redblockpowered converts from 240 to 940

[redblockpowered]

My dad had to drive this car for a few days after the 240 blew a tire, and as a "thank you" gift he surprised me with a new steering wheel! Very generous. The old one was mostly delaminated, worn smooth, and honestly had to go.


The airbag had definitely been out before, in fact the sticker on the door jamb seems to suggest it was actually replaced on schedule in 2008. Guess I can feel safe for a few more years.

I had originally planned to give refurbishing the cruise control stalk a go so it could have a prayer of working, but the switch seems to be riveted together and not serviceable. Lots of mildly gross dust up in this part of the car.


A nice left horn button coming with the wheel was a big plus. Good to see the original texture on the wheel almost all the way around.


Oh, and scored this thing on eBay for $40:




Hard to see, but it's a 16T off of a (01-04?) C70. The ad didn't make it clear whether it was a 16T or 14T so I gambled (or maybe looked up the half of the part number that wasn't obscured) and won.



It's admittedly a little sloppy, but should work.

Having now owned and seen in person all three Volvo TD04HL turbine housings at one point from various eBay/CL deals I am pretty determined to make the angled flange work. If I end up scoring another conical turbine housing it might make it on there as a temporary measure. If you put an angled turbine housing on your car, please let me know what you ended up doing...

[DET17]

Have you rebuilt any of the TD04 turbos before? CHRA common I believe to most..... I used a factory MITSU overhaul kit, and followed the video from ARD Tuning, which might still be up even tho they apparently don't exist any more. Cheapie ChiWanNese kits are out there for 1/3 the price, but I always try to buy the best as you won't be disappointed with quality.

Good luck with the angled housing..... I used a flat flange 7cm housing on my 19t, and would not have wanted the trouble to fit that flange to the DP on a 7/9. Seen pics of several, and I don't care for the aesthetics of that swap myself.... (Engineer OCD).

[Coupid]

Just read through the entire thread. Great project and lots of helpful information for M90 swaps and suspension. Thanks!

[90volvo]

I have angled flange 19T. Will admit the muffler shop had a tough time with it. Working on it; I figured out, dont put long stud on it. It will make it a royal pain to remove. I replace the long studs for some short one and now it a piece of cake. Bad thing about the angled flange is nothing else will bolt up to it. Im max out on 19T and would like to upgrade but Ill have to change the downpipe. Dont think the ex. shop will want to do it. LEt me know if you have any questions.

[Swedbrick]

You could also look for a 13g or 15t with the straight housing, swap them and sell of the turbo again. It should bring about the same in price and save you on the exhaust work

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by Coupid

Just read through the entire thread. Great project and lots of helpful information for M90 swaps and suspension. Thanks!

Glad to hear it, thanks! Really appreciate hearing that kind of stuff.

Originally Posted by 90volvo

I have angled flange 19T. Will admit the muffler shop had a tough time with it. Working on it; I figured out, dont put long stud on it. It will make it a royal pain to remove. I replace the long studs for some short one and now it a piece of cake. Bad thing about the angled flange is nothing else will bolt up to it. Im max out on 19T and would like to upgrade but Ill have to change the downpipe. Dont think the ex. shop will want to do it. LEt me know if you have any questions.

The studs on the housing where it connects to the downpipe? That's good to know.

Originally Posted by Swedbrick

You could also look for a 13g or 15t with the straight housing, swap them and sell of the turbo again. It should bring about the same in price and save you on the exhaust work

It would definitely be easier to make the straight flange work, planning on that as a backup plan.

Originally Posted by DET17

Have you rebuilt any of the TD04 turbos before? CHRA common I believe to most..... I used a factory MITSU overhaul kit, and followed the video from ARD Tuning, which might still be up even tho they apparently don't exist any more. Cheapie ChiWanNese kits are out there for 1/3 the price, but I always try to buy the best as you won't be disappointed with quality.

Good luck with the angled housing..... I used a flat flange 7cm housing on my 19t, and would not have wanted the trouble to fit that flange to the DP on a 7/9. Seen pics of several, and I don't care for the aesthetics of that swap myself.... (Engineer OCD).

I had originally intended on the straight flange, figuring it would be easier to make a downpipe for it, and I do have a rebuild kit for it but have not rebuilt one of these before. I changed my plan a bit when I saw this: https://martelius.com/en/exhausts/jt...nklad-turbohus as well as being tempted by the enormous outlet on the angled flange, particularly relative to the very high temperature (and low density) of that area. I could be overthinking it though.

I'd love to see some dyno testing of angled vs flat vs conical turbine housings on the same car. Would be curious to know how much of a difference it makes.

[Grendel]

It's interesting to see how many folks are from New England.

Keep at the build.

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by Grendel

It's interesting to see how many folks are from New England.

Keep at the build.

I'm surprised at how many I still see every day that appear to just be used like regular cars. It's a testament to the build quality of these things.

Not too much to report. Drove the car, washed the car, drove the car, washed the car. Oil change up soon, so taking a stab at fixing some small oil leaks. Underside and back of the engine is oily, as is expected. I have to add a quart every 1200-1500 miles which I'd like to stop doing. Took the distributor off and found evidence of leakage along with a ton of thrust play in the distributor shaft. I had another one lying around, much tighter and no evidence of leaks. Means I can't sell it, but I would rather enjoy reduced oil leaks than $30.

Excited to ask for oil advice and then do my own research, proceeding to buy something not recommended by anyone.

[shoestring]

Shouldn't you be in class?

[redblockpowered]

At half past midnight? I hope not.

[redblockpowered]

Why doesn't the A/C work?



Ah, that'll do it.

[redblockpowered]

FedEx says my shiny new Bilstein HDs should be here tomorrow. Exciting!

I wonder how this setup (~170lb wheel rates, stock height, 25/19 bars) compares to the typical IPD springs/lowered car/25mm sway bars arrangement.

This car feels like it could use more front roll stiffness, I'd say. I've heard some forms of Ranger/Explorer front sway bar fit(and are hollow, maybe?), may take a trip to the junkyard for research purposes before it gets cold. One chassis thing at a time, though.

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

FedEx says my shiny new Bilstein HDs should be here tomorrow. Exciting!

I wonder how this setup (~170lb wheel rates, stock height, 25/19 bars) compares to the typical IPD springs/lowered car/25mm sway bars arrangement.

This car feels like it could use more front roll stiffness, I'd say. I've heard some forms of Ranger/Explorer front sway bar fit(and are hollow, maybe?), may take a trip to the junkyard for research purposes before it gets cold. One chassis thing at a time, though.

You’ll love them! Excited to hear your thoughts.

[redblockpowered]

They're in, and I've done some driving with them so here's my thoughts:

1: I need to take more pictures. Install in the rear was a little more fiddly than expected as previous aftermarket shocks or something had pinched the mounting points on both the body and trailing arm just enough that they wouldn't fit as delivered. Checking the width of the eyelets revealed that the KYBs that came out were almost exactly 1mm narrower. My dad and I made a tool to spread the body and trailing arm enough to make the Bilsteins fit without modification. This was an appropriately sized bolt and nut with a big fender washer which could function as a press in reverse, just slightly moving things back into shape. I jacked up the rear axle until the rear was off the jackstands and torqued to spec. Seems fine now.

Oddly enough, the struts were a little more straightforward. I freed the gland nuts with the struts still mounted in the car, original Volvo struts came out (one seems to have some bluing/scoring on the shaft) and the new ones went in. Thanks to the 940's excellent steering angle I was able to torque everything up front with the car on the ground.

I gave the car the squish test afterward. It's really stiff. Oh dear, what did I just do?

2: Driving impressions. The squish test is extremely misleading. The damping rates are excellent for this application and it feels like a completely different car. I did not expect the effect on ride comfort to be so complicated. Mid-speed jolts are felt more in the cabin but on rough roads it is actually significantly more comfortable. I haven't noticed it bottoming out and the handling balance seems a lot more "on the nose" i.e. a lot more front grip than there was. Traction on corner exit seems greatly improved as well. The character of the car is completely different, much less "muscle car" which I appreciate a lot.

[Coupid]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

They're in, and I've done some driving with them so here's my thoughts:

1: I need to take more pictures. Install in the rear was a little more fiddly than expected as previous aftermarket shocks or something had pinched the mounting points on both the body and trailing arm just enough that they wouldn't fit as delivered. Checking the width of the eyelets revealed that the KYBs that came out were almost exactly 1mm narrower. My dad and I made a tool to spread the body and trailing arm enough to make the Bilsteins fit without modification. This was an appropriately sized bolt and nut with a big fender washer which could function as a press in reverse, just slightly moving things back into shape. I jacked up the rear axle until the rear was off the jackstands and torqued to spec. Seems fine now.

Oddly enough, the struts were a little more straightforward. I freed the gland nuts with the struts still mounted in the car, original Volvo struts came out (one seems to have some bluing/scoring on the shaft) and the new ones went in. Thanks to the 940's excellent steering angle I was able to torque everything up front with the car on the ground.

I gave the car the squish test afterward. It's really stiff. Oh dear, what did I just do?

2: Driving impressions. The squish test is extremely misleading. The damping rates are excellent for this application and it feels like a completely different car. I did not expect the effect on ride comfort to be so complicated. Mid-speed jolts are felt more in the cabin but on rough roads it is actually significantly more comfortable. I haven't noticed it bottoming out and the handling balance seems a lot more "on the nose" i.e. a lot more front grip than there was. Traction on corner exit seems greatly improved as well. The character of the car is completely different, much less "muscle car" which I appreciate a lot.

My car had the exact same issue in the rear. I was able to clearance the shock spacers a little and they slipped right in. I probably should have used your approach.

There is a right hander into a straightaway by our house that I like to use as a handling benchmark since the straightaway has some really broken up pavement. With the HDs the Wagon handles the corner fine given the car’s weight but it just soaks up the broken pavement unlike anything I had driven through there (Fiesta ST, i3, Mazda3, 142s, leaf)

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by Coupid

My car had the exact same issue in the rear. I was able to clearance the shock spacers a little and they slipped right in. I probably should have used your approach.

There is a right hander into a straightaway by our house that I like to use as a handling benchmark since the straightaway has some really broken up pavement. With the HDs the Wagon handles the corner fine given the car’s weight but it just soaks up the broken pavement unlike anything I had driven through there (Fiesta ST, i3, Mazda3, 142s, leaf)

I clearanced the spacers for the cheap KYB Gas-A-Justs I had in there before but figured these were worth not damaging. The car feels awesome now. Body control is excellent, ride quality is still very good, and traction is good as well. Without a doubt the second biggest change I have made to the car, behind the M90.

One of the rear deck speakers blew out a few weeks ago, I bought one from 2manyturbos on here as well as the rear door speakers my car didn't have but was wired for. Haven't put the door speakers in yet as getting under the rear hat shelf thing was a chore. I tightened up the half-attached C pillar trim and adjusted the trunk hinges (something we neglected to do when replacing the original trunk lid last year) while I was in there. It's nice to have a marginally quieter and better looking car.

Nothing exciting to report beyond that. I converted a Miata setup spreadsheet I found to work with 740s/940s: click here for handling spreadsheet which is not quite like working on my car, but similar. My trip odometer has become a little wonky and the traditional old Volvo cold weather interior vibrations have come back, mostly at a pace that I can get to them one at a time with a small piece of foam or felt tape and get rid of them.

I put Mobil 1 European Car Formula 0W-40 in my car. $25 for 5 quarts at Wal-Mart. Fancy. I figure I'll take the rear sway bar off and do the blower motor (noisy, but functional) before it gets cold. Still need to get better at taking pictures.

Almost at 200K miles! Excited to finally be out of the break-in period.

[fatcatbestcat]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

Almost at 200K miles! Excited to finally be out of the break-in period.

Just swap your speedo for a 730k mile one.

[redblockpowered]

I have moved the odometer manually before, so maybe I'm lying and actually at 730k.

[fatcatbestcat]

Originally Posted by redblockpowered

I have moved the odometer manually before, so maybe I'm lying and actually at 730k.

Convert to metric for bigger number.

[redblockpowered]

Bought a conical 15G for myself for my birthday. I have a 16T with a nice angled turbine housing that I grabbed for $40 on eBay too but figured this would be a decent stopgap before I figured out what to do with the exhaust. The ultra discount 16T is suspect anyway...

Groundbreaking stuff, truly.

and only 1200 miles until 200K for this daily driver!

[DET17]

Nah, flip that conical.....and the angle flange (too clunky to fit properly in a 7/9). Flat flanged 15g, 7cm housing..... then a nice 19t, 3inch DP. Full do88 professional FMIC and hoses. 18psi and you'll begin wondering about the shortblock.

What year is your engine, a squirter? If not, you might as well find one.... get Chinabay H-beams so the rod fuse is removed. The full spiral is underway....... hang on and enjoy the ride.

[Old Iron]

Nice build!

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by Old Iron

Nice build!

Thank you!

[redblockpowered]

Originally Posted by DET17

Nah, flip that conical.....and the angle flange (too clunky to fit properly in a 7/9). Flat flanged 15g, 7cm housing..... then a nice 19t, 3inch DP. Full do88 professional FMIC and hoses. 18psi and you'll begin wondering about the shortblock.

What year is your engine, a squirter? If not, you might as well find one.... get Chinabay H-beams so the rod fuse is removed. The full spiral is underway....... hang on and enjoy the ride.

It's a 1993 block with squirter, which I appreciate. With regard to the bigger turbo and exhaust, this is where I have to put on the "this is my daily driver" hat and show some restraint hahaha. The turbo choice is primarily because the 13C is a little bit knackered and it's practically the same cost to get the marginal upgrade of the 15G.

Maybe when I have the money and space to put another motor together... and in that case it could be that more valves would be in this car's future. And a TrueTrac, and more tire. And a nicer, more modern turbo. Oh my.

[fatcatbestcat]

+rep way nicer than my car