The 3 Day Swap, from '81 Volvo Wagon to Tire Slaying Daily
10-11-2013, 01:27 PM
#62
Small update from last night in the garage. Got the routing of the harness under the dash finalized, mounted the fuse panel, ran the wiring for the fuel pump. Ran out of steam early and called it a night at 1:00am. The sleep deprivation is killing my motivation. I am plain exhausted and having trouble focusing at work. I am going to try and rally tonight and just grind until it is finished. The list is super short, just little things here and there, fresh fluids and it should be ready to start. I am going to try and video the first start and will get some running footage tomorrow during the day.
10-13-2013, 10:39 PM
#64
Sorry for neglecting the thread, I have been quite busy.
It STARTS, RUNS, and DRIVES!!!!!
Got is started Saturday after realizing I had made a mistake with the fuel pump wiring. I can't thank the guys at PSI conversions enough. They really made the swap simple with the great instructions and hardware and wiring that just plain works.
Still need to sort out the factory cluster. The tach kinda works, but no fuel, coolant temp, oil pressure and voltage. I need to go back and double check the wiring and figure out what the cluster is looking for.
There are a few small items on the car that need to be addressed. The drive shaft rubs in one tiny spot, but only when you are WOT. The engine needs to be spaced up 1/8" to clear the cross member a bit more.
Otherwise it runs and drives great. Put a bunch of miles on it this evening without a hitch. I am going to address the small items tomorrow night and will take a bunch of pics.
So it took more than 3 days, but to swap the car in a week to me is still impressive. I had some good help along the way. Looking forward to taking my son and wife for a ride in the family wagon.
It STARTS, RUNS, and DRIVES!!!!!
Got is started Saturday after realizing I had made a mistake with the fuel pump wiring. I can't thank the guys at PSI conversions enough. They really made the swap simple with the great instructions and hardware and wiring that just plain works.
Still need to sort out the factory cluster. The tach kinda works, but no fuel, coolant temp, oil pressure and voltage. I need to go back and double check the wiring and figure out what the cluster is looking for.
There are a few small items on the car that need to be addressed. The drive shaft rubs in one tiny spot, but only when you are WOT. The engine needs to be spaced up 1/8" to clear the cross member a bit more.
Otherwise it runs and drives great. Put a bunch of miles on it this evening without a hitch. I am going to address the small items tomorrow night and will take a bunch of pics.
So it took more than 3 days, but to swap the car in a week to me is still impressive. I had some good help along the way. Looking forward to taking my son and wife for a ride in the family wagon.
10-14-2013, 12:43 PM
#68
Launching!
Very cool! I would route that intake elsewhere. I saw ridiculous temps in that location and it was pulling a significant amount of timing. But I know you have done all this in such a short time and will need more time to get the bugs out. Great project! Hooray for power wagons 
10-14-2013, 01:31 PM
#69
Staging Lane
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Enid, Oklahoma
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I'd say run the intake like the corvettes down into the grille!
But it looks like you may not be able to do so with the radiator and such right there.
best would be to move the battery to the back and make your own "airbox".
Killer build awesome to see someone do it in such a short amount of time.
But it looks like you may not be able to do so with the radiator and such right there.
best would be to move the battery to the back and make your own "airbox".
Killer build awesome to see someone do it in such a short amount of time.
10-14-2013, 02:02 PM
#70
The intake is the one thing I am really unhappy with. I was hoping to run it over to the pass side, but with the fan there, no other place to go but the driver's side. I also like having the battery in the factory location as well. I have a few ideas on how to route it all. I will be more concerned once there is a power steering pump in the way. I am already over the manual steering, this is my daily, so I want all of the creature comforts.
There is a bunch of room under the radiator support, thought about running it under there and up under the headlight but worry about rain. Charleston has more annual rainfall than Seattle. There are lakes on our roadways after 5 min of steady rain.
I think with a more creative upper radiator hose I will have more room. I might even try a factory GTO air box as the location would be ideal but the battery would need to be relocated. There is room in back behind the pass rear wheel, but then I have to deal with running cables to the back of the car.
I know which ever way I go it will be a compromise. Right now I need to track down a vacuum leak, fix an exhaust leak and clearance for the driveshaft.
There is a bunch of room under the radiator support, thought about running it under there and up under the headlight but worry about rain. Charleston has more annual rainfall than Seattle. There are lakes on our roadways after 5 min of steady rain.
I think with a more creative upper radiator hose I will have more room. I might even try a factory GTO air box as the location would be ideal but the battery would need to be relocated. There is room in back behind the pass rear wheel, but then I have to deal with running cables to the back of the car.
I know which ever way I go it will be a compromise. Right now I need to track down a vacuum leak, fix an exhaust leak and clearance for the driveshaft.
10-14-2013, 02:58 PM
#71
Staging Lane
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I can see what you mean about the radiator hose.
Is that just a coolant overflow tank, and a washer fluid reservoir?
Honestly I know it's a pain but I think the battery relocation is your best bet.
Plus it will clean up the bay even more than it is!
Is that just a coolant overflow tank, and a washer fluid reservoir?
Honestly I know it's a pain but I think the battery relocation is your best bet.
Plus it will clean up the bay even more than it is!
10-15-2013, 08:13 AM
#72
Quick update, driveshaft rubbing sorted, vacuum leak sorted, exhaust leak sorted, and more miles. This thing is like a train. Nothing but torque! I am used to little 4 cylinders and 4 cyl. turbo engines, so this is a whole new animal.
Walked away from an SRT8 Challenger, he wasn't too happy.
Have had a bunch of thumbs up from people.
Now I just need to tackle the cluster so I can actually see whats going on. Luckily I know the fans work, and it has not run hot so far. I don't like not knowing whats going on though. Also looking at the GPS for speed is a pain and I don't like it on the dash in my field of view. Hopefully I can spend some time this weekend sorting all the gauges and lights out.
Already looking forward, I need to put a cam in this thing and get some more power out of the little 5.3. Goal is 375whp N/A. Already have a 2.5" x piped' exhaust, hooker cast manifolds, LS1 intake and injectors, and a hot air intake. I am hopeful that a cam and a good tune can get me closer to 375whp.
Walked away from an SRT8 Challenger, he wasn't too happy.
Have had a bunch of thumbs up from people.
Now I just need to tackle the cluster so I can actually see whats going on. Luckily I know the fans work, and it has not run hot so far. I don't like not knowing whats going on though. Also looking at the GPS for speed is a pain and I don't like it on the dash in my field of view. Hopefully I can spend some time this weekend sorting all the gauges and lights out.
Already looking forward, I need to put a cam in this thing and get some more power out of the little 5.3. Goal is 375whp N/A. Already have a 2.5" x piped' exhaust, hooker cast manifolds, LS1 intake and injectors, and a hot air intake. I am hopeful that a cam and a good tune can get me closer to 375whp.
10-15-2013, 10:07 AM
#75
10-21-2013, 10:08 AM
#79
So, I feel like an idiot. Drove the car all week after installing new exhaust manifold gaskets, felt strong, but not nearly as fast as I had expected. Sunday I was looking into the gauges so I can actually have a tach and speedo. I figured I would scan for codes and see if anything popped up. Sure enough 5 codes. P300 for multiple misfires, and 2 codes each for the o2 sensors. I thought back to when I had pulled the exhaust to clearance more for the drive shaft. When it wen back on the car I said, "I will just plug those in from the top." Well, that never happened.
So I had gone through 2 tanks of gas in a week, granted I have had a bit of a heavy foot, but that seemed a bit excessive. I plugged in the o2's last night but didn't feel like a test drive, Walking Dead was coming on and there was homemade chicken pot pie waiting for me. On my way to work this morning, as soon as I pulled onto the highway I almost parked the wagon in the back of a Civic! Felt like I had another 50whp or more. This thing is SILLY. Pulls hard, really hard and feels a bunch faster than it did all week now that it isn't dumping fuel to keep things alive. This is what I had expected. 1st gear is pointless, 2nd hooks from a roll, kind of, but if you shift hard from 1st to 2nd, forget about traction. It even barked going into 5 running up a bridge on my commute. I can only imagine what a cam will do to this thing.
I had a huge smile on my face all the way to work.
Weather was crappy for pics all weekend, I will get a video and some shots tonight if I have some time and daylight.
So I had gone through 2 tanks of gas in a week, granted I have had a bit of a heavy foot, but that seemed a bit excessive. I plugged in the o2's last night but didn't feel like a test drive, Walking Dead was coming on and there was homemade chicken pot pie waiting for me. On my way to work this morning, as soon as I pulled onto the highway I almost parked the wagon in the back of a Civic! Felt like I had another 50whp or more. This thing is SILLY. Pulls hard, really hard and feels a bunch faster than it did all week now that it isn't dumping fuel to keep things alive. This is what I had expected. 1st gear is pointless, 2nd hooks from a roll, kind of, but if you shift hard from 1st to 2nd, forget about traction. It even barked going into 5 running up a bridge on my commute. I can only imagine what a cam will do to this thing.
I had a huge smile on my face all the way to work.
Weather was crappy for pics all weekend, I will get a video and some shots tonight if I have some time and daylight.
