The red 1986 745 build

[Swedbrick]

Fixed again

So, given the car had to be in winter storage, I waited for some ideal conditions for reassembly and got going

Got the head cleaned up, the pistons cleaned up and it all ready for the head with a fresh Elring gasket with the new red water seals

Put the head on, got it up to temperature and retorqued the head bolts without loosening this time. Hopefully this setup will hold until I go 16vT eventually, given I'm not ready to pull and machine the block yet

Assuming this bad boy doesn't lift it before then

Filter setup needs some rework given it's rich and reading redblockpowered's post, it should get some length. Not sure where to get the 15-30cm of straight section put however, but that is a problem for March me.

Runs good though, exited to get the 3 inch exhaust installed and boost up. I almost forgot how much fun this thing is to drive.

 

[lookforjoe]

Since my brother gave me a cool stock pcv to catch can adapter, I proceeded to slowly cobble the bits together to move onwards to this improved layout.
I re-routed the hoses to basically be what I had on the hold setup, plumbing the front can into the rear one and straight to the turbo inlet.

]

I learned the hard way many years ago that Catch Can I/O ports need to be same or larger than stock - so 14mm ID. Your fittings look undersized.

Also catch cans need to be baffled. If you look at a cross section of any Volvo breather box the crankcase vents into one section, where it hits a 'wall' - that separates the oil from the vapor. The vacuum draw acts on the top of the baffle to prevent drawing oil particles with the vapor.

If you used empty cans, discard them & fabricate/ buy baffled cans with I/O 14mm ID port fittings.

I can't find any of my old drawings that show the cross section of baffled cans. I needed an elaborate system on my old V70

 

[Swedbrick]

The cans are generic aliexpress setups, so a small baffle and a bronze ball filter on the output. The fittings are probably smaller than 14mm, however the two catch cans are in parallel, so putting the outlets in parallel as well might work. Mind you the ring gap is currently 1mm, so it needs a rebuild to work properly:')

 

[Swedbrick]

So I got some things to fix my piston to wall clearance issues

 

[redblockpowered]

OH

 

[Swedbrick]

Given I was still running the original volvo turbo plugs I did some maintenance and got them replaced by the wonder plug

The intake also got some revision, adding some straight tube on both ends of the 012 MAF to sort out my low rpm issues. The new lathe came in handy for getting the tubes cleaned up.

Got around to cleaning up the 16V parts I got, RSI rods and pistons, a good head and a damaged head that will need some work

Also made one of these 016's in a chinese 012 MAF alternatives for a friend, worked better than expected, so good to know I have a backup option

The waterpump seal (oe volvo mind you) pushed out again, I really need a underdrive pulley. Got it sorted, but for some reason I keep ordering the right part and getting the b20 seal, so I made my own.

The car got selected for a stand at Volvo Treffen Best, so I finally addressed the slight surface rust that was appearing through the primer for the repaired rear.

Next week I'll run in the lowest class of Time Attack with this car at Assen TT circuit, given the 360 is not ready yet. So also took a look at the alignment, and set it to 1mm toe in. Somehow I ended up at 8mm toe in, rapidly wearing my front tyres, at least I don't have to worry about destroying them on track now. Hopefully it does well, should be interesting to see how it compares to cup cars

 

[Swedbrick]

Had a great day yesterday at JapFest.

Missed the initial Time attack tracktime session due to being stuck driving into the event, luckily I got put into another session at the end of the day. So I had quite some time to explore:

Brought one of the Time attack guys a turbo to save his car, unfortunately his engine was already cooked, so he came in after a lap. Saw some really quick cars and got some inspiration for the 360 however. Fastest lap of the day came in at 1:55.

By the end of the day my session was up, there was a lot of traffic, so didn't get a clean lap in. However the brakes are awesome and I managed to easily keep up with an rx8, so I guess my estimate of 240hp should pretty close. Some dangerous moves by the GTR that was there however, this is why I prefer the club/tracktime sessions. Rx8 battle at 8:00 for reference

 

[Swedbrick]

Installed the V-cam at last, pulls right to redline as it should, comes on a bit later than the T but way harder and just keeps going. Currently at ~11.0 AFR's with the 18T at 12psi, so pretty content, also slightly lopey idle nice. Should be fun when I get around to the 3inch JT system, also need to edit the rev limiter to be higher.

As part of a little sidetrack I'm putting a 13T on the car and downgrading a bit next week to test the load extended stage 1.5 tune on the dyno. I'll go back to a 13T (w conical 7cm3), the V-cam, the 016 MAF and a set of 367cc blue 850 injectors (sold the oem 804's, close enough to 337cc). Expecting to make around 200whp and will be testing at various boost levels as I did for the 13c to generate some data.

The time attack car will receive the 18T for now with a straight 7cm housing I scored with the 13T. It will get a 3 inch system and the supporting mods from the red car to be able to run it for the last session of the year (if I get it done in time). I'll also throw the RSI stage 3 cam and the double valve springs left over from the head rebuild at it, that should make for a fun combination.

 

[Jack leg]

Installed the V-cam at last, pulls right to redline as it should, comes on a bit later than the T but way harder and just keeps going. Currently at ~11.0 AFR's with the 18T at 12psi, so pretty content, also slightly lopey idle nice. Should be fun when I get around to the 3inch JT system, also need to edit the rev limiter to be higher.

As part of a little sidetrack I'm putting a 13T on the car and downgrading a bit next week to test the load extended stage 1.5 tune on the dyno. I'll go back to a 13T (w conical 7cm3), the V-cam, the 016 MAF and a set of 367cc blue 850 injectors (sold the oem 804's, close enough to 337cc). Expecting to make around 200whp and will be testing at various boost levels as I did for the 13c to generate some data.

The time attack car will receive the 18T for now with a straight 7cm housing I scored with the 13T. It will get a 3 inch system and the supporting mods from the red car to be able to run it for the last session of the year (if I get it done in time). I'll also throw the RSI stage 3 cam and the double valve springs left over from the head rebuild at it, that should make for a fun combination.

I had a V cam in my old 9 wagon. I had the same experience as you. I ended up advancing the cam 4 degrees and it made an even better improvement. I had a similar setup as you.

 

[Swedbrick]

I had a V cam in my old 9 wagon. I had the same experience as you. I ended up advancing the cam 4 degrees and it made an even better improvement. I had a similar setup as you.

I don't have a adjustable pulley currently, but that might be something for the future. Advancing would bring the torque down in the RPM correct?

 

[Jack leg]

Correct, and you can dial in where you like it the best. STS Machining still has their adjustable cam gears for sale. I'm not an STS employee nor am I getting paid to say this haha. Everything I've bought of theirs has been excellent.

I also had the JT system a few years ago. It was awesome for a bit in system. But, it looks like you can weld. Not sure how much tubing and the bits and bobs are over there but you probably can make a really nice exhaust system yourself for a lot less money. I built mine with v-band clamps and made it in 3 sections for easy removal.

 

[Swedbrick]

Correct, and you can dial in where you like it the best. STS Machining still has their adjustable cam gears for sale. I'm not an STS employee nor am I getting paid to say this haha. Everything I've bought of theirs has been excellent.

I also had the JT system a few years ago. It was awesome for a bit in system. But, it looks like you can weld. Not sure how much tubing and the bits and bobs are over there but you probably can make a really nice exhaust system yourself for a lot less money. I built mine with v-band clamps and made it in 3 sections for easy removal.

Yeah I did the math on the parts to weld it up, those were more expensive suprisingly. My brother decided to change direction with his exhaust however, so I might get some discounted parts to cobble something together. I'll take a look at the sts gears, thanks!

 

[Jack leg]

Dang, that sucks that the exhaust is cheaper to buy than build yourself. It's a beautiful car though! I'm gonna keep following.

 

[Swedbrick]

Dyno'd the car with a 13T @ 1.0 bar of boost with the V-cam, also asked the dyno guy, run is with estimated driveline losses subtracted from a rolldown on the dyno. It was still knocking a bit on the fast spool, so there would probably be 50Nm more in it, but it went away by the time peak power was achieved.

To get prepped I got the V-cam installed.

Added a boost controller, hated how much it spiked, so decided to just go back to setting the boost with the actuator spring.

Clocked the 13T for RWD and added a 1.0 bar actuator I had laying around, given I decided to keep the kinugawa with the 18T on the shelve.

On the car with the conical 7cm housing and stock exhaust with a decatted I ran with.

Found some things that were concerning, made sure to loosen and retighten the center bearing, hopefully the new one lasts. I suspect I might have forgotten to do that when I pulled the gearbox due to the bolt that backed out of my rear main seal retaining plate.

Also made this hole when investigating a 'slight' bit of rust, patched that with a plate for now. I'll focus the welding on the 360 project for a now and will probably deal with it just before winter storage. It will require pulling the carpet which will probably reveal some other things grr.

 

[Swedbrick]

Competed in elandrun this weekend, managed a third in class on street tires. Loads of front end push, but had a blast!

 

[Chilm]

Dyno'd the car with a 13T @ 1.0 bar of boost with the V-cam, also asked the dyno guy, run is with estimated driveline losses subtracted from a rolldown on the dyno. It was still knocking a bit on the fast spool, so there would probably be 50Nm more in it, but it went away by the time peak power was achieved.


To get prepped I got the V-cam installed.


Added a boost controller, hated how much it spiked, so decided to just go back to setting the boost with the actuator spring.

Clocked the 13T for RWD and added a 1.0 bar actuator I had laying around, given I decided to keep the kinugawa with the 18T on the shelve.


On the car with the conical 7cm housing and stock exhaust with a decatted I ran with.


Found some things that were concerning, made sure to loosen and retighten the center bearing, hopefully the new one lasts. I suspect I might have forgotten to do that when I pulled the gearbox due to the bolt that backed out of my rear main seal retaining plate.


Also made this hole when investigating a 'slight' bit of rust, patched that with a plate for now. I'll focus the welding on the 360 project for a now and will probably deal with it just before winter storage. It will require pulling the carpet which will probably reveal some other things grr.

Hi Swedbrick,

concerning the way you mounted your boost controller, I think that when you shorten the lines (as short as possible) the spiking will be gone.

Cheers
Chilm.

 

[Swedbrick]

Could be, a proper electronic boost controller would probably be the future move, although I'm okay with the current 1 bar actuator