Volvo 745 Pickup + 4.8l V8 conversion

Painted the hood today, weather was clear, low humidity & in the mid 60's

before
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Base coats, used about 1/2 quart. Had a bunch of issues, mostly related to pressure dropping in my compressor, and the fact I can't remember gun settings. There are several dents in the hood, mostly on the right - some don't make sense - looked like it was beat inside & out. One front & center. I did some filler work, but I'm not interested in spending too much time on it.
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Clear. I'll have to do some serious cleanup sanding & cut & polish in a few days. Happy with the color match though.
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prepared a flange with a 3" recess for a new DP, will go on with the new 19T turbo (still TDO4HL family, so nothing crazy)

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Started removing intake & exhaust manifolds in prep for head removal, then it started raining.
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So, I started sanding the hood. It stopped raining long enough after that for me to do 3 of the 4 compounding stages. It's still far from shiny :(
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I did get the roof compounded as well, that is OK - only needed one compound & final polish. Eventually I need to paint the drip rail molding
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How does it compare power and weight wise to what you could get from a boosted Volvo power plant or is it that trans that gives you the needed towing capacity? Sure a lot easier doing radical drive train swaps when they are longitudinal. Any plans for the rear axle?
 
put it in the Volvo pickup :D - then, I could use the pickup to trailer the X1/9 to shows, and have both vehicles to display :cool: - this means I also need to make/mod a trailer that the X1/9 can be transported on.... more projects
Oh jeez. Where is the headbang emoji :)

I need to become more motivated and productive, holy cow!

I look forward to seeing the combo roll up.
 
How does it compare power and weight wise to what you could get from a boosted Volvo power plant or is it that trans that gives you the needed towing capacity? Sure a lot easier doing radical drive train swaps when they are longitudinal. Any plans for the rear axle?
Sorry, been fixing my Mum's plumbing after work the past few days

Way more torque range without trying. 280hp/290ft/lb stock. I don't know what the weight differential is, I will have to find out.

Edit - 4.8L with ancillaries approx 520lbs, 4L60-E approx 160lbs w/fluids
B230FT approx 300lbs, AW70 aproe 150lbs

I don't know yet if I need to work on a different rear - ford 8.8 or 10-bolt chevy rear are the common go-to's if needed.

Found a company that makes a bracket kit for the V8 & 4L60 trans JTR/Stealth Parts

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FYI The Volvoghini project is on again

I love that build - that's serious change going into the 245!
 
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I did get the cylinder head off today, and the replacement (Turbo spec) head back on

nasty 220K gasket
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I'm assuming the bulk of the oil dripping down the block on the exhaust side is coming from the pressure feed below the head bolt
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some crud in the water jacket
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cleaned up the deck & the piston crowns
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new coolant gauge sender & ECT

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replacement turbo head, cleaned & decked. 2 helicoils for #4 exhaust studs, welded crack in #3 between valves
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Clogged ports in old head. Surprised it didn't have an overheat issue
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new gasket in place
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head torqued - 3 stages 14ft/lb, 45ft/lb, 90º. Cleaned & oiled bolts Note: exhaust studs were removed to install the head, then put in place after aligning the manifold
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timed camshaft, cam caps torqued to 14ft/lbs, t/belt, ign dist. back in place. Transferred valve shims from other head, have to check all gaps tomorrow.
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that's all I had time for, hopefully close it up tomorrow
 
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Plugging away - go the exhaust & intake bolted back on, after replacing the heater hoses & valve. The hoses did NOT want to come off the brass lines. put coolant back in after.

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No need for a V8. My 2001 Volvo V70 2.3 low pressure turbo with an AT had plenty of power to tow my single axle trailer with my 2100 # X 1/9 numerous times thousands of miles all over the west coast and over 7000' mountain passes. Only one cracked block to show for the 2 minute WOT 4000 rpm in 3rd gear hill climbs.
 
No need for a V8. My 2001 Volvo V70 2.3 low pressure turbo with an AT had plenty of power to tow my single axle trailer with my 2100 # X 1/9 numerous times thousands of miles all over the west coast and over 7000' mountain passes. Only one cracked block to show for the 2 minute WOT 4000 rpm in 3rd gear hill climbs.

Nice!.
Being a Volvo owner I'm sure you know the whiteblocks started in the rwd chassis, inline 6 format in the US market. I had a couple of 960's back in the 90's - the problem is that fitting the T5 version requires much modding, more work in many ways than switching to V8 as there is no (Volvo supplied) suitably strong RWD transmission to work with.

Early V70/S60 LPT motors were usually 2.4l, the T5/R had the higher output, lower displacement 2.3l. Later models had 2.5l/2.4l respectively :)
 
I think all the 850 high pressure turbos we're 2.3L. The story I read was that Volvo was being conservative and wanted a bit more wall thickness on the high pressure turbos.
 
I think all the 850 high pressure turbos we're 2.3L. The story I read was that Volvo was being conservative and wanted a bit more wall thickness on the high pressure turbos.
They were. The light pressure 850 turbo and NA models had the 2.4l. With the next gen (after 2001) V70/S60, they still had 2.3l HPT for some years, then both HPT & LPT had a displacement bump to 2.4 & 2.5
 
Replaced the injectors this morning after testing the old 280155832's (24lb).

Replaced them with the reman pintle yellows, 280150762's (20lb). that made things better to a degree.

I rechecked the valve clearances as that is the only other thing that changed. I didn't note the clearances I set the first time, but I was shooting for the cold adjust values of .012-.016"

Clearly, I missed calculated some of the shims:

warm clearances (.014" - .018")
#1: .018" & .016" OK as is
#3: .022" & .015" - changed the loose one, now .014"
#4 .030" & .025" - changed both, now .017" & .017"
#2 no go(!) swapped out both shims (.165's), to .148's, that gave (VERY tight) 008" - swapped out for .130", that got me to .017" & .018"

I have very few shims in the .135" - .145" range, which is where I needed them the most, so I had to make do with the clearances I have, at least they are all in the .014" - .018" warm range.

No wonder it felt like a misfire - #2 valves weren't even closing, and #4 were not opening enough. It runs nice & smooth now, and no more oil leaks down the block.
 
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Worked on small things. Cut an aperture in the overhead rear panel to fit the dome light

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I have to strip & paint the dome light to match the warmer tone, and make a filler section for what used to be the cargo area light socket

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Wrapped up the interior light install for now

Cut a section from a dead door pocket
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refined
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Fit is good enough
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painted dome light w/ Sems Camel
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I was concerned that it may not sit properly, but there is sufficient gap for the wiring & backside of the fixture to clear
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the angle of the dome light leading upper edge doesn't conform to the panel, so I will have to do something about that at some point
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Archie approves of the pickup conversion
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