Volvo RWD 140-160 Forum

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Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

posted by  bmessina on  Mon Jun 15 06:35 CST 2009
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last visit: Fri Oct 19 14:52 CST 2012
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I've posted a little about my intent to do this swap, and I successfully did most of it on Saturday at my friend's vintage Volvo shop. Praise be the lift.

The BW35 came out fine, it was my first time so it took a little short of half a day (3 hours or so). The first part that would have stopped me dead was the plate pressed in on to the rear of the crank, covering where the pilot bearing would go. Thankfully I had someone far more experienced than I on hand, and he showed me the old trick of filling the cavity full of grease and using an appropriately sized punch to force it out. It was quite a neat trick.

What actually ended up stopping us was the front driveshaft. I assumed I would have to swap out the flange on the M410 at the very least. I got excited when I noticed, with the transmission side by side, that the flange size is the same. I got sad when I also noticed that my BW35 is 6" shorter than the M410. Apparently there are some snub nose BW35s out there. While the shop had an absolute wealth of front shafts on hand, none were the appropriate length, so I'm having it modified this week while the wagon sits. Sad, but I'll make it. Thankfully it's only one bus to work.

So, once I get that, I'll be nearly done. Just some buttoning up to do around the pedalbox, it's a pain to work around there. Then I cross my fingers. My buddy that owns the shop had a look around the M410, said it looked and felt really good, so I'm confident that I'll have at least 4 gears. We'll see about the OD.

The big moral of this story is that for the slightly inexperienced, make friends with a mechanic! I would not be nearly this far in the process if it weren't for this guy. I kept his lift occupied all day Saturday, he spent at least an hour or two helping me out, and it only cost me $50. So well worth it, I'm thinking I'm going to have to get him a little something more to show some appreciation. Gift certificate to a nice restaurant or something.

Also, someone from the Brickboard stopped by and said hi. I've forgotten your name again, but my offer stands to come by my place and wade through my parts.








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    Conclusion... kinda. 140-160

    posted by  bmessina on  Sat Jun 20 13:40 CST 2009
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    last visit: Fri Oct 19 14:52 CST 2012
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    All done, runs and drives great. Haven't hooked up the OD yet, because I'm going to wait until I can find an OE column switch. It's about as noisy as M40s I've driven, little more so. Shifts very smooth, no grinding or anything. I'm really excited to get it on the freeway once I find a switch, and a tach.

    The driveshaft went in mostly ok, except for the center support. One of the nuts in the body broke apart from whatever was holding it still, so it just started spinning. I still had it on most of the way, so it's shimmed for now.

    The play in my steering wheel is pretty bad now, 2-3" each way, which is weird. I tried loosening the pedal box and dash mounts and just pulling it towards the back of the car while tightening, but that didn't seem to do much. I can see in the knuckle(?) where it has some excessive play from not being pulled all the way in, but don't know where to adjust it.








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    Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

    posted by  aaron74 on  Mon Jun 15 08:24 CST 2009
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    last visit: Thu Aug 6 07:44 CST 2009
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    hmmm ... I have to do this soon too. I am getting very annoyed by the BW35. My car originally had an M41 (I do need to check the cods though) and was converted to the automatic. I have a tranny core, bell housing, cable, missing pedal, drive shaft, clutch, etc. Would you (or someone else) be able to post up a pic of the manual tranny crossmember? The last thing I am unsure about is the correct crossmember for the standard transmission.
    Thanks,
    Aaron








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      Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

      posted by  bmessina on  Mon Jun 15 09:33 CST 2009
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      last visit: Fri Oct 19 14:52 CST 2012
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      I can when I'm back under it, though that might not be until the weekend at this point. Possibly later. I also don't know if the M410 crossmember differs.

      On 2nd thought, I know there will be an M41 crossmember at the shop. I'll take a picture of that if nobody's gotten to you by then. Same timeline as above.








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    Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

    posted by  Volvo From Heck on  Mon Jun 15 07:17 CST 2009
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    last visit: Mon Oct 13 20:56 CST 2014
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    Did you give the the rear half of the driveshaft to the shop making the mod? Having both halves allows them to index it properly and balance the whole works. -- Dave








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      Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

      posted by  bmessina on  Mon Jun 15 09:30 CST 2009
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      last visit: Fri Oct 19 14:52 CST 2012
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      I just tried to pass it off on them, you're right... No go without the rear half. I'll have to pick it up and try again later this week! The shop also mentioned that the u-joint isn't manufactured anymore, and that if it turns out to need replacement, they'll have to do some more... aggressive work.

      Any idea of the cost viability of a custom one piece vs. this work? I'd be interested in that, if it makes sense on the dollar and the functionality.







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        Progress on '72 145 BW35 to M410 swap... 140-160

        posted by  Volvo From Heck on  Mon Jun 15 12:39 CST 2009
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        last visit: Mon Oct 13 20:56 CST 2014
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        I can't believe it could be true that the small u-joint Volvo used on the 544,122 and 140 and 240 in some applications is no longer available (is that the one you're after?). If no other source--try Victoria British---it's the same joint on MGB's.--the largest one is used by Chevy, I believe--don't know about the in between size--Dave







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