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96’ Volvo 960 Saloon Boosted?

960monkey

960monkey

New member
Joined
Jun 13, 2024
Hi all,

I’m tapping into the well of knowledge on this forum to see what I could do to turbo charge my 960. I want to turbo charge my stock 24v inline six.

I’m not trying to make any crazy power or drop a load of money but I know it’s possible with the right advice from you all. I’m not sure what size turbo to purchase or if I will need to install forged connecting rods to keep the engine stout enough to handle the additional pressure. I would be more than happy with 300hp on the stock engine if that’s possible.

Thanks for any information.
 
lmfao noooooo I thought I posted to a different group within the forum hoping to get feedback from some other people. Sorry to bother you guys with the same question lol
 
volvo240e+t said:
Decompression plate, H-beam conrods, shim the cylinders and adjust the piston ring gap.
Then you can push this engine.
Click to expand...
These words came straight from a mythical Volvo wizard, thank you.

Would you have any recommendations on where I can get the right sized rods from and which decompression plate to get as well? If not I understand and I’ll research what I can on what you suggested.
 
Do you live somewhere that you aren't allowed to swap a different block in?
Better than using a "decompression plate" that doesn't exist (what is this, a Volkswagen forum?), is using a 1999 S80 B6284T block and pistons with your 960 head and intake manifold. I say the 99 engine because the 960 accessories then bolt up. 2000 and up you need to use the T6 accessories which is a pain. You will then have the nice thick cylinders, proper pistons. The stock rods should do around 400hp without much concern. If you want to do rods, get the 139.5mm rods from whoever you want to get rods from. I run the Maxpeedingrods ones in my T6 swapped 760.
The bigger issue is tuning it. Vast tuning says they can tune these ecus, though we put a T6 block in my brother's 1996 car and turboed it and vast has sent 2 ecus that don't work. That's a work in progress, I suppose. He is just driving it on the stock ecu at 5psi with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and some bigger injectors. It doesn't knock or go lean, but it's not making a ton of power either.
We welded 2 5cyl "R" (2.5t) exhaust manifolds together to make a 6 cyl manifold.
 
I am putting a engine together using the 2.5 bottom end and the 3ltr head to reduce the compression. While the head is off shim the block. Turbo I have a little 19t to use and only plan on running low boost. getting the ECU sorted is the big issue, I wanted to get the original re mapped but part of me thinks I would be best to just go stand alone from the get go
 
244tiCanuck said:
Do you live somewhere that you aren't allowed to swap a different block in?
Better than using a "decompression plate" that doesn't exist (what is this, a Volkswagen forum?), is using a 1999 S80 B6284T block and pistons with your 960 head and intake manifold. I say the 99 engine because the 960 accessories then bolt up. 2000 and up you need to use the T6 accessories which is a pain. You will then have the nice thick cylinders, proper pistons. The stock rods should do around 400hp without much concern. If you want to do rods, get the 139.5mm rods from whoever you want to get rods from. I run the Maxpeedingrods ones in my T6 swapped 760.
The bigger issue is tuning it. Vast tuning says they can tune these ecus, though we put a T6 block in my brother's 1996 car and turboed it and vast has sent 2 ecus that don't work. That's a work in progress, I suppose. He is just driving it on the stock ecu at 5psi with an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and some bigger injectors. It doesn't knock or go lean, but it's not making a ton of power either.
We welded 2 5cyl "R" (2.5t) exhaust manifolds together to make a 6 cyl manifold.
Click to expand...
Canuck thank you again for sharing your extensive knowledge on this engine. I remember your response to my last thread and the s80 bottom end swap. Do you know of anyway to strengthen the existing I6 block enough to run new connecting rods and a small turbo or is that a ludicrous thought. I’ve seen another guy shimming the piston walls on this engine but have no idea how effective that is and I also know of people pouring epoxy into baffles in the B230 engines.

Maybe it’s a novice assumption that 300-350hp is possible without a lower end s80 swap but I’m hopeful that it is. I know the biggest issue is a reliable tune being available or not. You’ve got the knowledge on this so I humbly ask for you help
 
300 to 350 at the crank might be fine, just that the 960 3.0 wasn't known for being a strong block even at stock power levels. It also has quite high compression. You could use XC90 T6 rods and pistons to drop the compression and get a more favorable rod/stroke ratio, but at that point, just throw an S80 bottom end in if you're going to all the effort. 2.8 S80 engines are a dime a dozen. They don't break down, the cars they came in would scatter the transmission at a young age, and nobody wants to put a new transmission in. There's no demand for those engines, and a good supply. It's easier to find one of those in very good condition than it is to find a turbo redblock that doesn't need to be bored 0.030 over to have round cylinders again.
 
244tiCanuck said:
300 to 350 at the crank might be fine, just that the 960 3.0 wasn't known for being a strong block even at stock power levels. It also has quite high compression. You could use XC90 T6 rods and pistons to drop the compression and get a more favorable rod/stroke ratio, but at that point, just throw an S80 bottom end in if you're going to all the effort. 2.8 S80 engines are a dime a dozen. They don't break down, the cars they came in would scatter the transmission at a young age, and nobody wants to put a new transmission in. There's no demand for those engines, and a good supply. It's easier to find one of those in very good condition than it is to find a turbo redblock that doesn't need to be bored 0.030 over to have round cylinders again.
Click to expand...
I actually have a t6 bottom end in my warehouse right now. Please someone take it
 
244tiCanuck said:
300 to 350 at the crank might be fine, just that the 960 3.0 wasn't known for being a strong block even at stock power levels. It also has quite high compression. You could use XC90 T6 rods and pistons to drop the compression and get a more favorable rod/stroke ratio, but at that point, just throw an S80 bottom end in if you're going to all the effort. 2.8 S80 engines are a dime a dozen. They don't break down, the cars they came in would scatter the transmission at a young age, and nobody wants to put a new transmission in. There's no demand for those engines, and a good supply. It's easier to find one of those in very good condition than it is to find a turbo redblock that doesn't need to be bored 0.030 over to have round cylinders again.
Click to expand...
Sounds like that’s the only choice I have to make the reliable power I want. Do you have a suggestion for where to find a good S80 bottom end or should I hunt through the salvage yards?
 
960monkey said:
Sounds like that’s the only choice I have to make the reliable power I want. Do you have a suggestion for where to find a good S80 bottom end or should I hunt through the salvage yards?
Click to expand...
Depends where you are. If you're in USA/Canada/Mexico, car-part.com is a good source.
 
Car-parts.com doesn't have a search category for the 99 S80. Did that same drivetrain exist under another platform in 99?
 
It did not. The MY99 S80 was the first year of the P2 platform and that TT inline 6 cylinder engine. The S80 was the only model produced on the P2 platform until MY2001 when the S60/V70 were introduced and the XC90 in MY2022. The 99/00 Volvo models (S/V40 and S/V/C/XC70) were all 4 or 5 cylinder whiteblocks, nothing with a T6.
 
DET17 said:
Car-parts.com doesn't have a search category for the 99 S80. Did that same drivetrain exist under another platform in 99?
Click to expand...
car-part.com, not car-parts.com
Search 1999 Volvo 80 series engine, b6284 engine. They don't list S80, they list it as Volvo 80 Series.
I say 1999 because the 960 accessories mount to that block the easiest (have to drill and tap a couple bosses). The 2000 and up engines, you have to use T6 accessories. Still doable, that's what my car has, but I needed to get new AC lines made.
 
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