166 replies to this topic

[volvoluvin]

(xposting from TB's)

I am now the proud owner of a Yellow...I feel like such a Volvo nerd owning one...and I love it.

I've decided to start a "catch all" thread for anything and everything I do to this car. In the past, I've started multiple threads to talk about upgrades/issues etc...but then when I go back to look at history etc, it's a bit of a pain. This way should allow me to share stuff, and get insight while capturing it all in one spot. More like a blog...

Anyway, on with how I got here, it's pretty simple, crashed my beautiful Black T5-R that I'd put a fair bit of coin and aftermarket into. That very same week, a yellow popped up on the local CL...what are the chances!? So I jumped on it...and as of this morning, October 3rd, 2009, it's mine. (Fitting my birthday is next weekend as well....)

Plans for this thing are pretty simple, take all the upgrades and "better condition" parts from my Black salvage, and swap them into the yellow. This yellow is starting out in better condition than my black one was, not by much, but just enough. The previous owner just finished a near complete "stage 0" to the car as well, timing belt, water pump etc... It's going to be fantastic to have a T5-R as a donor car for all the little bits as well.
Just for giggles, I'll put the list down of what I think I will be swapping based on my last year of work on the black, and then I can look back and see what how close it ends up being.
Now in no particular order:
Projector Headlights - Done
P2 side markers - Done
Euro Grill - Done
tailgate struts - Done
Boost gauge
3 pod mount
WB
Carbon Strut brace - Done
18" Pegs w/ Dunlops - Done
Camber bolts - Done
Manual Boost controller
16t
Custom Bondo DP
EST cat back exhaust
02 Sensors
Short Ram air intake - Done
RIP Kit
Samco coolant hoses
Manual Transmission swap with LSD
Short shift plate
Poly tranny mount
MSD Ignition coil - Done
IPD Spark plug wires - Done
Willwood BBK - (Not installed but sitting on my desk here at work)
Stereo and all speakers (Alpine IPOD HU and JVC all around) - Done
Rica ECU
Koni FSD kit and Eibach springs - Done
IPD Sways - Done

I think that's it...should be a fun winter!!

I plan on having a Volvo "raising" party with the locals at my place...beers on me. We can rip into the Black and tear it apart for all it's bits. I'm sure I'll also have a few things to sell like rims and various trim bits etc...not sure what I will do with the motor either as it's in top shape...I may just keep it for an eventual swap/replacement should anything bad happen. Damn this is gunna be great...
Ok, enough chatter, on with the pics, sorry for the iphone snaps, but it's all I have atm.
This yellow is bone stock as it rolled off the factory line with 260,000kms or 161,000miles.







Enjoy - I'll be sure to keep the thread active and alive.

[tomcat]

Very nice, I think every Volvo nut has to own an R once.....

[v4lve]

/jealous

[oRange855]

That awesome, 100x better then your black one!, stock.

[G_Money]

How many 95 yellow wagons are out there....like 10-15? With yours that makes 4-5 in the NWC!! Welcome and congrats!!

[volvoluvin]

G_Money, on 05 October 2009 - 04:24 AM, said:

How many 95 yellow wagons are out there....like 10-15? With yours that makes 4-5 in the NWC!! Welcome and congrats!!

Thanks!

And that is an interesting question...does anyone actually know how many Yellow wagons came in to North America? And how many might still exist?

[magicaljake]

ballin!!!

[DelawareT5M]

you say you're willing to sell the koni fsd kit? please PM me

[volvoluvin]

Delaware96R, on 05 October 2009 - 04:33 AM, said:

you say you're willing to sell the koni fsd kit? please PM me

I'm thinking of selling it..not sure yet...depends on how much I can get for the rest of the stuff I'm gunna sell. I want to upgrade to the KW's, but they are a large chunk of change, that I will have to make up for through other means.

And I also really liked the FSD's, so I may just use em for a while...but I'll be sure to give you 1st shot should they come up for sale.

[Blue850T5]

Wow! What a lucky find. Nice ride.

[esundell90]

beautiful car. Congrats, and a rare bird at that!

[gmsgltr]

I have heard multiple times that there are 40 yellow 855 t5r's in the us...

AWESOME!

My dream car...

stock it came with ecode headlights and the spoiler?

[volvoluvin]

gmsgltr, on 05 October 2009 - 06:40 PM, said:

I have heard multiple times that there are 40 yellow 855 t5r's in the us...

AWESOME!

My dream car...

stock it came with ecode headlights and the spoiler?

Maybe in Canada??

[volvoluvin]

3 days of driving this car, and all i can say is wow...it is so solid...so much more solid than my black was...it just screams, making me think it's got an aftermarket ecu tune of sorts...it's not as fast as my black one ended up being, but it's faster than my black one started out with.
it doesn't have that tell tale T5-R tune of late boost, the boost just come on full right away...

It's so nice...

[volvoluvin]

ok, well ECU question answered, this yellow is bone stock. (And my butt dyno needs calibrating)

After Captain Bondo's EPIC Dyno pull, (for those that don't know of Captain, go to TB's and look up his 240 with a T6 in it...he just blasted 391 whp or 500+ crank ), I pulled onto the dyno for a couple quick pulls to see how "stock" the Yellow is, and it's bone stock...
159whp/187tq
So given auto loss etc...that's pretty much bang on 240crank, what these things have stock.
Pretty excited to have baseline numbers, also very impressed that a 14 year old car is holding onto it's power.
And then, even more excited to know I've got 80whp worth of upgrades on Darth that will just swap on over...ahh...good times!

[gilber33]

I can't wait to see pictures of this once the swap begins

[98 Estey T5-M]

Start Swapping!

[7 VII 7]

wait... 160whp from 240 crank... am I missing something... what is the drive train loss? I think John in his stock 96R put down 188whp last winter.

[volvoluvin]

My understanding is in an auto it's anywhere from 25-35% loss...so say we settle on 30%, that's 230 crank. So maybe a little bit less, but then there are lots of factors like dyno type, sea level, etc...it would seem reasonable to say that's stock #'s, or close to. Thoughts?

(regardless, it's a baseline that I can then measure all the "improvements" against)

/edit - I should also add that the shop has done 1000's of cars, new and old, and without telling them anything about my car, they quoted me that on their machine 160whp was the equivalent of 240crank...so take that for what it's worth

[ErikS]

volvoluvin, on 07 October 2009 - 01:20 AM, said:

My understanding is in an auto it's anywhere from 25-35% loss...so say we settle on 30%, that's 230 crank. So maybe a little bit less, but then there are lots of factors like dyno type, sea level, etc...it would seem reasonable to say that's stock #'s, or close to. Thoughts?

(regardless, it's a baseline that I can then measure all the "improvements" against)

/edit - I should also add that the shop has done 1000's of cars, new and old, and without telling them anything about my car, they quoted me that on their machine 160whp was the equivalent of 240crank...so take that for what it's worth

Drive it (1/4 mile pulls, traps, 40-80 times, 70-110 times) as bench marks after you've done a stage zero as is .. then compare your changes.