ok, so i have an 88' 240 DL (5spd) and i would like to put a more powerful motor in it. I've been told to pu t everythign form a mustange 5.0 to a chavy small block. but i would like to stay with the volvo reliability and maybe get a newer maybe turbo engine, rebuild it and put it in. What motor would be best for that? whats your suggestions? i dont know how much more power one has over the other or what. i know someone who took a 82' turbo 240 (4spd w/OD) and put a (i think) 740 turbo engine in it. i'd jus like to know whats more powerful that what and what you think. thanks for all the help. i greatly appreciate it.

Ian, volvo owner at first by force...now owner/lover by choice.

adding a turbo to your current engine is all the rage right now. Check out www.turbobricks.com

There is a link to an article on their homepage. Furthermore, you can find hours of reading on this subject in their performance forum.

A friend of mine has, and I've driven it, a 1989 244GL with a drvetrain from a 91 940T. This is the B230FT engine and the AW71 automatic.
Everything is bolt-in as far as major components are concerned. There is no difference, for example in the spacing of the engine, transmission, driveshaft, motor mounts, radiator hoses, etc.

He chose the particular car because it was a nice body and interior, and cheap with 205K or so on it. Also, the 1989 is the first year the car has LH2.4 injection, so it's physically very similar to the LH2.4 on the 91 Turbo donor car. This is important for one reason: the swap requires relocating the distributor. The 700/900 has it on the back of the head, driven by the cam. The 240 uses a small distributor up front, in a hole in the block driven by the intermediate shaft. The 7/9 dist will not fit in the 240 because the back of the head is up against the firewall. Relocating this unit in the Lh2.4 car is easy, because there is no hall sensor or other electronic in the distributor. The original 240 dist is retained, and the ignition wires from the 240 are used. The 900 dist was removed, and the head plugged with the 240 cam plug. The steel plug in the 900 block was removed, and the 240 dist and timing bolt added. It still has to get timed correctly, as with any 240. (you don't have to set the intermediate shaft timing mark on a 7/900).
After that, a new 3-core radiator was used, the intercooler from a 700 turbo, the mounting brackets and fan shroud from a 700 or 900 turbo. The 900's trans cooler lines were reused, and the 900's oil cooler was retained.
The biggest challenge for my friend was the wiring- the job required using the whole 900 engine wiring harness and computers. They fit fine in the normal 240 location under the right side dash, but wiring to other devices, such as instruments and alternator & starter wiring needed to be routed to the right places in the 240 harnesses. He got it all sorted out and it's like a factory turbo ride now.
Hopefully yours will turn out to be just as fun. Using a 1989 or older 740T as the donor car might complicate things, as you'll have to figure out the distributor wiring yourself.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

Anthony Hyde is a fellow in Australia who has a nice web site with some info for mating a B230FT block, a B234 head, and a B204FT (turbo) exhaust manifold, and installing the result in a 200 series car. Depending on how far you want to go with this, you can get 250+ hp (keep in mind, that hp is from a relatively small 4-cylinder, turbo-charged engine... means an engine with not as much torque and a car that's usually not as quick as one with a V8). But beware, there are many obstacles to overcome... nothing that can't money can't solve, of course.

Just keep in mind, performance will largely be a function of the amount of money spent... ie, if you want your Volvo to run like a Ferrari, you'll pay Ferrari prices. If you want your Volvo to run like a Mustang GT, you'll pay Mustang GT prices. Not a 100% linear relationship, I realize, but pretty close.

If you stick with a Volvo block, check out www.v-performance.com (or it might be "vperformance.com"). They have an adapter plate available which will allow a T-5 transmission (Mustang and Camaro 5-speed) to be mated to a Volvo B21/B23/B230 block.

If I am not mistaken the 82 turbo 240 engine and the 740 turbo engine are the same engines..As for puting in a more powerful Volvo engine you might want to take a look at the turbo board people.. Turbobrick board. There is a pic of a DOHC 2700 cc turbo engine that will fit right in yours.. But then again you will need all the turbo electronics, hardware and wiring harness.. There is also several post on the V8 conversion..They call the 200 series a Brick because it looks like a brick on wheels,,and goes about as fast..You might try a Corvette or maybe a Mustang Cobra, I hear they will go a little faster.. but not real sure,, never seen one of them go 3 to 5 hundred thousand miles as most Volvos will go..Happy Bricking...Max
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights.