What should I do with my 98' v70 wagon (base)

[239v70]

Im currentlt 17 years old and have had the car for about 4 months now, i am wanting to upgrade the suspension and other things throughout the car like maybe building the head and adding a turbo. This is my first car and coming from being really into japanese cars im not sure what is good and what isnt, etc... The car mechanically seems to be okay, i replaced the spark plugs about a month after I had the car because of a misfire and it went away, theres still an engine light but i believe its just a small vaccum leak that i have yet to fix. It has 142k ish miles and it came from virginia originally, looking at the car it seems like it may have sat for a while, the registration in virginia is from 2012. It is an automatic but the transmission was rebuilt at some point in the last 10k miles. I would like to manual swap it but again i dont really know what fits and what doesnt, but i believe the 6-speed from a s60r should fit. Im new to this forum as well but ik you guys definetly have a better knowledge of these cars than i do and any help would be much appreciated. If you need any more information or photos of the car i would be glad to give them to you.

[volvolugnut]

Unless you have:

• Lots of money.

• Lots of time.

• Automotive skills beyond your years.

• Access to a well stocked shop.

You may want to limit your work to general repairs and maintenance on your Volvo. Major modifications are expensive, difficult, and time consuming.

BUT, if you proceed, you can get lots of information and advice here.

volvolugnut

[Eddystone]

Just buy a Volvo with those features, unless you are only in it as a project. Otherwise, it makes no sense at all.

I have a 98 V70 base, and while it is a great transportation appliance, it's pretty gutless. My 1999 T5 S70 is a WHOLE different animal. Pretty sporty as it came from the factory. The mods you are talking about making will be pretty expensive just for the parts, and then you have any computer and engine management issues to deal with. I suspect that much of that would be easier with Japanese cars since there are so many more variations and better parts availability in the pick n pulls.

Last bit, you are better off attempting this with the 1998 you have than with a 1999 or 2000 because those cars were much more computer controlled than the 98 and earlier.

Sounds to me as if you should look for a R model or a T5 (more numerous) and use one of those for a monster upgrade base. They are already pretty powerful, but can be taken even higher.

[FireFox31]

Welcome to the forum. Of course we want to see pictures. I've read that adding a turbo to a non-turbo is essentially impossible. How about using this car to learn the basics of maintenance and repair, make it reliable, then keep it as a daily driver while you tinker with some other sporty thing. Treat this wagon right and it will last you for a long time.

[239v70]

Thank you all for the help!! Looking at your responses i think im going to stick with the idea of doing simple upgrades and use the car to learn from, suspension is definitely something on my list of things to do though. The car feels as if there's no shock absorbtion, and along with fixing that issue i'll probably do axles and a couple other little things. It was always my plan to buy another car before i do anything to either of them, but now i think i'll make my v70 last as long as possible and put my effort and money into something that makes more sense, and hopefully sometime in the future i can buy another volvo and make it what i want it to be. Thanks again for the help!

[manovlov]

Hy 239v70 !

Welcome on board.

Simplicity. You've got a nice car. Easy to fix, to me. A good way to do the hand on this model. Agree with Firefox, we would like some pictures.

Have you any information on the timing belt ? Did you check the differents levels ? Suspensions are easy to change on these cars. When done, you will see the difference. Engine mounts are to watch also.

Manov

[239v70]

Hey guys, just wanted to say sorry that im not very active, but when i find time ill add some photos. Just a little information before i do that though, the paint is kinda rough, its a sort of silver metallic color i'm not exactly sure, but nevertheless how you see the car is how i bought it, and its definetly going to be repainted some time soon, that'll all happen after i do the suspension though. Id like to put wheels on it too but that leaves with the question of what size wheels i can fit? Thank you!

[scot850]

The color code for the paint is on the Vin # plate on the LH inner fender by the battery. It is on the RHS of the plate and usually has a 4XX-XX number. I think there may ave been silver colors over the years of the P80 cars. I believe one was 419-XX

Good luck and welcome to MVS.

Neil.

[foggydogg]

Do the driveablity and safety/maintenance things first; rear shocks are easiest and pretty straightforward, unless you find lots of rust on the fasteners, then go slow. Patience is the trick. Front shocks are strut mounted, so unless you buy the complete unit - a bit pricey - there are spring compressors needed to replace the shocks, and some wear parts on top.
The 5 speed manual out of a P80 will bolt up, again takes a fair amount of time but is done regularly. It's best if you have access to the whole donor car, lots of bits and pieces.
Volvo wheels have different backspace and offset than most other cars, it would be best to stick with something in the family.
Here's the wheel thread,
viewtopic.php?t=96065

Get yourself a decent scan tool/OBD II reader, and keep plugging away, we're all in this together.

[239v70]

Thank you for that thread of wheels, very helpful to me and it looks like there’s quite a few options. I haven’t been able to fully look under the car but just peeking under it doesn’t seem to have rust, if it does it’s most likely just surface rust. If I were to do suspension I would mostly do the whole nine yards, I scrape going over bumps where I should easily clear, and that’s something I definitely want to avoid. Along with that I 100% want to manual swap it, that’s probably a little further down the road though, but I’ll look into those 5 speeds and see if I can find a parts car at a junkyard somewhere. Thanks for the help!!