940 turbo build thread

[Jfxv]

Having owned my brick for a good couple years now, I've learned a lot and fixed a fair few of its issues (on a shoestring budget and it's my daily, so often had to learn and do quickly as well). Nowhere near an expert, and plenty of others in the UK have done more than me. But for the sake of providing a resource for someone and getting it all written down rather than bouncing round my head, I figured I'd post it here. Pic uploader doesn't seem to be working properly, so will hopefully update once it's working nicely.

Quick history / spec list:
Bought at 143k miles ish in May 2017, having spent all its life in a field in Devon. Pretty scabby underneath. 1997 Volvo 940 LPT, completely stock. Interior was pretty good, wrinkly door cards and a few missing clips but mostly present and tidy.


First job was to replace the clutch and general service, this was one I had to get someone else to do as I had no time or experience working on anything mechanical. Turns out I should have put an uprated clutch in, and made sure the mechanic was reputable...
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Prior to its first MOT with me, it then killed its fuel pup as I filled up right before taking it to its test. Had it towed home, left it there for a month or so while I went down to uni. Fast forward and in November I had it as my daily at uni (trading my alcohol, partying, and food budget for fuel money), and trying to keep it alive. Replaced a few things for maintenance, the cambelt and front oil seals being done in February (lovely job in minus temps). Replaced the distributor in April 2018. Finished out my third year in great fashion with zero fatal issues, and performed exceedingly well taking me and my mates on beach trips, pub jaunts, and the like.

Got it home, and set about putting an MBC and boost gauge in. Turned up to 0.85 bar and ran it for about 4 months like that. Clutch slipped a bit, thought to be due to the dual mass flywheel.
More oil leaks caused by using aftermarket seals on the front (definitely worth using OE Volvo seals). Rebuilt my brakes all round that summer prior to its MOT and went with EBC Ultimax (OE+ specs) on the front and stock pads on the back. New caliper on the front and reconditioned the others as best I could, eventually they all started working. New discs, new handbrake shoes. Now it stops brilliantly, and while they don't deal with fade amazingly, they're a great budget upgrade which doesn't count as an upgrade on the insurance. Noisy and dusty, but I don't care about that kind of thing.

Had a gaping rust hole in my passenger side sill welded as well,in the hope of getting it through its MOT first time.
It subsequently failed, but only on a handbrake imbalance and missing daytime running lights. Advisories on a windscreen crack, cracked number plate, and a few minor issues. But I got it through just about.

Back to uni for my fourth year, and had even less money this time around.
In November I realised upping the boost, while fun, also killed my 13c. Great opportunity to replace with a bigger spooly boi, so I got a used 15G from an 850. Had a bit of trouble getting the wastegate actuator we fabbed up to fit around the oil lines, so decided to run with an open wastegate until I could get a flexible braided line fitted. We also realised while we were replacing the oil and coolant that it hadn't been done when it was 'serviced' beforehand. Pretty frustrating, especially when it got to 1am and we still hadn't finished fitting the turbo. Few notes about this:

* The compressor housing and core both have to be rotated to fit a RWD engine. There is a snap ring on the compressor side which is a pain to get off, and the best pliers we could get for it were from a independent supplier in Bristol I found. The two sets I ordered off Amazon were both more expensive, ££££e quality, and the wrong size. Lesson somewhat learned...
* There are four studs in the exhaust manifold on a 90+ turbo manifold. There were two Inconel studs in the cast iron turbo exhaust housing. They wouldn't come out without excessive heat application with heavy hitting with a mallet, and eventually we decided to cut the corners off the flange with a grinder.
* Given the hassle we had getting the 15G with a conical flanged exhaust housing to fit, it would be worth going straight for a 16T with a straight or angled flange. Minimal extra hassle to get the downpipe to fit, and much better flow. Plus 16Ts are more readily available, and marginally bigger than the 15G.
* I reused the wastegate actuator from the 13c because it has a stiffer spring than the later turbos, which are designed to work with a solenoid rather than due to the gauge air pressure.

A slow few months ahead. I realised the core of the 15G was knackered, so ordered a brand new one from turborebuild.co.uk. Arrived quickly and the staff were great for helping me work out which one I needed, as the website listing wasn't the clearest. Meanwhile, I fitted the braided oil line. This was horrendous without taking off the oil filter relocation arm / oil cooler thing, but eventually I managed it. Had to grind, heat and bend a 19mm spanner to get it past the chassis rails and in to the banjo bolt on the block. Stubbornness as I refused to take the filter arm off, given that (I believed) the exhaust manifold would have had to come out to do that, and knowing my luck, I'd have sheared a stud or something. Another job completed in minus temps :) :) :)
Also put in some new front indicator lenses, replaced with clears. Looks much better!


Eventually got round to fitting the new core in January 2019, following university exams. Once again, I did this in cold conditions; there was a decent depth of snow on the ground around me, but this wasn't as bad as the other jobs. Reach in, pull the old one out, stick the compressor housing on in the right orientation, replace it. Done. Turned it up to half a bar and enjoyed turbo noises again. Also put some Toyo T1Rs on the rear, as the old tyres were a bit perished.
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Due to requiring ankle surgery in February and therefore not being able to drive for a few months, progress stalled. Realised my heater core and heater control valve were leaking in March, so these got bypassed with a copper pipe, sealing tape and hose clamps in the engine bay so it could be driven without losing all my coolant. I also designed and 3D printed a boost gauge holder, and moved my boost gauge back to within my eyeline. It had previously been in the radio slot, having replaced the radio with more suitable in car entertainment.
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Once back on my feet, got back on with things. Took the back box with its daft S bend tailpipe off and left it that way for a bit, while I made up a 304 stainless 3" straight pipe for the rear end. Used a 'reducer' to adapt from the diameter of the over axle bend and took it out to just inside the rear bumper. Sounds great and although it's a bit rice, I like it. Also sorted out a minor advisory from the previous MOT by doing that, which was obviously my reasoning for doing so.
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Then I put in a V cam, as I'd noticed another oil leak from the camshaft seal. Turns out the original T cam had a slight groove on it and was weeping past the (admittedly crap) aftermarket seal. Now revs up nicely, fuel consumption is even worse, and I love it. Whacked the boost up again to 0.7 bar, will go higher sooner or later. Also plumbed in an eBay catch can inline with the original PCV separator box, and using the original vacuum source from the pre turbo intake pipe.
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That's pretty much it on the performance side, as it's just failed its MOT again. This time, on one thing only! And only three advisories, a new record!
- Rust hole in the passenger side rear by the jacking point, courtesy of not cutting out all the rust when the sill was previously welded. Thanks to the welding guy for that one...
- Windscreen crack, from last year. Not a failure as it's right on the other side of the screen and doesn't obscure anything.
- Oil leak, coming from somewhere strange. Looks like it's dripping off the aforementioned coolant hoses bypassing the heater core. Definitely a weird one, but I'll accept it as it's a 22 year old car now.
- Front exhaust mount broken. This was a recent breakage, I'd noticed it was bodged together when I replaced the turbo. Started rattling only a week ago. I'll sort it when I sort out a new exhaust.


Tl ; Dr:

+ 15G at 0.7 bar
+ V cam
+ Upgraded front brakes, reconditioned rears and handbrake.
+ Everything works in the interior, including sunroof. Only things that don't are the rear washer and headlight wipers, which have been removed.
+I estimate I get about 25mpg on average, not bad considering my driving style and I drive through town a lot too. I think I only got 28mpg when I first got it at 135* bhp, it's now running just shy of 200* bhp I'd say.
* compared to factory figures.
+ minor visual upgrades - it's decent paint underneath but has scratches all over, so touched up a few bits where it's flaked off. A few stickers, and prancing moose badges. Painted my front grille black, and replaced the headlights and front indicators for a pretty clean look if I do say so myself.
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Upcoming plans:
+ Lowering springs and GAZ adjustable dampers
+ possibly an adjustable panhard rod from Viking Fabrications
+ KL Racing intercooler
+ 3" 304 stainless exhaust from turbo back, going to switch to a straight or angled flange housing for this.
+ Replace my heater core and control valve (Now rocking horse fecal matter as it's a non AC model) with an electric setup
+ e-fan and the bigger stock radiator to go with this
+ Wasted spark conversion
+ Hoping to do some LH2.4 tuning too, once I pull my finger out and get a wideband, Ostrich, and some blank chips. Way too many ideas for my own good to be honest

And down the track I potentially have a B5234 T5 engine to go in. It needs a rebuild though, and instead of making it work with the M90 I'll probably go with a BMW 330d gearbox or something. Need to research this all more, but my perfect car is a RWD brick with a turbo 5 pot, so it's a pipeline idea.

[Jfxv]

Starting a new job tomorrow so progress will slow down, but finances and skills will improve.
Next up on the list is welding on Tuesday to get it through the MOT, then going to fit lowering springs and hope the original dampers don't blow out immediately. Will replace them with -40mm GAZ adjustable dampers, but finances are tight right now.
In the meantime, working on getting a 12V electric fan heater to work without setting fire to anything.

[Dangerous Dave]

Great story so far!

Looking forward to future updates, have fun learning more about your pride and joy :)

[MoleT-5R]

As above, great thread and interesting read, don't know how i missed this before, keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing future updates.

[kmb]

Nice work to save the car, enjoy the tinkering and keep us updated!

[Jfxv]

Thanks for the kind replies all!

It's been a while since I did anything performance wise, other than turning up the boost a bit further. Now running 1 bar on the 15G with a V cam, pulls hard but the clutch slips in 3rd at around 3k. I've been told this is due to the dual mass flywheel rather than it being a cheap clutch, so a TTV flywheel with 850R clutch is on the list.
As it's my daily/only car, can't get too silly with it. A few jobs to do now that temperatures are falling, despite my hatred of working on cars in the cold.
These are:
* front oil seals - I'd replaced the camshaft (easy access) one with a genuine Volvo one recently. The aux and crankshaft seals are now leaking, so they need doing.
* distributor seals - not too bad but it's been dripping oil onto my downpipe for months, so probably should get around to sorting those.
* need to get one of my wheels repaired as it's got a slow (actually quite fast) leak
* heater core - I started this today as it's cold but at least not raining. And driving in winter with no heater is absolutely miserable, so this is the most immediate concern, and I wish I'd finished the job when I last tried to do it in August.

These cars have issues with failing heater cores, understandable as they're all at least 21 years old now. Mine gave up a while ago, but as it was summertime it didn't matter so much; I just bypassed it and planned the job for when I was less busy. I gave it a go in late August and got stumped at the point where I had to remove the air distribution box. Everywhere online says it's held together by 10 7mm screws which are painful but fairly accessible. Mine, being a late model car, is different, and of course there's no mention of it anywhere on the internet. Joy.

I've just spent this morning pulling the interior and I'm at the same stage I last reached - a lot quicker this time as I didn't have to pull any of the ducting out, having not put it back in the first place. Bit more research and it appears that mine, because it's a 'Classic', has a different way of doing things (for no discernible reason) and therefore is even more of a pain in the ***. At least it doesn't have AC, which simplifies it a bit, but it's still a £££££££ of a job. As a result this is going to be the first (to my knowledge) documented heater core removal on a 1997 RHD 940. Everything I can find is about LHD, or older cars with a different system to mine.

Key things to look out for: most distribution sections seem to be black plastic, from what I've seen on the internet, and screwed together. The one I'm dealing with is white plastic, and held together using (17, I think) clips which are mostly accessible, apart from one directly in the centre of the car above the trans tunnel, and this was the major cause of fury last time I tried this. Couldn't get at it at all with my hands, and I'm basically a human version of a noodle. Therefore (purists look away now) I'm mostly likely just going to hack it off with tin snips, a die grinder, or whatever I can get at it with, and when it all goes back together, there'll just be one missing clip. Bigger issues to deal with tbh, I just want a working heater. In any case, it's better than doing this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c_Htfs-r80&fbclid=IwAR09fgQR3QMa2O7yzgPJXKmH5wRyWuJq7ZZJrCzBh-O9JDuPZ59FhpdblQQ
The whole bottom section looks to me to be riveted to the rail attached to the firewall, and these will most likely get the same treatment if it doesn't come off with the clips. Can you tell how little patience I have for this thing now?


Pics to follow, I've just come in to charge my phone, so when I go back out I'll take some pics for the education value.

In more positive news, I decided to remove my centre face vents and put some 52mm gauges and a cupholder there instead. I've been prototyping the panel and the required mounts this week. Hopefully will get it finished and modelled in CAD soon for 3D printing; once that's done, I'll be able to supply them to anyone who might want some. It's designed to retrofit with minimal modification (at the moment, two holes drilled in the steel brace panel on top of the glovebox) and works pretty well, just needs a few refinements, so if anyone wants, shoot me a PM. I'll be designing some for an 850 too in the future.

[Jfxv]

Apologies for the awful formatting... I'm not too savvy with forum posts.

Got some pics of how the heater core and distribution box looks in these later models. It's held together with a load of clips rather than inaccessible screws, like most 940s.
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Slightly less of a pain to get apart. After taking off all the air ducts from the white distribution box, I ended up getting the bottom half off and wrestling the old matrix out, through cutting one of the old rubber hoses (going to replace with silicone ones), and this a) takes time and effort and b) damages the old core. The bottom half can be removed from the car once the matrix is out but...

A much easier way of doing it appears to be through removing the scuttle panel (two nuts on the wipers, then three M6 (10mm) screws and nuts within the engine bay). Removing the panel above the ventilation duct allows access to two bolts.
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Undo these and a single bolt in a bent steel bracket behind where the glovebox would be, and then the whole upper half of the air duct drops down.
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The mounting rail can be detached through undoing two nuts on studs on the driver side in the engine bay. Make sure the two heater hoses are removed from the valve and core return pipe in the bulkhead - I'd already joined these to bypass the core ages ago. The whole assembly then should detach with ease, and can be removed from the car after disconnecting a few cables from the control valve and wires and things. This makes the job of removing the matrix from the distribution box much easier once it's on the bench.

After I got the new matrix into the distrib. box, I got sidetracked trying to sort out a leak I've had for a while, and I found a load more rust which needed sorting.As it stands, I'm going to go out tomorrow and try to get the box and matrix assembly into the car as a complete thing, and sort out the cables and things. I'm amazed that I've not seen any posts anywhere about removing the scuttle panel to speed the job up; I'm assuming this is because there's no info /anywhere/ about doing this on the RHD 1997/8 cars, but it must be worth a look for anyone trying to do the job on the older cars, and definitely helps the job on this model.

I also need to get some silicone hoses into place between the matrix and a new control valve I've ordered, as the old one was leaking. Those were ordered yesterday, so should have the job finished by the end of the week. Also going to be ordering some GAZ adjustable dampers for the fronts soon; I've got a set of Kilen lowering springs to go on. I'd done the rears already as one of my old ones had collapsed, so it looks silly with a rear rake at the moment. Once I have the GAZ shocks for the front, the new springs and topmounts (with camber mod) can go in. I also have a set of new Bilstein B4s for the rear, these can go on fairly easily as they're separate from the springs, but I've got my hands full with the heater stuff at the moment. Once the springs are fitted all around, I'll update with some pics.

[kmb]

Good info, thanks.

[Jfxv]

Finally finished the heater core on Wednesday. It's nice having heat again! I also replaced my distributor seals in an effort to stop that leaking and dripping onto my downpipe.
Took way longer than it had to, but that's the result of having to wait for parts to be delivered etc.

As cable operated heater control valves are no longer available, I decided to grab a generic one from carbuilder solutions. £22 delivered, and the actuator travel is reasonably close to the original, but it works in 'reverse' compared to the original configuration. To make it work, it needs to be rotated 180 degrees and sealed in place in the bracket - I used some polyurethane adhesive/sealant called Nemesis, but it didn't work too well the first time, so had to reapply it more liberally and leave it for longer to set. I've yet to see how it holds up, but 'next time' I'd go for something stronger like sikaflex 291i, the marine adhesive I was recommended to use the first time. £4 a tube versus £12 though, so for the saving I was happy to put up with a bit of inconvenience.

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To get the cable to work properly, it has to act downwards to push open the valve, and pull it closed, so it needs to be re-routed slightly. I had to cut it down in length slightly, to make it fit more easily. At this point I'd given up on doing it neatly and cabletied it in two places to the clutch pedal bracket. It works, so I don't mind it looking a bit trashy. There is also a cable that travels across underneath the dash, and operates a flap that diverts the air away from the matrix when the valve is closed; good idea for when you want actual cold air, in addition to shutting off the coolant supply to the core. I didn't bother making it work with the new valve, so the job isn't really finished, but it's 90% functional. I don't mind this personally, as I never use the cold air setting anyway. Sorry to any future owners!

The original hoses were unusable, so I replaced with silicone hoses. Simplest way to do it is just use 2x 90 degree elbows (ID is 16mm) and cut them to fit. This works absolutely fine, and was necessary as the core is a different design, with one hose coming off at an angle.

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Hopefully going to keep it going well for the winter, and in spring will probably get on with more performance stuff. As it is, I'm quite happy with it; everything that makes it pleasant to own works now. Heater, heated seats, electric windows, sunroof not leaking, nothing's broken on it really. Winter plans are to sort out the front oil seals, front suspension, and rear dampers. Then in the spring, sorting out a 3" exhaust, wideband, adjustable camgear, and tuning it properly. Next goal/milestone is 250bhp / 210-220 wheel hp.

[Dangerous Dave]

Nice workarounds!

Unfortunately it's gonna get worse trying to find obscure parts like that.

[woz]

Thanks for the trip,out in "SCV" the other night, pulls like a train, barring fuel-cut and clutch slIp issues which you will resolve I am sure. That heater was lovely and warm and ntoastybwhen it was 0 degrees outside. Great motor, look forward to helping sort the suspension upgrades in due course. Hecking heck it could be as fast as my 850...one day... LOL.

[Dangerous Dave]

Good to see local members helping out (and sharing the experience). Nice one! :D

[Jfxv]

Thanks all!
Woz is right, stock clutch and flywheel are struggling with the power a bit. The plan is to go TTV and 850R clutch in the future, but for now I'll just have to turn the boost down a bit, or learn to not beat on it so it holds up. No longer a cheap, fun car!

Recently sorted a water leak into the cabin, and had a buckled wheel repaired that was leaking a lot of air. Replaced the rear dampers with Bilstein B4s.
Surprised that it wasn't a particularly noticeable difference over the original shocks, but it's a cheap and easy job. Need to order the front dampers, but I already have topmounts and springs so can crack on with the job when they arrive.

Have a new cam cover and gasket to go on in the meantime, as the existing one is weeping a bit. Pics to follow once it's all painted and fitted. The info is all out there on Turbobricks and places, but for anyone not in the know who's reading this: Using a dab of gasket sealant like RTV in the sharp corners of the gasket helps to stop it leaking, as they tend to allow oil through the square bends around the ends by the distributor and the pulley. I ordered an Elring gasket, as other brands are reputedly crap, despite my poor experience with their oil seals on this motor. We shall see how it holds up!

[Jfxv]

Quick update: since doing the job and writing about it, I have since found out that I was wrong about the air distribution box for the heater system. The white plastic box is standard on non-AC 940s. Hadn't seen anything anywhere on the internet about it until last week, then it turns out I was wrong and it's not that uncommon. Can't go back and edit my previous posts so here is a correction in hindsight :)

Not done much to the car recently but will be working on getting it tuned properly soon using TunerPro and attempting to get the fueling right for my setup. There's a great thread on Turbobricks about it and a good resource here: https://ipdown.net/jetronic.info/tiki-index.php
The stock fuel map is pretty rough and has weird things in it. So immediate priorities are (first to refresh front suspension) get a wideband in and a chip burner, and start messing around with things I don't understand very well.
If I don't manage to blow my engine up doing that, then the same process works for the EZK (ignition module) too. You're welcome to have a sweepstakes on how long it takes me to bend the rods :)

( I am joking of course).

[Jfxv]

It's been a while since I said anything; recently moved house and started a new job.

Here's a picture of the cam cover I took way too long to paint, photograph and upload. I think it looks alright. Annoyingly various hoses run across it (that PCV breather pipe from my ****ty eBay catch can in particular) and have rubbed away the paint in places. I also replaced the seal in the oil filler cap and stopped that from leaking for once, so it's yet to have puked oil over the cover at least. I'm amazed that the catchcan and PCV system are actually doing a decent job; my other oil leaks are negligible as well. Realised when I swapped it on that my oil was disgusting (only 5k miles since last change so pretty good timing.

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Did a couple of oil changes in January before I moved, at a really short interval. No way am I putting any of that engine flush ££££e through it, figured a short oil change would do as good a job without dislodging all the sludge and getting it somewhere it shouldn't be. It came out gross either way.

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Took it on a dyno to see how much (little) power the turd makes. Went to JPR Tuning in Bristol, wholly recommend and one of the guys there is a Volvo guy too so was good to have someone who knew something about bricks and LH2.4.
It made 195.9 (flywheel) horsepower at 5195, and 221.7 ft lbs at 3370. Peak wheel hp was 154.8. Full spec list at the time for direct reference:
15G at 0.6 bar, V cam on stock timing, standard LH2.4 ECU and EZK. Muffler deleted, and generally a fairly healthy engine. Useful to put some numbers on the wall rather than guessing and talking ££££.
This also highlighted some of weaknesses of my setup /LH 2.4 in general. Leans out on throttle tip in around 3000 RPM, and then goes too rich up top (AFRs of 12.5 ish and then down to 9s above about 5400). As a result, I didn't turn the boost up as was the original plan, but probably wise as the clutch isn't holding it either.

Went and got some custom chips from Martin Smith (I believe he's on here but rarely), to tide me over until I sort out a proper management system. Great service from Martin and 100% recommend!

Haven't had it back on the dyno yet, but will be getting a wideband in and sorting out the front suspension before I do. Have an electric fan to sort out and am going to be sorting out a new management system. It's gotten to the point now where everything I want to do is actually quite expensive.

[Jfxv]

Quick one: the Elring gasket I used between the cam cover and the head was pretty rubbish. Used a load of RTV to plug the gaps but I'm pretty unimpressed.
I know it's a standard thing for these gaskets to leak. Doesn't stop the fact that Elring are, in my experience, 3 for 3 in making subpar products.

[Dangerous Dave]

Thanks for the updates!

Cam cover looks great BTW and don't worry the oil cap seal will soon dry out and leak :D

Most gaskets I tried on my 940 leaked so it's not limited to Elring.

And I forgot how easy it is to access most things in the engine bay in the 940. Ah those were the days

[Jfxv]

cheers! Yeah I'm going to order one from Volvo; apparently all the paper ones leak but the OE ones are better.

[woz]

Thanks for the updates!

Cam cover looks great BTW and don't worry the oil cap seal will soon dry out and leak :D

Most gaskets I tried on my 940 leaked so it's not limited to Elring.

And I forgot how easy it is to access most things in the engine bay in the 940. Ah those were the days

MOST things ... LOL.

[Dangerous Dave]

MOST things ... LOL.
Indeed :D :D

[Jfxv]

Quick update, I've been stuck not doing much on the car since lockdown started (I'm still working a lot)

I snagged a beaut leather interior from a nearby mate (once the lockdown rules were relaxed, social distancing was maintained.) That's now in, and it totally transformed the car.

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It also reminded me how heavy the seats are, and so I'm already looking at replacing it all (down the line) with some decent lighter seats. 4 buckets if I can, then it'll be party in the front, party in the back.

While in lockdown, I've also been fiddling with the electric fan with the goal of binning off the viscous coupled fan. As my car is non-A/C, it makes it a slight pain to swap it in; the radiator is smaller and sits further back in the engine bay, and the e-fan is bloody thick and fouls on the studs and the radiator at the same time. Unfortunately I can't cut enough off the studs to make enough clearance; I want to keep about 25mm of clearance from the back of the fan to the pulley.
I've done all the wiring for the two speed controls, power relay, etc, so it seems a shame to not use the fan I have already. So, it's getting shelved for the meantime until I swap my intercooler out for a better one. As that's going to be shifted forward anyway, I'll then have space to move the radiator, and then the fan will fit. I considered getting a slimline fan, but I've spent more than enough money on this now and I refuse to spend any more on it when I have more important needs.

I turned the boost up again (12psi ish) as that seems to be the sweet spot before the clutch starts slipping. It's still slow though, so an intercooler, clutch and TTV flywheel are probably my next go-fast bits on the list. I also picked up a 'junk' 530 head that will be a test bed for various brackets and porting practice, but it may also end up on the car as it seems alright, just a couple of broken or missing studs. Will chuck some photos up of it when I do the work on it

[kmb]

Result on the new seats!

[Jfxv]

yep! Made the interior a nice place to be!

It's finally had the lowering treatment too, dropped 40mm on springs all round. Bilstein B4s in the back, GAZ gold -40mm adjustables in front. In addition to its pops and bangs, decently low without scraping on anything and it looks way better. the GAZ dampers do the job but they're bloody stiff even on the lowest setting, I took it for a blast on Dartmoor today and it held the road really well so don't see a need to go stiffer. I'll get some pics up.

Also helped Woz pull his T5 engine out. Didn't get the replacement in as it needs a few bits swapping over. Hoping he'll let me steal the old one for nefarious 940 uses. The swap is pretty complicated so doubt it'll happen, but the thought of a RWD T5 is pretty nice.

[Jfxv]

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Kept the old strut top mount as apparently originals are better quality than most new stuff. I swapped the bearings over to them, also allowed me to somewhat keep my camber settings. De-rusted and painted them to match the cam cover - literally a 10 minute paint job so it looks absolutely trash close up but the colour is right at least.. Also painted the struts, new balljoints, polybushed the control arm to radius rod bush. Didn't bother doing anything else as it was all fairly tidy and not shagged out.
I also replaced the water pump, and killed my 20 year old radiator too, so got a new one of those in there. Wish it wasn't my daily as I'd have spent longer and got an alloy one fitted rather than one with crap plastic end tanks, but beggars can't be choosers.
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[Jfxv]

Minor update:

Wideband in.

Rusty airbox and battery trays cut out and welded. Hopefully that's the last of the major rust on it, might have to revisit the sill at some point though.

MOT passed, initially failed on a tyre and emissions. It was reading too lean so they failed it -__- despite watching the wideband bounce around 14.7 while doing the test. Fixed the exhaust leaks and chucked my old tune on it to get it through, now back to normal but it's got a high idle and is still learning so I've not been nailing it as much recently.

Soon to sort out a proper exhaust for it as the straightpipe's charm has worn off. My wasted spark conversion kit has arrived from Fabian Bijlsma in the Netherlands, just need to make a bracket for the coil and ignition amp, but that'll be a mini project for the winter.
Also hoping to fit my new wheels and do a better job of the arches at some point soon, but seeing as winter is approaching, I'm probably going to hold off so I don't ruin my nice wheels and summer tyres.
Going to hopefully get a dyno run in once the exhaust is done, as there's been a fair amount of progress since the last one (155 wheel hp at 0.6 bar). Not going to pretend like it's actually fast though, it's just loud.

[Jfxv]

I forgot, I also cut the airbox open to use the 'cold air intake' that passes through the front wing. 10 minutes of brutality with a holesaw, now makes the whooshy turbo noises at a volume I can hear over that awful, awful exhaust.

[Dangerous Dave]

Great update :)

I do miss my old 940, was non-turbo but I did want to convert it, then the 850 came along so the 940 went. Shame as I wanted to know what more power felt like in a 940.

[MoleT-5R]

Your 940 project looks to be coming along nicely and I look forward to seeing more of your progress over the coming months. I had 2 740's and loved them, rwd drive and loads of load space where handy for me at the time, still miss them both in different ways.

[Jfxv]

cheers guys, it's a decent enough platform for this really, just a shame it comes with low horsepower from the factory. It's getting there! Have got my hands on a 3" turbo back exhaust for it now so the straightpipe will be going, and should hopefully make more usable power now I'm getting rid of the stock downpipe and hotside. More to come once life settles down a bit

[Dangerous Dave]

cheers guys, it's a decent enough platform for this really, just a shame it comes with low horsepower from the factory. It's getting there! Have got my hands on a 3" turbo back exhaust for it now so the straightpipe will be going, and should hopefully make more usable power now I'm getting rid of the stock downpipe and hotside. More to come once life settles down a bit
Yes, things are rather crazy at the moment, life seems to be on a sort of hold (but not at the same time).

[Jfxv]

It took me a while, but finally got round to sorting out the exhaust. I took it to Infinity Exhausts outside of Bristol - would recommend.

Had to swap the hotside flange to a V-banded straight flange. Stuck a 16T with a billet compressor wheel on too so should be a tiny bit better than the 15G that was on it. Was previously a 2.25" exhaust from turbo back to the cat, and straightpiped from there. Now it's a 3" downpipe, 3" Magnaflow cat, 3" muffler, to shotgun 2.5" side exits. All 304 stainless.

I've only been running it at 0.5 bar for now. It seems to spool about as well as it did previously with the more restrictive hotside and exhaust, and smaller compressor wheel. It has however not been driven in anger yet so will see how it goes.

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[Dangerous Dave]

Nice!

Need a good video of how it sounds now :D :D

[Jfxv]

I will try to get the GoPro hooked up at some point! It definitely sounds better than it did. Turns a few heads now too, not sure if they're expressions of interest or disgust at this point haha. I'm hoping to get it on the rollers too for a proper mapping session at some point, in which case I'll be able to film it myself rather than putting my faith in an eBay special GoPro suction mount.
Cheers!

[Jfxv]

Video of the exhaust here :
https://youtu.be/xpA-w6OTNYQ

As mentioned in the vid description, I'm currently tuning it on a standalone management. Been a steep learning curve for the last couple of weeks. Still trying to sort out idle control valve, and starting issues, in addition to trying to map the fuel table. I've built my own wiring harness, and I'm now running T5 blue injectors in a paired setup, and wasted spark ignition, so it's fully mappable unlike the stock management, just need to actually get it done. I'm getting it on the dyno next week to tune ignition. Doing a lot of street tuning to sort the fuelling out at the moment around work.

It's been a lot of effort to get it to the point you see in the video, but it feels like good progress. Went from a non-starting car, to idling at 9.5:1 and pissing off the neighbours, to this, fairly quickly considering I had zero experience before I got started.
Will happily go into a full detailed account of everything if there's interest, but it's not the sort of thing that appeals to most people, so I've left it out for now.

Definitely going to have to get a daily now for commuting, as in addition to being thirsty (as factory), it's now 'temperamental' too, and will no longer start on the turn of a key. It's worth it for fully transparent mapping though; previously I'd bought chips off Martin Smith (who I believe is on this forum) and they were great, but he's stopped making custom chips, and the flexibility of standalone management just makes sense for me going forwards. Maybe overkill for a baby TD04 turbo and a cam + exhaust, but at least I can cut my teeth on a straightforward setup. Then any future upgrades will be cheap and easy to sort out.

EDIT: yes, I have retarded the timing on overrun for pops and bangs. Who says the VAG crowd should be the only ones who get to be childish?

[Jfxv]

About a few weeks after the last post, I got it on the dyno, with the aim of nailing down my spark map. Came away with a drastically changed fuel map, no changes to my spark map, and some power figures.

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Some power figures: 217 whp at 5100 rpm (estimated 254 at the crank) and estimated 294.7 ft lbs at 4200 rpm at the crank. No wheel torque figures annoyingly. That's at 15psi on a 16T, with a pretty conservative spark map; I'm pretty sure I can run a fair bit more timing especially in cruise.

That was at 15psi on a 16T and a V cam at factory timing, so there's definitely headroom in the cam, but the turbo was at the top end of it's capability and I was definitely running out of fuel. Threw some VXR injectors in; problem solved. They don't seem to flow as much as people think (definitely not 470cc at 3 bar), I would say they're closer to 440cc green giants, but can't measure it and I don't particularly care, as long as they flow enough.

I've spent the last few weeks sorting my fuel table out with the new injectors. Some more work to be done, but it's drivable and quite fun. Once i've got the map buttoned up, time for more boost; I've got a couple more psi before it turns into a hairdryer, especially if I can get a good intercooler in there.

Otherwise, no major updates, I usually have about one day a week to do fun things with it. Will be plumbing in a solenoid soon as Speeduino can control boost like an EBC, which is decent and I can upgrade from the MBC I have in there currently. Next up in the short term:

* fit my new wheels after a year of planning. They're WIDE and will require overfenders, which is an issue in itself; difficult to get ones that follow the original body lines. I've sourced some, pics to follow once done. I don't feel too bad about hacking this car about any more, there is a lot of nasty rust hidden away underneath and the paint is pretty shagged. I'm not ruining a clean one!
* sort out a proper intercooler, 850R clutch, TTV flywheel.
* Swap on my fairly dramatically shaped and ported head. This has been going on behind the scenes and should allow it to breathe a lot better, and hopefully make more use of the cam.

So, it is no longer a budget build :( but soon I will have a daily driver which should allow me the freedom to do proper things with this, not rushing trying to get things together in a weekend.

[MoleT-5R]

Nice update, things seem to be progressing nicely.

[Dangerous Dave]

Threw some VXR injectors in; problem solved. They don't seem to flow as much as people think (definitely not 470cc at 3 bar), I would say they're closer to 440cc green giants, but can't measure it and I don't particularly care, as long as they flow enough.

Yup they flow the same as greens. Someone a long time ago said they flowed 470cc and it seemed to stick (some sellers still state 470cc@3bar). They just have a different impedance to the greens.

[Jfxv]

Yup they flow the same as greens. Someone a long time ago said they flowed 470cc and it seemed to stick (some sellers still state 470cc@3bar). They just have a different impedance to the greens.

Yes it seems to be rampant on the Volvo groups and car groups/forums in general really. there seems to be a lot more data out there for the greens too, injector dead times and voltage corrections and such. I'm not convinced my settings are perfect but they're close enough I think.

[Morgan Harris]

The progress is astounding, the interior is clean. I like your choice of exhaust system it's not that loud. You can check 4WheelOnline in case you are thinking about replacing your wheels.

[Jfxv]

Quick update so I don't forget it all

Have been re-mapping it as I go really. Some more advance, some VE table tweaks, and I've got PID control working for the EGO so I can manage about 500 miles to a tank if I cruise at 60 mph rather than 70 - doing a lot of motorway miles at the minute so the extra economy helps.

I never got the idle valve working so I'm relying on scatter spark instead to keep it at a consistent 900rpm. It seems much happier there than around 700 as factory. Particularly when rolling to a stop and dipping the clutch, it tends to bog down and hit 400-500 before recovering. It works much better if I use the higher base idle. So, some improvements to the drivability basically.
Some general tweaks and fixes to improve reliability - particularly around the additional wiring for the standalone.

I've had an extra muffler put on which has quietened it down far too much. Neighbours are happier, I'm not, but at least long motorway journeys are less loud now.

I found and fixed the source of the leak of outside water into my footwell. It had rusted around the grommet for the bonnet release cable.

Passed the MOT first time without needing any map adjustments.

I've turned the boost down a bit to keep the clutch alive - I now have a TTV flywheel and 850R clutch waiting to be installed following a house move. 10psi is boring! Wheels are part fitted, "just" need to cut and weld the bodywork to allow them to fit. Also an intercooler waiting, and plans for a Holset HX30 to go with the ported head.

[Jfxv]

Quick update

Having finally tuned the car to a point where it cold starts reliably, and is reasonable on fuel, I parked it up. In the garage from January to today, and I drove an S60 instead. Now selling the S60 to get this back out for fun times this summer.

I finally got it into and back out of the bodyshop, it's now 2" wider on each side, but almost OEM looking. Props to Ian at Custom Panel and Paint in Exeter for doing a fantastic job. Some pics attached.


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I spent the winter mostly working and planning. Reading back over the thread, my goals have changed a fair amount just between posts, and will doubtless continue to evolve. However the next few concrete plans are:
1) 850R clutch and TTV flywheel - needs doing asap. Have the funds, need to book it in when life calms down a bit with work.
2) 330mm brake discs with Martin Leaf's adaptors for 4 pot Brembo calipers (not S60R, they're off a Merc M class). If anyone has a good source/recommendations for S60R 330mm brake discs, please shout
3) fit a tailgate spoiler - scored a genuine (rare!) 940 one from a breaker with an eggcrate grill, needs painting and fitting
4) adjustable panhard rod, maybe polybush the rear end, but suspension is pretty much where I want it.

Short term goals are to drive the thing for the summer.
Longer term, I'm aiming for 300-350 whp in the next year or so. I'm acquiring things for a proper engine build to do so, probably overkill but can always chuck a bigger turbo on when it's done.
Picked up a spare engine to rebuild on the side with new internals, forged rods etc. and in the process of building a reasonable twin scroll manifold. Definitely a bit further off than the rest, but I've got the engine, the turbo (Holset HE250 with a 10cm2 twin scroll turbine housing), and the beginnings of the manifold. This is at least a year away, probably more, with the way the cost of living is shooting up.

[Jfxv]

Quick update - nothing new to report really. Put a spoiler and eggcrate grill on it, cut the middle box out of it for some more noise. Just been driving it and enjoying it. A few rust repairs to get through its MOT, had to tweak the map at idle to get through emissions, now it's about to go back in the garage for the winter.
Going to start building the engine over winter, hopefully get it finished for March when I'll get this back out. I'll likely stick with the 16t for a minute to keep it simple while I run the engine in, then throw the Holset on later in 2023 instead of trying to get everything on at once.

Picked up a flat front 740 saloon too, stripped interior, welded diff, probably 80 whp - perfect for winter roundabouts

[Dangerous Dave]

Quick update - nothing new to report really. Put a spoiler and eggcrate grill on it, cut the middle box out of it for some more noise. Just been driving it and enjoying it. A few rust repairs to get through its MOT, had to tweak the map at idle to get through emissions, now it's about to go back in the garage for the winter.
Going to start building the engine over winter, hopefully get it finished for March when I'll get this back out. I'll likely stick with the 16t for a minute to keep it simple while I run the engine in, then throw the Holset on later in 2023 instead of trying to get everything on at once.

Picked up a flat front 740 saloon too, stripped interior, welded diff, probably 80 whp - perfect for winter roundabouts
Sounds awesome, I need to get me a garage so I can do some big projects :)

[Jfxv]

I was pretty lucky with my flat! certainly makes life less unpleasant.

[Jfxv]

Bit of an update! It's been a bit slow this year. I've mainly been either using the 940 for work (so not willing to modify it), or I've been battling reliability issues, mainly on the wiring front. The harness I built needed some rework, unfortunately it's no longer reliable enough to be a daily. I took it all apart and rebuilt the wiring harness in October, while it was off the road.

A while ago I swapped in the ported head, along with a do88 radiator and intercooler. does a much better job of keeping IATs down, I don't have any datalogs to hand but the difference is in the region of 10-15 degrees on boost.

I had the 740 last winter, it was a great winter daily. Sold it in April, to partially fund a 'built' engine. It arrived definitely NOT built.
Came with forged rods, pistons, cylinders bored out and liners fitted. Some nice machine work, but it hadn't been done as well as the seller thought.
I took it to a local engine builder to check it all out, sort all the issues I found in my own strip down.

I finished building it, and got it swapped in in August. Did some rust repairs while I was at it. It then took a couple of months to get it MOT'd. Now it's in for more serious rust repairs with a mate of mine, needs new jacking points, a chassis leg, sills.

So, current spec is:
* flared arches and spicy wheels, factory spoiler, egg crate all done. Pretty happy with the exterior now. Just want to repaint it.
* interior - leather, from an earlier 940. Custom gauge panels made up and fitted.

Engine:
* B230FT with forged rods, pistons, cylinder liners, ACL race bearings. Done about 700 miles on it since I swapped it in now
* 16T at 12 psi while I run the engine in, 90+ manifold ported
* 530 head ported and chambers reshaped based on a Grotis head, standard valves, uprated valve springs
* V cam, no adjustable pulley yet
* 3" exhaust turbo back, single muffler
* On standalone, built my own harness but that's part of the problem
* VXR 440cc injectors (at 3 bar)
* wasted spark with a Bosch 2x2 coil
*do88 radiator and intercooler

Suspension:
* Gaz adjustables front, Bilstein B4 rear
* -40mm springs front and rear.
Polybushes dotted around, need to do them all though.

Next things on the list for 2024:
* Brembo Merc ML calipers and S60R discs to go on, with Martin Leaf's adaptors
* GAZ coilovers for the rears
* polybushes everywhere I've not already done it!
* going to do a proper ECU and harness. The Speeduino is not good enough and will be up for sale soon, or going into a driftcar.

* Holset turbo swap is progressing well. I settled on a HE250WG, which are usually pretty small, but this is one of the latest spec ones, so it's more a replacement for the HX32 which people think of as a holy grail turbo for these kind of displacements. It should be a real mix of spool vs top end flow, as it's got an 11cm twin scroll T3 housing on it. I've got the manifold and enough parts to start sorting downpipe, oil drain, that sort of thing. There's always more work to be done and parts to be accumulated, but while I run the engine in, that's fine.

I'm sure I'll find other things to do before I finish the above, rust, etc.. But, the future is bright for the Shaggin' Wagon.

[Jfxv]

Currently I own this Volvo only. I sold Goldie the 740 saloon, which was a good thing at the time but I didn't buy it back when it went back up for sale, and I regret it.

I'm going to be on the lookout for another 940 turbo estate in a couple of months, for track car / drifting.

[MoleT-5R]

Currently I own this Volvo only. I sold Goldie the 740 saloon, which was a good thing at the time but I didn't buy it back when it went back up for sale, and I regret it.

I'm going to be on the lookout for another 940 turbo estate in a couple of months, for track car / drifting.

Good to here progess is still being made, I've got nowhere with my lot this year, if the weather brightens up for 2024 then hopefully I'll get back to sorting them all out.