2000 Volvo S80 Project (T5 Engine Swap With M56L And Standalone Ems)

[Stefan Mohammed]

I've been in the process of swapping my S80's drivetrain and making the car something really special. I know that most people who know Volvos have the general consensus that the S80 is a horrible platform to work with and I know that people will question as to why I did this swap in my S80 in the first place; I admit the S80 is not a cost effective Volvo to modify but let’s say that I like a challenge As a word of warning please note that this is very much a work in progress. I also apologize for the quality and quantity of my pictures; I take quick pictures with my phone whenever my hands are clean, which is very infrequent, so I wouldn't get to show you the details of the actual build process as much as I would be able to show you major milestones and parts I have.

That said, let me introduce you to my S80 T5-M :

The car started out life as a 2000 S80 2.9 RHD (B6294S + 4T65EV). Needless to say, the performance was abysmal. The car would be excessively prone to understeer, loss of traction under heavy cornering and felt sluggish in general. I installed quite a few suspension parts to help fix the traction issues

Bilstein HD Shocks
B&G S2 Springs
Powerflex Poly Bushings (Rear Subframe/Control Arms & Front Control Arms)
IPD Strut Bar Conversion
IPD Upper Engine Mount
Ultra Racing Lower-Front/Upper-Rear/Lower-Rear Chassis Braces
EST CF Strut Brace
IPD HD Spring Seats
IPD HD Swaybars (Front and Rear)
IPD HD Endlinks

I also installed EST X-Drilled + Slotted Rotors & Hawk HPS Pads in the front (this really didn't help braking performance but it did transform the brake pedal feel). The end result of these initial suspension and brake mods transformed the entire car; it was significantly more responsive, virtually eliminated understeer unless the car was pushed right to its limit, made the car corner flat, provided much more steering feedback and, increased initial brake bite and pedal feel. As satisfied as I initially was with the suspension there were still some major problems. The engine lacked power and response, the handling could still be improved and the brakes needed much more work.

I ordered a one-off 6-Pot BBK from EST to fix the braking problems, H&R 25mm hub-centric spacers, 235/40-18 Bridgestone Potenza RE970A/S Pole Position Tires and I planned on ordering some Volution V 8x18". However, the week before I planned to purchase the Volution V's, the bands in my 4T65EV went to heaven. Instead of going the traditional route of fixing the transmission and getting rid of the thing I did something completely different; I wanted to install a B5234T3 and a M56L in my car. A 2002 S60 T5 was sourced from the UK. I chopped it in half and shipped it to my homeland (Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies) so I could scrap out everything from it and swap it into my S80. I chose a 2002 S60 because I learnt that the 02' B5234T3s had the best rod/stroke ratio of any Volvo Straight-5 and it had pretty strong liners to boot (thanks to wizzard_al for the advice!).

The S60 T5 Front Cut on the night I collected it from my local customs bond.

The S60's engine bay with T5 goodness

Once in possession of the S60, we scrapped the motor, gearbox and all other accessories out until the car looked like this

And then we started swapping things over to the S80. I know things look pretty dirty at this point in time but I can guarantee that the entire engine bay would be clean enough to eat on when I'm done with it.

Since the canbus on both cars have different bitrates and since the engine harnesses are incompatible (and since I think the OEM management lacks versatility) I got a Haltech Platinum Sport 2000 Standalone ECM to control everything, it still has to be wired in (Big thanks to Lucky @ ARD for all the help with the electrical system conversion)

The Haltech can't control the factory ETM so I decided that I needed a 80mm throttle body off of an Infiniti Q45. The intake plenum and throttle inlet pipe needs to be modified in order to meet clearance tolerances with the starter motor and the subframe. This is being done at a machine shop as of now. The pedal assembly also needs to be modified; I'm thinking of welding a L-shaped bracket to the end of the existing pedal to allow the throttle cable to be connected. This is a shot of the old ETM vs new cable-driven 80mm TB

The intercooler off of the S60 was damaged by the previous owner so I also ordered a D088 drop-in intercooler upgrade. It hasn't arrived as yet from Sweden.

So based on all the work that's being done on the car, the current list of performance and drivetrain mods are:

2002 B5234T3 ME7
M56LK
Mitsubishi TD0HL-16T
Haltech Platinum Sport 2000 with Autospec Flying Lead Harness (Short)
OEM Bosch ME7/Highspeed Canbus/CEM/DIM for accessory control

Haltech Water & Air Temperature Sensors

Simens DEKA 630cc Injectors

Phuzzy Motorsports HD TCV
IPD HD Coilpacks
IPD HD TCV
NGK Iridium IX Spark Plugs
Infiniti Q45 80mm Throttle Body (with modified ME7 Plenum and Pedal Assembly)
Custom Throttle Body Inlet Pipe
Custom Fuel Rail
D088 AB Intercooler
Snabb Polyurethane Intake Manifold Gasket/Spacer
Snabb Delrin Shifter Base Plate Bushings
Snabb Short Shifter

Snabb CVVT Solenoid Blanking Plate
42 Draft Designs Stealth Oil Catch Can
Gates Racing Timing Belt
IPD Viton Oil Cap Seals
IPD HD Billet Transmission Torque Mount
D088 AB Turbo Intake Pipe
ITG Air Filter

CJ Yother's Delrin Subframe Bushings

Viva Performance Magnetic Engine + Gearbox Drainplugs
AEM UEGO Wideband Failsafe (Boost + AFR) Gauge
AEM Adjustable Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator
AEM Progressive Water Methanol Injection

2x Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonators

Custom 3" Downpipe
Magnaflow XL 3" Muffler

Blox Racing 36mm Water Temperature Sensor Adapter
3S-GTE Idle Step-up Solenoid

The drivetrain is still in the process of being swapped. I expect that within the next few months all the mechanical, electrical and software work would be completed and I could drive my car again. I will keep posting on this thread as more major updates are made. I know that this is a fairly mild parts list for such an unusual swap but I can ensure you that this is only temporary. I use my car as a daily driver and as such, I need it back on the road as soon as possible. During this year I plan to do several major supporting mods and in mid in 2015, I plan to do a full bottom end rebuild and change the turbo. The potential parts for that build, along with the supporting mods for the upgraded build are:

Forged H-Beam Rods
Forged Pistons
King Main and Rod Bearings
New Seals/Piston Rings/Gasket
Custom Clutch Master Clutch and Pressure Plate
Balanced Crank
Fully Blueprinted Block
ARD 19T Conversion with Billet Compressor Wheel and Upgraded Turbine Wheel
Synapse Diverter Valve
Thermal Cylinder and Head Coatings
PTP Turbo Blanket
D088 AB Charge-Air Pipe
Upgraded Fuel Pump
Gripper LSD
Custom Metal Shifter Forks
Autometer SportComp II Oil Pressure Gauge & Boost Gauge
Racelogic Traction Control

Snabb Silicone Radiator Hoses

D088 AB Aluminum Radiator
Custom Delrin Steering Column Bushing
Nuke Performance Fuel Rail

Canbus Function Extender

S60R PCV Air/Oil Separator

Later on in the life of the car I may look for additional power through these modifications (I'm largely unsure of what this might be but this list is a good indication of what I may be looking at).

Port and Polish + 3 Angle Valve Job
Inconel Exhaust Valves

Stainless Steel Intake Valves

Enem Cams
Garrett GTX2871R or Garrett GTX3076R Turbo
RSI Stainless Steel Tubular Exhaust Manifold
Tial 38mm External Wastegate

Thermal Exhaust Manifold and Head Coatings
Etc.

Right now I have the following brake and wheel components to install on the car but I need to get my Volution Vs in order to fit them up:

EST 6-Piston Calipers
EuroSport Tuning 330mm 2-Piece Cross-Drilled + Slotted Rotors
SS Braided Brake Lines
Stoptech Powerslot Cryo-Treated 302mm Rotors
ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid
Stoptech Street Performance Pads
Bridgestone Potenza RE970A/S Pole Position 235/40-18 Tires
H&R Track+ Hubcentric Wheel Spacers

The Brake Setup

Additionally, I have a custom car computer installed in the car with the following specs:

AMD Zacate E350 Dual Core
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333
750GB Seagate Momentus HDD
64GB Crucial M4 SSD
Resistive Touch 7” Lilliput LCD Monitor
Windows CE7 X86 + Centrafuse 4.0 Front End
Joncon EXR Steering Wheel Interface
MiniBox ITX Chassis
M3-ATX PSU
OBDLink SX OBDII Interface

Building the car computer (The computer is stored under the passenger seat and is used to house my loseless music collection and to interact with the standalone EMS):

In-Dash Touchscreen (Computer running Windows CE7 - I was checking standard parameters over OBDII in this pic):

There’s currently no sound system in the car but since I’m an audiophile, the car is fully prepped for a sound system with Fatmat Sound Deadening and the following speaker setup. I already have the subwoofer enclosure and the subwoofer.

DLS RS6N Components
JL Audio XD700/5 Amplifier
Hybrid Audio I6SW Subwoofer (Sounds like a typical 12" subwoofer once its installed in a well-engineered enclosure)
Fatmat Sound Dampening
PWK Designs Subwoofer Enclosure (Designed for the cabin geometry of the S80)
Rockford Fosgate 360.3 Processor
Shok Industries Power Wire
Optima Red-Top Battery

Subwoofer enclosure

Sound Deadening Installation

I’m also not done with the suspension. This year I plan to install some delrin bushings to firm up the front suspension to cope with the extra horsepower, but in the future I have even further mods:

Custom Koni Coilovers
Kaplhenke Racing Luxe Steer
Kaplhenke Racing Adjustable Strut Mounts/Camber Plates
CJ’s Adjustable Rear Toe-Links
Custom Rear Camber Adjustment
Custom Spherical Control Arm Bushings and Steering Rack Bushings (Designed by Kaplhenke Racing)

I personally love the way my car looks, the S80 has sleek refined lines to it and looks confident and well poised (probably I’m crazy and I’m looking wayyyy too deep into the cars styling). Regardless I want minimal changes to the aesthetic of the car; I want to paint the EST calipers in the ‘R’ grey, add on 18” Volution Vs and ever so slightly modify the front bumper so it looks a bit more aggressive than factory. Think of an S60R’s front bumper merged with the S80’s front bumper and you have a rough idea of what I want to achieve. I want to repaint the car but not to refresh and enhance the Moondust paint job, as far as a colour change is concerned, I’m not interested. I also want most performance parts to be hidden so I’m painting most of the undercarriage black and using a hidden exhaust setup, just like the one on the stock S80.

My long term vision for this entire project is to have a one of a kind S80 that would be reliable as a daily driven car, has very aggressive acceleration, has excellent handling and braking qualities, is relatively comfortable and quiet inside for a heavily modified car, has an excellent sound system and, will maintain a sleeper look. I think this project really personifies my idea of what a mid-sized luxury sports sleeper should be. I hope you enjoyed reading through this thread and please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions.

[Stefan Mohammed]

Reserved

[Stefan Mohammed]

Reserved

[andyb5]

Very cool project! Good luck and I can't wait for updates.

[vmzoller]

This is awesome!! Can't wait for updates (:

[DScottM]

Interesting... I think this is the 1st time i have heard of someone actually taking this kind of time and this much effort into an S80... Good luck bro... Ill will be keeping tabs on the progress...

[Stefan Mohammed]

[Minor Update]

Transported the old 2.9L (B6294S) to a place where I can store it long term today. I was sort of sad to see it out of the car despite the fact that it never had much power to begin with; I loved the smoothness of it and it was the sound I would most eaisly idenfiy my Volvo by. Regardless, the T5 should be up shortly and I'm pretty excited to make so many more memories with that powerplant!

The old B6294S (Hint: this might go into a new project car at some later date but it might not be a Volvo's chassis!)

We also sold the shell of the S60 T5 Front-Cut for scrap metal today. The change in the way it looked when it left today compared to the way it looked when I first collected it that night in December is certainly dramic. Also felt a bit sad to see it go considering the fun we had working on it, and the fact that another Volvo had to be sacrificed to make this conversion possible. Still I got some money out of it and it really shows how far in the conversion we've reached.

Testing out the safety features of a S60 T5 when it flips!

I'm supposed to get my D088 Intercooler tomorrow so that should be installed by Thursday morning for the latest. Right now the intake manifold modification is holding back the car from wiring up; the machine shop that had to fabricate a suitable flange for the new TB hasn't quite fabricated it as yet

[Timbo Slice]

Awesome build man, I'm looking forward to this one!

[Lorenzo Dobson]

wish i had the skills, money and time to do this!

[96longroof]

wish i had the skills, money and time to do this!

Me too. Good luck with the build. The S80 is really a nice car that gets gets a bum rap because of the craptastic drivetrains they were saddled with. Yours should be the best of both worlds.

[Stefan Mohammed]

[Minor Update]:

I got the D088 intercooler and its going in the car by tomorrow. It's a drop in replacement for the OEM intercooler and should be good for up to 375-400WHP. The core is around 2x as thick as the original core and it drops in with the included longer screws and washers. Since it would also be in the facotry location it should also prove to be very stealthy, which I like since I'm going with the ultimate sleeper theme. Whenever it approaches the 375whp limiit I'd hook up the intercooler spray functionality on the Haltech EMS to help with the heatsoak. I don't think heatsoak would be too much of a problem when approaching that power level since it's a daily driver and it wouldn't see as much track duty as much as it would see traffic, mountain drives and autocross events.


D088 Intercooler (much improved fin arrangement, flow. endtank design and a 2x core thickness over the OEM part)

On another great bit of news, the flange for the new TB has been made and I should be able to collect the modified intake and charge air pipe by Saturday. The Haltech is being wired in on Tuesday and once everything goes according to plan, the car should start and I could load a base tune onto the mangagement. That said, the car still wouldn't be able to drive until about next week Friday as I need to fabricate a bracket system on the OEM accelerator pedal to hook up my throttle cable.

Considering the general attitude that people have of most 'performance oriented' S80s, I'm certainly proud that my project is generating some level of interest!

[S8ET6]

The stock intercooler is sandwiched between the radiator and AC condenser... so heat soak would be a factor... and there isn't much room in that stack to wedge in some type of intercooler spray

Since you've got the longer screws, can't you place it in front of the ac condensor?

[Stefan Mohammed]

It's definitely an option, I'd check it out when I'm installing it. I know space is limited in the stack but I'm near sure I'd be able to fit a nozzle there when the time comes. I also want to eventually upgrade the fan behind the stack as I go up into another horsepower bracket and add water/methanol injection to lower intake temps, reduce the possibility of detonation and make more power. Nonetheless if it's possible to mount the intercooler infront of the AC condensor I'd look into it. Thanks for pointing that one out!

[Stefan Mohammed]

[Micro Update]

Didn't get time to install the intercooler as yet, but it will be done by Tuesday so the car can start. The intake manifold is almost done, but more modifications had to be done to the plenum to make the new TB fit properly. I pulled out my DSLR today and took a picture of the Haltech PS200 EMS, so I do have some eye candy for you guys.


Haltech Platinum Sport 2000 Standalone Engine Management System

My next update should be on Tuesday when the car starts. I definitely would have more pics by then, much more information and hopefully, even a first start video!

[vmzoller]

So exciting!! (: