Finally...Gary's 74 144

Been playing with the tune on the car a bit this week. Playing with the timing and fuel a bit, I managed a LOT more grunt at WOT and cruise, trimmed AFR's a bit, and not only did I get better power across the board and drivability, but I also managed around 24-25mpg on the highway, up 2-4mpg over before. I can only imagine how that will translate once the T5 goes in and the cruise rpm drops from 3700 to 2700...

We talked at Suzy's Burgers a while back about the T-5 conversion if you remember or not? Just found your thread, and I have to say you have my all time favorite Volvo! I would like to know how you did up against the road runner? My first car was a 69 GTX which was very similar to the car you are racing!

Hah, that was a laugh of a race, many MANY years ago. He was ripping off 10's or so, and as of yet the 140 hasn't done better than about a 18.0. It should have a 17.x in it now if I could get the clutch to hold at a launch over about 1500-2000, but that's a moot point until the T5 goes in. That's actually slated for this winter now, so perhaps next spring I'll roll that thing to the track and see what 120-130rwhp does in it. I do remember talking to you, glad you jumped in over here!

gsellstr said:

Hah, I wish it was OE. Last one of that style I saw (a grand total of 1 in 15 years on ebay) went for $800 NIB. This one is simply a stock grille cut for the lights, home-brew brackets for them as well.

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Homebrew brackets and what lights? Looks so OE. Picked up an extra grill at pnp and was fixin to use a hacksaw blade to cut the eggcrates out.

Those are actually Hella 450's with driving lenses. Those with the Silverstar 7" rounds and the highs are virtual daylight.

Well, looks like it's time for a little more of an update.

Tuning over the last couple months got a bit more grunt from it, but it's more of a pain to drive thanks to the clutch.

That said, over the next month I'll be getting the T5 dropped in there. Parts showing up this week include a full clutch kit from Southbend Clutches rated for 275ft.lbs, a yoke from Fastshafts that will allow the aerostar driveline to work without the Yoshi adapter since I have a flange on the car currently that takes the same 1310 joints as the Aerostar shaft, making it a truly plug and play setup. The yoke that's coming is slightly longer than the stock Mustang yoke which should deal with the length difference easily enough. Also have a new Fox body input shaft and stage 2 rebuild kit here at my desk from Astro Performance, and a poly mount and shift knob from Summit. Been a busy month for the credit card, but parts sales have paid for all of this so realistically, thank you guys for your support. lol

Hopefully this weekend or next will be the T5 overhaul, then it's down to an install, measure for the speedo cable and get that made locally, then see how it does.

good to hear it garrryy!!!!

but you forgot the final step ... bring to western meet!

Won't happen for a few reasons, one of those being I can't sleep comfy in it like I can the wagon.

You can come to Davis to see it though!

Love to see some under car pics once you get everything in and buttoned up. I am having a bit of driveshaft clearance issues, but that might be because I've lowered it the car. For my T5 speedo cable, I just bought a Mustang one, 'pulled' the in car end off and put the volvo one on. Works like a charm and the length is pretty darn close. Mind you, I haven't put all that many miles on it.

good to know on the cable. I have a local shop that can make them to spec anyway.

pics for sure, maybe even along the way not just when finished. Lol

already have a 3" 1 piece and it is tight. centering the diff is critical and going too low won't allow you much travel.

Alas, the T5 is resting comfy in the car now, took it out for a test drive earlier. Gotta get the pinion lined up, get the driveshaft lengthened, and get a speedo cable. Haven't hit the freeway, probably won't until the driveshaft has more length inside the trans, but 5th gear is much nicer for cruising, the rest of the gear split works nice with the 4.1 rear gearset, and the shifting with the Hurst shifter is VERRRY nice, plus the clutch actually works as it should again.

Found a new route for a crossmember as well, for those looking to do the swap on a 1-series or 2-series. Grab a crossmember from a 94-2000 Mustang manual trans car (mine was from a 94 5.0), plus a couple riv-nuts to install into the frame. Minor trimming on the crossmember, drill 4 holes, drill 3 in the 140 or 2 in the 240 frame rail, install riv-nuts, install crossmember, bolt to trans. Absolutely no welding required at all, centered the trans perfect in the shifter hole, height is very nice as well, shifter sits so 1 of the 2 bolts sits above, 1 below the opening in the tunnel. I ended up using the Mustang shifter after straightening it laterally so it didn't hit the seat. Pic's will make it clear why.

Driveline is the Aerostar AWD variant the Mustang guys use, but it's about 1.5" too short, partly due to me not using the Yoshi adapter, but rather a flange that bolts right to the Volvo diff (runs $30, standard Spicer unit). Might be able to use a Ranger driveline if you don't mind steel, but the correct length is closer to 47-47.5", rather than the 45.5" mentioned when using the Yoshi adapter. This is for a 140 anyway, but that's been my findings.

Pic's when I get to it.

gsellstr said:

Just a teaser of things to come...

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You would want to use a smaller diameter shaft than that as the 2" Volvo shaft does not clear the floor either. For my rear shaft I got a M40 shaft from a 245. It has the small yoke, uni and shaft with the large uni and flange at the diff where you truly need it.

Honestly, with the T5 in place the output sits a touch lower than the Celica box did, so the 3" fits pretty well in there.

Had to get the Mustang shaft lengthened by 2", should have that back today along with the speedo cable as well.

Next is to figure out why no 3-2 shift, though rumor is that may simply be due to putting M1 ATF in instead of non-synthetic. All the internals are either new or look new, so there's no reason it shouldn't be shifting and all upshifts plus most downshifts are clean and buttery smooth. A swap to some Castrol D3 may be in order. Also going to adjust the pinion angle when the driveline goes in tonight as it's off a little.

So, it's alive!! Pinion angle adjusted, speedo cable in, new driveline in (47" c-c instead of the Aerostar/Mustang at 45.5" c-c, fit is much better at the trans), took it out for a test drive. This trans is quieter than the Celica box a little, plus the pinion angle is closer, but I am seriously thinking the diff wasn't setup right years back. I've always wondered since they fubar'd the install anyway. May have to dig into that at some point.

Funny, the 3-2 shift is clean now, without doing a fluid swap even.

Good news as well, 65mph is 2800rpm, not 3600rpm, so freeway time will be MUCH nicer! Clutch is buttery smooth, lighter feel than the old one as well.

Bad news...trans gets to come back out.
1. Oil leak from the top/case junction, despite a solid bead of RTV.
2. Replace reverse syncro brake that I snapped the ear off of.
3. Replace tailshaft housing bushing possibly (didn't get one with the rebuild kit oddly, seems like there's a bit of play, not sure tolerances yet).
4. Swap 8-tooth speedo drive gear for 7 tooth and install 24t driven gear (currently 50mph on the gps shows 70 on the speedo).
5. Add a little bracing back to the crossmember and trim a couple ears off for a slightly cleaner, stronger brace.

All that aside, that's an easy out and in deal over a weekend. Drives nice as it is, got a little random vibration momentarily going from drive to coast which I suspect is the bushing, otherwise it drives nice!
Gotta get used to a clutch that engages normally though on an engine that revs quick. I think this pressure plate is perhaps a little better balanced or lighter, or both, engine seems smoother winding up than with the old one (supposedly it was balanced with the flywheel, curious on that now though).

Pic's when I get more time and it's not past my bed time...

Okay, finally, time for updates...

First up...out with the old (Celica box was 10lbs heavier, didn't shift as nice, wouldn't hold as much power, and didn't have a decent 5th gear)...


Hmm, clutch indeed wasn't happy...

But that's easily solved with this...


Which attaches to this (weighing in at 16.5lbs)...


Time for the install...first up the piece of hi-po buttery goodness...

Then time to stab the trans. Once the trans was in (no pic's, you all know the process, yadda yadda), then it was time for a crossmember. Happened to grab the crossmember with the T5 from a 94 Mustang 5.0 (yes, I swapped the input shaft). Personally, I would recommend this crossmember in a heartbeat! You can see where I trimmed, but I over-trimmed it actually. I cut the plate out to give me a spot to drill holes, but I should have left most of that in place. I will weld it back on at some point when the trans comes out for some touch-up stuff). Both sides were cut, the pic just shows before and after.
The crossmember...









Installed in the car, on the 140 there's no bottom facing holes on the passenger side, but on the drivers side one of the holes can be used. For the other 3 I used a 5/16" riv-nut installed into the frame rail. For the 240 guys, the crossmember width is the same between the Mustang and 240 crossmember, so you can reuse 2 holes, add 2 holes in (tool cost me $40 including 10 riv nuts), and you're set.

All that said, there's a few final details.
Driveline - Tried the Mustang driveline with the rear flange I already had, ended up 1.5" too short, so I had a custom 3" made. For those of you wondering, yes, there is a flange that bolts to our diff but runs a 1310 u-joint. It's a Spicer 2-2-239 flange. With that flange, the stock Mustang front yoke, I ended up at 47" center to center on the shaft. Weight for the shaft in alum. with .125" wall is 9lbs. The Aerostar shaft I was trying out was 6, but .065" wall.
Speedo cable - Local shop did up the cable, however upon the initial test drive, the speedo is WAY off and there's no ratio available that will work. Ideally it needs a 7t drive and 24t driven, but the largest driven which has a history of problems due to size is a 23t. I'll likely end up with a ratio adapter to deal with it.
Shifter - The Hurst shifter is awesome, plus it allowed me to flip the pivot ball shaft around so the lever bolts to the pass. side of the shaft instead of the driver side which gave more clearance to the tunnel opening. I did have to heat and bend the shift lever itself (from the 94 Mustang) to allow for clearance to the driver seat when in 2nd.
Trans mount - Went with the Energy poly mount, no issues at all. With the crossmember setup and the 5* clocking of the trans from horizontal, everything actually lined up really well. No issues with vibration either.
Gearing - 1st is similar to what I had with the Celica box so it's not bad at all with the 4.10 diff. Ratios are actually pretty nice on the street, haven't had it on the highway yet, but 65mph in 5th is around 2800rpm with the .68 5th, instead of 3600 on the Celica box with it's .85 5th.

So far it's nice to drive, still have so issues with a vibration but I think the tailshaft bushing is done for, so after Davis I'll pull the trans, replace that, the reverse syncro brake that I snapped the ear off of, and reseal the top which somehow is leaking.

Great work!

What do you have for a motor?

I like your flywheel with the huge radius, you could get more off the otherside, but it's tedious work. Having said that, what you have is the right amount for street/drag.

The headers might be saved by converting them to a 4-2-1 style with a tuned length collector or megaphone. That exhaust as is would function like zoomies, only be good at 1 or 2 spots & hurt elsewhere.

Is the old celica box a 3.5 1st gear? Those are the second version with the stronger 5th gear but the syncros are junk. I have one of those in bits & an earlier version with 3.28 1st and old bronze bauk rings that can't be beaten. One plus for the celica box is you can use a standard crossmember & on my RHD car, the auto speedo cable worked fairly easily. I still wish is was a W57 or W58, but I didn't have the cash & wasn;t sure I could get a bellhousing or adapter made. Did you get a Dellow housing?

That is indeed a Dellow bellhousing, with a little time into it to clearance the flywheel ring gear area so it would clear, plus a spacer for the pivot ball on the fork. Some serious casting issues with the one I got, hopefully been fixed in their current offerings, though honestly, for the price the T5 swap nets you a better outcome. My box is the 3.23 1st gear with the .85 5th. Sure, it's more solid than the M41, but a far cry from the T5 and certainly not a pleasant 5th gear for the street.

Exhaust I'm not too worried about since it'll come off when the turbo goes on once the bottom end gets rebuilt in the next few years. Motor is just a standard 2130cc bottom end at 9.0:1, VPD street cam and stage 2 head with an MS1V3 box to fire everything. Sitting around 130 to the wheels right now.

gsellstr said:

That is indeed a Dellow bellhousing, with a little time into it to clearance the flywheel ring gear area so it would clear, plus a spacer for the pivot ball on the fork. Some serious casting issues with the one I got, hopefully been fixed in their current offerings, though honestly, for the price the T5 swap nets you a better outcome. My box is the 3.23 1st gear with the .85 5th. Sure, it's more solid than the M41, but a far cry from the T5 and certainly not a pleasant 5th gear for the street.

Exhaust I'm not too worried about since it'll come off when the turbo goes on once the bottom end gets rebuilt in the next few years. Motor is just a standard 2130cc bottom end at 9.0:1, VPD street cam and stage 2 head with an MS1V3 box to fire everything. Sitting around 130 to the wheels right now.

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I expect that you would have had old school bronze syncros, not sure the how the oil would effect them. I used 15W/40 Diesel oil in mine, same as the engine.

Dellow have been around for a long time, but OTOH they sell bellhousings to put the Celica box behind V8's. The last bellhousing I saw was for a Ford 2L SOHC & it was more than double the weight of the Volvo bellhousing. That made me want one, because I half broke mine, but they weren't making them back then.

Are you staying with a mild cam for your turbo motor?

Did you give the VPD cam a good amount of measuring? The data I got from a friend showed it to very weak & nonsensical.

Nope, didn't do any real measuring on the cam, didn't have time. I had all of a week to get the car running before that year's Davis show. It definitely was less peaky than the VV61 that came out but I didn't have anything else on hand to compare it to. The specs John sent me though are 264/268 @ .020, .427 lift so it's pretty similar to the VV61 in terms of lift but with a longer duration and different lobe center (110 on the VPD, 108 on the VV61). Still pulls really strong across the board, peak torque down low, HP climbing solid up high, clear past 6k. Nice for a driver, probably not the best for max power, but I suspect it may handle a turbo reasonably well.

nice to see you got it back together