2000 V70 swap options

PKblu · Post by **PKblu** » 18 Jul 2016, 18:04

I apologize if this is a topic that ha been beaten to death. I did search and did not find much specific.

My parents are getting ready to retire their 2000 V70 Wagon with a manual transmission. They are the original owners, and the car has always been garage kept. For some reason ( maybe due to the British Touring Car Series) I have always had the idea of doing something with this car. So to my question, is it possible and relatively simple to swap a V70R motor of the same area into this car while maintaining the stock manual transmission and FWD?

Post by **tryingbe** » 18 Jul 2016, 18:36

Is the car n/a or turbo currently?

1337 · Post by **1337** » 21 Jul 2016, 01:18

Not sure what you have in mind, but a BTCC-themed 24 hours of LeMons car would be fun. Just need a blue and yellow paint scheme with "850" painted in a huge font on the side.

In endurance racing (especially of the $500 variety) the cockroaches and tortoises are more likely to survive than the hares. After all the turbo'd and franken-supercharged cars have burnt to a crisp, the 55hp 1960s Mercedes Diesels are still trundling along and finishing the race.

So, if I were building an 850/x70 race car for any kind of endurance race, I'd go non-turbo, manual transmission. With non-turbo, what you lose in acceleration will be more than made up for in reliability during extended wide-open-throttle.

Have fun!

And, to finish tryingbe's thought:
- if you already have a turbo, you could easily swap in the turbo from the R.
- if you don't have a turbo, you'll have quite a bit of plumbing to do.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 21 Jul 2016, 06:24

If the car is now a turbo then you will need to get the existing ECU remapped. You can't swap ECUs with the ME7 system since it is married to the original car. The R engine isn't any different, other than the exhaust manifold, than a standard HPT engine. The lions share of the R power is all in the tuning and it can be programmed.

...Lee

PKblu · Post by **PKblu** » 27 Jul 2016, 21:00

Thank you for all the input. The car is a non-turbo. But there is something about it that I have always liked.

So could I swap in an R-motor, bolt it up to the existing manual transmission, remap the existing evidence and have it all work?

Post by **abscate** » 28 Jul 2016, 04:47

You are playing with the early CANBUS car in the 1999-2001 era. All the modules have to talk to each other and many have to be registered to each other by serial number ( specific module)

If you get stuck CanBus hell, your CEL will come on and NY won't let you inspect it.

Unless you have access to a shop that has done this and know Volvo ( one test would be do they have the full VIDA subscription) sell this and go buy an R, if you are determined to have a turbo

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 Jul 2016, 17:22

Why not sell it and buy an R??- if it's in immaculate shape it will go for a decent price....after all it is a manual! Personally, I'd keep it stock and keep it and find another if you're wanting to do some racing.

Post by **erikv11** » 29 Jul 2016, 08:02

PKblu wrote: ... So could I swap in an R-motor, bolt it up to the existing manual transmission, remap the existing evidence and have it all work?

Emphatically, NO. It is almost impossible (almost) to make it into a turbo car, without lining up dump trucks full of money and time.

Your closest possibility is to swap the manual transmission into a turbo car. But if it is the whole car you enjoy, not just the fact it is a manual, that's not going to get you what you want either.

As mentioned, there is no difference between an R engine and a standard turbo (T5) engine. The R vehicle is AWD while the T5 vehicles are FWD, like your parents' car. In my opinion the AWD on an '00 is not worth the trouble.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 29 Jul 2016, 18:20

I used to agree that that the NA to turbo swap was pointless but the deeper I get into car culture the more I see other DIY'ers doing interesting motor swaps. What is it about Volvo's that makes this such a hard thing to do?

If the ECU is such a problem there are standalone ECU's that can be used instead.

If its wiring then why can't the entire wiring harness be swapped from a turbo car to an NA?

These cars cost practically nothing to buy these days; why should a straight forward motor swap cost dump trucks of money?

Just a few thoughts I had.

1337 · Post by **1337** » 30 Jul 2016, 00:46

polskamafia mjl wrote:I used to agree that that the NA to turbo swap was pointless but the deeper I get into car culture the more I see other DIY'ers doing interesting motor swaps. What is it about Volvo's that makes this such a hard thing to do?

I don't think this is specific to Volvos. For most people, there is no such thing as an "easy" engine swap. Say, your engine had a major problem, and the best solution was to replace it. In this scenario, it's not a modification, just putting a fresh engine to put the car back on the road. Now, you've got to...
- drain all fluids
- disconnect many hoses
- disconnect many wires
- remove many bolts
- maneuver the engine out with an engine hoist
- separate the engine from the transmission
- do these in reverse order to install the new engine (you remember where all those hoses and wires and bolts went... right?)

Some people say this is "easy." But, they are either (a) lying or (b) professional mechanics.

The reality is, I bet every major US city has hundreds of home garages which contain a half-finished engine swap that was abandoned years ago. Sigh. The road is long...