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The Great Volvo V8 Conversion The Volvo: 1979 265 in dark green with almost 300,000 miles and the best V6 ever put in a DeLorean. Fortunately, the PRV was replaced with a new one at some point under a recall. Unfortunately (expectedly), that motor also stopped behaving and I was able to pick the car up for about $500 in 2010. The motor was running enough to get it on a trailer and then back it into the carport where it would then sit for four years while I tried to find a warehouse, or new house, that had protection from rain and tree stuff.  The Source: 1989 Mustang Police Interceptor. I bought this from a friend back in '99 and put a ton of miles on it driving back and forth from Houston to Ft. Hood for a few years and then drove it locally until a Lexus decided to pull in front of me and slam on its brakes in 2010. Front end was crumpled a bit, the hood buckled enough to be thrown away, and the radiator cracked, but the engine and everything else was fine. It was put on a salvage title and not really worth keeping, but I really like it and was hoping to get enough cash to fix the body, repaint, and fix a few small things to get it back on the road again. Unfortunately, I've not come into a pile of money and ended up with a running Mustang that wasn't legal to drive and a non-running Volvo that looked perfect.  THE GOAL: To transplant the Mustang's motor, accessories (AC, PS, etc), transmission, and a few other odds and ends over to the Volvo. The original plan was to get a kit from Ross over at Converse Engineering, but he seems to have retired and the site is down. I dug up some screenshots from archive.org and found a lo-res photo of the parts he sends out and a bit of other info, but it wasn't enough to actually go through with the project. Then I found TestPoint's thread over at turbobricks and with the mountain of information he put together, I figured I might as well try. Everyone said that a 350 was much easier and you can still get a kit from jagsthatrun, but I'm a Ford guy and I've already got a great 302 just waiting to be used. Ross' kit had some nice things like wiring adapters and the fabricated motor/transmission mounts, but with TestPoint's info I think I'll be able to put it all together. If anyone wants the PRV or Volvo transmission, let me know.  Expected Completion Date: Summer 2020? I work full time at a museum and am finishing up my undergrad, so this won't be a constant thing, but now that I have a large garage I should be able to make fairly routine progress. Barring a stint in grad school, I expect this to be completed by the end of the summer in 2020. Could be much sooner, depends how smoothly the engine and transmission rebuilds go and if all the fabricating comes out right the first time. I'll be keeping a budget on google docs, if anyone is curious, and will maintain a projected cost list to compare to the actual costs as the project moves along. I like seeing that kind of stuff and after rebuilding a couple of Galaxies and a Hornet, I've gotten a better idea of how much I need to expect to spend (twice as much as you think). This is certainly going to be the biggest project yet, including a bunch of stuff I've never done before like fully rebuilding motors and transmissions. I've done some significant car stuff over the years like full suspension/steering, including bushings, in both Galaxies and the Buick, optispark and rest of ignition in the Buick, lots of fuel tank work in both Galaxies, and got down to the block with the '66 Galaxie, but haven't done real engine/trans rebuilding with all those fancy tools and whatnot. Specific Plans:  ENGINE: The motor in the Mustang isn't the orginal from the interceptor, not that they're all that special or something, but it's worth pointing out. It's got a stock block and heads, custom cam (somewhere close to a E303), GT-40 intake, 65mm throttle body, and 73mm mass air to gave it enough power to run 13.9 1/4 miles all day with the silly 4.56 gears in the rear end running it out of fourth long before the end of the track. I never put it on slicks, but my friend that had it before me said he had it in the high 12's (never saw the slips, so I dunno whatever people say all kinds of things). It's an unusually fast car around town, but that's mostly because of the gearing. So anyway, the block itself will be kept, but I'd like to switch over to aluminum heads so I can knock off a bit of weight that the V8 will be adding to the front end. Might do a bit of work to the block, but I haven't decided yet (budget will determine how much gets spent on the motor). Going to consult with my buddy that sold me the car in the first place, he runs one of the best Ford shops in town and has been doing this stuff for decades. He might end up taking the Mustang back to rebuild himself, I sure won't have the cash to do that anytime soon. TRANSMISSION: The Mustang's transmission is a T-5Z and was last rebuilt over ten years ago, although I'm not quite sure on the exact date. It was fine when I parked it, but might as well rebuild it while it's out. Haven't decided if I'll be doing the rebuild myself, it's around $350 for the kit and my friend's shop will do it for around $700. BRAKES: From what I understand, the stock brakes are pretty decent. They're certainly better than the Mustang, as the Volvo has discs all around. I'm more than likely going to just get the discs checked and put on new pads while changing the fluid. Assuming the discs are fine and the calipers aren't acting up, not much will change here. STEERING: Well, that depends on whether or not the Mustang's PS pump will work with the Volvo's system. Ford's PS pumps have sucked forever and the one on the Mustang is loud as hell, so I might look into using the Volvo one (unlikely), or see if there's a better option that isn't louder than the exhaust. Other than that, just going to inspect the rack and replace the tie rod ends since the originals are pretty cracked. REAR DIFF: As far as I understand, the Volvo rear end is fine for the hp/torque levels an 80's 302 puts out. And besides, changing over to the Mustang's rear end would be a massive pain and the brakes suck anyway. I'll do a bit more research before the end, but I'd guess that cleaning it out, changing the fluid, and checking the axles should be adequate. Although I've got really bad luck with changing diff fluid. Always seems to wake up massive problems that the old fluid was hiding. I'm also not sure if this Volvo got the limited-slip, going to get a better look at it once I get it up on jackstands. EMISSIONS/EXHAUST: In Texas, once your car is over twenty-four years old you just get a safety inspection (brakes, lights, horn, etc). No need to bother with all the smog stuff, but I made sure to keep the air pump, EGR, and cats on the Mustang (it was inside the window until recently) so I'll see how inconvenient it is to keep it all while rebuilding the engine. The cats will likely depend on their location under the Volvo, since the whole exhaust system will be getting fabricated by a local shop that does all my dumb projects. As long as the heat they generate isn't a risk, then I'll be keeping the two hi-flow ones that're currently on the Mustang. Might get rid of the air pump, as the tubing is super annoying when doing work on the passenger side. The glory days of driving around the mall parking lot and setting off car alarms are gone, so we'll probably settle on a pair of three chamber Flowmasters or something like the Dynomax Ultra-Flows. I've got the Ultra-Flow VT's on my Roadmaster and it's a good compromise for that car, so might buy them again. Current headers are BKK long tubes and I'm probably going to have to go with shorties, unless I can get a pair of long tubes to fit. The other question will be whether or not I can keep the dual exhaust, or will have to do a single muffler at the rear where the OEM exhaust is. The exact design of the exhust system will probably be decided by the shop doing all the fabricating, but I'm going to do whatever I can to avoid a single pipe setup (I might hide the passenger side pipe under the bumper). ELECTRICAL/ACCESSORIES: Mustang still has the R12 AC system and it looks like I'll be keeping that since I can still get R12 pretty cheap. I forget if the Volvo was converted to r134, but it might have been and that'll have an effect on the AC system choices. Mustang alternator should be fine, but is going to get tested. Ignition system was replaced within the past five years in the Mustang and assuming it all behaves as intended, I'll be keeping most of it. Cruise Control should transfer easily as well. The Mustang came with it and the Volvo did as well. Wiring will be replaced as required, but hopefully not too much. The Mustang's harness is in decent condition. INTERIOR: The seating is addressed below, but there's plenty more! Hopefully all the gauges will continue to function as intended, I'd very much like to keep the interior looking as stock as possible. The 8 track player still works and I've got enough of those to keep things interesting, but I'll also be putting in one of these Schosche FM transmitters so I can keep the stock look and still listen to nerds talk about video games for hours and hours. All speakers will be replaced, but that isn't really a priority and might not happen by the time the project is done. I mean, if I have to pull the dash to replace the heater core then sure I'll replace that stuff then. The carpet and floor mats will be replaced with something that'll match whatever I decide to do with the seats and I might need to get the clock rebuilt/replaced. That's all the stuff I can think of in there. EXTERIOR: Paint was redone at some point in the past decade or two and is in amazing condition. There's a handful of chips and scratches and a rust spot at the base of the driver side rear window that I'll be getting taken care of after the engine and transmission are pulled and the bay is cleared out. I'd like to get the engine bay repainted, as there will not be another opportunity to do so. I'll be getting estimates for this by the end of the summer (which sumner? who knows!). Other exterior issues include a cracked hinge on the tailgate, cracks in the taillights and turn signals, faded badges, and the rear window sprayer nozzle is broken. The roof rack is in good shape, wipers all seem to work fine, and the trim is in good shape. Bumper is peeling a bit, it's got some sort of clearcoat on the shiny parts. Documentation:  I'll add stuff to this as I get it. I've also got pdf archives of all the posts TestPoint has on turbobricks and will post those if his stuff ever disappears. Even got some paperwork from work that was done to it by the PO, probably gonna scan that stuff and add it to the photo album at some point. Budget (This currently has all the expected costs and a few actual costs for a handful of things I've bought) 1979 Parts Brochure (Great photos of period stuff, love the rear spoiler) Photo Album (I'll be putting all the photos from the build in here, as well as the stuff that's in the OP) Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Apr 10, 2015 |
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Apr 10, 2015 01:05
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 EXTRA STUFF:  WHEELS/TIRES:I like the current ones, but I really like the virgo turbo wheels from that era. I'd rather not go above 15" and I'd like for the car to look like a Volvo of that era, so no pegasus or later Turbo wheels. I've been finding the virgos around in varying condition, so if I go with them I'll be slowly acquiring ones that aren't trashed and hope to have five by the time the car is ready. I think the virgos are 6" wide, not sure about the width on the stock wheels, so I'm not going to be able to go crazy with tires, but this isn't a track car either. Tire brand/size suggestions would be appreciated. I think the virgo cars came with 195/60's. Most of my older cars have Radial T/A's  and the Mustang has a set of Firehawk SZ-50's at the moment. SEATS: The stock tan interior is relatively attractive and comfortable enough, but there is literally zero side bolstering. I'd like to keep the backseat original, but I'm open to the idea of getting a set of seats from a turbo/GT. Any suggestions would be great, all my previous Volvos were from the late 80's and early 90's, so a bit different inside.  SUSPENSION: The Mustang is fitted with red Konis, Eibach springs, and decent sway bars. I liked the way it handled and would like something "similar", but without slamming the Volvo. Houston's roads are trash and I'm not daily driving another lowered car. It could stand to go down an inch or so, but that's about it. I dug around on ipd a bit and found one set of rear springs and nothing for the front. I'm also not sure if their sway bars will fit. Getting Bilsteins for the shocks/struts would be fine, I don't need the track performance of Konis, but the larger sway bars would be great. If anyone has input on suspension for these guys I'm all ears. This thing is as old as I am and I really don't expect any of the suspension components to be in good shape other than solid stuff like the sway bars.  BATTERY LOCATION: This is more than likely not going to change, but I'll take input in case anyone has a better idea. The battery is going in the storage well next to the fuel filler, with a fabricated battery tray cut to fit the hole. I've already got enough cable from something I was going to do with the battery in my old El Camino, so this won't be a big deal, and any effort to move weight from the engine bay to the back is going to be helpful. I'm also open to any ideas y'all have. This project is going to move slowly enough that I should be able to adapt to new plans fairly easily. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Apr 10, 2015 |
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Apr 10, 2015 01:05
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All the action from this week. After pushing the '70 Galaxie out of the way (and breaking the steering column), we were able to move the two cars up the driveway far enough for the tow truck to grab them. I ran the Volvo over a paint can, so that's still sitting in the old carport in a pile while I wait for it to dry, and almost ran over a battery with the Mustang. So the Mustang started, but the Volvo's intake was removed when I was trying to get the distributor changed back when I thought I could fix the PRV. And I thought GM distributors were annoying, the one in the PRV is ridiculous.  First real washing in half a decade. Pretty much destroyed my sponge thing.  New home for the Volvo for the next five years maybe?  Both cars in place and being inspected by my dog.  Easy access with the hood gone!  Oh man, this motor. At least it looks cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFZ6oOlZ_2Q Video of the Mustang a few minutes after starting it for the first time in like four years.
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Apr 10, 2015 01:32
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I've considered getting that book just to have it, but so much of the conversion is different that it isn't really worth paying for. And I spoke to TestPoint, he's going to see if his metal guy will cut another pair of motor mount plates. I need to get under the Volvo this weekend and start identifying stuff like the rear end and size the driveshaft. It might be too small for the torque levels of the 302, but the V6 driveshaft could be larger than the diesel one his Volvo had. I'll try to remember to take a bunch of pictures.
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Apr 10, 2015 02:12
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I was mentioning it more as an aside - I can look it up for you if you have some questions. Appreciate it, I probably will once I shove the engine in the first time and realize that nothing fits and it's all a lost cause. LloydDobler posted:With the V6 or a V8 conversion, you need the special V6 version of the front sway bar. It has an extra huge dip to cut down below the motor. If you look at your stock sway bar you'll see what I mean. If you find an IPD V6 sway bar for sale on TB you snag that thing immediately as they are basically unicorn horns at this point I think. But slight lowering, sport shocks and sways will completely transform the car without making it uncomfortable at all. Awesome, thanks Lloyd. Loved your Amazon thread. I'm pretty sure it has the V6 bar up front, but I'm going to verify all that this weekend (hopefully).
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Apr 10, 2015 14:17
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Yeah I read your response wrong  Anyway, we've been getting rained on a bunch and I've had to deal with the Galaxie at the old house, so no big news yet. Well, other than a few boxes that showed up:  And some red stuff was inside.  I've literally never been able to use a creeper since my old place had a driveway that looked like the Aggro Crag, so I'm looking forward to that. Got the jack stands for the Volvo to stay on so I can still use my other ones for regular work.
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Apr 16, 2015 15:25
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Ok so the past few weekends have been spent getting all the old cars moved from the old house. The Galaxie's steering column decided to disconnect itself from the gear, so that turned into a bit of a headache when I also lost the key to my toolbox and had to just jack it up and turn the wheels over and over to get it straight in the driveway. Anyway, that's done now and it stopped raining for a few hours. Found a mouse in the intake manifold of the Volvo, didn't have the camera on me so I let him run off. Apparently there's a significant colony of rodents hanging out in this garage, in addition to a few million spiders, so the traps will be coming out soon. Got it up off the ground, sure is nice having a jack that actually works correctly.    All the factory jack points are solid, one of mine was folded over on my last Volvo, so that's a relief. Grille is missing three of the mounting things, seems pretty normal with old Volvos, and one of them was replaced with a drywall screw...   Can see the original spare leaning against my locked toolbox, which sure looks like what came with these back when they were new. Tire has been replaced, thankfully, but it's pretty bald.   Fancy front suspension.  Gonna do some cleaning next day I have off, not sure if these had any sort of stamping/labeling on them. Hey LloydDobler, is this Addco front bar similar to the ipd one?
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Apr 26, 2015 19:07
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LloydDobler posted:Sure looks like it. That'd be a 22mm bar, which should be a nice upgrade over your presumably 19mm or 20mm bar. Killer, thanks. I've got a long time to find a used ipd one, but the addco will be a reasonable alternative if I can't find one.
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Apr 30, 2015 02:42
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Interior time. I'll get some shots of the front half this weekend. (also need to get a good shop light, my super flashlight is a bit too focused) This was all in the back when I got it. Bunch of random parts, two shift boots, a couple of gas caps, a Chilton's, ice scraper, some rope, and this thing:   I'm guessing this guy is at least three decades old, if not as old as the car itself. I've never seen a cooler in this design, they've been all plastic forever. Wanted to make sure the tire wells weren't rusted and remembered that there's a slight issue with the battery idea in the back.  Should be able to relocate it so that both the battery and the tank fit in there, but I'm not completely certain yet.  Tire side is pretty decent, no major rust just some worn down paint. Definitely going to cover this area with bedliner, or POR-15 or something similar before it's all done. No need to keep it green.  If anyone was curious what color the carpet was when new...
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Apr 30, 2015 02:43
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I've got a lead on this great 2.7L V6 you could use, it'll bolt right in! Just look how cool it is.
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Apr 30, 2015 03:36
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Only the best for the greatest stainless steel car ever built. Also, if anyone needs PRV parts let me know. I'd rather them go to a good home than the scrap yard. Gonna try to donate the engine to the DMC factory, but it's a different size than the DeLoreon one so not sure if they'd even want it. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 03:39 on May 2, 2015 |
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May 2, 2015 03:35
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Memorial Day Update: No news, other than getting this cool shift knob in the mail. The threading is smaller than the Mustang's shifter, but I'm sure a solution will be found in the next couple of years.  And it looks like I won't be able to get started with engine removal until the middle of June. Way too much going on at work the next few weeks.
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May 26, 2015 02:17
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Independence Day Update Finally got some time to start on this project and just in time for the Texas summer! First up, it would seem that the mouse living in the intake manifold is also a fan of the front struts.  Fortunately, it didn't eat through the strut itself or anything else that I could find. So I decided to work on pulling the PRV and transmission out of the Volvo first. Since this motor is just going to get recycled, I'd rather get it out of the way as soon as possible.  Underside looks pretty good. Still has an intact plastic cover, although it was held on by a zip tie on one end. This will be a common occurrence, but I guess it's better than shoving sheet metal screws into the trim.  More zip ties, this time it's the headlight surround. Also the only body damage I've found, but not sure why it's bent down right here. There isn't any other damage around it.  Battery tray mount is in good shape, although the tray could use some sanding and painting.  Step One.  Step Two.  Almost there.   All cleared out. This car should be far easier to pull an engine out of than the Mustang.  A nice pile of parts. This is going to get large quickly.
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Jul 5, 2015 02:18
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Independence Day Weekend Update Got a friend of mine to come by and pick up wrenches for me, always a nice addition. Still working on getting the engine/transmission disconnected in the Volvo. Hopefully it'll be out by the end of July and then the Mustang's will be out by the end of August.  Mechanical fuel injection can't be that bad if Porsche used it...  Driver side is pretty clear, just got the power steering pump down low, but it can stay attached to the block if need be since I'm using the Ford one.  AC compressor in the way on the passenger side. It's been converted to r134, so let's get rid of that subpar cooling system.  Hoses in the way of the rear bracket bolt.  That's better, can get to the bolt now.  All gone. So what I've learned is that the Europeans are much better at securing their accessories than the big three. I think the compressor in the Mustang has two bolts in it, maybe. The Volvo has a bracket with like eight bolts attaching it to the block and then four holding the compressor.  Exhaust manifold nuts. Amazingly, all four came off once I was able to get enough torque on them. This car has been unusually cooperative so far with bolts/nuts...  That's it for today. Got the exhaust manifolds disconnected, removed the AC compressor, removed the hood, gave up on the rear bolt for the power steering pump, and destroyed a few spider webs. Also got a couple of drop lights and reversed the doors on the fridge so I could access beer while the garage door was open (this raised morale quite a bit).
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Jul 6, 2015 01:20
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End of Summer Update Haven't been able to work on the Volvo at all, the other cars started breaking. Power steering pump started shooting fluid all over the place in the Lincoln, carb needed to be rebuilt in the Hornet, and the most recent acquisition had brake fluid that looked like this:  Normally, flushing brake fluid isn't terribly complicated, but being such and old car I of course ran into two bleeders that were rusted in place and a front one that wouldn't bleed even though it moved. Ended up having to replace the rear brake components and the valve screws up front. Oh and the front shocks were original and also rusted in place so that was fun.  At least the exterior doesn't look as bad as the brake fluid.  Really shows how small the Hornet was compared to the other cars of the day. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Sep 21, 2015 14:44
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Ok so it looks like I finally get to start pulling the 302 and transmission out of the Mustang this weekend. I'll be taking a bunch of photos (mostly to cover my own rear end when trying to figure out where stuff went) and will type up a big post on Sunday or Monday. I need to get the Mustang emptied first in case the neighbor upstairs suddenly moves back and I have to surrender half of the garage to a new tenant. I'm going to be moving the Mustang to some property up north where it have hibernate once the parts are out of it.
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Dec 3, 2015 02:14
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Ok so I gave up on waiting for my assistant to actually show up and started pulling apart the Mustang since I've got a long weekend. Last time I'll see the flamecar together for a long time, if ever. We had a good run together, almost twenty years.  First up, drain fluids. Looks like it held onto everything better than your typical Ford. Coolant was very fresh, oil is still clean, and the PS fluid was kinda trashed from me not ever changing it. Haven't gotten into the transmission yet, but the fluid I've seen is still very red. Fortunately, the rest didn't make as much of a mess.  Fortunately, I'd changed the gasket on the long-tubes a few months before the wreck and the bolts came out easily. Which is good since the emission stuff is severely in the way even when most of the hoses are removed. Drive side is a breeze and I finally got the passenger side off.  Radiator, shroud, and fan are out. Fan clutch bolts were a bitch for some reason, they're usually pretty easy to get out once they're loose.  Next up, the underbody stuff. Removed the x-pipe (totally forget that was the catalytic pipe that was put on when I had the emissions stuff re-installed, I usually buy h-pipes), pulled the trans crossmember, and all the assorted cables/wires. edit  Haven't been getting much help out of these guys, they'd rather I be throwing the frisbee than banging on an old Ford. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 18:06
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PART II Went ahead and pulled the upper intake, it's a royal pain removing the wiring harness plugs on the back of it and some of the vacuum hoses were too hard to reach. Also, I didn't want to risk damaging it when pulling the motor, these intakes aren't cheap anymore. (just checked ebay and the intake cover, which I lost, is going for $300 on its own  ) Finally got a helper to come by and she was able to stabilize the brackets and AC compressor while I pulled the bolts/nuts. Nothing was rusted in place and other than a bit of spilled fluid, it went well enough.  Got all the accessories off and it looks like all the wiring is disconnected as well. I think we're good to go.  Parts that were pulled off Sunday.  All packed up for the next day. Things to do before the engine is pulled: disconnect u-joint at yoke, buy some chain and mounting hardware for the hoist, and get someone over here to help pull the motor out smoothly. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 18:06
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ShittyPostmakerPro posted:Good to see an update That depends on who moves upstairs. I'm in a duplex and technically half the garage is for the other tenant, but the women who was living there until recently didn't have a car. If I can get another carless person, then yeah I'm going to keep the Mustang. I've had it for so long that it's sentimental, but it'll take like ten grand (at least) to get it back on the road and looking good. Assuming I can hold onto the whole garage, then I'll get an estimate from a body shop I like to see how much it would actually run me to get the body fixed and a fresh coat of paint. I can handle building another motor for it and would love to put in a T56, but I also have student loans to pay off soooooooo... If I do have to get rid of it, then I'll be parting it out heavily before the body is scrapped. The interior is the full tweed GT stuff in all black and looks amazing. The wheels are specific to the interceptor and I've got a few other things like the aluminum driveshaft and other parts that are still in great shape. The Koni's still have their warranty, I think, and it's got Eibach springs with mayble 10k miles on them. In other news, I got the rest of the chain stuff and am about to try to attach the hoist to the engine. 
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Jan 18, 2016 20:09
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. Will you be storing the rest of the Mustang then?
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Left Ventricle posted:Will you be painting the Volvo to match the Mustang? Nope, I'm trying to keep the Volvo as stock as possible on the outside, down to factory wheels for that era if I can find ones that are wide enough. That and the very unsupportive front seats while create problems at the end I think. I don't want to change the seats, but I might have to since they're so flat and the fabric is worn down anyway. In other news, the engine/trans are out of the Mustang and apart.
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Jan 19, 2016 01:48
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Monday Night Update Today is the day the engine is pulled, or at least that's the plan.  Had to go get a fuel line disconnect tool and then they came apart immediately. Five plus year old fuel is a hell of a smell.  Definitely going to go with a new water pump, lower hose and the fitting are trashed.  Gonna miss you, longtubes, you're so easy to work with than equal length shorties.  U-Joint time. You can also barely see the damaged speedo gear. That explains why the gauge was acting weird.  And after a fair bit of hammering, we're loose.  U-Joints were in really good shape for being over ten years old.  Sweet custom subframe connectors.
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Jan 19, 2016 02:11
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Part II Hooking everything up. Something isn't right and it's going to take me longer than it should to figure that out.  There we go, that's better. (crank handle for the leveler was on the wrong side, had to lower the motor back down to switch it around)  After much fighting with the shifter, we're out and ready to come apart.  Pretty sure the 5.0 Coyote motor doesn't fit in these, right?  Another angle.  Assembly on the ground for the first time.  Other than replacing the clutch when I blew it up at the track in 2000, haven't touched the transmission since I bought the car in '99.  'lil buddy. I forgot how light these were, feels like fifty pounds (I think they're like eighty, filled). Getting it off the bellhousing was soooo annoying, every time I pushed on the transmission and tilted the motor, coolant would fall out the front. Fortunately, the bolts all came loose with a breaker bar. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2016 02:14
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Part III Nope, gotta pull the clutch/flywheel first. More work still.  So I was going to buy some bolts for the engine stand, but Home Depot didn't stock 7/16 for whatever reason. Had to go to O'Reilly and spend three times as much on their fancy bolts. Unfortunately, they only had two in the length I needed, so back tomorrow to get some at the location by my job.  The updated parts pile.  That's it for today, once the impact is charged I'll try to get the flywheel off again. Might have to fire up the air compressor if it keeps being a pain. After the engine is on the stand, it's on to the Volvo. Gonna clean up the Mustang's parts and box up the stuff I'm not going to reuse to make space. Hopefully the Volvo's stuff comes out smoothly in once piece so it's easy to get rid of. Once that's done I'll probably look into getting the mounts fabricated so I can get that out of the way. Then it's onto the engine/trans rebuild. I might end up doing the T5 myself, I'll make that decision after I finish the motor. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2016 02:15
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LloydDobler posted:Do you seriously have to pop the u-joints on that car to pull the transmission? I thought that yoke came out or something. U-joints are a bitch to install/replace on a bench, I can't imagine doing it under the car. My advisor on this project suggested I keep the yoke in the transmission. I've pulled u-joints while they were mounted before, it's just a pain. Get the right size impact socket and a small sledge and after a few minutes of hammering you're good to go. LloydDobler posted:Edit: TB is back up, they're not quite as rare as I thought but still a couple hundred bucks. He said he'll pay $200-$350 depending on condition. http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=317484 I really wanted a set of Virgo wheels, but it looks like the only way I'll get the tire width I want is to go with steelies, or to be happy with 195/205. The options I'm considering are: 14x6  Keep the current wheels and put 205's on them (current tires are 195x70x14), but I'm not sure I'd go that wide. 15x6  Buy a set of Virgos and put 205's on them 15x7  Buy some 15x7 steelies and put 225's on them Not that many people outside of the Volvo crowd would notice, but they didn't start using the ubiquitous 80's wheels covers until the next iteration of the 240 and I'm *trying* to keep it looking stock.  Something like that would work, I could get a set of the OE Volvo hubcaps for them, but I doubt I'm going to find a set of 14x7 wheels that look like that. Hell, they look like 5" wheels, given how much that 185 tire bulges. I've got an almost perfect one in the wagon for the spare, I'll have to go look at what's on it. If the current wheels looked closer to new, I think I'd just keep them with the current size tires and see how it behaved, but if I'm going to spend this much time prettying it up I don't want to have worn down wheels. We've got a few local shops that restore wheel finishes, so I'll probably look into that while I'm working on the motor. Being able to keep the 14's would be cool and would be cheaper than buying some Virgos in good shape, but I really don't like wheels with this many holes. They're so irritating to keep clean that I'd rather go with the Virgos just so I don't nuts cleaning brake dust. edit, added more wheels. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Jan 19, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2016 15:31
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LloydDobler posted:I was suggesting you can have them made. I hadn't even thought of that, what a good idea. I'll just widen a set of Virgos and sell off the GT ones I've got to someone that needs them. Thanks y'all.
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Jan 20, 2016 06:16
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Propaganda Bob posted:
 Now all I need is a raise. Although I live in Houston and am not looking to build a car without AC. Not sure how that could possibly work with that engine in there. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jan 20, 2016 |
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Jan 20, 2016 17:31
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LloydDobler posted:Well, nobody will do it on aluminum wheels, I don't think. Maybe, do some googling. Of course they're aluminum, oh well. I've got at least a year or so to figure it out. Propaganda Bob posted:I think the trickier part would be getting the coyote to play well with power brakes. I know one of the problems with BBF swaps into Fox bodies is the valve cover interfering with the brake booster, and the mod motor family are several inches wider than a big block. Didn't later model SN95s have a hydro-boost set up? Sourcing one of those might be a viable work around. They use a hydro-boost in that build that was linked. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 02:59
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Flywheel time! Last step before the engine is affixed to the stand. The bolts came off pretty easy once I had the flywheel jammed in place so it would stop turning the crank.  And we're good.  That's all the major parts for the Mustang. All that's left is the wiring for the ECU and a few small things. Going to try to finish it off this weekend so I can get maybe get ready to pull the Volvo's engine/trans on Sunday. The weather has been pretty great lately, hopefully that continues.
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Jan 22, 2016 00:12
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some texas redneck posted:My EG held up pretty well when I got in a fight with an 18 wheeler at about 65 mph. I've heard about converting an old Civic into a 3 series, but not a 2002.
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Jan 22, 2016 15:05
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Granted, every wheel pointed a random direction and the exhaust was center exit after the hit,
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Saturday! Got the exhaust off, it's still in reasonable shape and I'd rather give it to someone that needs it than let it get crushed.  So the ECU/ECC is fun when you've got the mass air conversion installed. It barely came out after like half an hour of fiddling with it. Of course the real challenge is getting the harness to pass through the firewall without dropping the dash and/or blower motor box.  Might as well try to get the rest of the wiring out of the way.  ECU harness waiting for the huge plugs to find their way through the firewall.  Most everything is out. Just got the two harnesses to pull, throttle cable, cruise control cable/assembly, and the transmission wiring. Might have to pull the fender to get to the cruise control stuff, I think it's in there.  That's it for today, gotta head to work in a bit. Hope to finish pulling the wiring and cables out from under the dash tomorrow, but I need to push it out of the garage to open the driver door all the way and get under the dash.
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Jan 23, 2016 21:27
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Sunday and Monday! Gotta pull the Mustang out so I can open the door all the way. Driveway is at just enough of an incline to need a second person pushing, or another car.  Last time I'll see it (mostly) together. I really liked the simplicity of the fox body cars and their interiors, it was a fun car to drive.  Wiring under here is going to be last, I want to wrap up the other side first.  ECU plug with mass air module.  Normally, that assembly will fit through there. I forgot to disconnect the mass air thing and wasted like an hour fiddling with it until I dropped it back down and separated them. Came out easy after that. Got the cruise control stuff out after the ECU harness and have the speedo/throttle cables left as well as the driver side harness. Probably will have to wait until this weekend for that, car is back in the garage.
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Jan 26, 2016 06:39
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Part II Wish I had thought to pressure wash this engine, it's covered in like thirty years of oil leak sludge.  AC was pulled a few months ago when I started this project, just had to finish removing the bracket pieces.  Alternator out, wasn't too bad.  If I had to use a word to describe Volvo's setup in this engine bay, I'd probably got with "over-engineered." There's like three times as many bolts/nuts holding the accessories on compared to your typical domestic of the era. Two of the bolts (the other is behind this one) are either some size between 14 and 15mm, or they just aren't meant to be loosened.  After a bit of hammering, I got a 14mm on there, but it didn't help much and just started to strip the bolt. Tried a few other things and both are still stuck to the bracket. This will probably be the final headache before pulling the motor and I might end up leaving it on there if I can get the motor out.  I had disconnected this stuff a few year ago when I was trying to change out the distributor, so that made getting the fuel system hardware out of the way a bit easier.  Upper intake and fuel thing out of the way.  That mouse I found in the intake left some leaves and stuff.  I think the only thing still attached to the engine is the heater hoses (and that one vacuum hose that I yanked after taking this picture). Going to try to pull the motor this weekend once i get the Mustang's last couple of things handled.  Got a chance to clean up under the Mustang, finally, but had to get it back in there until I fixed the Hornet (one of the windows came disconnected and ended up out of it's channel) since I needed it in the carport.  Getting the parts a little more organized. Starting to store parts that won't be reused to make room for all the Volvo stuff that's coming off with the engine. edit So the cruise control looks to be busted, anyone have suggestions for that? How long did Volvo use that unit? Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Jan 26, 2016 |
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Jan 26, 2016 07:00
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Won't be able to get back in there until Saturday, so I'm working on the slow parts acquisition process. Found two refurbished turbo wheels, I'm probably going to go with four of them and throw some decent tires on when the project is wrapping up to see how it behaves. If they're too small, I'll look into some wide 15" steelies down the line. I really love the look of the turbo wheels, so hopefully they work out. I'm not going to be racing this car, so it should be ok. Speaking of looks, all the lenses are cracked in one way or another on the car so I'm going to be replacing them all over the next year or two. The rears will be oem replacements, I'm just waiting for cheap auctions to pop up, but the front turn signals have a few options.  US oem, Euro oem (I guess)  and FULL AMBER Examples:    I don't like the full amber ones and am partial to the split euro lenses, but I think the stock US ones are fine. What's the consensus around here? The reflective strips below the dual headlights are also cracked a fair amount, but they were standard across all regions so they'll just be getting basic replacements (which are a pain to find cheap). Another thing that's a headache? Finding the right chin spoiler for this car.
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Jan 27, 2016 16:10
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So the property management company finally noticed that I was using all of the garage and are asking nicely that I get the second car out of the way. That means the Mustang needs to get sorted out this weekend, which is kinda annoying. I'm basically done pulling the important parts for the swap, but I don't want the interior to go to the scrap yard. Scratch that, the guy I bought it from in 1999 is going to buy it back and try to rebuild the body. The circle of life is complete.  88h88 posted:
The Chevy lights aren't completely terrible, but holy poo poo those are bad. The grill with the fog lights is badass though. I really like the 242GT's front end, but I also like the quad headlight setup.  I think the split lights are the way to go. I'll head over to turbobricks soon and start asking around about the chin spoiler and whatnot. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 28, 2016 |
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Jan 28, 2016 20:58
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Friday Update! (Got the day off today since I'm working tomorrow) Today's priority was to get the Mustang cleaned up and out on the street so my friend could come and pick it up. He's going to get me the cables and whatnot that I left on the body so they don't have to be removed, so that's handled. Next up was cleaning up the garage so that the property company can start showing the upstairs next week. I'm probably gonna go grab some storage crates from Harbor Freight this afternoon and box up the smaller stuff so the shelves are cleaned up as well. I can wait until they get a new tenant upstairs before pulling the PRV out of the Volvo. Probably will do small stuff like keep trying to pull the PS pump and removing the seats/carpet in the Volvo.  All cleaned up and ready to go home to its original parents. I'm sure I'll end up buying another fox body someday, but nothing will replace this guy.  So I'm guessing these stickers were reflective at some point and were intended to serve a similar function to the reflectors in luxury cars back in the 80's?  Time to finally investigate the melting situation in the footwell.  The plastic trim screws are still in great shape, but a couple are missing. Either way, the cover came off easily.  Ok good, it's just that stuff that they put on AC lines.  Only panel damage is the loop that goes around this upper screw broke apart, so it sags down. Should be able to remedy that when I put the interior back together towards the end of the project.  At least the trim isn't physically damaged.  When I first say this a few years ago, I thought that something behind the console had melted the trim, but this is the first time it's been off so good to know that wasn't technically the case.  So the heat in Texas melted the belt in the El Camino's 8 track player and it melted the insulation stuff on the AC lines in the Volvo. Summer sure is brutal in the south.   Everything large is shoved in the corner for the time being. Hopefully whoever moves in realizes that the garage door is too much of a pain to raise/lower every single day and will just use the carport instead.
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Jan 29, 2016 19:25
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Final Weekend Update: Working on some small issues in other cars before getting to major engine/trans stuff in the Volvo. First up was the rear windows in the Hornet. Both had come loose from the channel they were at one point attached to so they would just randomly fall down when rolling the window down. Took the whole assembly apart, epoxied the winows back in, and greased it all up. Seem to be fine now, just got to put the door panels back on this week at some point.  The driver's power window has been intermittent so I was going to put in a new motor, but it started working again after I pulled the door panel so instead I'm going to fix the drat power door locks. Situation was that you could hear each door lock motor engaging when you hit the switch, but nothing happened. Turns out there was a common problem where the plastic/rubber (?) grommets would straight-up melt. One was on the bottom of the door shell and the other was sorta stuck to the assembly. You can see where they remnants are in the photo. As you can probably guess, Ford hasn't made these in a while, but when they were using them they were in just about every model and it was for a long time so Dorman makes a reasonable replacement that is widely available. Took me a bit to find it, rockauto doesn't list it in the parts breakdown for the Mercury. All four motors still work, but the grommets need to be replaced and the only way to get new grommets is to just buy four new motors for like $10/ea. Might as well just replace them. Here's a NOS Ford one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141844322468 And the Dorman one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/351047093006 The Mercury is going to be sitting for a bit while I wait for them to show up, but that gives me a chance to drill out the rivets holding the power window motor in and replace that. I really hate pulling these door panels off, they're just complicated enough that I'm worried it'll crack the plastic somewhere. Oh and I'm going to take apart the power antenna motor, apparently the cable snapped so I need to see if that's the case before buying a NOS one to replace it. I'll get some photos once I start to break it down. Anyway, I decided to do one thing to the Volvo to help get the transmission out easier.  The rusty old exhaust.  It's pretty old, gotta be from the nineties, if not as old as the car. The Y-pipe up to the cat is in great shape, interestingly, and would be totally reusable if anyone out there actually wanted to keep a PRV running, but yeah...  Pretty sure this wouldn't pass inspection anywhere outside of the south. Everything past the first muffler/resonator/whatever was full of holes.  That's it, now to drag it out without hitting the other cars. The screws on the u-bolts were surprisingly easy to remove with the impact. I'm used to exhaust bolts being a total nightmare, so that was a welcome shift.   I'm still trying to break it all apart so it'll fit in the trash. The muffler connection was so rotted that it fell apart immediately, the bolts around the y-pipe were easy to remove, but one of the bolts at the cat is stripping and will probably have to be cut off before I can trash it.
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Feb 1, 2016 05:08
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I don't have a sawzall and the blade on my hacksaw is kinda toast. Gonna grab a pack of blades this week and cut up the rest, it's short enough now that I can at least move it out of the way. Been working on the Merc some more while I wait for them to find a new tenant upstairs, can't risk having the engine apart yet.    Put the other pair of Bilsteins in the back. The Monroes that were back there were still holding air fine, but man there wasn't an ounce of push left in them. Can't wait to drive it with all four on there.  Gonna have to wait a bit, though, I somehow bought the wrong window motor and have another coming this week. Fortunately, Ford used the same motor for over twenty years so I can just use it to replace the broken one in the Lincoln. Oh yeah and I replaced the door lock motor on the same door. The original Ford assembly still works fine, so I just changed out the grommets so it would stay where it was supposed to. Probably will pull the other three door panels and do the same to their lock motors once my friend shows up with the window channel grease. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Feb 8, 2016 |
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Feb 8, 2016 02:50
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It was working intermittently, I'm keeping it and will take it apart to see what happened. I've seen the innards for sale on rockauto and everyone suggests only ever buying Motorcraft motors. The Dorman one was only $40 and I needed it to work consistently, so just ate the cost. Same thing with the power antenna, but I haven't been able to get the case apart and I had to reinstall it so I could drive the car without a large hole in the trunk. From what I hear the cables snap on those after awhile and it probably isn't going to be fixable. I want to see either way, the motor is definitely still working fine in it.
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Feb 12, 2016 01:10
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So I finally got a new neighbor upstairs and he's only parking a bike in the garage, so i can proceed with the project unhindered. Been trying to get the Hornet and Mercury back in action the past few weeks, but I'm at a wall until my friend shows up to help diagnose them so I don't waste more money throwing parts at them. I did get this swell battery disconnector thing for the Hornet since I still haven't figured out what's constantly drawing. It's much easier than yanking the cable every time I want to leave it sitting for more than a couple of days.  Also painting the original battery tray from the Merc, it had started to rust a bit.  Hopefully we'll be back in the engine pulling game this coming weekend. I've got everything disconnected in the Volvo's engine bay, so it should come out easily enough.
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May 31, 2016 02:53
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