes, esp since you said you plan to take it on a long drive, is install some kind of temperature warning system, or a coolant loss warning system. If you get an expansion tank from a Volvo 850 or S/V70, it will have a float sensor in it that you can wire up to a light and a buzzer in the cabin to give you an early alert if a hose pops, radiator leaks coolant out, etc. These engines can overheat in the blink of an eye and if you don't get on top of it fast it will die a rapid death. Giving yourself some kind of warning system would be a great way to ensure it lasts a long time.

[Jason]

I doubt there has been a twin turbo setup done to one of these engines, they cant handle the high boost that a compound setup can push, like a cummins can for example. If your planning on turning up the power with more fuel and larger turbo and more boost, I would reassemble it with ARP head studs.

Jason

[IceV_760]

You could do it with two turbos, example with small turbo like t25
which spools fast, to help spool bigger turbo earlier.
But well, same thing is if you go to VNT.
Spools early and pushes high.

[v8volvo]

But VNT has the possibility of boost spikes, which would not be a good risk to take on a D24T. VNT would be nice and very responsive, but you would have to be very careful about how you set the turbo control system up.

Good idea about the ARP head studs.

[IceV_760]

Thats why im going to use two boostgauges, one from intake side
and one from exhaust before turbo.
Everything is doable, just takes alot time to configure it.
I mean, i can easily believe at when i get my VNT assembled,
ill be spending week or more tweaking LDA and control system.