850R 2.55l RN EFR7064 for Autobahn madness :D

[German850R]

Hi there,

I had started a thread about my build in the performance section a long while back and not really updated it since a few months.

So, now some progress:

Engine finished and running:

B5244T3 block

bored to 83.5 & shimmed

Sten Parner 141.4 rods and pistons (not happy with the quality of the pistons, to be honest)

93.2mm crank from S60R (B5245T4)

2.55l displacement, CR 8.64:1

cylinder head completely overhauled with new exhaust valves, correct valve clearance, exhaust ports ported

EFR7064 turbo, huge as poke, but some comments below

M4.4 with COP mod and Spartan 2 with LSU 4.9 closed loop wideband control

M56 with Quaife LSD

Aluminium flywheel with Sachs 707 PP and Sachs sinter disc (really light set up)

And a lot of other bits and pieces which sum up in a big heap of money spent like a custom exhaust apparently made out of pure gold or something ;)

 

The good thing:

car started on the first attempt with COP and wideband O2 (posted vid on facebook a few days ago). Yesterday I fixed a coolant leak and hopefully the oil leak at the turbo return into the oil pan where I destroyed the welded on dash connector's thread. How I did it? Don't know, must have been late at night. So, JB weld should fix it.

 

I have, however, 2 issues currently:

1: M56 AWD mount?

I made a rear trans mount bracket with a rubber bushing to go onto the steering gear. The compressor housing is so large and - which is the bad part - is very far to the driver's side of the car so machining the stock trans mount bracket doesn't work. Now I have something that fits but I have quite some vibration induced by that. And I am not so sure about the durability of my setup, either.

I know the M66 guys use the AWD mount to the subframe with a bracket that attaches to the gearbox housing. Would something like this work on a M56 as well? I mean, I can always weld the plate to the subframe, buy the AWD mount and then find a way to attach it to the gearbox housing. Has someone dealt with this before? From the top of my head, the M56 does not have the nice bosses the M66 seems to have. But I am unsure currently, to be honest.

 

2: ABS ECU dead?

My ABS/TRACS ecu does not respond at all. Warning light for ABS and Tracs is on but diagnostics does not work either. I can connect to all other ECUs but the ABS ECU does not respond. So it must be dead. I replaced the brake master cylinder and the brake booster and worked a lot in the footwell of the driver side. Could I have disconnected some plug or something which belongs to the ABS? Checked all fuses but they are fine. What else should I check?

 

So far I am very happy that it finally runs and the issues I have will be sorted one way or the other.

 

I have to say one thing though which I have underestimated before starting this build:

Not having my own big garage or work shop and being dependent on friends' time and equipment sucks. That means everything will be very slow progress (took me 10 months from engine out to first start) which is frustrating. And the stress such a project puts on your mind when you do it the first time. I had many sleepless nights thinking about next steps, what parts to buy, what will go wrong next, will it start etc. Maybe I worried too much about some things but I might not be the only one. What I am trying to say is it is not just putting some parts into an Excel list and build it like a lego toy.

And never underestimate how many small parts you will have to buy new like some bolts, brackets, hoses, gaskets and whatever you might never think of. This is where you will dump a lot of cash without really having expected it (at least me). So I had many "oh no, not again" moments when finding out what little part should be replaced. At least when you want to make it perfect or at least close to perfect.

So, if you think about modding a car to such an extent, make sure you have a significant amount of cash available on top of the "big items" and make sure you have the mental/emotional resources to deal with setbacks and slow progress. It will happen, so be prepared. Luckily for me, my job is quite stable at the moment and so is my personal life. But frustration will catch up with you eventually.

 

To end this long-ish post with a positive note: I am really happy that I met so many nice, helpful and competent people along the way so far. I think we have a really great community and this makes working on such a project much more enjoyable. Eventually, the car should be enjoyable, too :D.

[Tommy.]

This is what it is all about, perseverance. Congratulations on getting it running! 

1. I cannot comment on your m56 question as I am not familiar with those specifications of the transmission case.

2. On your ABS/TRACS issue, if you have lights on the dash and the ABS portion of the ECU will not respond, you are correct in thinking that the unit itself is probably dead. Unless you know of a good used one, (new are iirc, $250) Midwest ABS here in the states does top notch work. Just replaced mine with one of Matt's units, and cannot say anything but wonderful things about the unit itself and the quality, not to mention lifetime warranty. I know shipping may be a pain but I know he is really easy to work with and the unit is unparalleled.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing updates!

[Simply Volvo]

Got any pictures of the block, rods, pistons, head, engine bay?

Pretty cool build. Aaron (TMM9) is having great success with the EFR. I'm sure he will chime in.

What size turbine housing did you get? T3 0.83A/R?

Looking forward to updates.

[German850R]

Hi Matt,

 

I think there are plenty of pics in the old thread. Engine bay you can see here:

and here:

 

Will take a few proper pics when I am at the car again.

 

FPR will go to the firewall, just had it there to set everything up.

Here are some pics of the exhaust: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/wbwbfnxbwbduz3n/AABHG51y00ezID2pvRXalfJva

 

[Johann]

Nice work. 

Missing a flex in the exhaust. Could be the cause for added vibration. 

For the gearbox mount.. The M58, AWD, gearbox has provisioning for the outside mount. Downside is that the other side uses a different bearing for the driveshaft which also holds the spline for the bevel gear. 

 

[Tightmopedman9]

Can you not fit a custom rear engine mount? It looks like there would be room for a tubular frame mount in place of the stock mount.

I hope that you can get some decent power out of your setup. I am basically fully tuned at ~24psi on E85 and making roughly 400WHP. I believe the problem lies in poor valve seats.  I will be replacing the head on my engine next spring. 

[German850R]

I already made a custom tubular frame mount. Otherwise I would not have been able to start the engine at all. I might redo it and change its geometry a bit to increase clearance to the turbo. Right now it is pretty close.

I think I could take the driver side cover off a M58 and mate it to the other side of the M56. But when I do that, the whole gearbox needs to go out and if I am already that far, I would replace the whole subframe by a C70 convertible one which already has the mounting points required.

The exhaust has a flexible link. It is also on one of the pictures (Nr. 5). Maybe it's not enough and I need a softer flex part. Will bring the car to the exhaust shop anyway and ask them what they think.

[German850R]

The vibration in the steering was caused by some remaining air in the ATF. Now it is gone and steers just fine.

Need to space out the brake calipers as the anti rattle clips touch the brake disk which doesnt sound so nice ;).

Turbo oil return is still leaking a bit because I killed the welded on AN bung by screwing on the return hose at an angle. Stupid, need to get it fixed.

Car drives fine (1km), engine feels very responsive and turbo spools very quickly.

After the brake and leak is fixed, I will finally be able to break it in ;)

[Martijn_B]

Bummer regarding the AN fitting, but cool your being so transparent about it that it was probably a human mistake. I've had similar things..late night working on the car after a day of work, you want to finish stuff and then you might make a small errors. 

How do you plan to fix it, drop the pan and re-weld?

[German850R]

I would like to avoid dropping the pan at the moment. I will check if I can get it tight enough for the moment with JB weld or so or JB weld a small pipe on it which then conveniently is bent in a way to clear the drive shaft properly. I need to see on the hoist tonight where it is still leaking. The leak is very minor but it needs to be fixed.

After break-in of the engine I will drop the pan, make a proper return pipe setup and add one or two bungs through which I can drain oil from external breather(s). I am looking at the Mann+Hummel ProVent currently which are a really nice construction and look OEM. Not sure if one ProVent 200 is enough for the extra ventilation of the head and keep the stock setup for the block. Or I replace the stock system by a ProVent 200 as well. Will see.

Another thing coming is trying to fit a S60R air box into the space where the regular air box and the battery would sit.

Where I live you are better off if everything looks stock'ish.

[Tommy.]

I am keeping the stock breather box, drilling out a 1" hole for a nylon elbow then running it to a provent 200. One should be plenty running it like this.

[German850R]

Thanks Tommy. Will think about it and try to talk to someone frlm Mann+Hummel.

Regarding the turbo drain: decided to not band aid it but drop the pan in 2 weeks time when I am finished moving house.

Drove a bit yesterday and the light flywheel and the turbo is totally awesome! I literally laughed sitting in the car because it is so alive. Feels almost on the nervous side regarding throttle response. And maximum throttle position was maybe 20-30%. Crazy;)

 

 

 

 

 

[Johann]

I killed the welded on AN bung by screwing on the return hose at an angle.

Can you explain. I don't get the picture and don't see why the pan needs to be dropped.. 

[German850R]

 

Can you explain. I don't get the picture and don't see why the pan needs to be dropped.. 

There is a male D08 bung welded to the oil pan. Its thread is really destroyed and in addition to that my JB weld attempt at sealing it for now was not 100% successful. I now have a female dash 8 glued onto a male dash 8, both with no thread left.I dont see I can fix it while the pan is under the car. Would be possible but that would not do the rest of the build justice.

 

[Johann]

I hope the return comes back in the pan above the oil level. That being said I welded in a bung once and the pan itself slightly deformed above the bung at the seal area against the engine block. The normal Volvo/Loctite sealant didn't work anymore.