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Swedishspeed · Post by **Swedishspeed** » 30 Sep 2006, 14:34

Hey, i was checking out your site, seems like you all have a ton of knowledge on how to mod your volvo, i got a 94 850 turbo, and am looking to mod it, but wondering what to start with, can ya offer up some suggestions? thanks!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 30 Sep 2006, 15:00

More than mods, it's maitenance and fixes here....but welcome aboard!

Swedishspeed · Post by **Swedishspeed** » 30 Sep 2006, 15:38

alright then what do you suggest first?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 30 Sep 2006, 18:12

Well, if you really want to do mods, I would suggest volvospeed.com
but to begin with you should get your car up to par. This includes basic maitenance before you do the mods:
Make sure your transmission is in good shape...flush the fluid for new if it's old
PCV system maintenance: change out your oil trap and related breather hoses.
Oil change with Synthetic oil and Mann oil filter
Make sure you get no codes...if you do, find out why and solve the problems related to the codes....this often includes replacing small vacuum hoses....a switch over to silicone hoses is very good (www.stylinmotors.com)
Make sure your suspension parts are good and get rid of clunks and harsh jolts to the shocks and struts by changing them out with new (shox.com is good for this) along with shock/strut mounts and spring seats in the front. You can lower your car at this point with spring combinations, which would be a decent mod. Also change your endlinks to heavy duty ones (ipdusa.com has these).
After all of this, beef up your suspension with IPD swaybars, front and rear. Then, you should make sure you have good stopping power before you give your car more power. This includes new brake fluid and decent rotors (some go to cross drilled and/or slotted) and OEM pads which seem best though they do produce more dust than others. Finally you're ready for engine and speed related mods- but really depends on what you're wanting to do...what your goals are:
Get yourself a boost gauge so you can see what you're doing and have your ECU upgraded...several places for this, but I did the IPD upgrade to my T5...it works very well. You can also look at down pipes and catback exhaust systems to give you a bit more.

Hope this helped. The above is pretty much the order that I would do things. Really, with Volvo's don't think of modding to much until you have the car running right and well maitained, otherwise, issues with your car will be revealed exponentially and the mods you've done will become more of a headache than not and you'll still have to go back and do the basics.

However, simple mods you can do without to much worry:
1. Antenna down switch (antenna is down on your sedan when radio is on)
2. Auto dim rearview mirror
3. Relocation of horns to under the car (gives you a bit better air flow).
4. K&N air filter (the current air box is really your best set-up...already a cold air intake in my opinion, but with a K&N, you'll get a bit more pep out of any engine setup).
5. iPod adapter to listen to tunes through your head unit (Usa Spec makes an excellent solution here...I can even change tracks through my Volvo head unit!).
6. Real size tire in the spare wheel well

So, in conclusion:
1. Get your car up to peek performance before modding the car unless you want to do the simple stuff that really has nothing to do with performance.
2. Start with suspension mods and safety mods first then go to speed related mods.
Guess that's all I can think of for now.

Swedishspeed · Post by **Swedishspeed** » 30 Sep 2006, 18:31

alright thanks!

Swedishspeed · Post by **Swedishspeed** » 30 Sep 2006, 19:15

quick question, it seems the last owner of my volvo spilled oil or something on the turbo cover plate, and it burned on or something was burned on there, any chemicals or anything you cna suggest to get it off, i tried steel wool and it really didnt do much but made it fade.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 30 Sep 2006, 19:23

It probably won't come off. You might try taking it off and possibly sand blasting it but once oil sits for a while and heated it stains things pretty much for good.

Swedishspeed · Post by **Swedishspeed** » 30 Sep 2006, 20:12

dang thats a bummer, maybe i will try to cover it with soem paint, i was checking out dupli-color paints, think im gonna test the chrome one on that cover, hopefully it will work. thanks for the info.