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245 GL -90 "B6284T" and other 6-cyl builds

:wave:

Progress has been slow but there has been no hurry as Spring hasn't been too warm.

Installed new passenger seat(Sparco REV II) and Sabelt 2" 6-point harness for both. Downgraded the turbo in to a "HX45". Friend makes custom versions of HX40 and this has 67/67mm with billett compressor and a #22 exhaust. Should be good up to 750hp. Made a new coolant overflow tank from stainless and moved the cap thread from the steel tank I made some years ago. Etc.

A couple of clamps missing in the pic:
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Glued the 965 rear "spoiler" in place and polished the car a bit. Though it's gotten dusty after that and stone chip protector is yet to be sprayed to the rockers.
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Took it for a first drive today and boost comes up earlier as it should. Not giving the full beans yet but soon :lol: Can't yet really say how much the cage affects handling. Will install Quick steer roll correction pieces after driving a while.

Still many time consuming things to do.
 
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965 lip fits nicely doesn't it :) Sprayed stone chip protector to the rockers and now the outside is almost finished. Just missing the front bumper corner mouldings.

Been driving almost daily now. Changed the aux belt yesterday and it was surprisingly bad. Took it to a MOT inspection today and the inspector wanted to weigh the car because of the cage. It's gotten pretty heavy along the years, result ~1590kg/3505lbs without the driver :-D No wonder it feels a bit heavy in the corners and it's getting close to max front axle weight. Heavier brakes, wheels, transmission, intercooler, exhaust(especially rear muffler), sound dampening, cage... Somehow removing the rear seat and having light fronts doesn't help quite enough :-(

What comes to corners I installed Kaplhenke Quick Steer Roll Correction parts today. The outer boltholes didn't line up perfectly with the strut. If I had three bolts screwed almost down I couldn't fit the other outer bolt in place. Had to leave all bolts ~halfway and tightening the outer ones first, then they would tightly turn. Same for both sides so a little grind on the bolt holes was needed.

Painted them and refreshed the paint on front struts at the same time. Installed tie rod end to the middle hole and didn't have to shorten the inner tie rod thread as some have, not even close. Control arm and tie rod still point a bit upwards but situation is much better. Could/might lift the front a little though.

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Checked alignment and took it for a drive on main and smaller roads. As expected the handling is much better. Turns nicely and takes mid corner bumps way smoother. Turbo adds to the handling compared to the old one and is much smoother to drive especially on small roads and overall.

There is a track day on Ahvenisto race circuit next Saturday and I'm going to take it for a drive. Before that I have to change front pads because they are starting to disintegrate. Cracks can be seen between the body and the surface as well as from the side in the surface itself.(Dunno if the terms are correct.) Might be the heat? These are EBC RedStuff and I might have once had the surface come completely off in an old pad in another car.
 
Changed the upper trailing arm bushings on the axle end. I have had to change some purple polys before because they crack and now the other was cracked through. Replaced them with smaller and harder red. Needed some modifications but nothing big. Feels like the rear moves less under hard acceleration or it's just my imagination. I'll leave the front ones for now, they might last with the smaller turbo. Somewhat repaired the front "lip" too and installed it.

Today was the first time on track this year. A couple of laps, a shakedown of sorts, in Ahvenisto circuit with around 500km/311miles on the road. It was pretty hot too, local weatherstation showed 39?C/102F in the sun.

Changed semi slicks before going. Nankang NS-2R medium all round, fronts were new. Unsurprisingly handling improved greatly with roll correction parts. Now it turns quite nicely and it does't feel or look like front tires bend under. Gradually lowered tire pressure between stints and found a good point where they won't lose grip when hot.

Due to time and budget limitations I had to go with new RedStuff in front. Pedal feel improved greatly but after getting them warm they fade if you don't really punch the pedal and keep it short. Will grip again in the next braking point but doesn't really give a reliable feeling. Got to find some thing else.

Car is too heavy, turbo and rear gearing are still wrong for such tight turns but it'll do. Overall everything else but brake pads worked fine and have improved. No leaks, etc.

Again a video: https://youtu.be/wg2h_5e1f64
A short drive by in the end. I should use external mic with the Waspcam. There has been something small shaking inside since new and it's gotten louder recently :grrr:

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This is absolutely fantastic!
Never seen one set of Polaris' for sale, let alone having 3!

Recently got myself a 965 2.5, but its 170hp is a little low for me!
How "easy" is it to +T? Might get a 13c like on my old 940 Turbo, or a 14T from an S40 T4. Nothing too crazy at this point! :)

Also, will a crank from a 3.0 be a direct install into the 2.5 block to eek more power before adding a blower?

Cheers
 
They are getting more and more rare. But then there are people who like to hoard certain stuff :-P Though I did sell the third set last year.
I think this year I've had the same Galaxy and Gemini sets for 10 or 11 years :omg: Also have a Hydra set for winter tires for other cars. Only 16" set missing is Auriga.

Ease of install depends on the skill. For me it's a weekends work. If you are going to use a single turbo I wouldn't use anything smaller than 18T/19T or similar. Two 13C/T would be okay but piping for two is always a bigger pain than for one.

Cranks fit directly, you have to change 81mm pistons too from 1.9 T4, 2.3 T5 or T6. Compression height is different because of the stroke.


A couple weeks ago there was a trackday in Motopark and of course it was quite warm. Didn't change to the drilled front bumper shell for better cooling and it showed. Engine was running hot pretty fast, had to drive less laps at a time. Also didn't manage to flip it this time :-( Technically worked fine but wasn't able to use over 1.8bar boost. Just today bothered to diagnose the problem and boost control valve(pneumatic regulator) is broken. Doesn't matter the position, always the same boost.

Allround driveability was again heaps better with roll correction parts than last time without. Ordered Hawk Ceramic front pads instead of HPS and they were junk after the trackday. Took almost one lap to warm up and started to fade on the second lap. A lot of dust and lost a third of the friction material. Front discs weren't even really hot. Same with the old RedStuff rear pads, they were completely totaled.

Would've used Ferodo DS2500 front pads and Black Diamond Predator rear pads but that order failed with Europerformance. I've ordered DS2500 front pads elsewhere, waiting for them to arrive and rear had to settle for YellowStuff. There are not many options for XC90 rear calipers.

As an aftermath of the trackday I changed engine oil and filter and bought a bigger radiator. Old was 24x19 Griffin and new is 26x19. Also ordered a 25 row oilcooler to replace the 19 row.

Incar: https://youtu.be/VyJoviYV3fU

This video has two drive by shots in the beginning. Taken from a flagpoint after the back straight, same corner where I turned the car over last fall. Acceleration towards the front straight can also be seen.
https://youtu.be/waCT9MfdRec
 
Cleaned a little for a local car show/meet(Oldtimer Run) and couldn't resist taking a pic when it finally has the bumper corner trims. And is somewhat clean :) Though the left one is in pretty rough shape and left headlight isn't lined properly after taking it off.

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Got Ferodo DS2500 front pads and pedal feel improved greatly(got them already nice and toasty, might be too toasty :lol:). But it still wasn't good enough with a stock master cylinder. Swapped a 94-95 Mustang 27mm master, pedal movement is short but needs a bit too much force for my taste. Might try a Mustang 23,8mm(15/16") master if it would be a good intermediate.

Changed stainless steel braided brakehoses to front and back calipers. Still needs from chassis to rear axle. Rear calipers have their own because XC90 calipers slide. Changed thermostat housing to one with a hose connection under the sensor and installed a D24 temp gauge sensor there. Now there isn't anymore an adapter for the sensor in the upper radiator hose and engine bay looks a bit cleaner.

After a while got myself to a 1/4 mile event. Best result of nine was 11.67s, 211,52km/h(131,4mph) with 2.078s 60ft. It's ok but would've liked low 11s more :nod:

Here is the pull: https://youtu.be/vEE5eLRbQxI
Second one shows some hassle after the launch but still the GTR isn't going too far.

Changing to second gear got harder and harder and partially that is the reason why 60ft time isn't that good. Other reasons are naturally street tires, suspension with track setup, 3.31 rear gears with ZF tranny and weight(of the car). Around 1670kg/3682lbs with the driver. Also lost some time by changing to fifth in the end. Fourth would've been just enough but didn't want to tease the engine too much.

Boost was 2.1-2.2bar and exhaust temps around 890-910C?. Car worked fine, made a couple pulls with only 4-5 minutes between. Biggest hiccup was the wideband tilting in the end of almost every pull. Doesn't do that on track so dunno why it did here. Another reason why I changed to fifth. Returned to function immediately after the pull.

In some extent all gears have gotten harder to engage after the last trackday. No grinding and clutch feels fine, just needs more force to put in gear. Have to try if new oil would help.
 
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Man this car has been through some stuff! I am very surprised that you kept the car and repaired it. That is some amazing work and I cant even tell it was ever flipped!! Nice job. The color is great. It all works. Thanks for sharing this with us. Wish I would have saw this before you repaired the front windshield area. I have my old cowl and a spare wiper assembly that could have finalized the LHD conversion for you, either way its dope!!
 
It was a lot bigger operation than I originally intended but maybe it was worth it? At least I like it now more than before just because of the color. It was almost a coin flip if I should move all the parts to the white 245(which has had a new owner for a while now). But I've spent so many hours with it during almost eight years, so what's a couple hundred or a thousand more? :oogle:

Changing the cowl has been suggested before and it's too much work for no visual benefit. RHD wipers are a hint of the cars origin and I'd rather avoid unneccessary cutting of the body to keep it as original as possible. That's why it's also a shame that I had to change parts.
 
Hopefully I can try to improve it in the future. Might change a 3.73 rear to be able to launch in second gear. With 3.31 first gear is just for nudging the car forward and have to immediately change to second.

Changed tranny and rear end oil, clutch fluid and greased wheel bearings. Oils and grease have been in use during at least three track days and one 1/4 event and the age shows(and smells). Heat and centrifugal force push the grease out of the front wheel bearings to the strut side and there wasn't much left. Usually I check the grease at least after every other trackday but been too lazy to do that.

And next track day awaits next Saturday again in Ahvenisto. This time VRCF summer meet. Decided to leave Nankang semi-slicks home and try the behaviour of Hankook street tires for comparison.
 
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Yes I was wondering how the 240 wheel bearings hold up to 250kmh+ :cool:

Always enjoy reading updates. Inspiration for sure..!

Nice to read about the improvements with the qsrc spacers, have a set ready to install and very curious about the difference!
 
Drove a couple of laps on track and only oil pressure sensor stopped working. Ring connector broke between ring and crimp. Might be because of the positioning of the connector and shaking of the wire due time. Spun the insides while loosening the nut and didn't work after that. Replaced it with a new one later.

Again it was hot and didn't install bigger oil cooler yet and had to remove grille to control the temps better. Coolant temp started to climb immediately after oil temp got higher. Max oil temp was around 115?C so not that much really but enough to cause an effect.

DS2500 front pads worked great, much better than RedStuff. They wear faster but it's a price I'm ready to pay for the performance. Other big difference was the heat. Front discs were 380?C after cooling lap and with Red or Yellow I haven't measured over 350?C. Not even on faster tracks that are harder for brakes. Rears were 191?C with Yellow. With EBC's I have measured always around 100?C difference between front and rear. Swapped Reds back to front and boy it's a different world with those, so much less grip.

Hankooks(215/45 V12 Evo2 front, 225/45 S1 Evo2 rear) were also great compared to Nankang semislicks. You can feel the front tire starts to give in on a tight corners but I was still able to increase the steering angle without too much understeer. Nankangs just felt like they would slide and lap times were several seconds slower. Of course brakes were now better because of DS2500 but the car felt lighter to handle and felt faster on tight corners. Federal semis had better grip when I had those in front and I'm going to dump the Nankangs and buy a set of Federals.

Here is incar of the fastest lap. Still waiting turbo to spool when getting out of corners :lol:
https://youtu.be/79O9VSf0kxg

Two drive by shots(third gear) from a flagpoint, first around 0:15 and second 1:55:
https://youtu.be/06aiWr_k76g
Dunno why the rear tires would squeal so much in the first drive by :roll: Some exhaust note can be heard in the second one.


On Saturday it was time to make a check up to the engine. Was going to replace leaking stem seals(some exhaust side seals leak badly) and check the state of the head gasket and rod bearings.

Head gasket was basically intact and I believe it's only because of the block guard. Normally it would have moved a bit or be destroyed at this point with the abuse it has had. All upper rod bearings have small scorching area on the outer side of the top. Might be because of E85 residue or such? All surfaces feel and seem fine otherwise and the scorching can be bearly felt.

Since beginning of June the bottom end has had a small rod bearing-like rattle just above idle. I've waited it to become louder before any action. While bearings were ok, I found out that the W?ssners have suffered the same fate as Wiseco earlier. All skirts have cracks in the oil squirter recess'. No wonder the rattle sounded familiar because it was the same but louder with Wiseco. Use has been hard but still not too nice. And yes, the piston clearance was exactly the given spec 0.07mm/0.0028".
Guess I'll build another bottom end with std bore and pistons and have a block guard installed to it.

The worst, rest aren't that bad and some just visible:
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Won't build a "stock" engine with H-rods. Instead have thought of changing to 143 or 147mm rods and DP pistons. If skirts on those would finally last. It's a project that has to wait for a while because I have other cars to throw money at ;-)


In the meantime salvaged a -78 265 gl from under two birches where it had sat around 6 years.

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Previously on the road around 10.5-11 years ago. Originally B27A which had been swapped to a D24 & M46 and converted to a 2+3 van(cheaper paymets as a diesel vehicle) with a "hard" rear seat. Leather interior in ok condition, working front electric windows and power steering. Paint was bad already ~13 years ago when I saw it the first time so why clean good patina :-P

It took just three evenings and one weekend(from Friday before the last to last Wednesday) to make it roadworthy again. Did some maintenance, welded a couple of spots, cleaned the windows and interior. Vacuumed leaves and trash from the cowl, heater core and front of the skirts. Also swapped in a healthier D24T engine, etc. Have done small maintenance after that and driven over 1000km/620miles after MOT last Wednesday. Swapped in a 23mm front sway bar from 95-> 960 and a 19mm rear, etc. small upgrades.

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Rest of the pics here.
Bodywork and other repairs here.
 
Lankku, Did the Motronic M1.8 self learn for the T6 injectors? Or did you need to change the injector values with a chip or ostrich? Ive got a set of 550s Im thinking of putting in before I go full blown teardown and T6 block on my M1.8 B6403 swapped 240

Ive got both an ostrich and a chip reader/burner so could do either.

Amazing build as always, really digging the green moss and blue on the new wags :nod:
 
Lankku, Did the Motronic M1.8 self learn for the T6 injectors? Or did you need to change the injector values with a chip or ostrich? Ive got a set of 550s Im thinking of putting in before I go full blown teardown and T6 block on my M1.8 B6403 swapped 240

Ive got both an ostrich and a chip reader/burner so could do either.

Amazing build as always, really digging the green moss and blue on the new wags :nod:
Yes it did with E85 and 0.5-1bar higher fuel pressure. If you are going to use gas then changes are needed. Don't now anyone who has experience on tuning 1.8 so it's been as it is.

For some reason it seems like B6254 ECU is better for coldstarts than B6304S ECU. I've had two or three -95 B6254 cars/ECUs and now a -93 965 with B6304S. 3l requires more attempts to start a cold engine when 2,5l started with one try.

265 has had a new owner a couple of weeks now. Didn't want to drive it in the winter(without repairing the rust spots) and haven't got enought space to store it under the roof at the time. After selling that I bought a -93 965 from the same guy I bought 265 from :lol: Had also been sitting a couple of years but almost no rust on the body.
 
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