296 replies to this topic

[B Mac]

I might as well start over but I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Car: 1995 850 turbo manual swapped
Block: 2.3 liter RN block with Wiseco forged .020 over pistons, forged H-beam rods
Head: s60/v70 R head, ported and polished and gasket matched, shnazzy valve job tuned for higher rpm powaaaa
Intake manifold: '98 n/a with a 960 throttle body, ported polished and gasket matched
Exhaust mani: R manifold, gasket matched
Turbo: Precision 5857 journal bearing turbo with a billet compressor wheel, .70a/r comp housing, .82a/r turbine housing with a Tial 38mm wg
Transmission: M56, Gripper differential, Southbend custom 6 puck clutch and 2200lb. pressure plate


It all started with these...my $150 RSI h-beam rods. Two of the rods had spun bearings, but after a little bit of time at the shop they were repaired and all 5 were re sized.






At first, I decided to get the machining and build done on normal turbo 2.3L block. Everything was torn down, cleaned and machined.









Parts started coming through the door....turbo, wastegate, yada yada...


Here was the original turbo...5857 billet with a .63a/r 5 bolt turbine housing




Southbend 6 puck and 2200lb PP







Somewhere down the line, I decided that an RN block would be my best bet...And I knew just where to get one. Nick hooked me up big time with a super low mileage 2.3L block from a 2002 coupe. I picked it up and we went straight to work on it. Just about everything on this RN block is better. The oil squirters bolt to the inside of the block (no gaskets!), crank was 9lbs lighter, has crank windows, etc..





The bores looked much better on this one than the what I had faced on the first block.






This is not my picture but it shows the difference between the RN and non RN crankshafts.


At this point, I decided that I might as well source a RN head as well....enter the S60/V70R head. Really clean...not...paid almost nothing for it so I went for it!




Maching of the new block and head started shortly after and assembly of the block was quickly finished!







You can clearly see the oil squirters in this pic.










I brought the block home and finished assembly










It took eight gillion gallons of diesel fuel to clean the head up but damn it was worth it in the end.






Baffles and -10 fittings were welded to the cam cover just in case I need more breathing ability down the road.


Porting was done on the intake and exhaust ports but my pictures of the work suck...


Valves are back cut


I had a spare head laying around so I gave it to the shop to turn into a valve lash tool


So we started assembly




MLS head gasket. We'll see how she holds!




\









A few months ago I exchanged the .63a/r housing for a .82a/r housing with a v-band....


And did this with it





Which required minor grinding of the manifold...




Next, I pulled the transmission apart and installed the gripper diff with new Timken bearings.





Flywheel, clutch and pressure plate






Everything was aligned perfectly


With the help of my friends, we loaded it up into one of their trucks and brought it down for some custom tranny mountage.




Stock tranny bracket was definitely NOT going to work...so we had another plan in mind















Custom tranny bracket was finished and we also made a frankenstein coolant distribution pipe




Everything was powdercoated too....blang blang!!


Comparison of the two tranny brackets and mounts.


Out with the old


In with the new...gangsters


Intake manifold comparison. Had to lay a bead of weld after gasket matching to increase the surface area so it wouldn't leak.




Installed my wideband





First start up video!!...can't embed on my cell phone, sorry guys.
https://www.youtube....be_gdata_player

10-4-2011:

So I had an issue with the transmission prior to startup. After getting the motor in and completely buttoned up, I see that the driver's side axle is sticking out of the transmission about 3-4mm. So I think "hey w/e, it probably isn't pushed in enough." But the axle was actually bottoming out against the rollers inside the diff. I took the suspension apart and removed the axle so I could get a flashlight in there and see what was going on inside and realized that there was no groove to accept the c-clip on the axle.

I contacted gripper and was told that "that is a common problem, just send it back to us and we will do the repair to the diff free of charge."....yeah, really convenient. So last tuesday (9-27-2011) , Dan M let me borrow his spare m56 and I swapped it out for my lsd m56. After exchanging a few more emails with John @ Gripper, he decided to ship me the replacement part at his expense. Now THAT is service . Hopefully it gets here some time soon and I can get the lsd tranny back in the car.

Having the tranny out of the car brings me to my next topic: This. Clutch. Sucks. Okay it's not really thaaat bad but it just chatters more than I'd like it to. If anybody has an 850R disc that they would like to sell me, please let me know!!

10-5-2011

Here's another video I took from the first cruise down the road!
https://www.youtube....be_gdata_player

Edited by B Mac, 07 November 2011 - 12:58 PM.

[B Mac]

I'll also fill you all in on the troubles I had so hopefully it's easier for the next guy!!

[Tom.]

win! looks sweet. cant wait to see this in person ive been waiting to see this thread haha

[URO_S60]

I love everything about that built. Damn great work. What will you be running for engine management? For the big turbo's a lot of people are starting to run you having 10 or so of them tranny mounts made will bring you some money I can bet any money on that. It sure seems to take care of many headaches and looks top notch.

Good work, keep us posted with some dyno numbers once it's up and running which I personally hope is sooner than later. (What are your target goal numbers with a build of this nature?)

[dublin14]

As Pauly D would say... YEAH BUDDY!! The cars gonna pull like MOFO.

Its a good times seeing all of us stuffin juicy turbos on the T5s. Should start a "big turbo meet" with a closed road near by. 40mph-140mph roll-ons and see who has the baddest car on VS Anyone have any ideas?

[Jardim]

poking awesome build guy, Hopefully ill see it on the streets sometime.

[greekone]

Badass Ben.

Reins for lunch ASAP. Haha

[Smithwicks]

Wow... nicely done!

How long was the build from start to finish?

[Mesoam]

nice work bud, I'll see it sometime soon

[B Mac]

dublin14, on 03 October 2011 - 12:50 PM, said:

As Pauly D would say... YEAH BUDDY!! The cars gonna pull like MOFO.

Its a good times seeing all of us stuffin juicy turbos on the T5s. Should start a "big turbo meet" with a closed road near by. 40mph-140mph roll-ons and see who has the baddest car on VS Anyone have any ideas?

I know right? That would be too awesome. My wideband told me to turn the boost up from the 6psi wastegate spring pressure. I was pegging the meter at 10:1 and it didn't start to lean out until 11psi . I'm at 13psi, 12:1 afr now ...might need to turn it down a we bit or throw some meth in the mix as it is getting a bait chilly in the morning and night hours now. Hauls. So. Much. Ass.

Smithwicks, on 03 October 2011 - 01:48 PM, said:

Wow... nicely done!

How long was the build from start to finish?

I started collecting parts about two years ago I believe?

[Wagon Mafia]

Very nice! Looks like a beast!

[rusheR]

Wow
Seriously dude!

[Oreo931]

Damn Ben. Congrats. That's a shit ton of money and work. Good stuff. Can't wait to see her in person!

[trs80]

Serious car porn! Now I need to change my shorts.

With all the attention to detail why not clean up the block and throw some engine enamel on it?

[98glt-5]

FINALLY! I laughed at the picture before the cams went in, then getting a phone call at 10pm "I CAN'T TURN THE ENGINE OVER, IT'S STUCK!" Backwards cams suckkkks

[gdizzle]

Props! Added to the project list.

[Scania]

Curious . . . . . . I'm always reading posts of. . ."We'll see if the Head gasket hold's" . . . . . . . Why don't you have the block O ringed ? That would solve all of about 95% of your worries. I've ran upwards of 35 #'s of boost (not on a Volvo) on a 4 banger for Several year's now, & have yet to blow a head gasket. We O ring our NA race motor's just because they spin 10000 rpm all day long. Is there a reason you guy's don't do this on Volvo block's ?

[B Mac]

98glt-5, on 03 October 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

FINALLY! I laughed at the picture before the cams went in, then getting a phone call at 10pm "I CAN'T TURN THE ENGINE OVER, IT'S STUCK!" Backwards cams suckkkks

Yeah we beast moded the sh*t out of that thing

gdizzle, on 03 October 2011 - 05:48 PM, said:

Props! Added to the project list.

Woohooo I'm famous now thanks Greg!

[B Mac]

Scania, on 03 October 2011 - 05:57 PM, said:

Curious . . . . . . I'm always reading posts of. . ."We'll see if the Head gasket hold's" . . . . . . . Why don't you have the block O ringed ? That would solve all of about 95% of your worries. I've ran upwards of 35 #'s of boost (not on a Volvo) on a 4 banger for Several year's now, & have yet to blow a head gasket. We O ring our NA race motor's just because they spin 10000 rpm all day long. Is there a reason you guy's don't do this on Volvo block's ?

I'm actually not worried at all about the the mls gasket as I have never heard of one blowing. My biggest concern is cracking a cylinder wall which I have a sneaking suspicion that this turbo could do it...easily. it's all about a good tune though so we will see what happens!

[BlackT5]

Nice work Ben!

Hope you don't have any boost spiking issues with the 38mm gate. What are you using to tune it?