what is the easiest performance upgrade?

I have an 88 740 gle, and i was wondering if there was something relativley inexpensive that i could do to make the car a considerable amount more powerful. I am planning on buying a turbo motor soon, but right now my car is just annoyingly, (is that a word?), slow. I just want it to be decent. I think the car had 97 hp when it was brand new. Pretty sad. Please help!

Since you've got the exhaust done I'd do something with your air-intake, Check the mods section for ideas, outside of that, If your buying a turbo I'd save your money for that...

I believe those few around here who have done a lightened flywheel say it was the best bang for the buck. True, its not as simple to do then say replace the air box with a cone filter (n/a only), but if you've got the time to do it, i'd say try it out.. it would probably be more of a change in an n/a car that has much less torque.

-Dana

I'm betting he has an auto in that 740GLE though..... :squint:

yup, it's an auto. almost blown too. it doesn't feel to sturdy when i am starting up, but once it's rolling about 5mph it runs fine.

A camshaft is some quick hp. If you arent mechanically incline i wouldnt reccomednt it

lightening the vehicle is always free
(shameless plug... hahahaha)

Might want to try a full tranny flush on thta trans. Can make a bif difference. Search www.brickboard.com for a few good sets of instructions.

Or you can go to http://myweb.cableone.net/twigs/maint.html and look under transmission, I have a set of instructions on flushing the transmission. (shameless plug) :wink:

Raising NA hp is flat out expensive. I would echo the advice of others to just save your $ for a new engine or even a new turbo brick if you are not mechanically inclined or it is a daily driver.

You could install, headers, exhaust , raise compression, etc. I am pretty sure that is atleast $1000+K of parts & labor .... even then I don't even know if you would be as fast as a 160hp 744ti. If you add N20 to the header, exhaust, higher compression, you might be a little quicker. But for the price of this investment you could buy several nice B21fts,B230FT, or have yourself a nice downpayment + trade in on a turbo brick...

I would just have your tranny flushed, changes your plugs, regular tune up.... I might then add a K&N drop in box filter & just drive it for what it is. IMHO there isn't much out there for NA mods that are very cost effective. A motor swap or new car is your best bet.

200's are getting cheaper & cheaper. I have been looking for the right 200 for a disposable 20psi weekend warrior.

Hope this helps

I miss boost......

"Disposable"

YAY! HST said the secret word!
There are a lot of roads up the mountain of performance.
If you love you 740 and just want a car that is not "annoyingly slow", a cam, header and exhaust may do it for you, but all that dooes is bring the power up from "pitiful" to "marginal". If you want any more than that, you're pretty much stuck. Turbo motor is much more "scalable" so to speak.

So, if you need more than "marginal", do you want "decent", "quick", fast", or "ass kicker", or "ballistic missile"? Obviously there are just arbitrary terms- but setting a goal is the first step.
Also, how reliable/disposable does it need to be? less reliability/more disposability equals cheaper speed. If you don't need it to be anything more than "fast", look into just trading the car in. IE if you aren't looking for more than oh 220-240 at the crank. Doing an engine swap for that kind of hp is a waste of time, you might as well find a turbo car to mod.

BUT, if you're wanting more than that, you're going to be better off with a rebuilt engine, which means you might as well buy and engine, get it prepped, and swap it in. So there are many factors to consider. The other 2 major ones are what your budget is and how much work you can do yourself.
HTH

I would look for a 242 and make it a flathood. They look really sharp and would be quite cheap, though in Portland they are pretty desired. If you like the 740 then you can stick with that but a 242Ti is about as cheap as performance gets. I like the 200 series alot better than the 940 for sheer volvo character, and looked at a late 245, but I decieded it was too slow and I needed something a little more modern. Next summer I look for my dream 83 flathood.

Swap in a A, B, or K cam...it's the mod I wish I would have done to my NA wagons - and I might yet do it to the turbo when I replace the timing belt.
Do whatever weight reduction you can, too.

NAWZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I think a dry kit would work some what decent.
like 50 shots.

Didn't even think about the fog. Yeah, for drags or inflating dyno numbers nitrous is pretty cost effective, and a small shot is a fairly straightforward bolt-on.

IMHO the stock head and cam are the biggest restrictions on the OHC Volvo motors, that's the place to find easy power (besides boost).

I agree with GT, get a camshaft. It will make the car a lot more fun to drive because: A) it adds around 10-15hp and B) it shifts the powerband from already dying at 4,500rpm to still pulling at 6,000rpm. An A, B, or K cam will completely eliminate the choking to death which the engine succombs to at high rpm. It'll make it more rev happy, and that will probably make you happy. If you're in the US, look for the B, it's in early 240s in the 70's and very early 80's. In Canada, look for the A or K cam. They're in all sorts of K Jet and carbureted 240's. You could also just buy one from someone on here. I've got a B if you're interested.

Installation isn't difficult if you're proficient with hand tools. It'll take an experienced mechanic less than an hour, a very good one less than a half hour. For a newbie I'd figure 2, maybe 3 hours if you're really slow and methodical about it.

Intake and exhaust modifications pale in comparison to the camshaft for dollars/performance ratio, as well as intall time/performance ratio. You'll find any of the 3 cams GT and I listed for under $70. I bought my K cam for $30.

Having just remembered that your car is an auto, I'll remind you that all three of the performance camshafts I listed will reduce low rpm power. This makes the car less 'driveable', especially since it's an automatic car. That being said, I recommend you get either the A or the B cam, as they don't reduce bottom end torque nearly as much as the K, and, at least in the B cam's case, actually outperforms the K from 0-3,000rpm, and is imperceptibly (.1 seconds) slower from 3,000-6,000rpm in full throttle acceleration in a 20-60mph test I performed using the K and B cams.

One of the best mods i have done is put in an electric fan. Ditch the pulley driven fan. Its supposed to only come on (turn) via thermostatic clutch. Almost every one i have seen has been stuck in the always on position. Regardless...it robs power. It is a controversial mod because an electric fan comes on only sometimes, therefore your block, intake manifold etc might get hotter. All i can say is that many people run electric fans without problems, and it is a good mod IMHO. IT makes the engine rev a lot quicker. For example, when you mash the throttle after a corner and down shift, the engine winds up a lot quicker. I have been driving a 700 with the mechanical fan recently and i hate it. It revs so much slower. Not to mention you can do this for cheap. 25 bucks if you go ghetto (junkyard fan) :uhm: or buy new fan at store :wink: Thats enough of me ranting about fans.

Intake,Fan, lighten, cam . Gotta remember some cams dont pass emissions.at least in CA (VX)

Lemme just say again, look at Josh's old 940.

OGT:

Intake
Exhaust
Cam
Boost Controller
(+)
--------------------------
(=) 14.5ish @ high 90s.

Thats not more that $1000 if its done right, and you're competitive with 90% of the cars out there on the street.

Anything more than that and you're gonna have to spend some cash.

these guys are basically right... getting high horsepower out of an NA volvo is pretty hard, you would be better off doing an engine swap (ie my younger bro in his GT) or buying a reasonably price tbrick.. however we did notice that the b21f held up quite well to a 65 shot, so im guessing your b230f could hold up to a shot of equal size as long as you make sure it doesnt lean out.
btw, is Jim Kramer a former middle school teacher in beaverton?
if so i had you for my tech ed class heh... i remember a Mr. Kramer but never new any of my teachers first names

hot740 said:

I have an 88 740 gle, and i was wondering if there was something relativley inexpensive that i could do to make the car a considerable amount more powerful. I am planning on buying a turbo motor soon, but right now my car is just annoyingly, (is that a word?), slow. I just want it to be decent. I think the car had 97 hp when it was brand new. Pretty sad. Please help!

Click to expand...

Well as a matter of fact, there is something that will make the car a LOT faster, but do absolutely nothing for your 0-60 times. That would be for you to atttend a driver's school with your 'slow' 740gle and learn all about just what the car is really capable of, and how to handle those little surprises (you know the ones.. :shock: ...it happens and your heart junps into your throat) that seem to come your way. One can go a lot faster with being instinctually able to handle such things without getting that adreneline shot that screws things up sooooooo badly. I have years of experience at it, thus when the rear end steps wayyyyyy out and I get to look out the side window to see what is coming at me, it does not even get my heart rate up. In this fashion, I tend to not overcorrect, and have (knock on wood) not bent a STREET car (the rallycar doesn't count) in 15 years. Thoughts? JL