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Canadian 1984 244 DL B21A/B6304 project log.

Broke4speed said:
LQ4 time! :)

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Oh boy. I swear, at this rate, next time I check this thread you'll be stuffing a Vortec 8100 in there. Always fun to see what you've got cooking :lol:
 
We have had a setback! As it turns out, the pressure plate was grinding away on the hydraulic TOB fittings!

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If the Howe Racing TOB had shorter standoffs this would not be an issue. Of COURSE they don't offer any others, and it's some sort of straight thread with an O-ring groove cut in a non-standard place, so I can't even find a DIY solution. They sell a 1/8 spacer that goes between the bearing and the housing, and it's cheap...but it would be essentially an expensive washer shipped across the border if I ordered it, and I don't know if 1/8 is enough. I'm in the process of making my own but have some stuff coming from Amazon that might be a better solution.
 
Found a far more suitable TOB on Amazon's discount area. The RAM 78136 is a way better fit and requires far fewer shims...and it was $64 CAD! Apparently there was 'damage' because the condition was listed as 'good'...but it was perfect. The only thing is that I've had to buy a bunch of extra fittings because it's set up for 3AN and my build is all 4AN. Small potatoes though :).

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Just heard back from the machine shop...
The Sachs 1050 flywheel I bought was out of round AND unbalanced! The machinist was really surprised because he, like me, assumed a new part that's from a reputable manufacturer that's supposed to be neutral balanced would be...well...balanced. He said it would most definitely have caused my vibration issue. I can pick it up today and as soon as the new hydraulic lines come in I can start putting it all back together :).
 
All back together, except for some better exhaust downpipe gaskets which shoud show up today. The vibration is 100% gone now, and I'm extremely happy...except for the part of me that is mad that a SACHS part was so shitty. Lesson learned. With the rubber engine mounts I made, the cabin is absolutely shake-free and it feels like I'm revving a car that had an LS from the factory :). The new hydraulic throwout bearing has made the pedal throw even shorter, which I'm not really cool with, but it works...so...unless anyone has an idea what kind of master I could use to add throw, I'm stuck with this.
 
DROVE CAR, GREAT SUCCESS! :D
Finally...AGAIN...the swap is done and the car is driveable. There was a definite issue with using the truck LQ4 bin file in that it had a huge delay before PE kicked in, so I swapped in some camaro maps from the same OS and now everything is good. If it doesn't rain tomorrow...I'm going on a long shakedown drive :).
 
Took today to cut down some BNE coilover sleeves to 4" so I could install them on my stock strut housings, since they're absolutely mint and I don't need 7" of adjustability. Over the years I've collected a bunch of stuff with the intent of going coilover in front and I've finally done it. Some swap meet QA1 10"x 250lb springs for the LS with some chinabay spring tops that fit perfectly on the strut cartridges I'm using, and some BNE sleeves (now 4" tall). The end result is a MUCH better stance than the 1-coil cut IPDs I had in front, and a better spring rate for the slightly heavier engine.

Then I did a bit of playing with the tune and proceeded to go for a long drive to see how it all works. I'm pretty stoked, it's finally good to go.
 
Damn...didn't see the reply, sorry man :(.
I'm using a 3.73 and as 5th is an unfortunate .81. I'd LOVE to have a taller 5th, but I'm not going to put much effort into finding a new box just yet. The main hwys here are pinned to 100kph/62mph, so I end up cruising at 2400rpm which isn't BAD per-se...just a little harder on gas, lol.

I took it to work again today, and it ran great as always. I had the fuel feed line pop off RIGHT as I got home though...so I'm going to check those again. I sacrificed the OEM speedo and ran the wires into the GM PCM...and it worked! I've got a 48 tooth diff wheel and even without making any changes to the bin file I was seeing 31kph on the OBD readout when I was GPS-cruising at 80kph. I've mathed up the right numbers so we'll see what happens tomorrow night when I take it for a spin. If it works properly...I'm going to play with the aussie-spec PCM Lean Burn settings :).
 
So maybe someone out there can coraborate something I think I learned. I got the 48-tooth VSS signal from the rear diff to work with the GM PCM by setting the PPM in the PCM to 40500 and the tooth count to 48. Now I'm more used to KM so when I checked out what the PPKm would be...it came out to 25165. Call me crazy, but I seem to recall some of the ABS clusters were stamped with a number that was close to that (on a KM/H cluster, obviously). 195/70-r14 tires.

[edit]It's definitely sounding like I'm just catching on to something that is basic knowledge but I've never had a need to know about, lol. The PPM I'm using is 40500 but I bet if I set it to 40168 it'll be dead nuts accurate. 3.73 rear and, 48 tooth tone wheel on the diff, and close-to-stock size tires. I'm strangely stoked because I was putting too much thought into all this and it looks like Volvo just made my life easier :).
 
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So, long time no (picture) update. The car has been spectacular, and the VSS from the rear diff works perfectly with the GM PCM. I drove it for as long as I could, which wasn't much past the beginning of Oct due to how cold it started getting overnight. It's tough to de-fog a windshield without heat hooked up...which is DEFINITELY getting addressed next season. Today was the first real snowfall (complete with ice rain!) and the car is currently covered with snow and ice :(. It may have to stay outside all winter, which I'm not too happy about, but time will tell if I can address a few other things and put it away properly or not.
 
Broke4speed said:
So, long time no (picture) update. The car has been spectacular, and the VSS from the rear diff works perfectly with the GM PCM. I drove it for as long as I could, which wasn't much past the beginning of Oct due to how cold it started getting overnight. It's tough to de-fog a windshield without heat hooked up...which is DEFINITELY getting addressed next season. Today was the first real snowfall (complete with ice rain!) and the car is currently covered with snow and ice :(. It may have to stay outside all winter, which I'm not too happy about, but time will tell if I can address a few other things and put it away properly or not.
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You're always welcome to park it in my garage, but you may find that your 244 has been replaced with a 940 :lol:
 
After charging an absolutely flat battery it fired up right away. Gotta love stock PCM setups :). I drove it up and down the driveway a bit because I had to move the truck into a spot closer to the garage so I could weld a few things. It was 19*C today...the 5th of march...all the snow is gone...crazy stuff but it means I can drive the volvo again :).
 
OH HELL YEAH.
It's been months since I've driven it and I've even entertained the idea of selling or trading for some sort of pre-70s volvo over the winter...but after taking it for a spin yesterday, the silly fun noises put a hold on that for a bit :). It was warm enough yesterday to drive without freezing to death (no heat hooked up) so I ran it to the hardware store for fun
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Broke4speed said:
OH HELL YEAH.
It's been months since I've driven it and I've even entertained the idea of selling or trading for some sort of pre-70s volvo over the winter...but after taking it for a spin yesterday, the silly fun noises put a hold on that for a bit :). It was warm enough yesterday to drive without freezing to death (no heat hooked up) so I ran it to the hardware store for fun
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You'll regret selling it. All you have to do is keep it drivable and take it for the occasional rip and you'll appreciate the car again
 
smoothdurban said:
You'll regret selling it. All you have to do is keep it drivable and take it for the occasional rip and you'll appreciate the car again
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Yeah, please don't sell. That car has been an inspiration to other Ontario brickers, me included. Part of why I got into crappy old Volvos was seeing some of the earlier stages of this thread when you dropped a B6304 into it...
 
smoothdurban said:
You'll regret selling it. All you have to do is keep it drivable and take it for the occasional rip and you'll appreciate the car again
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I've never been one to have a 'forever' car, I like building stuff too much and I don't have unlimited funds...but after 2 minutes in this car yesterday all thoughts of selling to fund another volvo project left my head. It's simply giggle-inducing. I need to address the driver's seat position, heat, and possibly the stereo setup, so I've got some summer work to keep me busy :).

I'm not ruling out trading/selling for another volvo at some point, but the probability is definitely low at this moment, lol.
 
fatcatbestcat said:
Yeah, please don't sell. That car has been an inspiration to other Ontario brickers, me included. Part of why I got into crappy old Volvos was seeing some of the earlier stages of this thread when you dropped a B6304 into it...
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Dude, thank you for the compliment...and I'm sorry I contributed to your pain and suffering, lol.
 
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