I decided to finally tackle the swap of the rear subframe and gas tank on the Volvo. The original rear end to the silver car has a center differential that is caked with grease, it appears that the halfshaft seals are leaking.

At about 7 hour in to get to the point of having the replacement rear subframe bolted into place.

At about 10 hours to have the car back together. I now have the good rear installed with 2000 V70R vented rear brakes with SS braided lines. I also got the IPD rear sway bar swapped onto this rear. All I have left is to replace the cv joints on the driveshaft and I will have AWD again.

Right now I’m just running a stock European map, they tuned the car down in the US to meet CA emissions.

http://m44.wikia.com/wiki/M44_Wiki

That is an entire site that explains how to tune these cars. My first step before I start doing any tuning is getting high quality wideband and boost gauges. I also can’t really mess with it much without doing the downpipe because that is a huge restriction.

There is a lot of good info on that site explaining everything. The info is basically all the best of what was put on a huge thread in on Volvospeed.com. It just so happens that one of the guys who developed this method of tuning sells this as a service and lives in Denver. He does tunes for these car around the world.

http://vasttuning.com/

From the tuning site:
“RECAP: First step, accurate boost guage and afr guage. I suggest having something to datalog afr, rpm, maf and ign adv at the minimum. Start with WOT tuning as this is the easiest approach(since tuning part load on the street would require holding the car at a steady rpm/load which is extremely hard). If you find any issues with your new boost value, try adding fuel, pulling ign or reducing boost if neither of those work. If you max your MAF / go over the max load on the table (8.02) use that column to tune. If your finding you cannot reach desired boost and keep increasing requested load and you dont see any changes try playing around with max duty for boost control solenoid. Remember dont go too crazy on this map! You risk bending rods at low RPM high TPS.”

The stock ECU actually limits the boost in first gear from a dead stop. This reduces tire spin but it also protects the motor from bending a rod.

Clanging out the injectors to the larger ones requires “Calibrating for injectors requires setting the ‘Injection Basic Adjustment Factor’ and the ‘Injector Opening Time by Voltage’.” This is really easy to do.

Also another restriction on the system is the MAF. 
“The stock MAF can only measure flow up to 826Kg/h, this limit can be reached on a stock 850 with a 15g fairly easily. In order to maintain accurate fueling calculations past this rather low limit it is recommended to upgrade the size of the MAF by placing the stock sensor in a larger housing. Here are a couple of housings that are a direct fit for the original MAF sensor:

2.50″ ID Volvo 850/S/V/C70 826 kg/h (stock)
2.75″ ID Volvo S90/960 1056 kg/h
3.25″ ID 540i BMW 1612 kg/h
It is very important the increase in airflow is accounted for in your bin!”

I made a run to the pull and pay in Denver on Friday.

I picked up a ’99 V70R front bumper in black. The bumper had a little damage but I’ve already fixed most of it with a heat gun. I will need to paint it to match the car. This was the last part I was missing to make my car a V70R.

I also got a passenger plastic wheel well liner, plastic under tray, and green injectors. 

Injector – Pressure – Flow Rate

Bosch Blue – 3bar – 347cc (stock on the 1998 V70R)

Bosch Green – 3bar – 448cc

The green injectors are a good flow upgrade for the car.

I got some work done on the car. I swapped out the barometric pressure sensor on the car to deal with a check engine light. They are a common fail point on these cars and it only takes a few minutes to replace. The sensor costs $80 so I first tried a few junk yard sensors with no luck. I do still need to clear the code.

My car was boosting at about 5-7 psi but should have been 10 psi stock (240bhp). Since I installed the Euro tune, I’m now getting 12 lbs(250bhp). It definitely feels like a different car. The stock turbo that I’m running is a Mitsubishi TD04HL-16T and it maxes out at about 15 psi and (250whp). If I go with the ’99 V70R 18T or the 2000 V70R 19T, I can get to 20 psi max and close to 300whp.

300 WHP is about the max the auto tranny can hold. From what I’ve read, pushing the power to close to 300 whp is recommended to add a tranny cooler. Not a huge deal to add a tranny cooler and only costs about $60 so I will do it even without the added power.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C3BBKS/?c … _lig_dp_it

The weak link on this motor is the connecting rods so I plan to keep it safe and not push the motor to 300 whp. At most I will probably install an 18t or 19t and push 17 psi max. The 1998 TD04’s have an straight flange exhaust hosing with a 2.5″ outlet and the ’99+ TD04’s have a angle flange exhaust hosing with a 2.75″ outlet. I plan to snag an angle flange housing from the junk yard in the near future and install a custom 3″ downpipe with a high flow cat.

I’m going to pick up the “upgraded” Pierburg 7.22908.03.0 BOOST CONTROL VALVE out of a Porsche since it does better at the higher boost numbers.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FA364EI/?c … _lig_dp_it

I also plan to get an Innovate Motorsports PSB-1 Boost/Wideband Oxygen Gauge Kit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013UG0ERE/?c … _lig_dp_it

I’m still back and forth on the tune, doing it myself vs having it done. I’m planning on loosing the distributor and going with Coil on Plug. I already have the coils.

I replaced the radiator in the car. Not a fun project, it required removing the entire front of the car.

The old radiator was packed with what looks like hair. This was between the intercooler and the radiator. So not only was it leaking but it was clogged.

What was actually done:
-radiator replacement
-cleaned the intercooler
-ported my extra intake to recieve the NA big bore throttle body with 960 plate
-installed Snabb RIP kit
-installed Snabb fresh air pipe
-replaced the spark plugs
-removed the SAS system
-replaced the driver’s side fender

So my really small coolant leak turned into leaving a puddle under the radiator. I parked the car for the week and will be driving my Mazda until I can get around to finishing up the repairs.

The list of retairs:
-replace the radiator
-turbo drain line seals
-tranny to angle gear seals
-passenger side front wheel bearing
-fuel pump tank seal
-spark plugs

“Fun” stuff:
-Snabb RIP kit
-Snabb fresh-air pipe
-silicon vacuum lines
-SAS delete
-tuning

I have a laptop setup for tuning and I have everything I need to add the switch to the old AWD ECU.
I will get pictures posted of everything soon. I need to get a wideband and a 3″ downpipe to complete my plans for the car.

I started on my parts install project.

I didn’t get as far as I hoped. One of the end links had to be cut off and took way longer to do than it should have. I also had to make a run to get a torx socket set to remove the hub bolts.
The driver’s side hub was making noise but I was surprised that it didn’t have any play.

I was able to get the driver’s side hub swapped and both end links. That was all though.

I also received my rip kit.

I ordered a Snabb Reverse Intercooler Piping kit in blue with big bore throttle body tube and the Snabb Upper Idle Air Hose in black.
http://www.snabb.us/93-98-Reverse-Inter … p_287.html
http://www.snabb.us/Upper-Idle-Air-Hose_p_103.html

I just made a big purchase for the car totaling $460. I’m going to try and get most of the maintenance done on the car in the coming weeks.

Front Wheel Hub Assemblies – FAG 274378
Sway Bar Link – Meyle HD 31212730
Transfer Case Input Shaft Seal – Genuine Volvo 30735126
Fuel Pump Tank Seal – Genuine Volvo 9447179
Drive Axle Seal – Genuine Volvo 9143885
Turbocharger Oil Line Gasket Lower – Genuine Volvo 31251439
Turbocharger Oil Line Gasket – Genuine Volvo 31251456OE
Radiator – Nissens 8601356
Spark Plug Set – Genuine Volvo 8692071

I did find the time to get the rest of my back seat swapped out. I also sold a bunch of parts so I can get more parts for the car.