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I believe many Volvo fans are elderly, yes.
Boooo, I'm only 2 years older than the car 😀
There might be some lurking here
Woops, I was sure there was already a thread! I even remembered that it had 'appreciation' in the title... Still, that thread has modern cars in it, modern cars are boring 😉
Well he did come in here and mention engine swaps in the first post. If anyone knows a way to switch engines to gain power and economy without spending loads of money please let me know.
This escalated a bit, but yea, any heavy lifting in an engine swap will be done by my engine crane, not my wallet 😀
I'm not a Volvo guy, hence not knowing much about the options yet, but given that the current engine produced 120-odd bhp when new, and would do low-30's mpg on a long run, I'm optimistic that I can find something that will improve things. By modern standards it's not a heavy car (1300kg, ish) - granted the aerodynamics aren't great, but if I could to 180+bhp and keep the mpg in the 30's on a run, I'd be happy. I don't really do any town driving, it'll only see longer distance stuff. My plan would be to pick up a cheap (so, not a Monaro unfortunately) donor vehicle to provide the majority of the parts. I'm assuming at the moment it would be a Mercedes/BMW I6, but there may be other options. I would probably swap engine and box from the donor to avoid the need for an adaptor plate.
Depending on wallet size I’d swop in a 5cyl R/T5 turbo lump or older 2.3 turbo red block.
The 2.3 is an obvious choice, though my concern would be that economy would suffer in the quest for power. I may be wrong though, I just assumed that being a fairly low-tech engine I wouldn't be able to have my cake and eat it.
Volvo D5 with a Celtic stage 2 rrmap
230bhp, 350 ft lb torque. Should stil do 40mpg plus on a run.
They are nice engines, it's just a shame they came wrapped in a FWD package 🙁 Converting to longitudinal/RWD would be doable, but I'm not really looking to turn this thing into a project car - and I think the work involved in a D5 swap would send me down that road. It's a well travelled road, and I know all too well where it leads 😀
A cheeky engine&box swap from something RWD *should* be straightforward enough that I can avoid the 'full rebuild' trap.
Anyway, time for some shots of the engine bay and incredibly stylish blue interior:
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Ooooohhhhhhhhhh yea.
I too am old and love a volvo, loved my old 940, bike in the back, wheels on, bit thirsty though. Currently have a T5 V50.
Has anyone else noticed how many volvos are used in film and TV?
My last car, MOT was to expensive for the 3-4k I did per year so sold it few years ago. Its been fixed by the buyer and is still going.
That's rather nice. I considered an 850/early V70 (the boxier one before yours), but in the end I couldn't resist the call of RWD.
Love that S40 up there. My first Volvo was a 2003 V40, moved onto a V70, now in a V90. Wife runs about in a C30.
Edit.
The jag S type r is not a 3lt 6, but is a 4.2 v8, with supercharge
They were always the cheapest way to sit in 400bhp car.
I do recall an issue with nicasil block liners on this model.
Driving the xj with the same engine was a hoot, but not kind on the wallet
My dad had the same model as the OP as a company car back in the late 80s, 740GL. I seem to recall it cost around £17k at the time.
They were always the cheapest way to sit in 400bhp car.
why would you want to sit in a 400bhp volvo brick ?
yaaaaaay fast - oh **** a corner shiiiiiiit.
yaaaaaay fast – oh **** a corner shiiiiiiit.
Do you even drift, bro?
lol - i assume thats actual footage from the op on a long journey getting a usable level of power with a reasonable mpg......
Bit new for me, that. I would LOVE something like this
Had an old S80 for a while (that we were given for nothing!) - 3litre engine was probably not the most econommical, but it was superbly comfortable and lovely to drive.
Got to the point where the economics just didn't add up, the MOT was more than the value of the car, but still regret letting it go.
an issue with nicasil block liners on this mode
That was the original 4.0 V8, the 4.2 (and late 4.0) had iron liners. Guess who had a 4.0...
why would you want to sit in a 400bhp volvo brick ?
Think you've got your thread anecdotes mixed up.
Think you’ve got your thread anecdotes mixed up.
What makes you say that ? We are discussing engine swaps for the Volvo are we not ?
Since we are suggesting stupid options Just go full bhuna fit a Tesla core and motors 😉
I’m not a Volvo guy, hence not knowing much about the options yet, but given that the current engine produced 120-odd bhp when new, and would do low-30’s mpg on a long run, I’m optimistic that I can find something that will improve things. By modern standards it’s not a heavy car (1300kg, ish) – granted the aerodynamics aren’t great, but if I could to 180+bhp and keep the mpg in the 30’s on a run, I’d be happy. I don’t really do any town driving, it’ll only see longer distance stuff.
I had the 2.3L Turbo version of the very same car. It made 182bhp and could just about return 30mpg. It could easily have the boost wound up till the needle went off the scale and bring the total to about 250bhp too. Economy only suffered if you used all that 250bhp. I did a few trips down to the alps for skiing and biking, four people in blue velour-clad luxury and boot space for four full bicycles (important to avoid using a roof rack, I didn't want to make the economy any worse). I even did a few trackdays in it, for a giggle. Not as embarrassing as you might think, especially in the rain, where the sheer mass and ABS brakes made it stable and controllable. Zooming past Lotuses and Caterhams in a 25 year old estate car with a national trust sticker in the rear window is one of my favorite memories of that car.
Go big or go home. 450 is rookie numbers.
Nice looking old Volvos. When we went to ride Tour of Flanders last weekend there was a 1990s V70 BTCC “Securicor” fully liveried replica with slammed suspension. It looked damn cool.
And coincidentally I saw test driving Volvo’s today after our Merc was nicked at the weekend. They do some nice cars now.
Has anyone else noticed how many volvos are used in film and TV?
I think it is a TV/film trope that the 'responsible, sensible family' drives a Volvo. Once you spot it, you won't be able to unsee it.
Then it was played upon by Gus Fring in Breaking Bad.
I used to have a 1961 Volvo PV544, but it was rusty beyond salvage.
My dad has one of these... Great fun to drive, and room for some bikes in the back! 🙂
1963 Volvo Valp, bought from the Swedish Military and brought to Denmark. This is a stock photo, didn't have any good pictures on line.
Had a couple over the years:
£333 940 Wentworth 2.0T auto - made it to the Alps and back with 4 of us and sold for a profit!
£320 850 T5 manual - total wreck but served as the fastest tip run car ever during a house resto. Sold to a loon building a twin engined race 850...
Happy memories of Wentworth!
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elwoodblues - see my post on the previous page. I need to visit your dad 🙂
I keep watching blocket.se and finn.no just in case I get tempted for a purchasing road trip....
I used to have a 1961 Volvo PV544, but it was rusty beyond salvage.My dad has one of these… Great fun to drive, and room for some bikes in the back! 🙂
That looks deliciously impractical. I simply MUST have one 😀
@mick_r Something like this perhaps....
https://www.blocket.se/annons/stockholm/volvo_valp/100284118
Although I would prefer this as a pickup:
https://www.blocket.se/annons/skane/volvo_amazon_221_p220_1_8_pickup/100290727
Can't remember if it was posted here or not but it's always worth seeing:
https://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-1968-volvo-valp/
Actually, it's not too impractical.
Easy to drive, not too big, everything is bombproof. In the summer, we take off the doors, load some bikes in the back, and go for a ride. It is a seven person edition, 4 wheel drive. Here is a small clip of an almost stock Valp playing around in the mud.
Proper bouncy vehicle but looks great fun!
I've probably got one vehicle restoration project in me - and it will be a Valp if I ever do it. Think the space it needed was about the same as my wife's C3 Picasso as the fwd control layout makes it really compact. Always lots of pictures of them toppled over, so don't think you can get too ambitious off road.....
I've been following that Norwegian project. Always thought the axles would be a weak link with the big tyres and engine. Also it is the Norwegian ambulance body so doors and roof / hardtop are fibreglass. Prefer the look of the all-steel Swedish ones, but think they come with their own set of rot repair issues.
One day. Maybe.
A mate is on his second Valp, first one was one of the (relatively) rare gun platform ones with flip down windows and bolt on stabilisers. Obviously the only features his retained were the mounts for the stabilisers and the flip down windows... no gun.
He's got what is laughingly called a hard top convertible now. Top speed of about 50 mph with a redblock engine, and about 180bhp.
I suggested mounting the D5 unit longitudinally, but noted an adapter plate may be required as, to my knowledge, the d5 only was ever transverse.
Yes, the I5 modular engines were all transverse, started in the 850/P80 platform IIRC.
It's fairly easy to mount it longitudinally in one of the older platforms, as i've seen a few older cars with the modular I5 in. (Usually petrol and tuned to 300+ bhp though!)
Picked up this 1998 V70 T5 last year. Only on 126,000 miles (last owner was an elderly gent, 10,000 miles in 10 years!)
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It's an auto, but pretty quick with 240bhp, very comfortable. MPG of course isn't brilliant, at mid 20s, but it only does around 4k/5k a year.
@mick_r
Yeah, basically that, think his had been used for a heavy machine gun though. And it was in no way shape or form in that good condition!
He got about 20k for it from memory (it was a few years ago.)
A dude down the road from my old place had one of those TP21s in his back garden, I've a pretty strong suspicion the extension he'd built meant he couldn't get it back out but it was still ace