Any mods for a 850 glt??

Mike22 · Post by **Mike22** » 09 Nov 2004, 10:18

Hi

I'm new on the site, but I've noticed that everybody is talking about mods on their turbo 850's. Is there any mods I could do to my 1996 850? It's manual and has only 51k, so I wanna keep it for a while and tune it. Can I install a turbo on it?

Post by **matthew1** » 09 Nov 2004, 11:05

This has been tossed around a few times. Consensus (and my gut) says it's much easier to buy a turbo 850 and sell the NA 850. Much the same as the auto trans --> manual trans conversion theory: get the car that had it installed at the factory.

In part it's because you'll need a new ECU and other tricky electronic stuff so the car knows it has a turbo. The cars today are too dependent on electronic stuff to run with something as significant as a forced air system installed aftermarket.

jrminer123 · Post by **jrminer123** » 19 Jan 2005, 22:54

Don't know if this site is still active, but I'm also considering converting to a turbo in my 93 glt. I need some body parts, so I'm going to try to buy a whole car from brim's import, a junkyard that has twelve 94 complete turbo cars alone. I'm curious though, what differences do the engines have mechanically? The turbo is 2.3 where as the na is 2.4 liters. Also, the compression ratio is significantly different. 10.5 - 8.5 I believe. Do they change the crank to give it a shorter stroke which would make less compression and displacement, or do they do something else? What about the pistons? Any ideas would be helpfull.

Patrick@volvospeed · Post by **Patrick@volvospeed** » 17 Feb 2005, 17:34

heres the lowdown on NA's. same block, same C rods, bigger bore and much larger stroke. its about the easiest car in the world to add a turbo to. buy used or new 850T parts:

turbo intake and exhaust manifold
turbo
turbo ECU(try to get you're same year)
radiator/intercooler(a dime a dozen on ebay)
appropriate intercooler hoses and some oil lines
have your block drilled(theres a pre set node on the block for this)
run your oil lines to the turbo

have a new exhaust installed and your running a beast that will eat stock 850 turbos for lunch. ( the reason for this is youll be running stock boost levels on 2 pts higher compression ratio, this will make a machine that will roast your tires)

may want to add a custom map to that ecu, some larger injectors, a bigger intercooler and aquamist, as this setup will generate much more heat and require a bit more fuel. at that point youll be able to run enough boost to break something easily.

if you dont go that route id say just swap in an entire 2.3L T5 motor, keep your manual trans though, its well worth it. A manual NA is going to give a auto T5 a run for its money at this point in time b/c the Auto in these cars uses heavy pieces and robs ALOT of power. manual trans T5 cars are beasts and consistently put down much more power than AUto trans cars of the same state.