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Regina to LH 2.4 Swap

thelostartof

unbalanced chemical
300+ Club
Joined
Jun 26, 2002
Location
Apache Junction, AZ
Ok so I just spent some time looking over the wiring diagrams and as far as I can tell the only thing really different about the two is the wiring for the drivers side fender (MAP and Ign coil/powerstage for regina vs AMM/powerstage for LH (well coil wiring would go to other side). Both EZK and REX seem to use the same pins to go from Fuel->Ign and back.

Besides that everything else maps out to the same pins on each ECU. Does anyone happen to have both ECU's or wiring plugs that they can compare? I will if/when I find time to check out what I have stashed in the shed. I mean even the color's match for what pin they come out of the ECU. A rough look tells me I can just wire the MAP wiring to an AMM plug along with extend the Ign Coil wiring and then wire up and power stage. Once all of that is done besides swapping flex plate in my theory it should work. Since I already need to ditch the AW71L as it is slipping and has a converter that works when it wants to I have no problem putting an LH flexplate in there when I put in this late model AW71 in it.

Has anyone else done this?

Since my 'project' 1991 740 n/a (LH 2.4) is being sold to a friend that needs a car I need to rework my plans back to converting my regina car to LH so I can +T and enjoy it a bit more.

So yea there is my odd thinking for tonight, I will see if I can post the wiring I am looking at and ya'll can tell me how off I am.
 
I bought a '93 regina 940 on Sunday that I am considering +T'ing and swapping to 2.4. I'm going to be stripping down my wrecked 91 940t this weekend so I could be able to take a look at ecu's/connectors on both.

my regina car has a block mounted dist., is that typical?
 
Seriously ?

Could we swap in a head mounted distributor from a LH car and call it a day ?

Yes, and no. The Regina cars that came with the block mount distributor came that way because Volvo was using up the left over 240 engines. That would likely mean they have a non-slotted cam installed in them. I have never checked whether they do or not. Obviously, if they have the slot, or, if you swap the cam for one with the slot, you can change over to a head mount distributor.
 
The main reason I just traded the Regina car for an LH one was because I am too lazy to swap trannies and their respective flexplates :cool:
 
Yes, and no. The Regina cars that came with the block mount distributor came that way because Volvo was using up the left over 240 engines. That would likely mean they have a non-slotted cam installed in them. I have never checked whether they do or not. Obviously, if they have the slot, or, if you swap the cam for one with the slot, you can change over to a head mount distributor.

^this.
Had several 1993 Reginas with a block mount dist. Some had slotted cams, some did not when I had them apart to check them out, adjust valves or do a headgasket.

The Regina does have some nasty intermittent bugs and that stupid coil (can be swapped for lh parts), but late model Regina cars 92-93+ are pretty reliable. As good or better on fuel Econ than the lh ones. Block mount dist real nice. Head mount is bean counter, annoying, leaky, costly, and idiotic.

+T a 7 series? People give away turbo ones, relatively abundantly.
 
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My reason for doing it is easier to +t.

Swapping the dizzy location does nothing for lh, lh needs the proper rpm wheel on the crank/ flex plate. So my plan is to redo wiring and swap flex plate when I am swapping transmissions. I can test the car without the trans hooked up so if it doesn't work quick and easy to put the Regina stuff back on.


Now to make sense of the last little bit of wiring and then find a weekend to do it.
 
Yes, and no. The Regina cars that came with the block mount distributor came that way because Volvo was using up the left over 240 engines. That would likely mean they have a non-slotted cam installed in them. I have never checked whether they do or not. Obviously, if they have the slot, or, if you swap the cam for one with the slot, you can change over to a head mount distributor.

Yeah well my cam is a K slotted for a LH 2.2 engine so I guess I would be good. The original cam was non-slotted though.

What would you plug the distributor with for a test run though, that's another question altogether...

Sorry for derailing the thread OP.
 
(...) that stupid coil (can be swapped for lh parts).

Come again ? I'm interested...

Plug in a power stage and a LH coil ?

My reason for doing it is easier to +t.

Swapping the dizzy location does nothing for lh, lh needs the proper rpm wheel on the crank/ flex plate. So my plan is to redo wiring and swap flex plate when I am swapping transmissions. I can test the car without the trans hooked up so if it doesn't work quick and easy to put the Regina stuff back on.


Now to make sense of the last little bit of wiring and then find a weekend to do it.

Doesn't LH need a hall sensor signal ?
 
Yes that is what the flex plate / flywheel does n An lh 2.4 car. That is why there is an rpm sensor on the back of engine.

The lh2.4 distributors do not have the hall sensor in them like lh 2.2.
 
My reason

Swapping the dizzy location does nothing for lh, lh needs the proper rpm wheel on the crank/ flex plate. So my plan is to redo wiring and swap flex plate when I am swapping transmissions. I can test the car without the trans hooked up so if it doesn't work quick and easy to put the Regina stuff back on.


Now to make sense of the last little bit of wiring and then find a weekend to do it.
the right way would be to repair it so it is a clean na car and sell it to someone that just needs a car and buy a 7series turbo. That might make rational sense in the global 2012 economy, which is not the tb way.

The head mount dist would allow one to use stock coil and ignition wire set. Not that there is really any reference window for "right" here and it would not make any meaningful difference as far as crank angle sensing or spark triggering or distribution really.

The again a 7 series +T...yeah...not going to touch that...yikes.
 
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My 944 has a restored salvage title, ipd sways, near perfect grey/cloth interior, ecode headlights, s90 tails, less than two year old heater core i installed, new brakes and bushings and $400 worth of properly tinted windows. The only real flaw is the paint is coming apart and the transmission is in need of replacement one of these years as the lockup works when it wants to. Never mind the custom 4-2-1 header and full new exhaust I built for it along with the silicone cooling hoses and vac lines along with strut brace and under chassis brace. Never mind the new tires and wheel spacers with 850r wheels.

How much do you think your normal person would pay for that and what would be the cost to replace all of that plus find another car in as nice of shape as mine.

The rational thing to do is when swapping the transmission to swap the flex plate and re route maybe 7 wires to make the car lh 2.4 so I can easily turbo it with the custom manifold I am planning on building. As it will be the least amount of effort, time and money spent to have a 93+ turbo car vs buying one with leather or tan interior and swapping everything over or having to buy all of those parts new and install.

Unless 93+ grey/cloth interior turbo cars with all of those upgraded and new parts grow on trees in your area. Because if they do I would gladly trade mine for one from there.
 
I swapped from regina to lh 2.4. I ended up swappin the whole harness whivh was a big mistake. It became a nitemare of wiring diagrams and a bunch of "wtf". In the end i finally got it. Ended up swapping pins in the big bulkhead connectors on each side. I should have just swapped over the plugs like you plan on doing. Probably alot easier. I considered it, but got confused about some of the wires. Overall i got it done, and it runs good. Once i figured it all out, it sarted and ran, right off the rip, i installed B cam, swapped to block mount dizzy that has the vacuum adv. on there. It advances on its own and retards in boost and the ecu doesnt have a clue, it thinks its running perfect.
 
Watching this as my DD is a Regina 745, that runs great for now, but if something happens I wouldn't mind swapping it to LH2.4 and a simple +t.
 
I know someone here on tb +t'd regina. Maybe more than one person i dont know. I think there is another guy in arizona that has had good luck with boosting regina. I swapped to lh because nobody know much about regina.. Im sure with supporting mods one can make good power with regina, of course a wideband should be the first investment.
 
500dollar740ti did it for pennies using the cold start injector.

740volvo allegedly pushed the enveloppe and ran up to 260 hp with a VAFC module and bigger injectors.

I'm going to try with a SMT-6, slightly bigger injectors and more crap.
 
^this.
Had several 1993 Reginas with a block mount dist. Some had slotted cams, some did not when I had them apart to check them out, adjust valves or do a headgasket.

The Regina does have some nasty intermittent bugs and that stupid coil (can be swapped for lh parts), but late model Regina cars 92-93+ are pretty reliable. As good or better on fuel Econ than the lh ones. Block mount dist real nice. Head mount is bean counter, annoying, leaky, costly, and idiotic.

+T a 7 series? People give away turbo ones, relatively abundantly.

In my experience, Regina absolutely has better fuel economy. I can back that up with data from 2 LH and 2 Regina cars. Regina ain't smart, but sometimes stupid plows ahead and gets the job done better.
 
I just checked and LH and Regina use the same plugs, I need to validate the pinout and after that it sounds like my idea of just rewiring the Map to a AMM plug and then REX coil wires into power stage and coil, and with a proper LH flexplate it will be LH.

Motivation found.
 
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