Post by ianb on Mar 13, 2018 12:48:35 GMT -5
Bought this heap last year in September after seeing a non running 302 powered Volvo at the other end of the state for cheap on Craigslist. Drove up with a tow truck, listened to it crank over which it did fine but didnt sound super healthy. Body is not horrible overall, the rockers are shot and the floor is a bit soft. If it didnt have a 302 in it I wouldnt have touched it but the price was right worst case I scrapped it and made my money back.
The swap itself was done quite nicely with whats known as a Converse Kit from a shop in NH back when 302 swaps were popular maybe 10-15 years ago, now everyone does LS motors in the Volvos usually. The motor was stocker than stock retaining the smog and emissions along with the AC and stock airbox. Im from Connecticut and Paul Newman had a history of dumping all sorts of motors in RWD Volvos, I know of a few people who used to see them running around here back in the day.
The car had been sitting for a few years and was owned by guy who worked at machine shop. He claimed it used to drive and he parked it shortly after it never wanted to start again and he lost interest. It was kinda gross from sitting and filled with random spare parts.
Dragging it back home and found a number of issues.
-Stuck exhaust valve on driver side head (was hitting the piston lightly but enough to hear a noise when cranking)
-Starter solenoid was shot
-Fuel tank was filled with rust/water which also meant that the injectors and fuel rail were probably shot as well
-Had no exhaust whatsoever minus the truck manifolds it had
-Stock driveshaft was hammed and the bushings were beat (guibos anyone?)
Replaced the fuel tank and swapped in a used oem sender with a DW200 fuel pump. Bypassed the inline pump under the car as we dont need it now. Slapped on a stock used rail/injectors for now.
Replaced the heads with stock ones that had a port job on the exhaust side.
Replaced the starter solenoid with a Napa one but its failing as well lol.
Deleted the smog pump.
Swapped out the stock Volvo 2 piece driveshaft for a stock fox body shaft but had to make an adapter for the different bolt patterns.
After all that it fired up and moved! It is a automatic which is no fun and eventually will be swapped for a T-5.
The car is a total project and I totally expect it to take years before I get it where I want it. Between money and time no way this is gonna happen quick. At the moment im working on the driveline first and getting it running rock solid, then work on getting a t-5 in it, then suspension/brakes and rear end. Its not on the road and I dont anticipate it to be until the late summer or fall. The body can wait till next year perhaps.
Biggest modification so far would be running a Pimp in it as I know im gonna do some bolt ons later, I figured tuning a stock motor would be the easiest way to learn with no extreme variables and tune as I buy parts.
Sizing up a stock fox body v8 rad to use instead of the stock volvo rad
Latest "mod" is replacing every single old ceramic fuse with new ones and cleaning the hell out of each contact. These things are known for electrical gremlins.
I need to auto tune it but it has yet to be on the actual road yet, hopefully can toss a dealer plate on it and see how the trans shifts while im at it.
The swap itself was done quite nicely with whats known as a Converse Kit from a shop in NH back when 302 swaps were popular maybe 10-15 years ago, now everyone does LS motors in the Volvos usually. The motor was stocker than stock retaining the smog and emissions along with the AC and stock airbox. Im from Connecticut and Paul Newman had a history of dumping all sorts of motors in RWD Volvos, I know of a few people who used to see them running around here back in the day.
The car had been sitting for a few years and was owned by guy who worked at machine shop. He claimed it used to drive and he parked it shortly after it never wanted to start again and he lost interest. It was kinda gross from sitting and filled with random spare parts.
Dragging it back home and found a number of issues.
-Stuck exhaust valve on driver side head (was hitting the piston lightly but enough to hear a noise when cranking)
-Starter solenoid was shot
-Fuel tank was filled with rust/water which also meant that the injectors and fuel rail were probably shot as well
-Had no exhaust whatsoever minus the truck manifolds it had
-Stock driveshaft was hammed and the bushings were beat (guibos anyone?)
Replaced the fuel tank and swapped in a used oem sender with a DW200 fuel pump. Bypassed the inline pump under the car as we dont need it now. Slapped on a stock used rail/injectors for now.
Replaced the heads with stock ones that had a port job on the exhaust side.
Replaced the starter solenoid with a Napa one but its failing as well lol.
Deleted the smog pump.
Swapped out the stock Volvo 2 piece driveshaft for a stock fox body shaft but had to make an adapter for the different bolt patterns.
After all that it fired up and moved! It is a automatic which is no fun and eventually will be swapped for a T-5.
The car is a total project and I totally expect it to take years before I get it where I want it. Between money and time no way this is gonna happen quick. At the moment im working on the driveline first and getting it running rock solid, then work on getting a t-5 in it, then suspension/brakes and rear end. Its not on the road and I dont anticipate it to be until the late summer or fall. The body can wait till next year perhaps.
Biggest modification so far would be running a Pimp in it as I know im gonna do some bolt ons later, I figured tuning a stock motor would be the easiest way to learn with no extreme variables and tune as I buy parts.
Sizing up a stock fox body v8 rad to use instead of the stock volvo rad
Latest "mod" is replacing every single old ceramic fuse with new ones and cleaning the hell out of each contact. These things are known for electrical gremlins.
I need to auto tune it but it has yet to be on the actual road yet, hopefully can toss a dealer plate on it and see how the trans shifts while im at it.
