• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Turbobricknick's turbobrick

studmuffed

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Location
Va
Hey all, I am new to project threads but I thought I should make one for my pride and joy. It's a 1992 Volvo 240 sedan purchased when I was 17 for $150. It was the first car I bought with my own money, so it's very close to my heart. I spent years wrenching on it until I had a nasty crash when I slid into a ditch. I made the mistake of doing spirited driving in the winter and there was a slick corner hiding when I got into a shady section of the road. The front end is pretty messed up, but I am determined to fix her!

I'll start by recapping what I've done so far and once I'm all caught up I'll start talking about the future.

G1M1lMbl.jpg
 
From the beginning, here is my brick when I got it. It was sitting for a few weeks and the owner just wanted to get rid of it since it wasn't running. Since I had no way to get it home, I got a AAA membership and had it towed about an hour back, costing more than the car itself.

PaDA98cl.jpg
 
My boss at work was nice enough to let me borrow their shop, so I took it there and pulled the high mileage engine and auto trans. My plan was to do a refresh and M47 swap that a friend (Mudbutt) gave to me.

EmIlS28l.jpg
 
I got the block hot tanked, honed, and new intermediate shaft bearing installed at a local machine shop, and picked it up in a 245 that I bought to be my pickup truck.

sZUSgXjl.jpg
 
After lots of doubt and confusion, I finally got the refreshed engine put back in along with the M47 swap! I did all of the seals, the piston rings, crank bearings, and cleaned the pistons. I also changed the trans oil but I put in a used clutch which I found out on my test drive had some oil spilled on it. I went back to the shop, pulled the trans back off, swapped a new autozone clutch in and it worked great. Success!

In order to shed some wait, I also removed the entire AC system and power steering.

0yb4E4Vl.jpg
 
Last edited:
At this point, I just decided to enjoy the car for a little. It was much peppier with the auto diff gearing, so it was fun to zip around town even with only 100hp. I also did some other small mods like IPD sway bars, cut springs, and an electric fan to take some load off the engine. Fast forward about a year, in January 2020, I decided to start the turbo build. During my refresh, I cut out a hole with a holesaw to install a drain port in the factory B230ft location. This meant that I could install the turbo kit in my gravel driveway rather than a shop.

I decided that I was going to go with a 13c turbo, an NPR intercooler, and stock 940 turbo chippable ECU and EZK.

Z0XC959l.jpg
 
Last edited:
The turbo absolutely transformed the car! I had some wastegate issues for a while, but make a custom bracket in order to keep the boost stable. I was still having some issues controlling boost so I was running about 14lbs, but that didn't really bother me for obvious reasons. While trying to track down the source of my variable boost issues, I did a compressor bypass valve delete. This didn't fix the problem, but I liked the STU STU noises and responsiveness so much that I decided to keep the blockoff plate on.

Since I only had an open downpipe, I had a local exhaust shop make me a full 3" turboback exhaust. I was running a single glasspack with a side exit, no cats. The reason I decided to not install cats is because my city is quite small and doesn't have smog issues, which is the main reason cats are installed.

The new exhaust system allowed for a great raspy sound and some awesome fireballs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rE2Jah5vlU&t=9s&ab_channel=NickGriffin
 
How did you get a holesaw threw the block? Must have taken years

Otherwise congrats on the +t, ziptied efan? I approve
 
After some abuse, the clutch was getting very unhappy. It used to only slip in fourth gear but gradually got worse until it was slipping in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. I decided that a T5 swap was the only logical option, so I started sourcing parts.

I also decided that I wanted some more grip and some cool wheels, so I bought some BMW Style 42s from a friend with some 215/45/17 sport tires mounted on them. I also decided to run some spacers to get the fitment right. I went for some ebay specials with 25mm spacers rear and 20mm front. There was simply no way that the wheels were going to fit without rolling, so I bought a fender roller and rolled the fronts and rears. The rear fenders would still rub when the trunk was loaded or when going over big bumps, but it wasn't bad enough to make me worry.

q7frG59l.jpg
 
How did you get a holesaw threw the block? Must have taken years

Otherwise congrats on the +t, ziptied efan? I approve

Yeah, it took forever. Lots and lots of patience. Thanks for the congrats! And yes, ziptied efan. Zipties run the world :lol:
 
With a pretty high boost number around 15lbs, my stock ECUs were a little unhappy. They liked to go lean at inconvenient times so I decided that an ECU mod was next on the list. I thought about chips, but I wanted this build to be all out, so I decided to go for a standalone. Microsquirt was the obvious choice for me since it had good features and it was cheap. I decided that I was going to keep the dizzy for now and just run it the same way the LH2.4 ran the engine with the stock crank sensor.

QneBakC.png


Also I forgot to mention, I ended up having to replace the oil pump seals three times before they stopped failing and I think it was due to a combination of cheap seals and incorrect installation
 
It took me a while to get the tuning right, but eventually I was confident enough to drive Turbobrick on long road trips with no issues. I also set up my E fan to only come on when the engine got above a certain temp so it wouldn't run on the highway unless it was super hot out. I cleaned up the wiring (no pics unfortunately) and just enjoyed the car for a while, doing spirited driving and going to some car meets. I was so excited to get the T5 swap done and I ordered an IPD turbo cam to help make the power band a bit better too, but then

I MESSED UP

7iPoIndl.jpg


I was driving some of my favorite roads while my friend was in his BMW Z3. It was a warm winter day, but it had been cold and snowy a few days before. I came into a hairpin going fast, but I still thought I had plenty of time to break. This specific hairpin was in the woods though, so the sun hadn't reached it. Additionally, there was a bunch of gravel lining the best line. When it was time to slow down, I hit my brakes and they locked up instantly. There was nothing I could do at that point. I started to approach the ditch and slowed down significantly, but I was still going fast enough to continue right down into it. I hit the bottom and was so mad at myself. Years of hard work all down the drain
 
I called a tow truck and got it pulled out and taken to a local body shop for an inspection. They took their time, but eventually sent me a quote with the title "NOT REPAIRABLE." I was devastated. I took my time to process that information, and looked over the photos. There was some frame damage where the car hit the creek bed and the control arm was all mangled up. I wanted to quit everything, right there and then, but through my instagram page, the volvo community kept me going. One of my instagram friends offered to sell me one of his projects, a 1988 245. Thinking that I was going to strip Turbobrick and scrap it, I bought it from him for $1000 and started planning.

About a month later, I had a tow truck pick up Turbobrick from the body shop and take it to my Dad's farm, where I stored it in a barn. At this point, I saw a sliver of hope. I knew the damage was bad, but why should I quit? This thing is my baby, after all. Right then and there I decided that I was going to keep it until I could get it back on the road again. Worst case scenario I'll just wait until I have the money for a tube front end, right?

I decided to try to pull the bumper and inspect the frame rails more thoroughly, but I forgot my impact wrench and some other vital tools. The sun was setting and I needed to get back to my hometown, so I took some pictures and left.

iA04Du3l.png

eT2okxfl.jpg
 
Once I got home, I called up some other auto body shops and found one willing to take a look at the frame and put it on a machine if I get the bumper pulled off. I'm waiting to save up some money right now, but next time I go see it, I plan to bring a new control arm and the right tools to pull the bumper off fully. At that point, I'll see how bad the suspension damage is and if the frame damage is making it undrivable

I won't give up easily!
 
Are you planning to have the frame pulled and do the rest yourself with the parts car?

Good luck! I hope you can save it.

Yup, that's the plan! As soon as I figure out if the frame is pullable, I'll start tracking down the parts or a donor parts car that I can scoop up for cheap
 
After a lot of thinking, I decided to get a new shell. I am keeping the old one and plan to revive it, but going to use a new shell for now. The new turbobrick is also a 92 240 sedan. I purchased it in pretty rough shape May of 2021. That summer, I had access to a garage space for a week. I spent that time swapping the engine and mating the donor engine to a T5 trans. I went with the yoshifab stage 2 clutch kit.

ngVQ5Kgl.jpg

3jCjoeHl.jpg

y7TIWG6l.jpg
 
It took a lot of long nights, but I ended up getting it done and I owned a turbo 240 once again. I spent the following months ironing out some kinks including switching from the mustang 3.5" driveshaft to a coleman racing 3" aluminum shaft. I also put my BMW style 42s and cut a few coils from the front springs. My plan for this car was a fun, reliable daily.

zYve13Ul.jpg


This past weekend, I had an opportunity to drive on the track at Virginia International Raceway during Hyperfest. I decided to get some Koni yellow shocks and EBC yellowstuff brake pads for the front. Being the idiot I am, I put all of this stuff off until I got to the racetrack, which meant I had to get it track ready in 2 days.

VopkfRll.jpg

CqwgoNvl.jpg


and now I've caught the racing bug, so this car will be a full on track car as soon as I can get the money for it :rofl:
 
Back
Top