Which car for Turbo Tinkering and why

bigwilly1 said:

There?s is a few 3.0l 960 Autos on eBay at the moment. Good buy or should I wait it out for a manual? Sure displacement is king for tuning but I know strength could
Be an issue ?

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I'd stay away if it's your first go with a project car. The 960 is a bit of an orphan. Volvo's first modular aluminum block in a straight 6. It can be a nice motor and mmake really good power with a turbo, but it's kinda fussy and if the maintenance hasn't been kept up, it's probably already got a blown headgasket......

My vote for ease of platform to grow on is the 960/965 with M90. The whiteblock parts available and cheap since the line includes the later T5s etc. = shared parts. The 3.0 is a proven powerhouse with boost and easily configurable with MS3. And the 960 will have more creature comforts than the lower line models.

Any RWD base is also good for V8 swaps

Pillow - you've got me looking at LS swaps now. Keep saying to myself 'one step at a time fatboy'! I've done projects like this before and it's always disappointing how little return on investment I get back. Part of this plan is eventually putting the tuned and cared for engine into a new project IE a caterham/GBS zero (cheap UK go kart that's road legal for our US readers). Kinda makes sense to get a LS and swap it invest in that engine as there aren't many people putting Volvo engines I'm Chevys etc so it's quite a common swap!

On a similar theme, Any guys on here seem the 970 on eBay. At Stage 0, MBC, exhaust. M90, Redblock, welded diff etc. on my phone so struggling to get a link. But is it a known car to any members on here and is It a good buy? My plan was to do it stage by stage but this could be a very cheap and easy way to get all the parts I'd need!!!

Ya I seemed it.

Another vote for a 960. As already noted though a bit of an orphan. It's a car I wouldn't recommend as your 1st Volvo though. But, you have a much better chance of getting a manual where you're located. I'm hooked on them after owning a few. You get the turbo output without some of the turbo issues. Believe me though there's nothing like a turbo brick, got an '87 760t in the fleet. I enjoy boost, but I also love that 2.9 white block. Not a lot of modding to do to it so I would say give it a try. The best advice I could give on a 960 is to get one where everything works and has been maintained. These are not project cars. Buy the best you can find.

bigwilly1 said:

Pillow - you've got me looking at LS swaps now. Keep saying to myself 'one step at a time fatboy'! I've done projects like this before and it's always disappointing how little return on investment I get back.

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YouTube offers lots of motivation! LOL

LS is an easy 400+ flywheel HP. Mounts are available from a couple sources.

I cannot talk trash yet as I am not done the conversion... But price isn't that bad considering the performance output.

But yes... Anything Volvo is fairly worthless/money pit status. Rant: used piecemeal parts are too expensive compared to whole cars to part out. If you have the capability, buy a couple 7/9s and make one good one. IMO all the used parts are worthless. IDK how some people justify used parts prices on TB.

PM me and I can share the shreadsheet of LS swap parts. You can either laugh or cry.

Wowzer - 2 pages Thanks guys and girls.

960 vs 940? Same shape/size. One has the 4 pot redblock. 960 is the 3 litre. Did all manual 960?s come with the m90? If not what?s the rule of thumb for making sure I get a M90?

We (on the yacht) discharged 1 tonnes of waste water/sewage today. Which meant I was stood watching the discharge pipe for ~3 hours. Spent most of that thinking of a better project platform and I can?t thing of one so I?m really excited. Volvos are cheap, reliable, cool (I think), perfect for dogs and lugging crap around and can park anywhere. Best bit is the info on this website so keep up the good work guys! I?ve been on the Audi & Vdub groups abit and sooo many w@nkers on them having there say - the stupid trend of the wonky wheel etc ?it?s all about stance bro?! TB is by far the best forum I?ve had the pleasure of being a member off!

bigwilly1 said:

I?ve been on the Audi & Vdub groups abit and sooo many w@nkers on them having there say - the stupid trend of the wonky wheel etc ?it?s all about stance bro?! TB is by far the best forum I?ve had the pleasure of being a member off!

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Sounds like VW Vortex... It can be a rough forum for open ended questions. Some of the troll humor is pretty funny though.

Agreed, TB is a good place.

bigwilly1 said:

Pillow - you've got me looking at LS swaps now. Keep saying to myself 'one step at a time fatboy'! I've done projects like this before and it's always disappointing how little return on investment I get back. Part of this plan is eventually putting the tuned and cared for engine into a new project IE a caterham/GBS zero (cheap UK go kart that's road legal for our US readers). Kinda makes sense to get a LS and swap it invest in that engine as there aren't many people putting Volvo engines I'm Chevys etc so it's quite a common swap!

On a similar theme, Any guys on here seem the 970 on eBay. At Stage 0, MBC, exhaust. M90, Redblock, welded diff etc. on my phone so struggling to get a link. But is it a known car to any members on here and is It a good buy? My plan was to do it stage by stage but this could be a very cheap and easy way to get all the parts I'd need!!!

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We know what caterham cars are. You're really really worried about the return on your investment? Stick with a red block. Everything else is going to be real money. If you need a manual find a 940 with the M90. Won't be too much trouble for you.

Which is it? You want to buy a car to build or buy a car that's been built? The latter will save you a lot of headaches but if it something breaks, it might become an issue because you didn't build the car.

Post the link to ebay car.

My 2 cents worth of advice would be depending on budget. If you go with a T-5 850 or v70 it's only a tune away from being an R. That puts you at the 240 HP range according to Volvo spec's. To get there in a red block your going to spend a lot more money!! You can safely push the whiteblock motors to 300 to 350 hp. While the red blocks you start to run into capacity issues well before that. Trans, etc.. Unless you're going to do a 16v conversion with T5 BorgWarner transmission or Getrag 5 speed. I think the white block will give you just the push you're looking for without having to spend a boatload. As my buddy with the new v60 polstar t6 says why spend a ton of money trying to make the old ones go fast when the new ones work out of the box. That being said I have an 84 242 with a completely rebuilt motor upgraded turbo and still running the m46 transmission.

I would get the 850 estate Platinum addition. I always loved that car and color combo with the wagon spoiler. Sweet ride.

People have made that same power with a redblock for very affordable money. I add to the suggestion for the late model 940 turbo wagon with manual. I do like white block engines. I like them even better in the older rwd chassis.

However, I like powerful redblocks even more. Look at the power Mikejr 240 wagon made on a salvage yard squirter block. All pretty much bolt on from what I remember.

One of the nicer things about the 4 cylinder cars is you have a good chance at getting manual climate control. The more electronics like climate control. the more costly to repair and replace things. Not a deal breaker just one of the things to mention. Also the power seats. You want manual seats if possible. The power seats are heavy and always fail at some point. Save a ton of weight with manual seats. Don't know what the UK models came with but those are a couple of things about the fancier models I don't care for.

If you buy a car with a M90, be carefull of the 3th gear, they go really easy if you try to honda shift them.

I know lots of people make the redblocks produce lots of power mine does. However, it really depends on cost. Your base 850 turbo produces 225 with a tune that puts you at 250-240 range and all you've done is the tune. To get the redblock there it takes a little more work than that. Do you have the upgrade rods from 11mm to 13mm? are you running lh2.2 or lh 2.4 etc.... and it seems to me a lot of guys once they start reaching the 300 hp end up ditching the volvo transmission for t-5 or the Getrag. Now your idea of a whiteblock in a 940 is my perfect car. keeping the rwd of course. Just depends on budget. The older you go the cost per every increment of HP goes up. 242 with the intercooler stock is 160 I think. To get it to 225hp it takes some tinkering and I wouldn't put much more through the m46 transmission.

droot said:

I know lots of people make the redblocks produce lots of power mine does. However, it really depends on cost. Your base 850 turbo produces 225 with a tune that puts you at 250-240 range and all you've done is the tune. To get the redblock there it takes a little more work than that. Do you have the upgrade rods from 11mm to 13mm? are you running lh2.2 or lh 2.4 etc.... and it seems to me a lot of guys once they start reaching the 300 hp end up ditching the volvo transmission for t-5 or the Getrag. Now your idea of a whiteblock in a 940 is my perfect car. keeping the rwd of course. Just depends on budget. The older you go the cost per every increment of HP goes up. 242 with the intercooler stock is 160 I think. To get it to 225hp it takes some tinkering and I wouldn't put much more through the m46 transmission.

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Depending on which white block you use, 350-400 hp is the limit a stock engine will take. After that it becomes very expensive to build up a block. At the end of the day, who wants drive a 400 hp fwd car? Once you get to that level you need an lsd, upgraded flywheel/clutch, upgraded axles which is way more than you'd ever spend on a red block build. You're not making that on a stock automatic transmission either. You would need a 5 speed or 6 speed. Starting off, a red block has the lowest entry level cost. Have you ever driven 300+hp red block?