[JRL]

Re: (DSSA)

I'm not sure why you want to reinvent the wheel using a very old XC as your baseline
Like the radiators, these cars in general work just fine if everything is nominal.
I've sat in traffic in 100 degree weather for hours, these NEVER overheat with the stock cooling system, so why reinvent the wheel here?

This is not the model you want to spend time with.

Buy a T5 and go from there is you want to play.

The basic structure (engine to be specific) is stronger, can take more hp and ALWAYS will be faster, apples to apples.
If you want to have a project find someone who can make these transmissions bulletproof, especially the 5 speeds (autos) which are junk, even when "perfect".

You need to find something like my 99 V70 T5M, something with an incredibly straight body but needs work.
(see pics in the classifieds, not for sale anymore, at least not until I'm done).
I'm bidding on a straight 98 V70 T5 auto tomorrow, IM me if you're interested.

It should be cheap as it seemingly needs an evaporator and a few minor things but it's a straight 128K mile T5 wagon

 

[andyb5]

Re: (DSSA)

For aftermarket parts for Volvo, take a look at IPD, EuroSportTuning, or Viva Performance. All 3 have a pretty good selection of parts, although not likely up to STI/EVO aftermarket support standards

IPD: http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-S7...1-128/
EST: http://www.eurosporttuning.ca/...s.php
VIVA: http://www.vivaperformance.com...th=78

Take a look on those sites for some performance upgrades.
There is an upgraded exhaust manifold, known as the "R Manifold" its actually made by Volvo for the P2R models, and can be bought at any dealer, or the above vendors.
Your best bet for an intake manifold would be to PnP the stock one, or talk to Ajhehr on Volvospeed, he has fabricated a custom intake manifold for his V70.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok here goes my 2 cents on the manual swap:

The major issue with an AWD manual swap in a '00 is on the software tuning side, mechanically it's pretty straightforward to do.
98's have a much easier ECU to work with, so a manual swap is much easier. Like mentioned above, Lookforjoe has a (heavily modified) 6 speed 98 XC AWD.

If you want a 6 speed, you will need a transmission out of a P2R model (known as M66)
Like you read, 5 speed manuals were available in Europe, and there were also 5-speed 850/V70 AWD's available in the Canadian market.

Ask Big Will for some info on his AWD 5 speed swap. He has a 98 AWD that he swapped a European market M58 (not 100% sure thats the correct model) into.

You can swap a M66 into the 2000, but right now there are some minor tuning issues (IM Volvotool for some info, he was considering a M66 swap on his '00 V70R)

There are also some guys on Volvospeed who have done so. I know of one member down in Houston (I don't remember his username) who has a 2000 V70R with a M66 swap with an MTE tune that is driveable, but undergoing a tune revision right now to try to fully resolve all the kinks in the tune.

Also, talk to Lucky at IPD about a MTE tune, I think I remember reading somewhere they have an off-the-shelf tune for a '00 6 speed swap that is ready to go, but again, I'm not totally sure.

 

[Rsterns]

It looks like they produced a '98-'00 V70R AWD for the UK market (just reading up on it).

I'm not sure what the production numbers were but I guess that's a way to get the swap going.

I doubt that I'll end up spending the time and aggravation to try to ship one from across the pond (not to mention finding a spare unit).

How about clutch packs, converter builds and valve body upgrades for the slushbox? Anything out there? I'm guessing not since there doesn't seem to be much of any aftermarket support out there for these cars, but I have to ask.

Thanks again for the insight!

When I did my rebuild, (the first time), I wasn't ready to do a manual swap, note I'm a T5 not AWD. Couldn't find much of anything related to upgrades for it, so I had it dismantled and cryotreated all the internals, then put back together with the new clutches etc. I'm probably making close to 100 hp over stock, and have had absolutely zero issues with the tranny.

 

[DSSA]

I'm not sure why you want to reinvent the wheel using a very old XC as your baseline
Like the radiators, these cars in general work just fine if everything is nominal.
I've sat in traffic in 100 degree weather for hours, these NEVER overheat with the stock cooling system, so why reinvent the wheel here?

This is not the model you want to spend time with.

Buy a T5 and go from there is you want to play.

The absolute *LAST* thing I'd be interested in modifying is a WWD (Wrong Wheel Drive). A V70R AWD, I'd consider, but I want nothing to do with a FWD----been there, done that, have no interest in them. I'd much rather go with a Turbo Brick before wasting time with that aspect.

I think you and I have different agendas and have to understand where the other is coming from.

To me, a 3400lbs. car with 350 whp is something that's mildly enjoyable at times to drive, but nothing "exciting". In FWD mode, it's simply "annoying" unless you're doing 150 mph pulls on the highway (which is something I'm also not interested in these days).

I'm not "re-inventing the wheel" with this car, just ridding myself of what *I* consider stupid engineering (this may not be your interpretation).

I spent $125 on a radiator, spent some more free time cutting a radiator cap bung off of an unused display aluminum radiator and welded it onto the thermostat housing. This rids me of the (in my opinion---once again) idiotic pressurized, *PLASTIC* recirculation tank that european manufacturers seem to be so fond of (you yourself said this is a common issue with them cracking).

I've had a love/hate relationship with euro cars since 1991. I love a lot of aspects about them, but their engineering is (once again--MY opinion) quite annoying. "Let's over-engineer and under-build (strength) everything on this car".

My goal is to not have to replace and/or be annoyed by the stupidity engineered into these cars when I have to fix something.

Other then that, I enjoy the ride quality, the interior, the AWD and just want to make the car easier to live with.

I'm not planning on building this car to the "hilt". I'd like about another 75whp out of the car and plan on cleaning up the suspension--that's about all the interest I have in this car.

If I were really *playing* with this car, I'd be gutting the A/C, have had built a full exhaust, custom piping with a REAL intecooler and possibly yanked the motor in intent of building it from the ground up.

A T5 to me would be even less fun to play with...(not to offend the FWD guys here..)

 

[JRL]

Had RWD all my life but since I don't hammer it much anymore, no big deal
I guess you would have liked my GTO I just sold!

or this, over 400 HP 20 years ago! 1988 Factory Slantnose Turbo Targa, one of 14 built for the US
MAJOR MODS, incl. that killer motor

 

[DSSA]

Had RWD all my life but since I don't hammer it much anymore, no big deal
I guess you would have liked my GTO I just sold!

or this, over 400 HP 20 years ago!

I like the 935 (was it a factory slant-nose?), the GTOs are neat cars, but not really my cup of tea (I like them--just never really wanted one). I went the Z06 route instead, but sold that a year and 1/2 later as that really just "wasn't me" as well.

20 years ago, I was driving a 16V Scirocco with 124 hp, so I have nothing interesting to share on that point.

However, a couple years later I was driving 450 whp (not crank HP which IMHO means next to nothing) Galant VR4s and helped build VR6 Turbos with around the same (what a waste when they run mid 12s when they don't pop axles or transmissions at 120 trap speeds).

A lot of the cars that we work with/sponsor/etc here are DSMs/Evos where the low average is in the 500+ whp range.

I'm just kind of getting "uninterested" (coining a new word here--or is that actually one) of this kinda stuff and functionality is key anymore unless it's a bike.

Here's one of our sponsored cars from a while ago for example:

Our original video which the sound was deleted from is here:

An Evo from a couple of year's ago:

(Please note: I don't condone the owners driving decisions--or his skill)

 

[DSSA]

Andy,

Once again, thanks for the insight!

I really don't think I'd go this far with this car, but my interest is there for the knowledge.

I think their best bet would be just to go with a stand-alone ECU (AEM, Haltech, Megasquirt, etc,) if they have that much work into it, but i admire their dedication with trying to make it work with the factory ECU.

There's a '98 sub-170K XC70 for sale locally that needs ball joints and a few other little things (according to them at least) for under $1K that I'm considering picking up to really play with so this sharing of knowledge is very appreciated once again.

For aftermarket parts for Volvo, take a look at IPD, EuroSportTuning, or Viva Performance. All 3 have a pretty good selection of parts, although not likely up to STI/EVO aftermarket support standards

IPD: http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-S7...1-128/
EST: http://www.eurosporttuning.ca/...s.php
VIVA: http://www.vivaperformance.com...th=78

Take a look on those sites for some performance upgrades.
There is an upgraded exhaust manifold, known as the "R Manifold" its actually made by Volvo for the P2R models, and can be bought at any dealer, or the above vendors.
Your best bet for an intake manifold would be to PnP the stock one, or talk to Ajhehr on Volvospeed, he has fabricated a custom intake manifold for his V70.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok here goes my 2 cents on the manual swap:

The major issue with an AWD manual swap in a '00 is on the software tuning side, mechanically it's pretty straightforward to do.
98's have a much easier ECU to work with, so a manual swap is much easier. Like mentioned above, Lookforjoe has a (heavily modified) 6 speed 98 XC AWD.

If you want a 6 speed, you will need a transmission out of a P2R model (known as M66)
Like you read, 5 speed manuals were available in Europe, and there were also 5-speed 850/V70 AWD's available in the Canadian market.

Ask Big Will for some info on his AWD 5 speed swap. He has a 98 AWD that he swapped a European market M58 (not 100% sure thats the correct model) into.

You can swap a M66 into the 2000, but right now there are some minor tuning issues (IM Volvotool for some info, he was considering a M66 swap on his '00 V70R)

There are also some guys on Volvospeed who have done so. I know of one member down in Houston (I don't remember his username) who has a 2000 V70R with a M66 swap with an MTE tune that is driveable, but undergoing a tune revision right now to try to fully resolve all the kinks in the tune.

Also, talk to Lucky at IPD about a MTE tune, I think I remember reading somewhere they have an off-the-shelf tune for a '00 6 speed swap that is ready to go, but again, I'm not totally sure.

 

[andyb5]

Andy,

Once again, thanks for the insight!
welcome

I really don't think I'd go this far with this car, but my interest is there for the knowledge.

I think their best bet would be just to go with a stand-alone ECU (AEM, Haltech, Megasquirt, etc,) if they have that much work into it, but i admire their dedication with trying to make it work with the factory ECU.
There are a bunch of guys here and on VS running TurboTuner and Megasquirt as part of a pretty serious build, but I think they're all on 98 or older models. I think one of the reasons the guy from Texas with the '00 M66 is trying to use the stock ECU is to work with MTE in developing the tune to make it more widely available, and an "off the shelf" tune

There's a '98 sub-170K XC70 for sale locally that needs ball joints and a few other little things (according to them at least) for under $1K that I'm considering picking up to really play with so this sharing of knowledge is very appreciated once again.

Also, nice job on the Evo in the first video

 

[DSSA]

Thanks!

I wanted to get more done on the Volvo, but the tow vehicle is having and issue with one or more of the batteries and I had some work on customer cars that I needed to get finished up before monday.

I also had some powder coating to do on a few customer pieces, and had to ceramic coat a custom tubular exhaust manifold that has to ship to Argentina tomorrow.

I miss the days when I was young and had seemingly unlimited time to work on my own toys...

On a side note, if you have anything that you need ceramic/powder coated and are in the general area (PA), let me know. I'm not sure what vendor rules are on here, but if enough people need stuff done, I'll speak to the gods-that-be on the forums to put up a vendor account.