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Vintage B30 (164) transmission options

D

deadbeef

New member
Joined
Jan 16, 2017
Location
New Mexico, USA
I'm not a big fan of my 1970 164's auto transmission, so I'm trying to figure out what other options are available. It looks like you can bolt up a T5 to a B20 with http://www.v-performance.com/products/transmission.html, but it's not clear to me if I could use the same adapter plate on a B30. As I understand it, the plate lets you attach a T5 to an M40 bellhousing; can the M40 bellhousing in turn bolt on to a B30?

Apologies if the question is a bit muddy, I'm basically trying to see if there's any reasonable alternatives to the relatively uncommon M400/M410 transmission.
 
You would need a B30 M40/M41 bellhousing, the bellhousing diameter and bolt pattern is larger on the B30, to fit around the larger flywheel.

And, unless I'm missing some oddities (Volvo did usual and unusual configurations back in the day) the B30 never came with an M40 or M41, they used a related but stronger (but possibly not as long lasting?) version called the M400/M410. I don't know if those are the same on the front end as the M40/41 is, which is what the adapter plate would be requiring.

For some reason, I have a faint recollection of the front of the M400/M410 being more like the M45/46/47 - not a separate bearing retainer and a completely separate bellhousing, but having that all integrated into the bellhousing. Also AFAIK the input shaft of a B30 M400/M410 isn't the same as the M40/M41, or even the same as the one year they used the M410 on a b20 (1970 1800E).

I don't count myself as a definitive source, I'm just killing time until HiPerf gets here (heh), but I'd really, really doubt that a B20/T5 swap kit would do you much good at all on a B30.
 
You might be able to make the adapter work (although I don't recommend buying anything from VPD) but you'll still need an M400/M410 bell housing. You're also going to need a pedal assembly that will to be very hard to find.

Yes, the M400/410 bell housing is like an M45/6/7 in that it retains the bearings and the trans is bolted on from the inside.
 
EDIT: Just following up on my hunch - the www.gcp.se parts catalog does show a gasket between the bellhousing and an M400/410 transmission, one that is not needed on the M40/41:

page0299.png


The part number on that is 381051: http://www.skandix.de/en/spare-part...s-seals/oil-seal-manual-transmission/1038675/
Which just lists the 164 and the one year 1800 as applications, not the many models and years that used the M40/41.

That makes me a lot more sure that this won't work.

Worth noting that in the parts catalogs they never seem to show the M400/410 transmission without the bellhousing, but the do show the M40/41 without it, because it's not as functionally involved in the M40/41:
page0317.png
 
Also, assuming those parts catalog drawings are pretty much to scale (and they usually are0 they sure make it look as though the bolt pattern on the M400/410 is a lot taller than the relatively square M40/41.
 
That's a shame, looks like the M400/410 is the only way to go. Was there an overdrive option for the M35? One reason I'm looking at the manual is for better gas mileage and lower RPM cruising, and fitting an overdrive to the M35 might at least help with the latter.
 
After getting several requests from customers for an overdrive for their BW35's my brother contacted Gear Vendors to see if they were interested in developing a kit. They were not.

Some have managed to adapt an AW70 to a B20. If the adapter is still available, you could probably cut and weld your bell housing the the AW bell housing to make it work.

http://www.v1800reg.org/pages/AW70%20CONV.PDF

Actually, if your cutting the bell housing anyway, you could make it work without the adapter.
 
I'm assuming you mean the horrible 'BW35' 3 speed automatic?

FWIW when I pulled my AW71 out of my '93 240 I sold it to a guy in Canada who bought some adapter parts to bolt it to a pushrod B20/18, as an upgrade to a Bw35. I'm not sure who made the adapter parts, or how involved that was.

After looking at some ancient emails (thanks, GMail!) He was using some sort of BW35 - AW7X adapter plate made by Mike Ilyes: http://www.v1800reg.org/pages/AW70 CONV.PDF

Again, you may fall foul of differences between a B20 and a B30, but getting a TC to bolt to a flex plat that's already on the engine seems like a doable task.
 
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You could always swap a 960 white block in there and have a more powerful six and an overdrive trans. It would probably get about 10 more mpg too.

I would see what is out there. When I had my 69 164 I found an M410 for it. It did take some months and it wasn't really cheap but it was out there. I found it in a salvage yard here in Jersey on a junked 71 164. The pedals were already in my car since it was a four speed.

If you don't want to get involved with adding pedals then I think the AW70/71 swap is probably a good choice as well. You'll have a floor shifter too which is better than the column one.
 
Dave, I disagree that a floor shifter is better than the column one ;) but otherwise an AW70/71 swap might work. I'd have to get an adapter fabricated, so I'd probably want to find a local shop that does Volvo stuff and talk it over with them. I've seen stuff about how the input shaft of a B30 is different from that of a B20, etc.

I found a local junker man-trans 164 that's slowly sinking into the earth, but I'd really only want the transmission... which is of course an unknown quantity on something that's sat so long! I emailed the guy to see if he'd be interested in parting it out.
 
For sure the sifter is a personal preference. As long as you can have the neutral safety switch setup working if you go with an automatic trans choice.
 
I have an m400 in my 164. Nice gearbox, and I enjoy driving the car. Shifting is a bit heavy...

You will have to do some work on the transmission tunnel other than just cutting a hole for the shifter. The tunnel is bigger I think for the m400.

Just thought you might like to know that ahead of time...

Jack's m400 might be the best option. I've picked a few things up from him in the past, and it's always well packaged, and as good or better than advertised. Just my 2 cents worth...


Dave Riedle
 
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