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DET17's "Project cheap thrills" - '92 944T

Outstanding attention to detail improving little things like cheesy factory oil drain, etc. Also, very well executed preemptive strikes like crack drilling and Hylomar. I still remember how many studs and nuts my poor old 13c shed after I thought I was being Mr Clever Maintainer and replaced them all with "premium" aftermarket. Word to the wise....it's the OEM ones, or they're a PITA no matter what you slather em in.
 
Thanks all for the kind words. I'm an OCD Engineer, so I can only do it this way! My wife just shakes her head....and I tell her to take pity on me, I can't help it! I read builds on TB for a good year before I decided what to I wanted to do with this DD, so a good bit of "due diligence" prior to the execution. Actually this thread is behind the actual status....just need to install bumpers and a taillight, and the beast goes into service next week. It will be nice to park & sell my last SAAB DD and officially start the brick ride. ;-)
 
Onward with engine assembly. My 90+ was wrapped on the long runners with header tape, to keep the heat inside for the T3 to benefit from. This pic shows the final installation of the 90+, once the turbo feed and drains were finished, I went ahead and installed the metal locknuts (don't even think about using plastic locknuts here!), both on the exhaust mani and the T3 downpipe flange as well. Here also, the Bosch distributor cap & rotor is installed, along with new O-rings, to keep the oil in the head where it belongs:

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I purchased & installed the IPD Turbo cam for this engine; used Dale's gear with an advance setting of 6*, but with my .010" head clean-up machining, I realistically ended up with 4* of advance. I've not run one of these before, but IPD feedback says the advancing of the cam will recover some of the lost bottom end, and won't hurt the 3K plus performance. While I did not detail the installation of the cam (plenty of coverage on TB), here is a "must have" as far as I am concerned:

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Everyone who is hot rodding one of these redblocks, and shimming an aftermarket/stock cam, can benefit greatly from this shim kit from IPD. For the fee of the shipping both directions, and pay for "what you use" shims, this is a deal that can't be beat! I tried to shim my IPD cam with a compilation of 3 old engines worth of shims....found that at most I had about 3 different thicknesses, not nearly the right size for what my IPD cam/head needed (the head had the valves lapped and new springs/retainers as well...YMMV). I won't do another SOHC head & cam job without renting the kit. I bought the angle feeler gauges from IPD, and they work like a charm.

Up front, a new HEPU water pump is installed:

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and if you look REALLY close, right below the camshaft seal location in the top of the 530 head, you will see the cam oil galley plug is MISSING! :grrr: I unfortunately did not notice...bought this head from another guy who had it cleaned and crack checked, and they apparently removed the 1/8 NPT plugs. Of course, I found this out after the complete engine is installed and after pouring in the oil :lol:

Here you see the stamped metal heat shields, installed about #1 thru #3 plug wires; I decided to give up fashion and retain the factory parts to protect my Aurora wire set:

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Drivers side (LH side) I plan to install with the intake removed for access & fitment of the wiring and plumbing on that side. The new breather box from FCP Groton is visible, installed. No, I didn't buy a VOLVO breather, I can't really see any defects in this replacement part. I know TB legend warns against these, but I'm doing my own reliability testing with this one. Here she is, torqued in with new O-ring seals on bottom side (at block):

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Well, since I'll be putting down better than stock power, and starting with an AW71 (only 128K miles, she shifted "tight"), I decided to go forward with the much ballyhooed "Accumulator Modification". Many, many a good writeup on this, so I won't bore you with the details, well documented on TB. Here is the cleaned up AW71 right after the valve body assembly is reinstalled. As I have said, a dead dryer makes a perfect automatic tranny work bench. Height is just right, most have a lip around the top to keep detergent spills in check....and it was FREE, left in my house by the sellers :-P

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Two more important details to get right when you do this upgrade to the AW71. Make damn sure you note the correct position of this ratchet pawl, which I believe connects the shifter link/rod to the valve body. You get this wrong, and you get to drain all the oil and do over! The other pic shows the kick-down cable routing.....another "must get right" when you are reassembling, or you won't get autotragic kick down function:

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This just about wraps up the engine/trans work. Next we assemble them, and get ready to install into the beast.
 
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Fighting against the lean.....

Well apparently this issue is "endemic" as per the Brickboard, the side-to-side "lean" of the 7/9 series cars. With the new suspension (springs & Bils HD, conical "stay bushings", etc) my car is sitting +0.75mm higher on the passenger side, above the driver side. Understanding that the drivers side already has been penalized with the battery weight, ABS unit, fuel tank, and of course my weight, it will be even worse when I'm driving. :wtf: A couple old suspension sages suggested putting 1K miles on the car before passing judgment, so that is what I will do.

However, a couple things were still bugging me. My JY supplied IPD sways were one of them. The rear bar didn't fit well when I installed it....I would say it was a bit of a fight to get the 4th bolt in position, and I knew that wasn't right. Decided to pull it back off to see if the stress had been relieved (it was installed sans drivetrain). When I loosened all bolts it immediately twisted like a pretzel, and bound up one of the short FLAT head bolts at the rear triangle mounts. I decided it was coming off....many folks think the rear 25mm bar does not let the rear suspension articulate properly, so I cleaned up the 19mm bar off my donor 945 and installed it instead.....lined up perfectly at all 4 connections! :cool: Then I had another look at that front bar, since the rear IPD was tweaked. The front 25mm was much closer, but still there was a difference from DR to PA sides. I reached back into my bag of tricks and installed these:

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I picked these up lightly used, believe they are the Kaplhenke adjustable end links for the 7/9's. With the heavy duty all thread and jam nuts, you can adjust each side so you have zero preload on the IPD front bar when sitting at ride height, which is what I did. The difference in left to right height? None, still sitting right at + 0.75 inches higher on the PASS side of the car! :grrr: Oh well, the only option left is swapping the front springs side to side, and I'm not going there until the first thousand miles are on the beast. The Bils HD have a reputation of doing some strange things until a bit of break-in is performed.

Now that I've jumped to suspension, I'll retreat back to installation of the drivetrain.
 
OK, back into the actual sequence...installing the AW71, freshly improved with the accumulator modification. When your time comes to marry together the redblock and the AW71, great care must be taken to align the torque converter properly prior to bolting the bellhousing flange to the back of your B230. I thought I had my converter properly seated on the trans. input shaft, twice, and it turned out it STILL was not properly engaged with the internal dogs in the trans. and the slots inside the converter. This is important enough, that for the record I'm quoting from the 7/9 Maint. pages on the Brickboard, as how to do it properly:

Torque Converter Alignment on Transmission Reinstallation. [Inquiry] Why is the shaft on the torque converter that goes into the transmission slotted on both sides of the end of the shaft?

[Response: Chris Herbst] Those slots have to be aligned with the oil pump on the inside (they fit over the extrusions or dogs inside the trans). If you don't line them up you'll chew up the torque converter and the drive gear inside the transmission, which basically means getting another transmission. In addition, your oil pump will not engage. In other words, alignment on reinstallation is very important. See also the notes on alignment related to engine rear seal installation.

[Jerry Andersch] When the torque converter is properly seated it should sit 1/2" below the bell housing flange. If it's flush with it, it's not seated all the way. With the tranny slightly angled up (bell housing higher than the tail)work the TC back and forth until it seats, sliding down 1/2" of so below the bell housing flange. When installing the tranny make sure the BH is slightly higher as you move the box into place, so the TC does not slide forward and out of place. Bolting the autobox into place with the TC not properly seated can damage the transmission.


There also is a "proper alignment" (stackup) of the plates which bolt to the output flange of the crankshaft, then the flex plate. I had marked all of my pieces for sanity, and the correct stackup of the thick plate, flexplate, and thin plate is shown in the Volvo Greenbook as well as in my Bentley manual for a 240. It is also of the UTMOST importance that the LH2.4 flex plate (60 holes, 2 spaces) be properly indexed for angular position on the crank for LH2.4 to know where TDC is at. As I recall, when the crank is at TDC of #1 piston after the intake stroke with #1 ready to fire, the "2 blank spaces" on your flex plate (or flywheel) must be in the starter hole of the redblock. It is fun to torque those crank grade 12.9 bolts to the correct torque; I used my son to hold back on the harmonic balancer center bolt, while I torqued those flexplate bolts into the crank. Once the flex plate is properly attached, you can assemble the redblock and the AW71.....requires a few hands to keep indexing the engine until the bolts between the converter and the flex plate (4 total, I think) can all be installed and torqued. Here is the finished product, resting and waiting for installation into the beast:

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If you look close on the floor you will see my ATP Ultimate Wastegate & actuator for the T3....I was trying to convince myself at the last minute if I should go ahead and install, which then would have required me to buy/build a 3" downpipe. The final decider was that the ATP wastegate actuator that I have will interfere with my T3 oil drain, so that made the decision....we go in with the stock downpipe (2.63 inches) and the stock wastegate assembly. The 3 inch setup will have to wait until I recover from all this work!

At long last, it is time to hoist the old school RAMCO cherry picker and place the powerplant into the 940. As you see in the pics, I have the distributor installed, along with wiring for the plugs....as it turned out, the distributor was smashed against the firewall, and I had a hell of a time twisting the whole thing to try and get the engine shoe horned down into place without destroying the inside of my intercooler. DON"T install the distributor prior to install, and you'll have much more room to work. I should also note that I made many, many test lifts with my cherry picker chain, U-shackles, trying to find the right locations to pick the assembly from to get the right engine & trans angle for lifting and placing.....YMMV, but I'm anal that way and tested until I found the G-spot before the final lift (measure twice, cut once). So here we go placing the goods:

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It takes some jostling around to get the balance right, I was finally able to get one motor mount in position/rough bolted, then used a floor jack and a chunk of a 2x10 beneath the AW71 oil pan, to help get the attitude of the assembly tipped up "more horizontal", and the trans weight picked up a bit with the floor jack, then swivel the front of the engine to get that last front motor mount lined up properly. It would be a struggle for one person, this being my first redblock/trans install, maybe the next one will get easier :roll: . As it all turned out, my "assistant" did provide some timely help to get things into position. With everything bolted in and sitting on all 3 mounting points, here it is:

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Notice my brand new BOSCH reman. starter (eBay score :nod: ) installed; not going to all this trouble with an unknown used started, buried under that intake mess! Also here you can see the distributor and plug wires all PRE-installed... actually it lines up fairly easy with the engine installed in the car; a bit of a back strainer for us old guys, but not that bad. Now with the powerplant back in the beast, it is time to begin reconnecting the drivers side wiring harnesses, fuel lines, cables for throttle & kickdown, etc. etc. Lots more to do, but a really big step has been completed. :-D Now where's that cold beer?
 
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OK, so you were shooting for a high degree of difficulty engine install by leaving the dizzy on and your intercooler/radiator in....I can appreciate not wanting things to be easy on yourself...where's the challenge in that...am I right?

Bummer that your dizzy had a Greg Louganis moment with your firewall though. The judge from SW Portland gives your engine's dive an 8 after the deduction for non-vertical entry and inappropriate touching.
 
OK, so you were shooting for a high degree of difficulty engine install by leaving the dizzy on and your intercooler/radiator in....I can appreciate not wanting things to be easy on yourself...where's the challenge in that...am I right?

Bummer that your dizzy had a Greg Louganis moment with your firewall though. The judge from SW Portland gives your engine's dive an 8 after the deduction for non-vertical entry and inappropriate touching.

I had the good sense to leave the radiator out....but the IC/condensor was still intact, as my AC was thought to be still charged (per the PO). Upon startup, I've got no AC so my low side pressure is obviously too low.

I put a harmonic balancer thru my Malibu radiator some rears ago, so I have (at least) learned from that burn.

And yes, those angle adjusting gizmos would indeed have utility putting the powerplant in place. Many of those Chinese pickers come with those standard....but I went old school made in the USA for my picker.....I'm sentimental for the good old days.....;-)
 
You should use adjustble end links with the front IPD sway bar & IPD lowering springs. The stock ones tend to break with the IPD bar. I've broken 2.

I'm now using Kaplehenke Racing Adj End Links and are doing fine.
 
I'm bookmarking this thread for reference when I dig into my engine build. You do a real good job at explaining things, so many things make much more sense to me now! Thanks. I look forward to more progress!
 
You should use adjustble end links with the front IPD sway bar & IPD lowering springs. The stock ones tend to break with the IPD bar. I've broken 2.

I'm now using Kaplehenke Racing Adj End Links and are doing fine.

Roger that, they are in now (see the post for details). No doubt, the Volvo endlink threaded rod is significantly smaller than the Kaplhenke pcs, which are hell for stout. I'm concerned about the ball swivel end getting mucked up with road debris, but I greased mine up to provide a "filth barrier". Good tip, Smokey!
 
Roger that, they are in now (see the post for details). No doubt, the Volvo endlink threaded rod is significantly smaller than the Kaplhenke pcs, which are hell for stout. I'm concerned about the ball swivel end getting mucked up with road debris, but I greased mine up to provide a "filth barrier". Good tip, Smokey!

And FWIW, I have no problem with the spherical ball end of them. And I never hear them either, like I thought I would.

When I had OEM Volvo end link break it was quite a hairy experience, but luckily I had room on shoulder of road to correct the car.(both times) My OEM unit broke during excessively hard cornering
Would be a bad thing to happen in congested area /in town though for sure
 
Very nice man, I think a lot of these guys could benefit from this thread. Quite meticulous to say the least.
 
Let's keep this rolling and get the redblock reassembled. Installed my freshly cleaned up and spit shined B230 Intake with brand new Elhring gasket (don't go cheap on that gasket, a PITA to replace later). Beneath the intake are MANY electrical devices requiring connection: AIC valve, starter & solenoid wiring, knock sensor, 2 temp. senders in the head....to name a few. Back against the firewall are the heater hoses and heater control valve to open the HOT line for the heater when in need. Plan on spending some quality time down there, and confirm WHICH hose goes WHERE on the firewall (it does matter according to the BrickBoard). After the intake and all driver side electrical terminations were completed I worked on the front end of the engine and installed all 3 belt driven accessories: 100A Bosch alternator, AC compressor, and the PS pump. Belts from Volvo and only 1 Conti Belt (Volvo is preferred IMO). Looked just like this:

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With the intake manifold installed and torqued, I fed the injector wiring harness and ground wires up thru the center opening, just a "rough in". Notice the blue ground wire coming from the 100A alternator, connecting to the intake support stay:

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Now from the pass. side view you can see the PS Pump installed and belt tensioned (this setup requires 3 different bolts/nuts to be loosened BEFORE you can tension it; be patient and figure out where they are and it tensions easily). Also in this view you can see the AW71 trans oil lines running to/from the big wagon radiator. My lines were bent up badly by previous hack work....had to get the steel tubing benders and a lot of "tweaking" but I finally got them to resemble OEM:

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Finally it was time to install the fuel rail with my freshly cleaned & flowed 36#/hour Ford browntops, low Z. All injector leads are reinstalled (they were carefully labeled so not to confuse them!). Here she is:

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There are injector "ground wires" which must be very carefully attached, one front and one rear. I followed the advice from the 7/9 Maint. Pages on the BB, and used special aluminum grounding paste as these grounds land into the intake.....research it; these must be right or you will have injector issues. Now here is a better view from forward of the engine showing the Browntops and the new Bosch 3 Bar FPR:

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There are a lot of misc. connections which must be made...cruise control, AW71 kickdown cables, vacuum lines to climate controls, fuel supply & return lines. I don't have pics of each step, but it all makes sense when you tackle one task at a time. Looking at the empty engine bay, the snakepit of hoses & wires is daunting, but have faith. You can eat an elephant....one piece at a time :-D
 
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My air intake box was in bad shape, typical of the 7/9's. Most of the snap-spring latches had snapped off....that 20 year old plastic hinge point fails, and many times a small chunk of plastic is gone. Well having considered a cone filter, but from research and inspection, the Volvo unit actually looks very well done by the Swedes if you study the airflow....and web legend says it will support maybe 300 HP, so I decided to clean, repair, reuse. Found a nice writeup on the BB 7/9 pages (sounding like a broken record, but MANY good tips and advice to be found there) about how to retrofit some McMaster-Carr spring latches. I bought these, less than $5 a piece shipped to my door:

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Then got out my old school Craftsman rivet tool, 1/8" rivets, and measured carefully to determine WHERE I wanted to attach these new clips. Actually I cheated..I had an old junk air box since I had 2 cars, so I guessed the location and test drilled, verified the amount of squeeze that I wanted. Remember to test "squeeze" with a filter installed, or you will be TOO TIGHT. By the 3rd trial I had it nailed (don't ask me how far, but these pics will give you an idea). Here is the first hinge spring clip installed:

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If you look close, you will see some small washers under the rivet; actually outside and inside the airbox. When I tested my junk box, the first rivet pulled right through the plastic before the center snapped off. The plastic is TOO weak to carry the stress under the head of the rivet. To enable a proper squeeze, I put small washers on both sides of the 1/4 inch rivet.....take yours to the washer bin, and find some (think mine were 3mm, but not sure). Then I synched down the rivet with my rivet gun, but DID NOT break off the shank. Instead, when I had the proper clamp and squeeze on the box, I took my dremel and cutoff wheel and sawed off the rivet shank. Finished units installed, like this:

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All new spring latches installed, and the finished air box installed. Look pretty good, and work "better than new" :nod: :

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With the finished intake air box installed, it was time to complete the intake piping and hot side IC piping. All my pieces cleaned up (OCD ;-)) and then put into position. Amazingly, all pipes which came off the Mitsu turbo, lined right up with the Garrett T3; obviously they are dimensionally "very close" for interconnection piping and the downpipe as well. Here are a couple shots of the induction to the Turbo:

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The suction hose from the AMM to the compressor inlet aligned perfect, no issues again. Here you see it:

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While I was rolling, I went ahead and followed the flow to the cold side of the IC. All my hardpipes and hoses cleaned up, clamps oriented, I installed the cold side system between the IC exit and the TPS inlet to the intake. You can also see here my new top radiator hose (NAPA or Volvo, skip the cheap junk hoses, they will break your heart). Howsabout those brand new ABA hose clamps with that shiny blue paint?

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Now that the induction system piping, from airbox to intake manifold was complete, I next installed the oil breather hose. This connects the redblock crankcase breather to the turbo inlet hose, recycling those "blow by gases & oil" from the B230. Reused the old hose, bought a new 45* fitting (Volvo) off eBay, and "repurposed" one of those Volvo wiring harness tie-down straps to hold this hose, like this:

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The 7/9 apparently use a 12V solenoid valve to open/close this oil fume passage....just reconnected the factory parts.

Last for this installment, the fine details on the intake side vacuum hoses. I used the "one way" check valves to keep BOOST from feeding back into everything, except of course, the BOOST gauge line. If you like close, you will see the small check valve on the braided line which draws from the breather box when idling:

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Hooking up the spools for the throttle cable, AW71, and cruise control, I relied completely on info. from my Bentley manual and the rest from the BB 7/9 pages. I found that the ball-joint swivel link was badly misadjusted by some previous hack....I could not get my AW71 kickdown cable to install per specs; had to readjust this ball link, and everything was fine on the kickdown cable....just like the Swedes designed it! :-D
 
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