What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[abscate]

It’s learning to fit the metal that’s the hard part. Here the donor piece and Volvo tolerances made this a few hour task. If you had to make this up on a metal brake ...... hours and hours

[j-dawg]

The "EXTRA" was:
- COP conversion
- P2R Big brake conversion, front and rear.
- Built a couple chassis stiffening braces (that are currently off for coating)

Super interested in these!
- How does the COP conversion work? Presumably you have to teach the ECU how to use the coils.
- I love the look of the R brakes, and I'm sure the extra capacity doesn't hurt. Would they fit under 16" Perfos or is a 17" upgrade absolutely mandatory?
- Are the braces pretty similar to the Ultra Racing parts? Those seem pretty cool, and lord knows the chassis could use some stiffening, but they're expensive for what they are.

I took my wagon up to the canyons again this morning, after Rob of Hilton Tuning finished dialing in the tune. I think I can finally say it's fully together, nine months after getting the motor back in it. Lots of time in the 3000-6000 rpm range, all in 2nd. The car is responsive and fast, and engine temperature stayed under 225F the whole time, even when it was 100F outside. In a straight line I'm more limited by torque steer than by the drivetrain. I really have to roll into the throttle to keep it under control.

I felt a little brake fade when I started pushing harder, so maybe it's time for some fresh fluid. It also desperately needs stickier tires, which I've been hesitating on until I felt the rest of the car was ready. A V70 will never not understeer, but it's headed for the guardrails at every corner right now. Maybe it's almost time.

[Chuck W]

The "EXTRA" was:
- COP conversion
- P2R Big brake conversion, front and rear.
- Built a couple chassis stiffening braces (that are currently off for coating)

Super interested in these!
- How does the COP conversion work? Presumably you have to teach the ECU how to use the coils.
- I love the look of the R brakes, and I'm sure the extra capacity doesn't hurt. Would they fit under 16" Perfos or is a 17" upgrade absolutely mandatory?
- Are the braces pretty similar to the Ultra Racing parts? Those seem pretty cool, and lord knows the chassis could use some stiffening, but they're expensive for what they are.

The COP conversion was the DIY version from VAST. I got the instructions to mod an ECU and the proper .bin file (M4.4 conversion needed). I integrated all of the new COP wiring into the engine harness (I was pulling out all of the auto trans wiring anyway) and built what was needed to make it work. I'd already been running my car on a flashed 98MY M4.4 ECU for the past year, so it wasn't much to flash the new .bin to my "new" modded ECU. No major changes on it yet, really.

The front brakes for the P2R conversion require custom brackets and mods to the spindles to work.


I borrowed someone else's idea and made my own stuff. The mods are usually a bit more than most folks would want to mess with, even though I've seen a few installs around the web. The Porsche 993 (or even 996) stuff is a bit more popular, and I've seen some slick install adapters for those.

The rear brakes are a bolt-on affair using brackets available from CJ Yother.
I doubt these would fit under a 16" wheel. I went to the Eros wheels because I needed outboard caliper clearance. To get the Neptunes I originally had on the car to work would've required 15-20mm of spacers...

The chassis braces are similar to Ultra stuff. I built an STB


and one of the rear lower chassis braces.

We have one of the Ultra Perf ones on the wife's '97 GLT (Found it on a car that was being scrapped). I also have one of the big C70 convertible "U" braces on each car.

I was contemplating a lower front brace, like the Ultra one, but I ran out of material, and it would need some revisions to fit with that bit 'vert brace.

[smacknab]

The front brakes for the P2R conversion require custom brackets and mods to the spindles to work.


I borrowed someone else's idea and made my own stuff. The mods are usually a bit more than most folks would want to mess with, even though I've seen a few installs around the web. The Porsche 993 (or even 996) stuff is a bit more popular, and I've seen some slick install adapters for those.

Woah custom as in custom-custom? Did you sand cast those?

[bmdubya1198]

I took my wagon up to the canyons again this morning, after Rob of Hilton Tuning finished dialing in the tune. I think I can finally say it's fully together, nine months after getting the motor back in it. Lots of time in the 3000-6000 rpm range, all in 2nd. The car is responsive and fast, and engine temperature stayed under 225F the whole time, even when it was 100F outside. In a straight line I'm more limited by torque steer than by the drivetrain. I really have to roll into the throttle to keep it under control.

I felt a little brake fade when I started pushing harder, so maybe it's time for some fresh fluid. It also desperately needs stickier tires, which I've been hesitating on until I felt the rest of the car was ready. A V70 will never not understeer, but it's headed for the guardrails at every corner right now. Maybe it's almost time.

I can't wait to put a new 19t in my car, it's been sitting on jack stands for the past week. This car hasn't boosted quite right since I initially got it on the road with the manual swap, and after pulling the turbo and looking at the manifold, I think I know why. Someone really hacked up the exhaust manifold, and the turbo is on its last legs after 199k miles.

[Cookeh]

I'm currently negotiating for a U-brace to fit on my 855. I've been eyeing up the Ultra Racing brace for some time, and one day it clicked that it's bracing the same thing as the U-brace would. Given the U-brace is a low demand item it's very cheap (I'm expecting to pay around £20-30), so it makes more sense than the Ultra Racing item financially.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the differences (good and bad) that the U-brace makes. I'd also love to make some braces myself in the future...excellent workmanship on your end.

Jdawg, to deal with the understeer you need a thicker rear ARB. If you're already running anupgraded rear ARB then decrease the thickness of your front ARB a couple of millimetres and that should help to reinstate some neutrality in the chassis handling.

[abscate]

Where does that U brace go , Alistair?

[Chuck W]

Where does that U brace go , Alistair?

It mounts in place of the small mid-brace under the exhaust, and goes forward to attach to the rear locations for the front subframe mounts.


You can barely see it in this pic. The blue is the Ultra rear brace, and the front of it attaches to where that mid-brace is, or the rear of the "U" brace.

Woah custom as in custom-custom? Did you sand cast those?

Not *that* custom.I'm not that motivated.

Modified factory spindles and custom adapters. You'll notice the steering limiters are gone from the spindles, and what you can't see are the Time-Serts in the old caliper mounting holes (Which have also been clearanced). It wasn't just a "bolt theses adapters on and go* kind of a deal.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the differences (good and bad) that the U-brace makes. I'd also love to make some braces myself in the future...excellent workmanship on your end.

The braces made a difference (at least to me) on the wife's car, but both were installed at the same time (with poly SF inserts). Currently, I just have the U-brace and Delrin SF bushings on my car, while I wait for coated parts. I have noticed a difference in mid-chassis flex.
The Ultra front brace ties the front SF to the body at the rear SF mount points, which I think could be of benefit. I'll just have to investigate that when I get some more material to mess with.

[Cookeh]

As above, joins the rear mounts on the front subframe to the centre brace under exhaust mid-section. I'm hoping that it will cut down on scuttle flex and reduce twisting in cornering. I'm not sure if it would impact NVH at all (my car is a daily for 15k mi a year), though realistically I can't see it make a difference.

Here's a picture shamelessly stolen from some poor chaps thread on volvoforums.co.uk

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attachme ... 1598735777

[Chuck W]

As above, joins the rear mounts on the front subframe to the centre brace under exhaust mid-section. I'm hoping that it will cut down on scuttle flex and reduce twisting in cornering. I'm not sure if it would impact NVH at all (my car is a daily for 15k mi a year), though realistically I can't see it make a difference.

Here's a picture shamelessly stolen from some poor chaps thread on volvoforums.co.uk

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attachme ... 1598735777

I can't see the above pic, but on the NVH, I haven't noticed anything.

I think the rear brace and the U brace do some similar stiffening to the Ultra lower brace package (Rear/side/front). I thought about the side braces, but after looking at things, I think the big U brace covers the front part pretty well. The extra bit of triangulation wouldn't hurt, I suppose (Now I'm thinking about building more stuff...).
I think the lower front would have more benefits, overall, keeping the front end from twisting. I just need to scope out how I want to do it.