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245 Turbo seeks sensible performance upgrades

The intake isn't terribly restrictive. The exhaust/wastegate housing/intercooler sure is, as is the cylinder head. Everyone wants to change the intake, the B21F/ N/A k-jet intake does flow better, but in terms of more power, it's kinda like breathing through a drinking straw to get everything through the stock head/exhaust & exhaust manifold /wastegate housing/intercooler even if you change the intake..

The direct drop in D088 intercooler looks decent as well, heard good things\, or NPR with custom tabs to drop it in the Volvo without hacking anything up or drastically re-routing anything. Nothing bad can come of more efficient charge air cooling. No compromise win, all metal instead of likely leaky/fragile plastic end tanks isn't bad either. The way the stock IC fits and it's size/packaging is great, just could be more efficient. I'd intercool it with all the stock stuff and drop it in no fuss for now? Maybe buy the drop in DO88 intercooler later? A 3-row radiator and tropical fan clutch is nice for cooling longevity.

84.5 they put a stiffer pressure plate in a few of them with the flat flywheel still. The transmission won't last much longer and everything gets expensive and often compromised or on the ragged edge somewhere to have a balanced well rounded out car beyond ~200-250hp. YMMV.

On a 240T, once you determine the engine is healthy and FI is healthy, you can break the whole drivetrain without a lot of compromise or modification...
 
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Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions. What I've learn so far is that there are several routes to IC, ranging from salvage from 700 series wrecks to OEM TIC kits to modern aftermarket components, but no one path stands out as the easiest or cheapest. My inclination is to stick with salvaged parts and maybe spring for the 240-specific cold side elbow.

Still unclear about the long-term consequences of upping the boost and what additional mods are essential if I put in IC.
 
yeastbeast said:
Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions. What I've learn so far is that there are several routes to IC, ranging from salvage from 700 series wrecks to OEM TIC kits to modern aftermarket components, but no one path stands out as the easiest or cheapest. My inclination is to stick with salvaged parts and maybe spring for the 240-specific cold side elbow.

Still unclear about the long-term consequences of upping the boost and what additional mods are essential if I put in IC.
Click to expand...

Yea well that box of IBS goodies was $1K in the 80's when money was worth double what it is today.

:e-shrug:
 
yeastbeast said:
Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions. What I've learn so far is that there are several routes to IC, ranging from salvage from 700 series wrecks to OEM TIC kits to modern aftermarket components, but no one path stands out as the easiest or cheapest. My inclination is to stick with salvaged parts and maybe spring for the 240-specific cold side elbow.

Still unclear about the long-term consequences of upping the boost and what additional mods are essential if I put in IC.
Click to expand...

Add intercooler to reduce intake air temps. Use one big enough to get close to ambient with big boost with little restriction.....

At stock boost this is safer in that chances of ping or detonation are reduced.
More boost is more POWER.... Provided fuel is provided. It can be turned up from stock to be more amusing without hurting it. Do this.
 
Kjets On a Plane said:
The intake isn't terribly restrictive. The exhaust/wastegate housing/intercooler sure is, as is the cylinder head. Everyone wants to change the intake, the B21F/ N/A k-jet intake does flow better, but in terms of more power, it's kinda like breathing through a drinking straw to get everything through the stock head/exhaust & exhaust manifold /wastegate housing/intercooler even if you change the intake..

The direct drop in D088 intercooler looks decent as well, heard good things\, or NPR with custom tabs to drop it in the Volvo without hacking anything up or drastically re-routing anything. Nothing bad can come of more efficient charge air cooling. No compromise win, all metal instead of likely leaky/fragile plastic end tanks isn't bad either. The way the stock IC fits and it's size/packaging is great, just could be more efficient. I'd intercool it with all the stock stuff and drop it in no fuss for now? Maybe buy the drop in DO88 intercooler later? A 3-row radiator and tropical fan clutch is nice for cooling longevity.

84.5 they put a stiffer pressure plate in a few of them with the flat flywheel still. The transmission won't last much longer and everything gets expensive and often compromised or on the ragged edge somewhere to have a balanced well rounded out car beyond ~200-250hp. YMMV.

On a 240T, once you determine the engine is healthy and FI is healthy, you can break the whole drivetrain without a lot of compromise or modification...
Click to expand...

Looked into the do88 offerings and noticed their sexy Group A replica IC takes 2.75" pipes. If I were to go that route, I wouldn't start with the stock piping (it's 2.5", right?). Also not sure whether the bigger IC really translates into better performance.

Does anyone here have experience with Do88 standard or Group A IC? Pipe up! (so to speak)
 
JohnLane said:
Add intercooler to reduce intake air temps. Use one big enough to get close to ambient with big boost with little restriction.....

At stock boost this is safer in that chances of ping or detonation are reduced.
More boost is more POWER.... Provided fuel is provided. It can be turned up from stock to be more amusing without hurting it. Do this.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm pretty clear on the concept of boost and the physics of IC.

What I'm not clear on are the consequences of upping boost on other drivetrain components---- would a modest increase in power (say, 30 hp) really pu so much more wear on clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, as nedc and Kjets On a Plane suggest)? Or is this become more of a concern when you go beyond 200 hp?
 
yeastbeast said:
Thanks, I'm pretty clear on the concept of boost and the physics of IC.

What I'm not clear on are the consequences of upping boost on other drivetrain components---- would a modest increase in power (say, 30 hp) really pu so much more wear on clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, as nedc and Kjets On a Plane suggest)? Or is this become more of a concern when you go beyond 200 hp?
Click to expand...
Depends on the current condition of your clutch. Just putting an intercooler on and upping the boost from 8 to 12-14 psi (on a stock turbo) isn't going to hurt anything as long as you have enough fuel to run those boost levels. At those boost levels is about all the stock clutch can handle so they often start slipping at those levels during full boost. If it does slip, turn it back down until you can upgrade the clutch.
 
Tuff240 said:
Depends on the current condition of your clutch. Just putting an intercooler on and upping the boost from 8 to 12-14 psi (on a stock turbo) isn't going to hurt anything as long as you have enough fuel to run those boost levels. At those boost levels is about all the stock clutch can handle so they often start slipping at those levels during full boost. If it does slip, turn it back down until you can upgrade the clutch.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this is reassuring. At this point I'm moving ahead with the IC plan and not worrying about the clutch. Still on the fence about do88 vs stock OEM kit.... any insights?
 
If you've got the budget for a do88, go for it! As Kjets mentioned it is a better-flowing, more efficient unit.

Also, do88 makes two different intercoolers for 240s, one is the Group A replica and the other is a drop-in replacement.
http://www.do88.se/en/artiklar/hose-kits/volvo/240/index.html (you can also buy their stuff on ebay)

IMO if you are just adding an intercooler to an otherwise stock B21FT and turning up the boost a little, the do88 unit is a bit overkill and I'd just drop in a <$100 used stock intercooler and use the savings to spend on suspension items.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5430299&postcount=3

Ultimately up to you...
 
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oldschoolvolvo said:
If you've got the budget for a do88, go for it! As Kjets mentioned it is a better-flowing, more efficient unit.

Also, do88 makes two different intercoolers for 240s, one is the Group A replica and the other is a drop-in replacement.
http://www.do88.se/en/artiklar/hose-kits/volvo/240/index.html (you can also buy their stuff on ebay)

IMO if you are just adding an intercooler to an otherwise stock B21FT and turning up the boost a little, the do88 unit is a bit overkill and I'd just drop in a <$100 used stock intercooler and use the savings to spend on suspension items.
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=5430299&postcount=3

Ultimately up to you...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm inclined to agree about sticking with stock, so it's a matter of buying the kit as a whole or piecing it together with some salvaged material from 740s. As you and others have mentioned elsewhere, the challenging part of that plan is finding or fabbing brackets and cold pipe elbow. As far as I can tell, the cost of individual components vs a decent OEM kit is a wash --- the kit on ebay right now is for $450 plus maybe $50 shipping. Does this sound about right to y'all?
 
I haven't listed it in for sale yet, but I have a darn near complete 240Tic kit for sale. It has no 700/900 parts in it; IOW, it's strictly for the 240Turbo cars. I am willing to sell it to you for a reasonable price. I can get you a list of all the parts in it.

I also have a NPR 27-row intercooler that I can include for additional costs.

Last, if you want to ditch all of the AC components altogether, I sell kits to re-locate your power steering lower on the block; pics in my thread here:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=179746
 
Mostly stock is fine and a lot of the 7/9 series parts are either direct fit or just need a little tweak to work. I went with swapping parts from a 940T. I didn't want to cut or mark up my engine bay and managed to accomplish that. My car could be returned to B23E slowness anytime. I pieced together some kits for intake plumbing and IC connectors from DO88. I did swap the transmission for a T5 (my M46 was junk and I'd pieced it together too many times) and the clutch from Yoshifab is holding 250 crank hp and regular autocross events just fine. The pressure plate is a Center Force unit that's been in I don't know how many cars. Works fine.

 
I put a "stock" do88 IC in one car and modified the NPR tabs and end tanks for another. Either works well. All aluminum is nice too.
But for now I'd just drop the factory everything in in good shape for least time/money and do a good stage 0. YMMV.
 
Thanks, y'all, for the helpful advice. Canuck, that is a nice-looking engine bay--- how have those braces been for you and where did you get them?

I ended up buying the TIC kit listed by forum member joeshu here:

http://turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323376

I paid him $470 including shipping, which seems steep but made sense to me considering the effort needed to source all the parts. Some of the brackets may be missing judging by the pictures... I guess I'll sort that out when it arrives.
 
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yeastbeast said:
I paid him $470 including shipping, which seems steep but made sense to me considering the effort needed to source all the parts. Some of the brackets may be missing judging by the pictures... I guess I'll sort that out when it arrives.
Click to expand...
Common prices for stuff you bought:

240 intercooler brackets $100-120
240 intercooled fan shroud $100-150
240 intercooler $30-80
"Cobra" shaped intake hose with reinforcement hose inside $20-50
Throttle plate tee-pee support $20-30
Top oil cooler bracket $20? (missing bottom bracket and rubber mount that is also different)
Intake manifold elbow $20-40
Accordian intake hose $40-80
3 aluminum intercooler pipes $20-50
Intercooled overboost switch $5?
740 style water bottle and bracket $5-20?
LH2.4 iac motor and rubber mount $5-25
Intercooler emblem $10-25

Total: $395-695
 
Update: I now have the intercooler kit from joeshu but am working on Stage 0 stuff before I get into it.

I got the front sway bar, new inner tie rods, ends and boots installed. The old rods were as "loose as wizard's sleeves" (to quote Borat) and the old boots were shredded.

After a quick DIY front end alignment (string geometry on jack stands), the blue brick is back on the road and drives mostly straight despite uneven tire wear. Handling is markedly improved.

One point of concern: there's a bit of play in the steering rack, and old driver-side boot was full of power steering fluid. I've got a bad feeling the seals are shot and the new boot will be full of fluid soon enough. I might be taking a trip to a wrecking yard to find a "new" rack soon...
 
You can pick up a tight(ish) rack at the yard, then buy a new seal kit for around $60 from rockauto.com or whatever your favorite parts house may be. It's not hard to do, just lay everything out in order as you pull it apart, same way you do a transmission.

Also I second what Canuck said about the chassis braces. Ben (kaplhenke.com) makes a killer unit for the strut towers, and Yoshifab makes a great set of lower braces. Both companies make several other chassis and suspension stiffening components. You can basically turn your 245 into a track ready ride with off the shelf components from those two companies, but it's up to you as to how far you want to take it.
 
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