So... lets start at the beginning, a lot of you know my cars quite well, but I'm guessing there are even more that don't.

I've owned Kar, my 1.4, for 7 years now(I was lucky enough that my parents had saved to buy me a car knowing I was mad about them, I got to go around garages and choose it, and after 3 weekes of looking, I got this the week after I passed my driving test for my first car), and although it hasn't been moved for the last 2 years (more of which later) I covered 45k miles. The total mileage to date of the car is 123k miles, although it is currently SORNED off road, see below.

The B14 engine was the most reliable thing I'd seen, never needing work apart from servicing in the 5 years it was my main car. However, running short on time I put the car into a garage when the exhaust downpipe severed, all jobs I usually do myself. Upon retightening of the carb to air filter bolts, I believe they overtightened and stripped the aluminium top plate of the carb. Travelling up the M25 I felt the engine suddenly loose power, when I finished my journey and pulled out the spark plug, it had been hit by something. I found the bolt in the carb butterfly, and never found the washer... After taking the head off, I found No1 cylinder had been destroyed, something metal-like has been rattlying round in there...

So... where was the car up to this point? Lets have a couple of pictures.







Trip computer is hacked out of a 400, with Porsche 944 gauges (as they seem to match better than Volvo ones) Ok, so a few touches on it are a nadgers rice... but it was amusing, and I was 17

So, what was included...:

Hella Grill
Snowcap
Foglamps
Re-circ
Econometer and Ambient Temperature gauges (temperature gauge modified to give internal and external temperature readings)
Voltmeter, Oil Pressure and Oil Temperature gauges from a Porsche 928
Silver dash and trim
Custom boot cavity covers
Blue LED footwell lights
Volvo 400 series Info Centre and Traffic Master traffic alert system in custom panel
Alpine V12 4 channel amplifier
Custom designed Bang and Olufsen components in rear shelf
Alpine 6x9's in the front door pockets
Custom preamp
Ipod

Basically enough toys to keep me happy for a while

Next problem seemed to be that all of a sudden, I had another one, which I bought for spare parts. A blue 1.7, not quite the right colour for body panels, but I took it home, parked it up (it wasn't running well at all, which is why the guy sold it to me) and took off all the trim that was better than in my 1.4, and left it on drive for whenever I needed bits. Fake Kar (as it became known), a 1.7, was (3 years later) to have a single Sunday afternoon to get it MOT worthy, shame it then took 6 more months before it worked properly (which mainly is thanks to Andy, pettaw, who had the worlds supply of patience with both it and me!)

Then I got given a red GLT, which was an awesome car, since realised it was an ex road rally car, which is why the underside looked as though it had spend half it's life on the ground... must have been a white road machine! Because of this, the rust was more than it initially looked (it only looked to be a sill and a wheel arch) but turned out to be both sills, all four arches within MOT distance of the shock turrets, and the floor tray... Beast got stripped, and I kept all the trim and interior in what was a very empty shell of a 1.7 for a rainy day.





From left to right - Beast, Kar and Fake

So, this brings us until... well, the engine went just before New Year '06, so let us say the start of 2006.

So... 6 weeks passed of me not having a working car, and not finding a decent 300 for love of money. I started looking at other stuff, didn't find anything I wanted there either. This was straight over exam period of my final year at uni as well, so figured I best do some work for that.

After nearly buying a couple of 1.7's and GLT's, my Mum was getting a bit unamused at the collection of Volvos that was appearing on the drive. She tollerated 3 cars for 6 weeks when I had my last GLT, but that was always on the understanding it was going as soon as I fixed it, to my gf. Somehow, Mum knows me well enough that I collect things, and if I had another 300 then 3 would be a permanent number on her driveway, so she pursuaded me to fix Fake, the 1.7 spares car.

After 3 years of being sat and not moved, I managed to get the engine running (all the fuel hoses had perished) put a new fuel pump on it, and put all of Beasts stripped interior in. This seemed enough to get it through an MOT, so off I went. Somehow, the only thing it needed was a tiny patch of welding by the drivers seatbelt, which as it was at my good garage, I asked to be properly cut out and a new bit welded in, rather than plated. With me acting as semi help, this was done in a couple of hours, and I had a car again!

Problem was, the car still was running rough, it had had a replacement Weber as part of the fixing, as well as a new renix, and a few other things. First problem, it was the wrong renix, a pre 85 1.7, so the ignition was 2 degrees out all over the map. Second problem was diagnosed as possibly the jetting (I think Andy had been trying to teach Foggy how to tune his carbs at the time, and was feeling knowledgable!) At the Haynes Musuem mini meet, the VDub guys had hired the test track, which I did a few laps on, with me and Andy running into the Haynes bookshop to read how to tune carbs inbetween. The car drove home that day completely different, really responsive, and I was happy

Only thing that was wrong now is Fake wouldn't warm start. You could start it fine every morning, but try to restart it between 5 and 30 minutes after you switched it off, not a hope. Again, Andy saved the day by pointing out the Weber replacement didn't have a fuel cut solanoid, and that it was most likely flooding after switch off. I managed to get a Solex carb, checked the base wasn't warped, and bought a Volvo rebuild kit off of ebay for a fiver, not bad as it came with the Volvo invoice saying that net price was £91 and I had 90%ish discount

So... as you can tell, the turbo hasn't really progressed much at this time, other than me trying to learn how things work, talking to Husky about how he did his, and scavernging parts I thought I'd need!

So, end of Summer '06, and me and Nick_C dissappeared around the world in a silly red car for a month, I get rung up in Pakistan, and told there is a mini meet at Hugh's house the *day* I fly back from India. Que 40 hours of not sleeping, and travelling 7000 miles to be at a Volvo meet. But, whilst helping Hugh get his rally 300 ready, I did get to still more bits from his old GLE for the turbo!

Date now is 1st October 06... and just as happened... the entire turbo thread hasn't had much progress...

(just realised I missed out something from the last post, as part of the parts forraging, I ebayed a white 89 480T around easter 06. This genius piece of engineering wasn't charging properly, which really really sucks on cars with an electric fuel pump. Hence sitting on the M5 with no lights, no speedo, no powerz, and my housemate who had passed his test 6 weeks earlier learning to tow... back to the original owner!!!)

After I bought the first 480, I ran out of pennies for a bit, and didn't get the donor engine until Oct 2006, about 6 days after me and Nick came back from the India drive. You can tell I'd got keen again at this point!!!

This 480 didn't break, or run out of sparks like the last one (running out of sparks, in the dark, with an electric fuel pump. Novel. ) Aside from the fact it thought that it would be a higher class car with an in car swimming pool, it ran perfectly, boosted well, and was generally nice. Got it for a song, as the guy who owned it couldn't get insured on it and needed it gone.

When it was at home, it was seen to be super rotton, which certainly made me feel less guilty about stripping it. Xmas 06/New year 07 involved stripping the 480, saving as much as I could out of it to help install the engine, and or selling at a later date to try and recoup some costs. Only things I've sold so far are the alloys, as I seem to have way to many sets of wheels. Those went for half the price of the car, so not going bad so far Engine was a pain in the backside to get out, some genius decided that driving the front wheels was a clever idea, which means there was about 1/2 an inch to the wheel arch liners each side, and the thing wouldn't come out the top of the engine bay. I couldn't lift the car over the engine, so I just got a junior hacksaw, and cut the front of the car off Five minutes... I know it was rusty... but Volvo safety?! Car sent to the scrappy, and all stuff to keep into the garage and the shell of Kar, and back to Uni for a bit...

Easter hols, knackered 1.4 still in Kar, so after the 7 days it took me to strip all the ancilleries and get the engine out with the restricted space of the 480, I really wasn't looking forward to getting this one out. No worrys though, 2 hours had the ancilleries off, and the engine floating in mid air. Then bit of a clean up of the engine bay, and time to start fiddling with the engine a bit as it's out. Nothing major, but swapping over brackets and stuff, and spent a couple of days cleaning up the engine and the bay. Back to Uni...

(Intermediate pictures to break up the vast quantity of text!)




Summer. Some how, I only spent 5 days on the island over the summer, and that was spent helping Dad changing the Facia's on the bungalow. Still, did manage to get the old steering rack out, and offered up the new one, but realised I was missing the lock nuts for the track rod ends. So, take track rod end, and go to find nuts. M14... humph... ah well, put the track rod end into an "important place" to remember where it is over xmas. Back to Uni...

Now, Xmas 07/New Year 08. Remember I've put track rod end in a safe place. Waiting for Volvo to get clutch cover plate from Sweden, and as Volvo now seem to have shut the IoW dealer. Ah well. Hunt track rod end, can't find it, so hey, might as well stick the rack in with a new rubber steering damper (any non PAS 300 with vague steering will have this rubber damper perished... meaning the steering wheel can move about before the rack turns... a design that British Leyland would have been proud of). Fit one track rod end, and as the other is still in a safe place, buy another. So, rack on, still no cover plate. Ring Volvo, oh, it's been sat in Southampton since Xmas Eve. Thanks for letting me know... Then realise I'd forgotten to order a sump gasket, which has to come from stores in the UK, but it's now Friday the 28th, and no one is back in the dealers until Weds the 2nd, but it will be on the Ferry for Thursday. It was indeed, ferry arrived at 12:00, and I fit the 300 sump to the turbo block.

This leads to Friday, the 4th Jan 2008... and the most bad things going wrong in one day since I tried to get the turbo engine out of the 480 (ok, it wasn't really that bad, but I'd planned to put the engine in today, and come back to Soton). Start the day, get all the stuff out the garage, and put engine onto crane, so that I could fit flywheel, clutch etc that can't be done as the engine is bolted onto the stand by the bellhousing bolts. First things first, go to the flywheel storage department. 480's had several different flywheels, the Turbos having 2 themselves. So, just to be safe, I had both, having been assured that the triggering patterns are different for the ECU. Luckily, I could remember that the one I left in the box was the one I *didn't* yet need, but should be bigger and take the larger clutch at a later date. On top of the flywheels was the missing track rod end. Yah, 12 hours after I bought the replacement.

So, take both flywheels, and look at triggering differences. Non, both missing a tooth in the same position on the crank. Both the same diameter... both the same by the looks. Sure way to find out, put on the clutch pressure plate, which I know is for an early 480T (I've just spent a hundred quid on it... I knew what it was ment for!!). Sure thing, only fits one as the dowelings are 5mm different, no other difference though, could have got away with running a larger clutch from the start... Tried a 340 pressure plate, that also fits to the early style flywheel, and I have loads of those, so could have saved a ton and a 10 day wait on the 480 pressure plate. Only hope that the 480 one is heavier, it should be able to handle twice the torque, so I'm guessing has an uprated spring, and the R5 guys use them as fast road clutches.

Right, flywheel on, move onto the clutch. Never done one myself before, always seems too much hassle. I'd got 6 nice new bolts from Volvo, but the flywheel I'd fitted had 5 tapped holes and a dowel, so... erm, might as well give it a go. Used my nice new shiney alignment tool, and offered up the 340 friction plate, with the 480 pressure plate, all held together by a flipping expensive piece of plastic that Hellfrauds had managed to sell me. Cool. Ok, erm, right. Now, this thing seems to have a beastly spring, feeling that this 480 pressure plate is worth the money now Only thing is, this also means I can't get the thing on far enough to get the bolts in. Fine, Rubber mallet, gently tap (smack hell out of) it onto the location dowels, and this other random dowel. Cool, right, now lets try... nope, stupid bolts don't want to bite. Ok, pull off the clutch assembly, look at this random dowel in the flywheel, it seems that the top of it is domed inwards... and seems to have a thread on the outside... ahhhh, the person I bought it from has drilled the head off a clutch bolt! Stilsons...

Now, lets try again. At this point, a local gent rings (a mate of mine from the Uni motor club who lives on the island), says he's nearby, and he's popping in. Cool. Start fitting the assembly again, and "The Hat's Emergancy Volvo Electronics" van pulls up. A boat electrician by trade, Gordon has made me a couple of earth straps for 300's since they havn't been availible, as well as a positive lead when mine got a nadgers close to the manifold once...

Again, neither me or Gordon can fit these bolts enough to hold the clutch, and Gordon has the genius plan of checking the nice shiney new bolts that Volvo gave me to hold on the clutch with the stud I pulled out. Completely different, M8 stud and 6 M7 bolts. Yay. Quick trip to the other side of the island (which turned out to be a long trip, as an accident in Newport has closed what is basically the only road junction the island has).

Get home, yay! Bolts fit, and are the nice high tensile versions they should be. Clutch on, release bearing change goes smoothly, and bellhousing offered up. Steal the one bolt Gordon bought from the bolt shop (infact, thats not true, Gordon bought all the bolts, and part of lunch as I realised I had no cash...) and use it to fix the bellhousing on, cool. So, engine in time! Go to lift engine in... and... crane has lost oil again! Can't get engine above the bumper, let alone top of the wings. Shout at crane. Shout at engine. Shout at Volvo. Realise, after playing the "what could I have bought with the money I've spent on this damn car" game, I could have bought lots of fun things, therefore, Shout at me. (Auto trader and car and classics both had cheap skylines/mitsi's and fun old things that day, I wasn't a happy Chris)

So, it's still Friday the 4th of Jan, and the engine still isn't in, 2 years after the original B14 died. From now on, the 4th of Jan shall be known as "Chris really doesn't like this day at all"

Saturday the 5th of Jan....

Remember kiddies, don't drive into 106's... they win


One converted engine, 480 block, 340 sump, bellhousing, and some extra gubbins to make it all fit




All of a sudden... whats that peaking over the front panel...






And thats where we leave our epic tale. Well, not quite. The next weekend brought on more Volvo antics, as I went up to Foggy's house, and between us we stripped Rory, Gavin's Redline, which is offering most of it's engine/drivtrain and plumbing to keep both Fake running, and to get Kar to the MOT station. With Steve_P's help, we managed to strip it in record time, over 40 hours I drove 600miles, and I've no idea how many of those hours were working on the car!

Still... it's looking more and more hopeful. All thats left is plumbing (exhaust plumbing, water plumbing, oil plumbing, electrical plumbing, fuel plumbing) and whatever other countless jobs I've forgotten. Oh, yeah, some welding! And when the car has MOT, it's going to head to the spray shop, or at least, parts of it will. It needs a new bonnet, which I happen to have in cellophane in the shed, a new boot, the new wing as seen above, and I've also got a pair of colour coded bumpers and the front of a bodykit (I'll buy the rest before I put it in for painting).

Can't forget the mint condition Taurus I've got for it. Still not convinced I like the style, but they really are mint, as well as being one of two 400 style rims that are 6" not 5.5", so I'll probably try running 185 at the front and 205 at the back (or some variation thereof, I have no idea yet )

Fake's waiting to sit on the Atlas' that are in my garden as well, and as soon as I get the turbo running reliably (I still want to use it as a daily, hence why it has all the toys) I'll think about properly sorting Fake for rallying, not that it needs much more than a cage/buckets and harnesses to start. You never know though, I might just drive the cars for once!

Awsome Chris!

This thread wins.. awesome

Good read Chris, just keep nailing on with it, it'll be all worthwhile in the end trust me! Only easy bits left now so its all good! You using a frontera TDI intercooler? Guess exhaust is the next PITA for you?

Cheers guys. Yup, Frontera intercooler is in the shed Ali. Exhaust I'm gonna get some lengths of tube, and pretend I have a clue, just so I can get it running and to the MOT station. Luckily I got a B18FTM so it doesn't have lambda (yet) which makes that part a nadgers easier. Granted it was an auto FTM... which was stupid, but we only learn by making mistakes!

can wait to see this running
thanks lee

Fantastic write up Chris. A great advertisement for a project car forum (or as I prefer to call it - The Family! [we need your pictures] forum) ...

Tom

Tis the season of Christmas, and all through the house, not a turbo has stirred, not even because of a mouse...

It's Christmas time, and therefore I've gone back to my parents house. Soooo working on Kar time! Over the year, yet again I've been thinking and working out what I've c*cked up so far. Only one thing this year, I forgot to put in the spigot bearing, but luckily some playing with Fake made me realise (basically "Ohhh, theres an interesting thing. Don't remember one of these things when I put the turbo together. Best read what that does. Ooooh b*llocks").

Aside from that, Fake has been taking up all of my time lately, I've taken the motorsport thing a bit more seriously this year. Now it's got to the point where entry fees are enough that I want to make sure I complete events, so Fake has been made more reliable

But, interesting stuff. I have been out the last couple of days trying to bolt things up, and from that I can see what parts I'm missing and measure up some pipes and hoses and things so I can get them made up. I'm also thinking of fixing the rust this week... we'll see. Basically, I've got the turbo in along with inlet and exhaust manifolds, cooling hoses and intercooler.







So, now going to fit more things, and measure more things. There will prolly be more progress, but won't look as much if you know what I mean. Will keep you updated!

(I've got to add I really didn't think the bonnet was going to fit over that turbo, but Dai did the manifold well I didn't ring him up in a panic last night or anything..... Cheers buddy!)

Hello Chris!

That is not the original turbo inlet, why are you using this one? And why not flipping the turbo so the inlet will be on the right side?

Good work! Can't wait to see it done.

Frits

Awsome dude.
The excellentness and abundance of the pics on this build thread just totally destroyed my feeble works internet connection.
Had to reboot it twice.
Buuuuuuh.
Now thats what I call some good thread building man.

Frits wrote:That is not the original turbo inlet, why are you using this one? And why not flipping the turbo so the inlet will be on the right side?

Ahhh, yeah, I knew I was supposed to mention things like that! Well....

The stock turbo inlet has a really pretty damn pimp "Turbo Intercooler" logo on it, which I'd love to keep, but the problem is the throttle body would sit in the heater box.



This is a 440 manifold that just moves the throttle body over for me. I could have welded it (thats what Husky did) but I can't yet weld, let alone ali weld, and I can scrappy like a ninja

The turbo round that way at the moment as unlike you, we have brake servo and steering column down this side Basically I don't think I can get a downpipe down between the turbo and bulkhead, but theres loads of room underneath that manifold (and because of the way Dai has done it, I shouldn't boil my brake fluid either)

Cheers for the support though guys, I've been close to ditching it a lot lately... I *will* make this work though

Ok clear!

You will definately finish it, or otherwise i'll kick your ass lol

The inlet looks similar to the intake of the renault 5 GTE. (I have) Is it from a 2.0 or 1.7 440?