I am going to settle on an "L" grind for this application. I have looked at all of the available cam profiles that were ever done by Volvo for both import as well as the world market and it appears that the "L" cam grind circa 1981-1982 US and Canada is what I need to do what I am looking for. Thank you everyone for all of the input and "opinions". It is a pleasure to have you "knowledge pool" at hand in my computer.
Cortezit
You do NOT want the L grind camshaft!!! It's similar to the M camshaft, it's predecessor, if you will, to some extent.
If I was looking for a better than stock camshaft for an automatic, non-turbo car in daily driving below 4000rpm, it'd be in this order: T, A, B, VX3, VX(advanced!)... Set the valve clearances pretty tight on the T cam so it isn't a complete slouch up top. In my automatic '87 244 daily Beige Bomber the T cam took .3 seconds off my 1/4 mile time compared to an equally setup M cam(tight valves, advanced ignition timing, retarded cam timing, etc.). 17.5 vs 17.8, from what I remember. The A or B will be quicker, but the VX straight up feels like a pig compared to the T cam in the setting that I had it. The VX advanced a few degrees feels much better, but I'm not sure it'd get the car down the 1/4 mile faster with the autotragic. I haven't tested yet.
Edit, I found the proof on my FB gallery for the car:
"Only go fast part was an adjustable cam gear, otherwise, power came from adjusting the valves to .012/.014", advancing the ignition timing 4 degrees(or was it 6?), retarding the cam 4 degrees, running premium gas and repurposing the preheat hose/opening for some fresh cold air in the front spoiler.
I installed the factory turbo "T" cam and verified that the clearances were still the same, went back to the drag strip with the cam still retarded 4 degrees and went FASTER(17.5 at 77mph, next photo)!"
"Car picked up three tenths and 1.5mph even though it didn't feel much faster aside from the a little extra torque off the line."
"Wow, I miss the T cam...! I could ride a wave of torque and never take it over 3k but still out accelerate normal traffic by a good margin. Now, it needs much more throttle and another 1000rpm to feel like it's moving like that. The pull up top with the cam advanced 4 degrees is hardly any fun either. I'll set it at 2 and probably leave it there. Not quite what I expected, but hey, look at those lobe areas! Maybe it IS to be expected. Dynamic compression=good. I'll be surprised if it's more than 3 tenths faster at the drags. "
I haven't made it back to the drags with the VX cam installed, but I don't expect much. Around town the T cam was much better than the VX, in my opinion. Especially below 3000rpm.
