'98 V70 AWD manual swap donor compatibility

[Culito]

Donor car acquired, cheap.

[foggydogg]

Great score, let the Adventure begin !
Give Robert a call, he can probably talk you through the angle gear issues, or at least point you in the right direction. He really does enjoy this kind of thing.

[V50M66]

As someone that’s done vast amounts of research into manual swapping my 98 AWD, I have a couple thoughts.

That C70 does not have a transmission that will allow you to keep the AWD. You’d need to swap the trans/pedals/sifter/cables as well as the entire rear end, fuel tank, exhaust, etc and FWD swap your V70 to make it work. It’s been done, but it sounds like you want to keep AWD and that won’t get you there.

Being that you bought a hardtop, factory manual C70, I’d personally fix that car up and have fun with it. They are quite rare and very fun when tweaked properly.

To properly manual swap your 98 AWD and keep it AWD, you’re going to need either an M58 (factory 5 speed AWD manual for P80 fitment), which you’d need to import from Europe or Canada, or you need a T5 AWD M66 P1 car (05+ S40 or V50) and use that transmission/shifter/cables. Both of these have been done before and are well documented.

[foggydogg]

Robert and Handy Dan used a transmission from a Canada-spec car to build Dan's Saffron wagon that was on BaT a few weeks ago, there is a build thread over on swedespeed.

[V50M66]

Robert and Handy Dan used a transmission from a Canada-spec car to build Dan's Saffron wagon that was on BaT a few weeks ago, there is a build thread over on swedespeed.

Yep, M58. Only around 200 cars with that transmission were imported to Canada in the form of '97 850 AWDs, so while they're out there, they're much more easily sourced from Europe, where they are relatively common (assuming you can find someone willing to ship one to the States, which so far I have been unable).

[scot850]

I could have sworn I knew a guy with a 98 V70 AWD manual trans. Just looked it up. There were 7! sold in North America.

Not much help there then...........!

Neil.

[V50M66]

I could have sworn I knew a guy with a 98 V70 AWD manual trans. Just looked it up. There were 7! sold in North America.

Not much help there then...........!

Neil.

All 7 were likely Canadian market cars as well. There are a handful of swapped cars around, the vast majority of which use P1 AWD bits. The rest use either M58s as intended (only 3 or so as far as I know) or some mashup of P2R stuff.

[Clemens]

Fix the Coupe! I am a wagon guy all the way, but you will be in pain as many AWD parts are NLA.
And the p80 AWD system isn't known for it's deefiness anyhow, so parts you find might be worn beyond use.

[scot850]

There are no arguing the AWD NLA parts issues. Rear brake back plates, R rear calipers, some of the rear suspension bushes and the like.
However, recently some aftermarket manufacturers have started to supply some stuff, quality TBA. There is IPD selling I believe PPS fuel pumps at about 20% of the price an OE one was when available, then there are IPD and others now selling the lower torque rod in various forms including poly bushed.

I am one who advises against buying a poorly AWD P80 as they can empty your wallet. Most of the issues I have found are age related and lack of maintenance by neglecting owners who run them until they break. As to the AWD system, sure it can be an issue, but then I hear of as many issues on the P1/2 on the Haldex system, and similarly that is down to lack of maintenance. If you really want to do it as a passion project and challenge then go for it! But unfortunately getting that MXX trans will be the biggest challenge. There is a hopeful person trying to sell a 97 850 AWD in what looks like good condition in the Vancouver area on FBM. They want an unrealistic $12000 CDN for it.

Might be worth trying Chapman Motors on Vancouver Island. They may have a manual trans stashed away.

Good luck!

Neil.

[V50M66]

Fix the Coupe! I am a wagon guy all the way, but you will be in pain as many AWD parts are NLA.
And the p80 AWD system isn't known for it's deefiness anyhow, so parts you find might be worn beyond use.

100% agreed. As the owner of a 98 AWD, they aren’t worth it, parts are a nightmare to get if you can get them at all, and certainly not worth killing a factory manual hardtop for.