Last week I took delivery of my ’96 965 which had been with Ross Converse for conversion. While the process took a very (that’s “VERY”) long time, at this point I’d like to share details & photos with Brickboarders and send kudos to Ross because the car has been running flawlessly. It was, from the start, specified to Ross that it was to be a daily driver for my 100 mile commute (which fortunately does NOT include any urban driving). Ross also knew that I was not a much of a mechanic and that I didn’t want anything too exotic.
Let me say that after I told him what I wanted, Ross didn’t come out and warn me that my car was “a first”; I’ve become proud of that, but potential pilgrims to Maine need to be warned – you have to “pull” details out of Ross. I wanted and got a 5.0 Ford V8 along with a manual tranny. What I didn’t quite realize at first (and giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe Ross didn’t either) was that choosing a 2000 Explorer engine and building the car to pass Massachusetts strict OBD II based emissions testing would challenge even his ingenuity. He was into the final phase before he realized that because the Explorer ECU had never been programmed for a manual tranny, there would be complex OBD II code issues to resolve. Suffice it to say that he managed this well enough that we passed the inspection on our first try. To my knowledge, and his, this is the “first in the nation” OBD II emissions compliant 960 with an Explorer engine and manual transmission.
I bought the car after a long and careful search – its body and frame were nearly flawless and the interior quite good – for a car with 205,000 miles; cost was under $4000. I put about $1000 into the car, including Artic Alpins and a great leather repair to the driver’s seat, before the car was turned over to Ross. The Explorer engine (which had under 30,000 miles) had a performance cam installed. Mated to it is a new heavyduty T-5 tranny using a Centerforce clutch and a Pro 5.0 short shifter. We used stainless headers into which Ross had a hole burned and a special fitting welded to hold the EGR valve. The whole suspension was tightened up and most bushings were replaced with poly. He fabricated special mounts for adjustable Monroe air shocks in the back to offset the slightly sagging transverse fiberglass spring. A 2” stainless steel single exhaust system was fabricated and installed.
Converse’s charge to me was under $15,000 and thus the whole project came in under $20,000.
Time will tell whether the package is reasonable to maintain, but the straight line performance unquestionably exceeds the stock 5 speed ’90 5.0 Mustang I once had. And I have a unique vehicle which is certainly something I know fellow Brickboarders appreciate. Since I wanted a lux wagon with a manual tranny, I can’t think of any vehicles except for the Magnum, Audi or Bimmer which would come anywhere close to my “new” V8 Volvo. For any of those, except the Magnum, the expense would have been at least double what I’ve invested.
For some photos, navigate to:
<< http://members2.clubphoto.com/mike189051/3133782/guest.phtml >>.