posted by
someone claiming to be Peter
on
Sat Apr 21 13:06 CST 2012 [ RELATED]
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Not much traffic on this forum anymore. Is it just that everyone's car is now stable and no advice is needed? Or has the price of gas over the past few years killed interest in a conversion?
I've had mine for 14 years. I don't drive it much anymore and sometimes think about selling it, but it always seems like, with gas at $3.50 - $4.00 a gallon, no one would buy it. Then I drive it and forget the idea about selling it. But, is there even a market for these cars anymore?
Peter
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posted by
someone claiming to be dan242
on
Wed Dec 5 01:59 CST 2012 [ RELATED]
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Mine is running better than ever, 305/700r4 in a 85 740 Diesel
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There will always be a need for a well done 'sleeper.' I only wish my mechanical skills and garage were suitable to make my own.
Gas mileage depends mostly on the rear end gearing because of the large amount of torque developed by the V8s.
It would even be fun to do the European trick of installing a 3L six and a manual transmission in an older Volvo, keeping the entire car Volvo.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V♂lv♂holic
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My wife drives our 285 as a daily driver.
It used to be mine, now I have to drive a company car.
I don't think I'll get it back, she loves it.
When I drove the 285 or the 242T I would say "I get to drive the Volvo."
Now I say "I have to drive the Escape."
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V8's inna rear drive Volvo is the logical cure for that faithful B21,23 that gives up the fight, the dead diesel, and for adding spice to an old friend.
I discovered folks stuffing V8's in the Swedes back in the mid 90's, just when Converse in Maine was starting. A friend and I built our wives one 740 diesel with 2.8 GM V6/700R4 and the other a 375 horse 350 Chevy 700R4, both w/ stock rear, suspension, radiator and each a tractable, dependable fun car to drive.
Next in 1996 was a 86 760 X-Diesel w/ 302 Ford " Cop Motor", mild RV cam,AOD Truck, 3.73 rear, and I still have this sweet ride, not a rod but a cruiser, getting consistent 24 in town and 29 at 75mph here in flat florida. I do believe the fellow w/ the LT-1 / 6 -speed has the E-ticket though, I lust after that combo--or--the Ultimate Guy in Callie who wrote in last year w/ the 940 wagon had the LS-1 and 6-speed, telling that he had meet NOTHING on the road that could take him, and the kids ALWAYS wanted to ride to school with "Daddy". Love a "sleeper" and the VoVo8 is all of that. Best Regards, K.O.
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The big issue hidden in the replies is that the 240 bodies are getting old and rusty but my recent '81 barn fine documents that they are still out there. I just never accepted the 700/900 series so they do not have the appeal that the 200 series does.
I have an emotional connection to the '82 245 Diesel/V8 conversion car as I bought it new and have owned it for 30 years now. My emotional connection to the Bertone is that I had one and loved it in the late '80's.
You are what you come from.
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My V8 in 1998 just after painting. It began as a 1980 260gle V6. I put in a 5.0 V8 from an '89 Mustang with a 4-speed Auto OD transmission from a Mercury Marquis. It also had Ipd lowering springs, '83 bumpers, hood-grille-lights from a '78 242gt, and 240 turbo wheels painted to match the upper half (a mid-80s Alfa-Romeo pale green metallic). The lower half is a Ford pickup color, Woodland Green metallic. I sold it after a fun 6 years and over 100k trouble-free miles as a daily driver (body was going around the edges, thanks to road salt).
Photo was scanned from the back cover of March/April 1999 "Rolling". I don't have any digital pics, just film snapshots.
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Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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Bruce, The car you built is the perfect answer to Ken C's question of -- why a V8? Let me guess--you bought the 264 needing cams, rockers, timing chain and water pump and/or head gaskets. That's what my VolvOldsmobile needed as a stock '76 265----a $2,500-3,000 dollar job at our shop back in the late '80's. Owners of Diesel models face(d) the same predicament. I've seen plenty of worn out 150k mile Volvo diesel motors---BIG BUCKS to rebuild. They don't last like MB or Peugeot diesels. What to do now? Fitting a B21-230 into a 260 makes some sense--but is just as much work as making the V8.
In three weeks of work (spread over 2 years spare time) I had a beautiful road car for way less. The VolvO went another 140k miles on my original '63 Olds (83k) F85 all aluminum 215 V8 motor plus another 12k on a rebuild before the Olds Roto-Hydramatic quit. Now I'm in the process of of rebuilding with a '93 245 along with a Camaro 5-speed. Next step is the plumbing and wiring--somewhat changed from the earlier body's harness. Hopefully, this summer........ -- Dave
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Guess I'd really call it a Late Onset Mid-life Crisis, Dave. I bought the V6 in '93 (I was 63) for the V8 possibilities that I'd been anticipating ever since the Ross Converse article in a 1990 Rolling magazine. I got the V6 running just for the experience (fuel issue as I recall), then worked on the V8 swap solo and fired it up ( 1st turn of the key) in 1996. Did it all including exhaust, a bit at a time. Put in a diesel radiator, had the front driveshaft cut to about 13", IPD 25mm bars & lowering springs, etc.
That's about all I remember, except modifying the 5/8"(?) hole in the right side motor mount bracket from Converse. That hole was horizontally in line with the left side hole, but the cylinder banks are offset (and thus the mount positions too). That made everything in the back shifted off-center to the left. "That's how I do all my cars" was the word I got by phone. So I went ahead and "moved" the right mount bracket hole forward about 1/2". All I can say is that it ran fine for me with the motor centerline "centered" v. canted left. More left side tunnel room that way too. It ran just fine on the K-Jet fuel pump w/tank pump.
Ah, the joy of cubic inches!
--
Bruce Young, '93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.
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I never quite understood the reasoning for swapping a Volvo engine for a domestic V8 in a Volvo. I'm old enough to somewhat remember that Paul Newman (a great actor and race driver, for those of you too young to remember who he was) popularized, if not actually invented, the concept. But really, one of the things I liked about my Volvos were their longevity and reliability. I had lots of Chevy V8s when I was a teen through my early adulthood, before I discovered Volvos. But they always had problems: hydraulic lifters collapsed, carburetors ran rough, mechanical fuel pumps sprung leaks, rocker arms developed wobbles, etc., and I was always replacing points and condensors and plugs (although adjusting points on Delcos was a breeze with their little metal "window" for adjustment with a dwell meter while the engine was running! Loved that!).
I bought my first brand new car, a '73 Volvo 164, I was hooked. Sure, the B30 needed valve lash adjustments now and then, and the '73 still had points (without the nifty Delco-style window, unfortunately), but with (albeit it early generation) fuel injection that engine would just run and run well, from sea level to the passes over the Rockies (we took our first summer vacation in it, criss-crossing the U.S.). Of course, I've been owning Volvos ever since (although I have also dabbled in M-Bs, a 300E and 190E2.3 as well as a grey-market GWagen), and one domestic car, a Shelby GLH Turbo jsut for fun -- you see, I am not adverse to speed and power, it's just a matter of the whole package.
Yes, I could imagine a V8 140 (or 240) would be quite a dragster at a track, but that wasn't what Volvos were meant for. To me, owning a Volvo is a statement, and putting a domestic V8 into one seems contradictory -- it just seems wrong. Volvo did it, but because the car in question was really heavy (e.g., the XC90). But putting a twice the horsepower in a originally decent handling and safe car is kind of like changing a sleek sailboat or even a power cruiser into a cigarette boat (makes me think of the Lobster Boat races in Maine, where these boats are useless for anything other than racing). I'm not saying there isn't a value in having some more power, but getting it from a domestic V8 seems not just somewhat excessive but also antithetical.
But if Paul Newman approved of it, I guess it can be a viewpoint with which some will agree.
A final thought, though ... perhaps a different perspective, one with which I can relate and agree. I myself love to tinker with the car (as I image almost everyone on this BrickBoard), and if putting in a V8 is just an exercise to fulfill a hobby or to just give one something to do, to fill his hand with a wrench and have fun, then that's fine -- I've done some crazy and extravagant things just to carry out my urge to tinker. Sometimes it isn't the destination that's important, but how you spend the time getting there -- so go for it and enjoy the project.
'Nuff written.
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posted by
someone claiming to be Bill Leland
on
Mon Apr 30 12:19 CST 2012 [ RELATED]
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Sir, I can only say you only need to drive my LT-1 powered 740 turbo wagon
Multi port all connected it hauls ass and gets near 30 mpg with the GM 4L60 E over drive transmission sweet
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Amazing fuel economy. My LT-1 740 wagon has the Tremec T56 with a 0.5 6th gear overdrive ratio. With the stock (turbo, M46) 3.31 axle, the engine runs at 1620 RPM at 70MPH. At that speed on the Interstate it gets 26MPG(US). I have proven this as an average over 1000's of miles.
Low restriction intake and exhaust, heads resurfaced .010" with 3-angle valve job, and it's 100% California smog legal...got the BAR sticker on the B-pillar. It is a real hot to drive, a smile every time! And there's no better "sleeper" or Q-ship. It looks like Gramps in his old square Volvo, then, two black stripes and...gone.
Your car must be running extremely well to get that fuel mileage with the automatic and its 0.7 OD ratio...well done!
--
Bob: son's XC70, dtr's '94-940, my 81GL, 83-DL, 89-745(V8) and 98-S90. Also 77-MGB and some old motorcycles.
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Looks great, and I can only imagine the fun you had doing that. Good for you!
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There still seems to be a market for these cars, but of course the prices have gone down compared to several years ago.
One of the big problems I see is that the newest of these cars is now 14 years old (S/V90), and people's focus is just changing to newer cars.
As for my own story, for the past few years, I have not been living in a place where I can work on my cars. My V8 car is at my parents home, and while that is not far away, it just isn't convenient, and it makes it much harder to motivate myself to work on it. That and I have a lot of other hobbies!
But even still, not many days go by that I don't think about what I might modify next on it.
Greg
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My homepage:
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