Help me keep my car (manual trans swap)

I am really close to keeping this car. Really, really close. They say the cheapest car you'll ever own is the one you currently have (not that expense was ever a MAJOR factor in me wanting to defect to the dark side), so...my wife would be happy.

It's a great car. I mean, a really great car. It's completely solid after 172K and just starts, runs and drives like a dream. I ran a couple of errands in it the other day and it just looked really good coming back out to the parking lot, all black and sitting on the 16" Hydras.

The ONE THING that would seal the deal is if I could swap in a 5-speed. I have GOT to be able to row my own gears, and I NEED a project. Seriously. It's been so long since I seriously turned a wrench beyond the odd alternator replacement and oil changes.

I've poked around a little bit and while there isn't really a straight answer anywhere, it seems like this is possible in a 940 with using custom parts. So what car(s) do I need to get this from?

- Tranny
- Clutch
- Flywheel
- Slave cylinder
- Master cylinder/pedal assy.
- ECU?

I've done a half-dozen or so engine swaps (couple of RX-7s, a Taurus, mk3 Supras, '69 Camaro) and one outright tranny swap (between Mustangs) so I'm not daunted by a good couple of weekends (or one long weekend) under the car. We just got a minivan so I have an extra car for a little while, so the timing is perfect to try to make this work.

Thanks guys.

What year 940?

You need tranny, driveshaft, flywheel, pedal assembly, clutch slave+master cylinder+fluid lines, transmission mount, and gear shift lever from an M47 (assuming you want a REAL 5 speed) 740 car. If you want the M47 it would have to be from a later (~87+?) non-turbo 740. As far as I know the ECU should't make a difference. I swapped my 740 to a manual years ago (and have since swapped to a T5 trans). It is mostly a simple bolt in job once you have the right parts.

A few potential hangups:
Since you have a 940 and not a 740 the trim around the shifter will not work. You'll probably have to cut a hole in your existing trim to make it work which depending on your cutting skills may or may not look acceptable to you.
The flywheel will have to match your engine management. Your 940 likely has a flywheel crank position sensor which requires a teeth on the flywheel. So you would need to make sure the flywheel you swap on has the required teeth (or get them machined in... which some have done).
If your car has independent rear suspension the driveshaft might not be a bolt in... someone else can probably comment on this.

James

EDIT: Clicked your link duh... since your car is a turbo you might want to consider not doing the M47... turbo cars came with the M46 which has the electric overdrive. If this doesn't bother you drop in the M46 instead which opens you up to pretty much any year manual 740 Turbo for your parts. Don't forget to get the overdrive solenoid relay and wiring when you gut the donor vehicle. Your car probably does have independent rear suspension... you should verify that the driveshaft will work with someone who has done the swap.

It's a '93 with a live axle. I do want a "true" 5-speed, not an M46 (although supposedly the M46 is stronger, my engine is bone stock and I don't plan on doing crazy power mods just yet--I really just want to use my left foot again when I drive).

Are M47s difficult to find? I won't have to source one of these overseas, will I?

No problem cutting a hole in the trim so long as the shifter itself is in the right spot. I work in display design and we have a full model shop that's used to doing that kind of tricky plastic work.

The flywheel is a bit more of a thorny issue. Hmm.

Thanks for the input. I'm absorbing all I can.

Oh good, with the live axle the driveshaft should be no trouble.

M47s are "common", or at least as common as any manual transmission Volvo 740 is here in the US. You should be able to source one. I frequent the yards in the Boston area and come across them reasonably often. I swapped a friends 740 from M46->M47 a few years back and we found two candidate M47 donors.

The flywheel could be potentially the hardest issue. Only a manual trans 740 1989 or later will have the flywheel you need, and my perception is the manual trans cars got less common through the life of the 740. I see them pop up here in the for sale section every once in a while though. Maybe someone who has one will chime in... If you can't find one you could also go the machining route and have one "made" from an older flywheel without the teeth. There are a few threads on here of people who have done this.

Good luck... keep the car!


James

Thanks James. I poked around the car a bit earlier this evening and even found the blind plug in the opening in the firewall for the clutch master cylinder. It even seems to be pretty far down on the firewall so I may not even have to do major reaching up behind the instrument cluster to get the pedal assembly bolted in. Famous last words, haha. The bellhousing looks pretty accessible from the top AND the bottom, so it doesn't look like rocket science.

Just gotta get me some parts now! Where's that local Volvo junkyard...?

Take that jesus fish off the back and it will be worth keeping.

callousedxfingers said:

Take that jesus fish off the back and it will be worth keeping.

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He's gonna get you for that, beware!

your damn right, and keep the car man, ive had alot of different types of cars and this has been the CHEAPEST car ive ever got power out of, i have less than 800$ in all my mods.

940franken said:

you're damn right, and keep the car man, ive had alot of different types of cars and this has been the CHEAPEST car ive ever got power out of, i have less than 800$ in all my mods.

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Thanks Unless someone swoops in at the last minute and offers me, like, MORE than the asking price for the car (which is very unlikely), I'm keeping it. It's just a great car--tracks with authority, feels completely solid after 172K. It really is the definition of "executive car," the car category it fits into in Europe.

I do wish it were easier to get BIG power out of the engine, though. I totally respect the fact that your mods have been easy and inexpensive, and it's the route I'll probably go to in terms of upgrading, but my background is in Japanese sports cars (Supras and RX-7s), and with just a little more than the amount you've invested a mk3 Supra (7M-GTE) could get a Lexus AFM, 550cc injectors, a Walbro FP, EBC, 3" exhaust and a 60-1 trim impeller on the stock CT-26 and be pushing 400whp. That doesn't include any internal work, though, and the head gaskets on those engine are notoriously fragile.

Anyway. Yes, I'm 98% sure I'm keeping the car, and yes, I love it.

You can get Fairly good power out of a red block with a proper set of Mods, and that little m47 will be dead if you plan on doing any of those mods tho.

Either way, a full 3" exhaust, 960 amm/afm, larger set of injectors, intercooer, walbro, set of chips and then an RSi/IPD turbo cam, and a proper sized turbo will put you near if not over 300hp out of 4cyl tractor motor. All can be done for under $1000-2000 depending on how resourceful you are. It has been done more than a few times around here, most just have issues with it due to cheaping out and not knowing how to do things right.



Personally if you really want a 5spd and want to make some power down the line swap in either a T5 or Getrag.

Mike is right, but another thing is you can get your car for 1500-2000$ all day long, but the supra is a little more, plus i didnt even pay anything for mine haha, I guess that helps too! But im planning to be at around 300hp by the end of this year.

Having done a M90 swap into my 940, I can say it is pretty easy to do, everything bolts together like factory.

You can get the lh2.4 dog dish flywheel from lh2.4 manual 240's, too. It weighs a freaking ton so get it lightened by someone who knows what he is doing such as Fidel at Knox Motorsports. (user name here is Fidel).

To get manual pedals etc in the car you just need the pedals, through-bolts, and return springs, not the entire pedal box. Plus the clutch master cyl, lines, and slave cyl.

With that stuff above (flywheel, pedals, hydraulics) ready you now need to decide to go M90 from Europe or T-5 from the good ol' U.S. of A.

If I was doing this again, I would go GM WC T-5 and get John Van Landingham to modify a M46 bell housing. The GM T-5's are cheaper and per others here put the gearshift in the right place for a 740/940. You also get to source a box with better gear ratios because the M90L's first gear is rather low. The M90H has better ratios. The T-5 is easily rebuildable while the M90 isn't.

You will need a custom front drive shaft and fabricate the old trans crossmember with a mount for the T-5.

Thanks for the input, MrSteve. I'd like to keep the fabrication to a minimum, seeing as how this is my daily and I'd prefer to keep the downtime low, which is why I'm gravitating toward an M47 or, now that you've recommended it, an M90. As a mentioned above I'm not looking for crazy power out of the redblock just yet, I'd rather get a 5-speed in there and THEN switch to a more robust tranny (like a T-5) when the power comes, at which point I'll already have those little things done that seem to take up extra time, like the pedals, hydraulics, electrics, speedo cable, etc.

That said, if you don't mind, how much did it cost to get the M90 from Europe? Where did you get the other pieces? Did you source anything from a manual 740 (w/M47)? The latter is the route I was planning (either find a wrecked manual 740 or find someone who's parting one out).

Better be sitting down when you read this ($$$). My M90L with gear shift parts, clutch fork, TO bearing, crossmember (which I didn't need as the auto trans uses the same crossmember though the M90 rubber trans mount is a bit taller) and a new diesel clutch disc came to just under $1k shipped. This was 2 years ago.

The hydraulics I sourced here were from a manual 740. I have an extra set of pedals and hydraulics I advertise for sale here from time to time.

If you go the M90 route, try to get the M90 front drive shaft as part of the kit as it is longer than the M47 and AW71 front drive shafts.

If you want to do a M47 for the time being, get one from a 740 as the shifter mounts in the right place for a 940. The 240 M47 puts the shifter too far forward.

Actually... A quick look around the internet shows that T5s ARE pretty inexpensive, and I wouldn't have to pay overseas shipping, etc... It could be (and probably is) the better deal.

Edit: Just saw your reply. $1K isn't actually as bad as I thought it might be, believe it or not... Where'd you get it from?

Matt Suffern said:

Actually... A quick look around the internet shows that T5s ARE pretty inexpensive, and I wouldn't have to pay overseas shipping, etc... It could be (and probably is) the better deal.

Edit: Just saw your reply. $1K isn't actually as bad as I thought it might be, believe it or not... Where'd you get it from?

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From a UK member here, Foggyjames. Great guy to deal with.

940 trans swap

I put a T5 in my 940 last year. Here is a short thread:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=148937

A good way to start is to find a manual 740 junker and pull the pedal box, clutch lines,etc. I used the adapter and bell housing from John at Vintage Performance. Save the 3.54 rear axle if you can, I wish I had done that, it works better with the ratios on the T5. I used the Ford T5 and the set back shifter. I have another shifter unit that I got from Chuck(can't remember his sig), I haven't had time to install it yet.

The car is great to drive with the manual, it makes you want to wake up the motor with an MBC or bigger turbo or?

Ed