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Pretty sure that exhaust will have to be reconfigured to fit. I'd want to explore what that change will do to emissions certification in SoCal before I made commitments I couldn't back away from.
I think I might need to consider my other favorite option, Mercedes 300 TD (W123), it is diesel and smog exempt! I guess. However, I will need front oil sump oil pan.
Now, may I ask you if you can talk to us about how do you go through the process of engine fitting and creating the brackets and the motor mounts? You do not necessarily need to mention measurements, just the principles and the soul of the process.
In CA (and most places) the Mercedes will no longer be smog exempt if you remove the diesel, I suspect....and the steering box/system on those cars makes swaps a bit of a challenge as I understand it. The 240 will be easier I believe.
In my case, I was using the same T5z transmission I had in the car with the previous engine -- which was a Ford 5.0L V8. So I attached the bell housing and transmission to the new LS3. Then I moved the engine/tranny into the engine bay and bolted the transmission to the crossmember just as it had been installed with the Ford 5.0. That positioned the engine. I made an adjustable engine mount (see pic) and that let me determine the height of the mounts.
As I've mentioned before -- I asked many of the same questions you are. Once I finally got started, I realized, I was just going to have to figure out the best way forward pretty much on my own. So while how I did it may help, at the end of the day, you're just going to have to jump in and figure it out. Once I made/installed the mounts and got things working, I had to slightly change the angle of engine/tranny by lowering the tranny mount a bit in order to optimize u-joint angles since I run a 1-piece driveshaft. Probably not an issue if you stick with the stock 2-piece.
I made a template out of paper and then created the mount pads out of 1/4" plate that bolt to the factory motormount holes in the front crossmember.
I mocked up the block plates out of 1/4" plywood. I cut up a rear upper torque arm from the rear suspension to use as the mount -- you can use a stock rubber bush or a poly bush -- and then attached a nut/bolt so I could adjust the height.
Once I had the height/location/angle determined for each side -- I cut and welded the mounts and added gussets.
My engine/tranny is offset 1/2" towards the passenger side (compared to the centerline between frame rails). That's to create a bit more clearance for the steering. Again - you may take a different approach depending on what oil pan and exhaust manifolds you choose.
Last edited by Michael Yount; Dec 15, 2017 at 10:46 AM.
One last thought -- I'm pretty sure for the E-rod package to be smog legal in where ever you are -- you can't alter the location of the factory cats. I'm VERY doubtful that the factory manifolds with the cats in the stock location will fit between the frame rails on the 240. I believe you'll have to relocate the cats to make it work -- so you're gonna wanna check about passing emissions where ever you are if you relocate the cats.
Hi Mike as you know I just took on the EROD challenge in my ranger to make it CA legal , on the Erod and hopefully I read this right the cat system can be cut and moved to fit but the first cat has to be within 16 inches of where the manifold exits(I know this because after spending endless hours cutting and welding to fit those things I decided to read the instructions and had to start over) also the instruction state some thing to effect you can use any factory LS exhaust manifold but no after market header ,I used a truck manifold on my passenger side. For fuel on mine I used the stock tank with a walbro340 intank pump.
I just got my emission test done just before I started so its given me a 2 year window to get it thru the BAR so mine isnt proven yet but im pretty confident it going to fly.
Also on mine the harness was a real PIA fitting it but the package has been running very good ,I have a typical check engine light on because I still need to do a crank sensor relearn thing,they supply a free GM coupon to handle that.
The biggest challenge and time consuming thing on my conversion was fitting those cats, I did build a staight pipe or no cat system and that was a breeze maybe 1/2 a day,actually running that now but graphed some single BBK single high flows to try to quiet it down.
Good stuff Jim! I figured there was some flexibility in getting the cats to fit. 16" limit on 1st cat from manifold(ANY factory LS). Anything on how far the 2nd converter can be from the first?
Good stuff Jim! I figured there was some flexibility in getting the cats to fit. 16" limit on 1st cat from manifold(ANY factory LS). Anything on how far the 2nd converter can be from the first?
G Atsma, Im not sure on that,I just put them as close as possible,mine aren't proven to pass the BAR visule yet,there not on the truck I can get a photo posted tomorrow of what I have..
OK, it all sounds pretty reasonable; mainly getting them to fit closely as possible to the OEM "plan". I think if BAR looks at it and sees it is pretty close to OEM, they will pass it. It's a referee call.
LOL -- there is nothing "reasonable" about emissions laws/testing in California.... "It's a referee call" = it's subjective, which means you can't predict it. That's a big part of the problem. Trying to figure it out is harder than Chinese arithmetic. Could be worse. Could be Europe....
First - I'd like to take the Volvo completely apart and build the car from the "inside-out". All that you see has been done a bit at a time -- and I'd really like to have it all apart to do it really nicely.
I have (maybe) one more car build in me besides that -- I used to race a RWD Toyota Corolla - 1974 TE27 powered by 2TC hemi. I'd like to build one of those (suspension, big brakes, welded unibody, 'mini' cage, etc.) for the street powered by a 306HP 3.5L Lexus/Toyota V6. Pics below of my old race car. Won the SWDiv championship in 1989 and 1991 in ITC.
BTW Jim - thanks for chiming in ---- yours is an E-rod example that I was hoping swapper could access through a separate thread asking E-rodders to chime in with their California experience.
Well, this post doesn't exactly hit the middle of the "LS1Tech" target, but maybe it'll give someone else an idea about how to mod something on their car. I've had this one for almost 20 years - and so projects are little refinements here and there.
The driver's seat is height adjustable -- there's a lever underneath the seat that you can pull to raise/lower the seat. Since I'm 6'3" - the seat sits all the way down and back. But I've always noticed that the passenger seat sits higher than the driver's side and that bugs me. Well, pulled the pass. seat the other day when I was investigating a GPS speedo solution ( pgs. 2&3 here - https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...version-2.html ). Noticed there that the passenger seat could be lowered - but bolts had to be removed and the frame moved down to other mounting holes that Volvo conveniently provided. Happy - now the passenger seat sits at the same height as mine. You can see the lower hole where the seat used to be mounted (lower hole = higher seat). The rear bolt was a bear -- had to deconstruct part of the seat for access.
The tranny has a B&M quicker ripper shifter. It always sat just a bit too far forward and too low for my liking. I didn't have to stretch -- but it didn't fall right to hand. I fashioned a piece to attach to the shifter that allowed me to move the shift **** back about an inch and up about 2 inches. Also used a rubber shock bushing/washer/nut combo on the shift handle to secure and seal the boot. And put a little heat to the shift handle and bent it to move the handle about 3/8" forward so it hits right smack in the center of the boot -- no boot binding when in 2nd and 4th gear - which it would do from time to time before.
Gotta love these projects where I spend hours and hours -- and no one but me can tell that anything's different......nerd.
$40-$50k estimate means 1) they don’t have experience with it and 2) they really don’t want to do it.
Originally Posted by G Atsma
$40-50,000 says, "Stay away from here, and me!"
A good shop will do it for far less.
We call that A**hole pricing. If we don't really want to do something, price it high enough to make it worth while if they happen to say yes. lol Kind of like Bodyshops would rather to quick in and out insurance work than full restos. It's not always better (income wise) for the shop to do a project.
Nothing interesting in the way of shows/cruise-ins this morning...so I left the house early in the Volvo, pre-traffic. Filled the tank - an around Charlotte fill - 99.7 miles/4.88 gallons = 20.4 mpg. Drove .2 mile to I-485 loop and proceeded to make a lap around Charlotte. Cruise on 62-67 mph. About 75F. Came back to the same station, same pump. 67.9 miles on 2.44 gallons (the 2nd "click") = 27.8 mpg...not too shabby.
I've seen your posts, but never stumbled on your build thread. Fantastically done car! It has a look and feel that's perfectly vintage/factory, but thoroughly upgraded and modernized under the skin. Clean clean clean. Bravo!
I see you have some history racing (really cool Celica btw)... do you have plans for anything like that in the Volvo?
Thx! Corolla, not Celica. 😉 No plans to race Volvo. I’m old and got all that out of my system earlier in life. Besides - take to track = break it mechanically or cosmetically, just a matter of time.
I was reading earlier in the thread you were thinking about building the car (or perhaps some other/new car) from the inside out. If not for racing, what kind of build do you have in mind?
I’d like to take the Volvo completely apart and re-do it — “from the inside out”. Street toy. No interest in racing it. When I feel the need for “track” speed, I write a check and tear up somebody else's car at a school. I raced SCCA late 80’s, early 90’s - won a couple of division championships. No more interest in that. And drag racing doesn’t interest me as a driver - like to watch though.
"It's a referee call" = it's subjective, which means you can't predict it. That's a big part of the problem. Trying to figure it out is harder than Chinese arithmetic. Could be worse. Could be Europe.... 
