F7R conversion difficulty?

[broady81]

Hey guys,

I know a fair few of you have done this conversion already. What I'd like to know is basically, how hard is it?

Ideally, I'm looking to buy and rebuild an F7R, and then put it in my 1.4 DL. I do have a donor 1.7 for the extra parts necessary.

I've never rebuilt an engine before, nor done anything massively difficult with my car. But I can follow instructions well, and have the willpower to persevere

How does it compare to other work on the car? Is it do-able at all considering my lack of experience?

Thanks

Matt

[jon-ovlov]

I'm currently in the middle of doing mine, and writing a how-to too.

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... 13&t=11630

I'll hopefully start it properly next week, though Ive been saying that for weeks! As far as conversions go, its relatively straight forward, little or no fabrication work. Its bolt in provided you get the engine from an early clio or megane (preferably clio) as the late variations differ, and are harder to crack (immobilisers etc). having a 1.7 donor is very useful too!

As far as rebuilding an engine goes, I like to have a schematic and specs of the engine, diagrams etc so I can use them as references when rebuilding it. Simply put its just a lot of bolts, but thats a VERY loose way of putting it. I'd definatly take your time about it if is your first rebuild (eg unlimited time frame, dont want to rush and miss one bolt!), and have as many references, torque settings etc at your disposal as you can. Theres a lot about the F7R engines already, so there are a lot of references. That, and theres a tonne of lads on here!

Out of interest, how much have you done with regards to car work?

[broady81]

Thanks for your prompt reply jon-ovlov! And for the advice.

I'll be following your thread carefully! Looks good so far.

So far on my 340, I've fiddled with brakes: new caliper, new pads and shoes, bled them, that kind of thing. Just obvious stuff: oil and filter. I'm not too bad with electronics: relayed my headlamps and spot lights in. Plus a whole load more rally gizmos (clocks, lights that kind of thing). I'm hoping to upgrade my suspension before I do the engine swap too.

Never touched the gearbox, final drive, clutch or anything like that. Bought a carb actually to rebuild it. Should give me a little more experience.

How does that sound?

Matt

[jon-ovlov]

No worries dude. Thats good you've done quite a bit of work. Just didint know whether you'd done anything on a car before and suddenly wanted to jump in to a swap

With regards to the gearbox etc, to do the swap only the clutch end needs to be touched. Makes it simpler because of the rear mounted gearbox. Only time you ned to touch the diff or box is if you want the longer ratios from the 1.7, also if you want the diff welded. Im not going to do the gearbox swap over, but its an option. My diff will be welded eventually.