944t cruiser build

[Chumley360]

I needed a car that bridged the gap between the 350z and the JKU Wrangler, so I defaulted back to Volvo. I found this 95 940t for a reasonable price, but needing some work so I picked it up. First off getting it to "stage 0" was a must. This thing had all the typical oil leaks, unknown timing belt, bad tires, blown struts.....all the basics. But it came with a brand new IPD turbo cam package(cam & tune up), 17" Propus wheels, new headlights and corners and some other misc stuff. Also it's a 3.73LSD rear, so that was nice. Got the basics all tended to and now it's time for the fun stuff.

So the car as purchased:



Then with all the "new" stuff installed:


I repainted the fender emblems, added the euro markers, cut the springs(1c front/ .5c rear), popped most of the dent out of the fender and you can probably spot the new front seats. Chassis braces, exhaust, cup holders, air filter, gauges, and anything else.

[Chumley360]

Added a few gauges; trans temp, boost, and oil pressure. Re-glued the steering wheel padding and wrapped it in one of the leather wraps from IPD. DIY'd some cup holders, they attached to the passenger side of the console with some 3M industrial hook & loop strips. and replaced the destroyed front seats with some units out of a 2000s Mazda 3.

[Chumley360]

I had to come up with something for an air filter system. At some point a previous owner felt that sheet metal screws were the best solution to fixing the missing air box latches. When I when to open the box and check the filter, the box became a handful of pieces, nit just a top and bottom. While this setup probably isn't the best I like it. I positioned the filter against the fender air inlet and got, at least, a partial heat barrier up.



And after getting the boost gauge installed, and working out some minor cat problems and my own mistake of gauge feel placement, it was time for a boost controller. Brass fittings, SS bolt, spring and ball. This unit also has a 1/32 bleed hole in it. I've been running it for about three months now with no issues @10psi, so I guess it works.And since this pic I've added a thumb knob to the cap screw.

[Chumley360]

And for the last of the "upgrades" I've done are chassis braces. The upper is fashioned from an aluminum Honda Fit bar. I cut it from 52" to like 38"(?), added some extra down bend to the ends, and before it was re-welded I took some solid stock and filled in the three hollow chambers in the bar. I'm not really pushing the car on a track, so this will be adequate for my use. Also I used the two raised dimples just inboard of the strut bolts for mounting points. I used 3/8" weld studs, so the flat under the stud tucks up into that dimple and doesn't interfere with the top of the strut. I'll let you know if I rip out the top of the strut tower.



My lower brace ended up looking like a sprite from the old Space Invaders game. It's 3.8" aluminum deck-plate. I welded in some captive nuts for the front mounting points at the cross member.



That's about it for the time being. I've got the parts in to make some 1/4" Garolite intake spacers, 850t 4-pot 34lb injectors, new FPR and new intercooler hoses. I've got some house stuff to work on fist though. I've also started collecting parts for a 2.5" exhaust setup. Then I want to upgrade the radio & speakers, the stock stuff works perfect and isn't blown out, but I want some modern hookups. OH and I scored 4 Benz 4-piston Brembos, so hopefully a BBK build in the winter.

[Chumley360]

Got all my intake parts in and started some work. I got a set of 766 remans for the same price as the 904s, so I'm going with them. There's no real performance upgrade, but the spray pattern is better. I also got a scrap piece of Garolite CE+ from a friends shop to make some intake spacers. Cut out the roughs with a jig saw and still need to finish them up. The closest hole saw I had to the the gasket size was 1-3/4", which is a little larger so I guess I'll have some matching to do. Also got some SS studs and I'm going to use some copper, flange lock nuts to go with the copper accents I'm using. The plan is to paint the intake the same color green as the strut bar. Then do the fuel rail in the same copper as the bar mounts. I think the TB and misc. brackets will just get a fresh coat of silver or aluminum. I guess it will depend on what's on the shelf.





I don't have a disk sander so this is my makeshift unit. It's level and works surprisingly well, all things considered.



I'll be getting the car into the back yard to start tearing it down this week.

[Chumley360]

Got all the intake and related off, finished up the spacers, started port matching, bought some paint, and removed the hood insulation. The insulation was sagging, even though all the clips were still in. I did find that my guess on the manifold stud length was off by about 10mm, so I'll be calling around trying to find some in town. I don't want to wait another month for the damn things. Hopefully I'll be able to find some. I really want to run stainless steel studs. Pics to come.

[Chumley360]

Some pics.








Well the spacers aren't all laser cut and fancy, but they're not horrid. I should have done a better job cutting them out. If I end up having to wait another month on the stainless studs I want then I'll probably redo them. If not then they'll be run until they fail. Gonna port match the head on the car, so fun times

[Chumley360]

No great progress today. I got my media blaster out and ready. I've been fighting some BAD water problems with the compressor lately, so I'm planning an aftercooler setup for it. I've got some painting and other stuff I'd like to do this year and water in the air lines just isn't gonna work.I did get the resistor bypass harness done and started painting a few bits.




The TB is a medium charcoal and the orange paint is VHT copper. Then the new TB studs in stainless and the copper coated flange nuts, I'll be using those on the intake as well. I also have decided that I'll be using stainless hardware on the intake for the EGR tube and other brackets.

[brian smith]

I kinda like where this seems to be going. Lot's of c-clamp usage present in photos. Get all meta at the end with c-clamp mouse left click.

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by brian smith

I kinda like where this seems to be going. Lot's of c-clamp usage present in photos. Get all meta at the end with c-clamp mouse left click.

I'm not sure I know where this project is going........well that's not true. The biggest thing I've got to do is settle on an engine, or engine trans combo for the future. But in the now it's this whole intake stuff, exhaust, and BBK. Also you've gotta have clamps, and magnets, and more clamps.


Got my new horns in. I was going to get some basic Supertones, but these were a couple bucks cheaper and you can't beat the color scheme. I think I'm just going to mount one on each side not behind the grille. Also I've been toying with adding hood vents, so I drew up some plans. I like hood vents, scoop, etc, I think it just adds a bit of style.

[Centsableone]

I like it! Glad you got wheels with the car because you gave me a great deal on the Adhara's that were on there to begin with. GLW build.

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by Centsableone

I like it! Glad you got wheels with the car because you gave me a great deal on the Adhara's that were on there to begin with. GLW build.

Yeah those wheels were a big buying point for me. The car would have been an even better deal if the included "upgrade" turbo had been a -15 or -16, but it was just the LP -13c from a FWD. The PO also included what was advertised as an OE spoiler. I'm not sure what the spoiler was off of, but it sure wasn't a 7/9 series. Luckily a forum member gave me a deal on a 9 series spoiler, I just need to repaint it.

[Chumley360]

I think I found a solution to my busted/falling out dome light issue. So the first problem was that the plastic clips in the headliner had started to crumble, the other issue was that 3 of the 4 tabs on the light broke. I made some fairly close replica headliner clips from some aluminum, it was a bit fidgety to get all the bends, but I got lucky and had some steel flat bar pieces that are the exact width and could wrap around that. The tabs I took a #70 drill bit and pined them back in with some glue and added a new strip of modeling plastic to the back side for some extra support. This sort of worked. As the headliner clips aren't 100% perfect the light tabs cracked when I put everything together. Looked like the pins and back strip held/are holding, but the original split re-opened. So I added some small compression springs to lightly apply outward pressure to the tabs, but still compress enough to allow the light to be removed. I'll have to get some pics later, it's an odd setup and don't know that I'd recommend it, but it seems to be working.

[Chumley360]

I picked up four Brembo for Benz 4-piston aluminum calipers for my future BBK build. They're from early 2000s CL500 and similar. The piston sizes are 40mm & 44mm, so not too different from the R calipers. The sensor retainer will have to be cut off and the line port is 10m x 1.0 so hoses will be "easy". the Benz system was 13" rotors the same width as the R stuff. These are in unsable shape, but I'll do a tear down and reseal, I want to get the old coating off and repaint them. The best part is all four were $100.


And my lame attempt to spring load my dome light clips. They hold, we'll see how long it take for them to break again.

[Chumley360]

Got a coat of etching primer on everything, just need to wait a few hours for the sun to drop and start applying paint.



And got a package of coolness. Thanks for still making these Dave!

[soclosenotnear]

I've not had a dome light in my 940 since it crumbled a couple years back. So I feel your pain. Seems like all of them at the yard are just as brittle.

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by soclosenotnear

I've not had a dome light in my 940 since it crumbled a couple years back. So I feel your pain. Seems like all of them at the yard are just as brittle.

Yeah something about 20+ year old plastic wanting to do that. I will say that I can't wait to run the car down the top quality roads around here and see how my new setup works. So far it's holding well through a couple storms, which is more than it could do prior.


Also I came home to a busted water line in the garage, so no car stuff today. But here's a pick of my color combo. I know the emerald is a bit more blue than my car, but it's redily available and close enough for me.

[PCH]

Very cool stuff in this thread. Love the brace/skid plate
What's your opinion on Hella Sharp tones?

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by PCH

Very cool stuff in this thread. Love the brace/skid plate
What's your opinion on Hella Sharp tones?

Still have the battery out so I have no idea. I figure it can't be much worse than stock.

[Chumley360]

Got a little work done today. Still a bunch more to do, but I'm tired of dodging raindrops.

[Chumley360]

Got finished with all the hoses and am installing the new Red Top only to find that I'm short two 8agw x 3/8" eyelets........so I guess I'll be starting it tomorrow. I still have to repaint the strut brace and finish up with the grille. I'm playing around with some hexagonal insert material left over from a job I did a while back. So far it's not too bad, but I've got to make the upper mount brackets yet. And I'll need to figure out a new way of clipping the grille in. Mine was missing one one of the "V" clips due to a broken grille slot. I'm thinking about a captive nut on the grille side with a bolt, washer and centering sleeve for now.

Oh and this will upset the purists, a really close friend of mine picked up a couple of "R-Design" badges. I'm not normally a guy that throws on random badges, but he and I go way back so I'll make an exception. And since the car came with a moose on the trunk, and I'm planning on adding three more the badge ship has sailed. Also I really need to repaint those trunk badges.

[PCH]

Are you out of factory spring clamps? I see you are using zip ties.

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by PCH

Are you out of factory spring clamps? I see you are using zip ties.

Yeah the ones that came off were dead or missing. I haven't decided if I want to order new ones or not yet. Over the years I've had good luck with tight lines and cable ties as long as I stay under 20psi, I guess we'll see if the luck holds.

[InTheWhite]

Realy nice car you got here!

[Chumley360]

Originally Posted by InTheWhite

Realy nice car you got here!

Thanks! It's not 100% where I want it, but it's moving along pretty well.