The red 1986 745 build

[Swedbrick]

Hi All, Since I'm new to turbobrick I thought I would create a thread to keep track of my progress on my track/daily red wagon, for myself and those interested. Here's what has been done thusfar:p (Updated as of 8-2021)

The start
A clean 1986 Volvo 745GL with a b230k, pierburg (junk) carb and ezk118 and a m47 5-speed


The car as it sits now


Suspension upgrades
Shocks: Koni yellow shocks front and rear
Springs: IPD wagon lowering springs (-44mm rear, - 32mm front)
Swaybars: IPD blue 25mm up front, turbo 19mm on the rear
Wheels: Revolution Motorsport Millenium 7.5j front, 8j rear, et13 both
Tyres: Vredenstein Ultrac's 235/45r17 rear, 225/45r17 front
Brakes: xc90 T6 (336 front, 308 rear ventilated)
Camber mod, TXR anti bump and quicksteer plates, 960 braces, reinforced rear subframe
Racingdiffs LSD conversion in 3.54 ratio axle (940 48t with aluminium cover)



The current engine
B230FK, 9.3:1 ET pistons, Maxspeeding rods, squirters, KGtrimning 'strong' double valve springs, port and polish 530 head (light), 16V camgears and 24mm belt, T cam, stock valves.
LH2.4 conversion with stage 1 chips, buchka wasted spark, 335cc whiteblock 16v injectors

Engine build thread: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=345333

The good stuff in the works
18T td04 hybrid with modified 13c compressor housing and 7cm3 conical housing

[Scaramanga]

Nice car! I hope you keep the ride height

[Swedbrick]

The first step, some new wheels with new rubber, the switch to some hankook tires with decent rain performance was made, because well, the Netherlands to be short. I also liked the sirius wheel look, so the upgrade to alloy was also made. At the yearly volvo convention, I found some hubcaps that fitted perfectly and where better looking than the stock option so I threw those on.


From there on it was time to get started with the performance upgrades, first up, a cluster capable of rpm indication.


Next up, a set of IPD progressive lowering springs


And I managed to find a set of cheap koni yellow rear shocks, just look at the difference with the stock gas struts


The next step was to upgrade the engine, I ordered a k-profile camshaft from KGtrimmning, in the form of the kg004 cam (lift: 11,95 LSA: 111° Duration in/out: 273°), aka streetable (although the pierburg agreed to a lesser extend although mixture and idle air screws can get you far)


Installation and valve shim adjustment.


Next up, IPD sways at a 2nd hand discount, lower brace was also included luckily


Since I had access to a welder, and had my subframe out for reinforcement (a 2.0 version of this with pictures will be coming up) I made my panhard bar ajustable to some extend to get the wheels back in line.


Since I was getting sick of the pierburgs bad behaviour, and the volvo had already proven quite the towing rig, I got myself all the bits to start a turbo conversion which is currently a build in progress, hopefully I'll find the images once more to give it it's own post. Below some pictures of the bits, and the mighty brick towing my moped project.

[Swedbrick]

Found the latest pictures hidden away on my pc after some more procastination, so with this update we should have all the progress thusfar.

During winter I helped out some friends from the surfing association with the parting out of their old tired 945, from which I bought an M90L2, the radiatior, the turbo, the engine harness and several other bits. Somewhere in the following weeks I welded the 3rd gear syncro, repainted it, and forgot about it until I got around to ordering the new clutch.


Very snowy, for dutch standards that is


As the second project for the winter, I chose to paint a set of wheels in a bronze color, after much deliberation, starting off with a silver base coat, following a gold-bronze coat, and finishing with a strong clear laquer. Since the tires would have to come off for this process to do it well, I bought a second set, and sold the old set to my brother who also owns an old wagon.


And yes the turbo's received a coat as well


For the final result I also upgraded to a set of Vredenstein Sportrac 5 tires, 205/60 r15, which have proven very good, especially in the rain. I was doubtful about the gold at first, but it has really grown on me.


During my second trackday at Zandvoort circuit, they proved very effective in the rain, improving my best dry time thusfar in the wet by 7 seconds, from 2.50 to 2.43, crazy Below an impression of what they had to cope with.

Passing a GTR with cold toyo proxxes


Nice shot on track


Next up were some more chassis upgrades, first of which, roll-steer correctors from RetroTurbo that also perform a quick rack functionality. Due to the longer length of the steering arms, the tires were rubbing against the front swaybar, which I was able to prevent with two ABS stops for the steering rack, simple enough.

Roll steer correctors, with adjustable ackermann


Secondly, a change of diff ratio's was required (from 3.31 -> 3.94) since during a previous trackday at Zandvoort circuit, the shift between 2nd and 3rd gear was less than ideal, since it would drop the k-cam right out of the powerband. At this point the reinforced subframe (v1.0) was installed as well.

The new rear axle, all nice and prepped


The old subframe and rear axle


The car without it's rear axle, still looking good


With all of the suspension/chassis upgrades finished for now, it is time to get into the serious stuff. First up, convert to the M90 transmission and hydraulic clutch, with a diesel clutch, and a sachs sintered pressureplate from KGtrimmning, good for approx 440Nm. To make sure the M90 could hold all this, I also installed the M90 thrust bearing adapter once more from retroturbo, to assure it would hold my 300whp goal. The flywheel was sandblasted beforehand, to create a good surface for bedding in.

Sandblasted flywheel and retroturbo m90 pilot bearing adapter


Pressure plate in place


With the new flywheel in place, the preparation for fuel injection conversion could begin.

Nicely painted mainfold with new seals and all


Walboro 450 install, including upgrade to later model fuel pump hangar (less chance of rusted fuel lines), pump shimmed with aluminium foil (tightly rolled, no chance of flakes) and tightened in place with hose clamps


Upgrade to bigger radiator and e-fan with unavoidable issues with brittle plastic.


Manifold install and cooling system revamp (plugging coolant holes in head for carb manifold), with all new air intake


Those where the updates for now, more will follow soon! As far as the engine build is concerned, a little teaser below (and yes I will explain more about the TT, and why)

[MadDog_945]

yes!!! someone finally got this!! subbed!

[thessejway]

Great build!

Originally Posted by Swedbrick

[Mbeas96]

Hooray! A TT red block build, awesome!

2 13c's?

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by Mbeas96

Hooray! A TT red block build, awesome!

2 13c's?

Hey, yes two slightly ported and polished 13C's, should be an interesting mess of cooling and oil lines when it's all sorted out

[Old Iron]

Nice build. What kind of bike is it towing?

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by Old Iron

Nice build. What kind of bike is it towing?

Thanks!, the bike it's towing is an Peripoli Guilietta Super Sport, built in 1962 in Italy to get exported to Germany. It has a 50cc, 3-speed, air cooled moto morini engine, and used to do 70-80km/h which I had to dial back a bit due to regulations, it also has twin exhausts from factory for those extra .5 hp's

[MadDog_945]

oh erm.. plz report back when you drove it a bit.. curios if the m90 bearing will silence the m90 noises..

[white855T]

I like the simplicity of your header.

[mark244turbo]

I am impressed with the amount of work you have done. I used to have a 1986 745 turbo and i still regret selling it.

If you really want to unleash the full potential of your suspension, you should do the camber mod, do the caster mod and install the volvo 960 lower braces.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=230362
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=319020

The caster mod is done by putting spacer rings behind the lower control arm bushing. Longer trailing arms are available from volvo, but spacers are cheap, and you can buy them at you local gamma/praxis/etc.

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by MadDog_945

oh erm.. plz report back when you drove it a bit.. curios if the m90 bearing will silence the m90 noises..

Hi MadDog, I've already made a couple of trips with the M90, the difference is quite noticable, my brother also has an M90 behind his 6304 without the bearing and mine almost never crunches compared to his. However it must be said, both have the welded 3rd gear retainer ring, but with my brother's trans it had already sprung loose before it got welded and it has an even shorter shift, so it is not a fair comparison.

I also used a good quality gear oil from 'De Kroon' a dutch quality brand, in the right spec for the M90 since the volvo oil is annoying to get, which from what I have read makes quite some difference.

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by mark244turbo

I am impressed with the amount of work you have done. I used to have a 1986 745 turbo and i still regret selling it.

If you really want to unleash the full potential of your suspension, you should do the camber mod, do the caster mod and install the volvo 960 lower braces.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=230362
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=319020

The caster mod is done by putting spacer rings behind the lower control arm bushing. Longer trailing arms are available from volvo, but spacers are cheap, and you can buy them at you local gamma/praxis/etc.

Hi, Thanks for the tips, I'll put those on the list for after the injection conversion, something to work on during winter, the 960 brace is more triangulated I presume?

P.S. Was the 1986 turbo dark silver, and sold somewhere around Brabant?

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by white855T

I like the simplicity of your header.

Thanks, I will post a more detailed explanation on how I got there soon, pie cuts, cardboard and all.

[mark244turbo]

The 960 braces reduce flexing of the subframe. The camber and caster mod improve grip and eliminate understeer, the 960 braces improve steering precision. It nice if the car follows your steering instructions exactly and not having to constantly make little corrections.

My 745 was blue metallic and sold from brabant to belgium.

[Swedbrick]

Originally Posted by mark244turbo

The 960 braces reduce flexing of the subframe. The camber and caster mod improve grip and eliminate understeer, the 960 braces improve steering precision. It nice if the car follows your steering instructions exactly and not having to constantly make little corrections.

Alright, I was already trying to figure out the cause of this flex, but I never looked at the subframe as the cause before. Since I am planning on getting into some fabricating for the rear subframe and strutbrace, I'll probably order a little extra for some adjustable tubular control arms and improved underbody to subframe bracing then.

Maybe I might be able create some solidworks files, and be able to construct some extra's afterwards for those interested.

Originally Posted by mark244turbo

My 745 was blue metallic and sold from brabant to belgium.

Ah okay, maybe one day I will come along. The one my brother bought was imported recently and had an not so legal turbo swap, which made a perfect excuse to put a b6304 in (still trying to get him to do a writeup)

[Swedbrick]

For those interested, I got around to starting the engine build thread, which can be found here: https://forums.tbforums.com/showthre...t=345333:cool:

[Satsukeshi]

Can't wait to see some more details regarding the Twin Turbo setup!

[Swedbrick]

Hi, along with the update concerning the twin turbo manifold on the engine thread, I'll update you all on the progress on the car itself.

Starting off, I'll give a little insights into why twin turbo with two 13c's. I noticed with my first 13c that the opening in the housing is approximately 2 exhaust ports for the b230, resulting in quite a restriction, but with low rpm spool. Given that my experience with my brothers b230ft was a lot of fuel consumption and surging behavior whilst cruising at 130km/h due to this turbo setup, I decided I would like my turbo's to spool higher, around 4000 rpm (since the short ratio's I currently run put the tach at 3.5k at cruising speed already), assuming that 7000 rpm would be achievable, resulting in a useable 3k powerband.

With the reduced restriction in the exhaust path, and a better flowing exhaust and intake manifold and a big cam, this should be obtainable. I set my power goal at 350whp, since a single 13c maxes out at about 220hp, and with a better flowing head, the doubled cfm maximum for the two turbo's and the max boost pressure of 14psi should allow for this goal if I manage to remove enough restriction from the air path in the head.

To solve the issue of one of the turbo's generating more of the airflow than the other, I will apply the bank crossing technique as commonly applied with turbocharged v engines. Where the two cylinders powering one turbo are fed air by the other turbo to created a system where both banks naturally balance. Since this also requires for the creation of 2 new intake manifolds, I will be upgrading to ITB's from a GSXR, with some sheet metal manifold goodness.

The fuel and ignition will remain LH2.4, with a translator in between two stock MAF's to the cfm/voltage profile expected for a 960 maf given the airflow measured across the two stock MAF's. I will probably run green giants, with blabla's 960 maf and 7k rpm redline chips, if I do not decide to get in to chip burning myself

[Swedbrick]

Continuing with the physical progress, I first ordered everything I would need to construct an LH2.4 loom from scratch, with a nice relay panel, and with the loom easily separable from the car.


Made good use of my new crimping pliers, whilst completely redoing the wiring for the front of the car.


Got the engine loom together, and measured through all of my connections to prevent future headaces.


After fighting with the two 984 ecu's I obtained for a month, I realized the existence of the immobilizer, which I did not grab from the running cars they came from. This resulted in much debugging and confusion, but after sourcing a b230f computer set without immobilizer she started right up, with the peace of mind that absolutely everything else was in order with the new loom Below the easy access setup with easily swappable relays.


Next I had to get the power steering fixed, I opted to upgrade, since I no had nowhere to put my reservoir, with a little shaving of the 960 ps pump and a little line adjustment, it all fit as such.


Switching out the valve between a 960 pump and a 740 pump is pretty much all the conversion necessary after the pulley swap. (740 = conical, 960 = recess)


After the first test run I checked the plugs, confirming my suspicion that the stock fuel pressure regulator would not cope well with the walbro, which is next on the list of improvements, to get rid of the fuel trim codes by LH


Footage of said test run below, I'm loving my pod filter:

[Swedbrick]

Since most of my free time is spent tinkering on the Volvo, I figured I would attempt to involve my car into my bachelor thesis in electrical engineering, starting of with the idea of creating a megasquirt equivalent on the cheap, since megasquirt is no longer all that cheap.

After 2 months of research, I decided to leave this for a future project, and to start off with an operation model of my engine and some measurements to go along with this model to have a look at what could be figured out about the engine's operation from measurement. Allowing for the pre-development of the measurement side of the engine management system.

As part of this endeavor, I first got to create a new 2.5 inch downpipe for the car with included exhaust gas temperature and lambda sensor.


painted a nice heat resistant black


I added a bosch 20-330 kPa air pressure sensor to the manifold, which will possibly later be adapted as a boost sensor.


This was followed by the creation and installation of a small datalogger, to be used for storing all of the measurements (might end up improving and producing these for fun


The always required re measurement of loom interconnections


From these sensors, I managed a couple of measurements, with an overview below for those interested in what to expect from a MAP, MAT and EGT sensor (1.5k rpm shown)


A closeup of the measurement


Which I then compared to my created engine model for the b230, for which the same results as shown in the closeup along with some additional info can be seen below.


For those confused by the airflow (postitive is into the cylinder, negative is out of the cylinder) and intake temperatures, the model did not include a model for exhaust scavenging resulting in flow reversion during the overlap of the K-camshaft modelled, quite interesting. From this and a bunch of other measurements, I ended up managing to extract camshaft profiles, engine speed, crankshaft rotation and chamber conditions from a simple set of sensors, which might get applied by someone somewhere one day

With this bit of the history of my wagon recorded, more tuning related updates will follow in the future

[Chilm]

That bosch 20-330 kPa air pressure sensor is pretty interesting, where did you buy/find that thingie?
Nice write up man, keep up the good work.

Cheers...

[Swedbrick]

Hi Chilm,

The sensor is a Bosch 0 281 002 401, VEMS found a pretty similar datasheet for it, it basically translates pressure to a linear voltage, good stuff, all the correction is done by the sensor itself, and as a bonus it feature it has a temperature sensor build in. They are quite commonly available (and 40 euros), the connectors are a pain however to find, I got it at the scrapyard. The readout was done with an arduino board, after which it was converted to the boost value with some math as provided by Bosch

I'll be looking into a small diy kit for these soon