White 850 Turbo-- An O.G. Volvospeed Ride with History!

[EricF]

This is more of a story, which will evolve into a project thread as you read along... go grab a cold 6 and plant yourself if you're gonna read it!


Well, back when I was first wetting my feet in the whole scene of modifying cars, starting with Volvos for some horrible reason, there were only a handful of folks actually doing stuff and posting about it on the internet.

On Volvospeed, one of these people was Erik Bergum, who bought second-hand a sweet turbo/wastegate/downpipe setup from a dude named Kai after Kai's C70 blew up with the stuff on it. It was a Turbonetics ceramic ball bearing T3/T04E hybrid, with a 54 trim T04E compressor wheel, and a stage 3 turbonetics T3 turbine wheel. He used a Turbonetics external wastegate in a divorced piping type setup. It was all stainless steel and put together beautifully with tight radius mandrel bends.

Erik bought all the stuff he thought would allow him to tune the car well, Apexi S-AFC, Apexi AVC-R, an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, and a custom ECU to start with. He also put an Aquamist water injection system on the car, which handled enormously well thanks to its KW Variant 2 coilover setup.

One day the car shut off while driving on the highway, and despite mailing back and forth of sensors and parts and lots of time troubleshooting, it wouldn't start again. It sat outside in Buffalo New York, not running.

-----------------------

On another day, 2-3 years later, I happened to wreck my 850 turbo platinum edition pulling out into traffic after being signaled by another motorist that the coast was clear (so stupid!). On the scene of the accident, I was talking to Joseph Essaye, who had been in talks to buy Bergum's 850. He told me if I wanted the car it was mine. I called up Erik Bergum, made some arrangements to pay for the car at the price they'd agreed upon, bought a one-way ticket to Buffalo New York for the following Saturday morning. My luggage consisted of every sensor, relay, pigtail, and special tool I could think of needing to get the car running.

It was a daunting prospect, and I was ready to spend days there while Erik's relationship with his wife and kids started to bear the brunt of my stay. I needed a car though, and at the price we'd worked out I didn't think I could pass this chance up. Uhaul was in the back of my mind...

Erik picked me up at the airport Saturday morning, and we saw the car. It was a sad sight... Flat snow tires, bubbling rust on the brake rotors, and a thick coat of dirt/grime/mildew on all body panels and windows. Our current suspect coming into the situation was the power stage for the ignition coil, there was no spark in the car and the cam/crank sensors had been replaced.

I saw that a mouse had been chewing on the wires there and I was hopeful. Swapped it out, cut and re-spliced some wires, nothing! Well, let's pull the trouble codes. Putting the plug in the socket for engine codes, it was a familiar sight. By now I'd had a lot of 850 projects of my own under my belt. Last time I saw this was for a two week period after an engine swap. The ground for the main relay was loose on the block and the main relay was buzzing.

I checked the wiring for the main relay, and there was green corrosion around the insulation of 3 wires out of 4 going to the main relay, the wires had corroded through entirely. I cut the wires back and re-spliced the wires. Erik keyed the car on and spun the starter and it kicked to life, 2-3 year old tank of gas and all. Lifters were deflated, but it otherwise sounded oh so smooth.

When I got the car, it looked something like this (albeit dirtier):



After busting all the rust off the rotors I could in test drives, along with making sure all the calipers were moving, I picked up fluids and got on my way for the 14 hour drive to North Carolina. I prefer to think of it as adventurism rather than foolishness.

14 hours later, I pulled up to my driveway in North Carolina, with a big rusted hole in the exhaust as the only casualty. Not a drop of oil or coolant was lost, it hummed along willingly on cruise control.






The list of the car's specs at that time:
Turbo, wastegate, exhaust:

Turbonetics Ceramic Ball Bearing T3/T04E Super 54 Stage III with .68 A/R
HKS External Wastegate (7psi spring)
Custom 3" S/S Mandrel-bent DP
BSR 2.5" S/S Cat-back
Test pipe option
Race Cat option
Extrude-Honed Exhaust manifold, ported/polished

Engine, Air, and Fuel:
Custom ECU
Apex'i AVC-R Boost Controller
Apex'i S-AFC Air Fuel Converter
Walbro 255LPH Fuel pump
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator with custom Fuel Rail
RC Engineering 440cc Injectors
Aquamist with aluminum 1 gal tank in trunk
GReddy Electronic Boost guage with peak hold and limit alarm
GReddy Electronic EGT guage with peak hold and limit alarm
TurboXS Racing Bypass Valve Type H34
Samco Silicon Hoses (All)
Silicone and Braided Lines From just about everything to everything worth mentioning

Suspension, Brakes, and things that Roll:
KW Suspension Variant 2 Coilovers
IPD Anti-sway bars
Strut bar
302mm brake caliper mount bracket
Braided Stainless Brake lines
Volan 17" rims (set of 4) (no curb rash)
16" rims (set of 4) the standard turbo rim, i forget the name


You might think that I was walking on water at that time, with a sweet ride picked up for a heck of a deal already modded to the teeth.

But the reality of the situation was that those Buffalo winters took a toll on this car, and I suspect it was never really tuned correctly. The car was enormously moody performance wise, and always slightly anemic for its setup. The boost varied solely based on ambient temperature, and the artfully done wastegate setup had a number of exhaust leaks here and there. The calipers started to seize, and I started replacing brake components, the fuel pump, breaking off bolts here and there, and the car started to lose its glamor.

I slowly de-modded the car to get it running better/faster. First went the S-AFC and the injectors. Stock injectors, no S-AFC. The car picked up a lot here, and put down a 14.7 at 99 mph quarter mile. Still well below where it belonged. At another track day, the temperature was higher and it only managed a best of 14.8 at 93. That is slow as balls!



What I was beginning to realize is that the AFRs were being dumped into the ~10.0:1 range until about 4500 RPM where it started to lean out enough to clean up and make some power. Being a wide ratio automatic car though, 4500-6000 is not exactly that fun. I suspect it also lacked the timing above 6000 to make gate-shifting any use. Who wants to gate shift an automatic all the time anyway?

After mixing and matching ECU's, TCU's, injectors, fuel pressure, and doing every little tinkering thing I could think of and never really getting the car moving quickly, I made the decision to call on some connections and amass the stuff for a manual swap.

During this time, I also noticed Mr. Karl Buchka had just listed a plug and play VEMS setup for an 850 turbo engine. Knowing the Swede, I made a poor attempt at haggling his price down which somehow worked. I had now acquired a full standalone EMS system, a bulletproof close-ratio manual transmission, and a bunch of other ****. The road to awesome was paving itself before me.

-----------------------------------------------

Well, I forgot that during all of my other big 850 projects, I was a deadbeat college student with nothing to do.

Now, with another project car and a boat along with a house search and a serious girlfriend, the damn car was left like this for quite some time, weeks, months, whatever. It was neglected because I just didn't have time.



The car was heartbroken, the engine was confused.


Starting to do stuff though, I finally made some progress.


Old wastegate setup:


New 850R clutch and PP:


Workspace, AKA the horrific eyesore of Micro Optics of Florida:


A nice box!


Stretched out well-marked spaghetti...


Engine becoming perhaps more confused and a little giddy


On the way in


In with a long ways to go yet


Wow that was quick!

(it actually took a few weeks of an hour here and there)

The wiring for the EMS was very straightforward and the harness lengths were all sufficient. Apart from wiring, the intercooler piping needed to be slightly revised to eliminate the air pump plumbing, the intake needed to be revised to eliminate the MAF housing, a few ECU-dependent circuits needed to be revised or created from scratch (fuel pump, injectors, ignitors, coolant fan, power windows?!), lots of little adjustments here and there throughout the reinstallation.

I had forgotten what the car's stance was like..


Here is the 'complete' engine bay, although still very untidy. The car had run at this point though, and worked just great from top to bottom.


Ahhh, now that's a lot simpler!


I modified the downpipe to take all the divorced piping crap and external gate out of there, just a simple straight section into a 3" v-band flange would be all that it ended up with. No leaks, and welded by yours truly with the finest $59.99 flux-core welder that Harbor Freight has to offer!

The wastegate actuator is from a Ford 60/63. The bracket was re-drilled, stuck in a vice, and hammered to kingdom come with a 24 ounce hammer in a fit of rage to make it fit in the car. It worked, and the actuator works. I had to grind down the threaded flange where it slides over the wastegate arm, because it was too thick for me to get a clip on the arm... Nothing 5 minutes and a bench grinder can't take care of.

Coil on plug!


And if you think this footwell looks sloppy/untidy... You should have seen it a week prior.


From before the popular VS stickers..


A video proving that it starts and runs:


---------------------------------

Today I took the car for its first meaningful drive. About 20 minutes from the office to my new house. It runs freaking great, although I think one of the engine mounts is broken... I need to do some looking into that now.

I will also say that even at ~14 psi it's loads faster than it EVER was before even up to 18-19 psi.

If you can avoid throwing up and/or throwing your computer out of your window from watching this ****ty video:


So, the conclusion-for-now, the car has finally joined the family at the new house, where it belongs






-------------------------------

Firsts for me during this car:
- Buying a non-running car sight-unseen and flying one-way to drive it 1000 miles home
- Swapping an 850 over to a standalone engine management system
- Swapping an 850 over to a manual transmission
I'm sure there are others, but those are the bigguns.

Anyway, next to come:
- Fix oil leaks
- Fix coolant leak
- Strap it to a dyno and tune it out a bit
- Swap in my NA cams to settle the case once and for all whether they're worth the effort (I'm suspecting 10-12 whp gain in the meat of the powerband, we'll see ;) ).
- Take it to the track
- Take it to the SE meet to horrify some engineer or another with a couple of my wiring jobs
- Maybe wash/wax it sometime...

If you've read this whole thing you're almost as much of a nerd as I am. Congrats, I owe you a beer!

Thanks for all the help along the way guys, I have needed almost constant consultation at times. Stop by Hollywood, FL and collect your beers and BS-ing

[blkaplan]

nice write up, it amazes me everytime one of your cars runs.

[norcal505]

nice build up.
so how bad is the rust on the car?

[Need For Swede]

I love it when a plan comes together.

[ovlo]

car looks good looks like you have a lot of time in it

i remember seeing pictures of it years ago

[Jerd]

Wow very nice, loved the write up, read it all!

[volvotech97850]

Read a lot of your stuff getting into the scene myself...glad to see you get a nice 850 like this up and running.

[schaff70]

Looking forward to seeing it in person in October. Keep up the hard work.

[EricF]

Got the front brakes sorted out reasonably well, no more horrendous noise and I think the calipers are both sliding again.

Took it for its first real night cruise, did a minor amount of tuning, and it moves along with some authority. Third gear and 14-15 psi really solidly pushes me back. Second gear is where it first discovers it has a nice turbo hanging off the side. The tires break loose kind of at the very end of first, but just rolling onto the throttle in second gives too progressive a power delivery to really break them loose.

I've been shifting real slow until I change out the transmission oil again... It leaked a little in a spill, I added some back in, and I'm not sure how close it is to its capacity now.

What is interesting to note is that with Motronic, the car would never idle at more than 14-15 inches of vacuum, that with a properly oscillating wideband reading right in the 14-15:1 range. Now, with the same idle speeds and 11:1 idle, it pulls a clean 20-21 inches of vacuum. Purring like a kitten until you get on the loud pedal

I forgot what a truly mean and well-mufflered 850 sounds like. It's quite something, just very very quiet until the boost needle starts to climb. Then it is time to let off the throttle again and it leaves you wondering if it's stalled for a moment because all the noises have been replaced with their calmer and more refined off-throttle counterparts.

[linuxman51]

sounds good bud!

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by EricF

If you've read this whole thing you're almost as much of a nerd as I am. Congrats, I owe you a beer!

I accept.

Is it faster now than the one you bought at SE a few years ago?

[Orange_Crusader]

Originally Posted by norcal505

nice build up.
so how bad is the rust on the car?

Doesn't seem to be any of it visible in the pics. These cars have to be actively abused to make them rust (or repaired badly), they got the galvanaizing dip when made so they're pretty good to start with.

Sweet build. How tough was the manual swap time/difficulty-wise?

[Johann]

Good to see the VEMS up and running.

Did you leave the stock ECU in place?

[EricF]

Originally Posted by norcal505

nice build up.
so how bad is the rust on the car?

The rust is very very bad.

I tried removing the caliper brackets when doing the brakes, and even after PBlaster and the two-wrench cheater bar trick (this gives you about 2.5 feet of leverage), the box end of a wrench seated on one of the bolts perfectly flat just stripped it clean. Tried a 6 point socket and breaker bar on the other side of the car and had the same thing happen...

Originally Posted by towerymt

I accept.

Is it faster now than the one you bought at SE a few years ago?

It is hard to say. That car trapped 99mph when I bought it, and a best of 107 with the 19T. When I put the 57 trim T04E t3/t4 hybrid on it, it trapped a best of 104. I think it's probably right around 102-104 at the moment but really can't say that with any confidence. It's a lot faster than the blue car but in a much different way (progressive building to redline rather than smash you back at 3500 and starting to taper at 5500).

Originally Posted by Johann

Good to see the VEMS up and running.

Did you leave the stock ECU in place?

Thanks Johann. I left the stock ECU and the stock wiring harness in place (coiled and tied up and pushed in front of the battery tray)... To return the car to Motronic-running I would just have to replace the fuel pump relay and radiator fan relay, re-work the IC piping to once again include the air pump, re-align the cam position trigger, and unplug the VEMS and plug all the stock connectors back in. Then pray that Motronic's feelings aren't too hurt by me bastardizing its car.

Originally Posted by Orange_Crusader

Doesn't seem to be any of it visible in the pics. These cars have to be actively abused to make them rust (or repaired badly), they got the galvanaizing dip when made so they're pretty good to start with.

Sweet build. How tough was the manual swap time/difficulty-wise?

The manual swap could have been easier. There is a lot of time involved taking the engine/tranny out of the top. If you have a lift you can take it out the bottom but that is also a good amount of work. It's pretty rewarding though, I think the M56 is a nice transmission and it has a lot less drivetrain loss than the auto. Don't fool yourself into thinking it will be a quick job though. This is no 240 or 740...

[justjim]

nice !! you coming to SE in it?

[EricF]

Originally Posted by justjim

nice !! you coming to SE in it?

I'd fully planned on it but now I'm not 100% sure anymore. We will see how things plan out... Between a work-ordered trip to Germany, a work-ordered trip to Gainesville, and trying to spend some time with my girl and with my boat, the next month or so is looking very crowded and stressful at a glance now :(

The car ****ing rips now though, running 19 psi and it's tremendously fast compared to what I'd expected the car to feel like. I really want to quantify it in some way... Maybe get the speedometer hooked up and take some video this weekend (on my gauge cluster, only the boost gauge and fuel gauge work out of all the factory ones ).

[norcal505]

sweet.
the drivetrain needs to be swapped into a yellow yo! ...or autumn goldzz!!

great writeup, like everyone else said...

[justjim]

please come, you need a mini vacation. i want to see your car in person to get ideas for my 95 850 wagon

[EricF]

****ty launch:


Chirping third gear shift:


In-car:


In-car again (with AFRs, note it pinning at 10:1 at the 2-3 shift.. .doh)


Anyway said I'd get videos there they are! Could be better but we're not professionals (only professional drinkers).

[Nick]

No suprise here: EricF and useful videos where you can actually tell what the hell is going on are mutually exclusive.

Other than that, it sounds pretty good. Get a speedo shot.

You do any tuning? It seems to behave pretty well.

[EricF]

Speedo isn't hooked up. So it wouldn't be very exciting...

I'm real nervous about doing **** like this on the road, probably would have been better videos with Richard driving or something.

Also I've done a small amount of tuning, nothing worthy of being called tuning though. Just tweaking the VE map to be less 15G-like and more bigger turbo like.

[Captain Bondo]

Damn man it sounds freakin' excellent.

What rpm/boost have you had it up to?

Get tuning!

[EricF]

Originally Posted by Captain Bondo

Damn man it sounds freakin' excellent.

What rpm/boost have you had it up to?

Get tuning!

Videos were at 17-18 psi, that's pretty much it. Soft limiter at 7k, run into it all the time as I don't have a working tach output (or speedo)...

I need to get its act together, but it is certainly moving and driving well

Still hoping to go to SE next weekend, but it's possible I'll miss it still. Would love to get the other Kenny tuning it on a dyno...

As it stands I don't have wideband inputted into the EMS, I really should see if there is an output on the gauge for EMS so I can do some meaningful datalogging. The "well I think it was rich right about here" method of datalogging doesn't really do me any good

[Captain Bondo]

Holy crap. Yeah man, at least hook the wideband up.

You Floridians are crazy mofos...

[WeezilUSA]

Yeah that sounds amazing. Awesome work!