Volvo 940 2.3 Turbo 'Sleeper'

[bnptrs]

Got some more bits done:

After the constant issues with the silencer causing the exhaust to blow apart, I've gone back to running a straight pipe but this time based it on a standard exhaust so that the center/rear sections can be swapped out for standard items if needbe. I probably will go up to 3" and run a silencer again but for the time being this will do. Runs a million times better with the box gone.






Bent the standard center box hanger and doubled it over to work with the pipe - if I run a center box again I can just bend it back.





Had to take a few photos of the old girl too:










Really happy with the front ride height:





Sound; very tractor like off boost but good under boost (same as all turbo straight pipes really) - wheelspan into second on the video so had to back off!

[sridgett]

Very cool car mate, i'd love a volvo estate

[bnptrs]

Jul 11, 2015 17:06:36 GMT sridgett said:

Very cool car mate, i'd love a volvo estate

Get one whilst they're still cheap!



After some opinions, I don't know whether to cut half a coil out of the rear, it's the same drop most people do at the minute, I like the rake personally (think it looks especially awesome on wagons) however I seem to be the only person out of my 'friend group' that does. The rear can't go as low as the front on these without rubbing issues though (which I don't want as I'm not a fan of impractically low cars).


Best example of the height I have, it's on a slight hill so the rears a little higher than it is on level ground.

[bnptrs]

Another little issue fixed (temporarily anyway).

Have a few boost spike issues, down to me running a Manual Boost Controller (which spike a bit anyway) and the fact my car is a LPT model. The only difference between the LPT 130hp and HPT 170hp models is the actuator arm, one opens at 3PSI the other at 7. Due to mine being a 3PSI LPT the standard actuator isn't very good at holding boost (seeing as the car is running over 3x that).

I don't really want to buy an adjustable actuator for this 13c Turbo as they're not cheap and when funds allow I'm going to rebuild my bigger 16T. I've seen a few examples on various Forums where people fit a 'helper spring' to the actuator to stiffen it up slightly.


£7 box of assorted springs from Halfords, spare actuator and spare turbo for mocking up purposes.






Trial fitted various combinations of springs, have no equipment in my garage to actually test the pressure so I did it on what felt at least twice as hard to open. No denying it is a complete and total bodge but took it for a spin and it has reduced the spikes a noticeable amount. When I get some more time I'm going to make a small L shaped bracket and bolt it where the actuator connects to the Turbo and hook a smaller spring off that so it isn't all over the place.

[sparkysparks]

That's a good mechanical bodge. Get the spring rate right and that could eliminate the need for ab actuator altogether

[bnptrs]

Jul 12, 2015 20:00:58 GMT sparkysparks said:

That's a good mechanical bodge. Get the spring rate right and that could eliminate the need for ab actuator altogether

In an ideal world I'd have an adjustable actuator (threaded type) and it would negate the need for a Manual Boost Controller, which would cure all spiking issues. The turbo I'm running at the minute (and the spare) are standard 13c's which are worth about £30 used, actuators cost double that!

Once I rebuild the 16T I'm going to get a decent adjustable one and run no MBC, not encountered any detonation yet and I'd like to keep it that way. Fortunately this is the later engine so takes a it more abuse than the earlier ones.

[speedy88]

The rake looks fine man, I'm running negative rake on mine and it looks a bit silly.

[bnptrs]

Yet more updates! (been really cracking on with the thing any spare time I get for Retro Rides Gathering).


Got some more bay cleaning done, this time a bit of wire wool action on various brackets, inlet manifold etc. Still more to go but it's getting somewhere.





Looks pretty awesome in photos, isn't as spotless in real life yet though






The sunroof has been sealed on the car ever since I had it, looking back through the paperwork it was originally 'disconnected' and sealed by Volvo around 10 years ago. I had a little look at where the motor is before but all the wiring was missing and the switch behind the dash had no obvious plug.

Over the years the previous couple owners have obviously added more and more silicone, thing with the sunroof on these is the main seal isn't actually completely watertight, it's designed to let water through and into the gutters (which always block and split), seems people think the seal has failed and just gunk it up.





I was convinced Volvo wouldn't have removed the sunroof loom when sealing it as that would be loads more work than any car dealer would bother with. I spent ages this evening fishing around in the roof and behind the dash and what do I find?

The missing plugs, obviously just disconnected and they've moved around over the past 10 years to be well out of the way.







Started to try and open it, the main sealant was some of the toughest stuff I've ever seen (and I work in the construction industry!), took two hands to pull off and didn't want to split, just came off in a few pieces.




With a bit of assistance this happened, first time in almost a decade!




The runners were bone dry which is why it wouldn't open on just the motor, filled them up with grease.




Cleaned a bit more of the silicone off and here we are, now opens fine onto the vent setting. It should go all the way back however the guides are broken (common fault, happens to a large majority of this generation Volvo. Replacing them can be pricey and is a right pain to do so I may live without, you can just pull them out however the sunroof can let some wind in at speed if done that way.

[bnptrs]

More sunroof faffing:



Popped the glass out, two bits of trim and 2 bolts each side and just lifts out:



Easy access to the runners and mechanism now:




First obvious culprit - loose pin on front edge:




Rear pin on the same side was missing, it's been repaired at some point with a screw but had completely fallen apart (as you can see here):




For reference this is what a good one should look like:




I slotted a tiny nail in the hole, then bent the end of it so it's pretty tight, worked well.



And the sunroof goes back without fault!




Cleaned the drains out with some wire and got them working, takes all of 10 minutes to do a thorough job (why don't people do this and just jump to throwing silicone on sunroofs).




Voila:





Still have to clean the silicone off, but it's another job done. Plus the 3.5 hour journey to the gathering will be more enjoyable wih a sunroof!

[tom83]

Looking good!

[bnptrs]

Jul 15, 2015 6:47:10 GMT tom83 said:

Looking good!

Thanks, it's getting there! Hopefully some people will appreciate it at the gathering which is all the work at the minute is for haha

[Sinky]

Good work

[bnptrs]

Made up a CBV blanking plate for awesome turbo chatter. ( I know some people claim it can wear bearings faster but hey, these Turbos are cheap and it's worth it for the noise).


Out comes the trusty bench turbo again, removed CBV





Traced it onto some 3mm stainless sheet.





Roughly cut it out.





Have an awesome pillar drill that never gets enough use, went to use and it had no metal bits to suit so had to notch the blank for the bolts.







Mock fit, lines up everywhere it needs to.





Used a bench grinder to round the edges nicer and make the final shape (no photos of this), then finished it with various grades of wet sandpaper for a relatively flat and shiny finish.







Perfect !

[bnptrs]

Someone took a photo of it during a meet at Cheddar Gorge, looks cool

[bnptrs]

Got some replacement rear badges as I don't like the debadged look.

[bnptrs]

Bought another rear anti-roll bar with the intention of fitting double rear bars as the rear's quite sloppy on these.





Traced round the end in a highly technical blueprint fashion:





Doubled them up and cut them out, also started painting the rollbar yellow.





Rounded the edges a little so they're not as lethal and drilled holes (the lower bar ones are slightly offset so it clears the other bar).





Remove ARB:





slip bracket in and bolt back up.





voila:






Took it for a spirited drive, makes such a difference to the handling. The front end is much more positive and eager to turn in, the rear doesn't wobble as much either now. Handles good for an estate if I'm perfectly honest! would definitely recommend it to anyone with a 940 estate.



Then on the way home a young lad in a saxo came onto my side of the road and took out my wing mirror and gouged the boot pillar, not happy.

[Biscuit]

Good thread this.

[speedy88]

Been thinking about the rear arb mod for a while, I think this is all the pushing I need.

[bnptrs]

Jul 27, 2015 10:10:29 GMT speedy88 said:

Been thinking about the rear arb mod for a while, I think this is all the pushing I need.

Drove the car first time in the dry today since I did it. Definitely recommend it, best mod I've done to the car has totally transformed it.

[Granadaman72]

Lovin this thread, just bought an 940 turbo estate myself so its right up my alley