The VAST Wagon Build

[Tightmopedman9]

2 months ago I was made aware of a very clean Silver '98 V70R that had been totaled due to a bent rim and subframe. The owner wanted to sell the car for the buy back price from the insurance company, as long as the car would go to a loving owner. I checked out the car out and knew I had to have it. $850 later and it was mine!

I’ve had my white 850 for 8 years. I’ve learned the majority of what I know today directly and indirectly due to that car. In the process of learning I made a lot of questionable and irreversible modifications. I want this V70R to be modified with attention to detail and quality. My aim for this car is a reliable, high horsepower car that retains all of its comforts, and feels confident at speed/handling/braking. The end goal is to swap the engine from the 850 into the V70R with a target of 500AWHP. I haven’t decided on the final turbo setup, but I will be upgrading from the 20G.

First thing up was the fuel system. I never want to worry about fuel delivery problems but the stock AWD fuel system is very hindered from the factory. Directly proceeding the stock fuel pump is a nozzle orifice with a 4mm outlet!

After this orifice the fuel has to make 2 90º bends in under an inch at which point the line size is 8mm ID to the fuel rail.

I decided to replace the in tank fuel line with a 10mm ID hard steel line with smooth bends. Then 6AN stainless steel line from the sender to an Aeromotive FPR.

To facilitate the fuel modifications I decided to remove the entire rear subframe.

I wanted to take the time to inspect all of the bushings and replace any rotted fuel lines. Luckily, being a Colorado car its entire life there was no rust and all the bushings and fuel lines looked to be in excellent condition.

I brass brazed a 6AN fitting to the end of the 10mm steel line.

Then brazed the entire assembly to the new sender top.

I know it isn’t pretty, but this is the first time I’ve ever brazed; the fittings are solid and leak free.

The stock plastic fuel pump housing is held in alignment with a spring, this spring is retained with a slip washer and I wasn’t confident that this slip washer would remain put and removal and installation, so I decided to thread the end of the fuel return and use a nut.

Interstingly, I had two senders and they had different diameter fuel returns. The one on the left is from my V70R the one on the right is from a 2000 XC. I elected to use the larger diameter return.

I used an Aeromotive stealth pump and fabricated and extension piece to center the pump inlet in the housing.

All finished.

Coming directly off the sender I have a right angle 6AN fitting. The fitting is very tight, but clears the body with enough room to allow for movement of the fuel tank.

Luckily the 6AN fits in the stock undercarriage fuel line carrier.

I used a Holley 100GPH billet fuel filter which fits neatly under the car.

Purely for cosmetics, I converted the stock return line to braided line right at the transition to the engine bay.

I installed an Aeromotive 13129 right above the A/C lines. For the time being I’m using a 5AN to 6AN straight adapter for the fuel rail. This is a temporary solution until I weld a 6AN bung to the fuel rail.

Next up was the suspension. I know that there is a very limited amount of options for the rear of a P80 AWD and I wasn’t very excited at the prospect of paying upwards of $1,300 for half of my suspension setup so I decided to cobble together my own.

I started with Kaplhenke’s rear coilover spring and bumpstop retainer setup. I went with 350# 8” springs.

For the shocks I used QA1 adjustable shocks originally intended for the front of a C5/C6 Corvette. The Corvette front corner weight is approximately 875 lbs, which should be around the same weight as the rear of a P80 AWD. The compressed and extended height also happens to be almost identical at 16.19”/11.2”.

The lower mounting point is a ‘T-bar’ mount, and although the Corvette mounting bolts are much too close together to bolt up to a P80, QA1 makes a 5” T-bar mount which can modified to bolt up directly, the mounting ears must be widened by 1/8".

The shocks have a single knob for adjustment, but the knob adjusts both rebound and compression simultaneously. For those who want more adjustability they also offer a double adjustable variant. With the car on a lift adjustment is extremely easy. I haven’t tried adjusting with the car on the ground, but I don’t think it would be very hard at all.

The Kaplhenke perch and spring setup was $345 and the shocks were $319, so the whole setup was less then $670!

I also installed IPD sway bars front and rear.

I decided to run a coilover setup for the front as well. I was given a pair of TA Technix coilovers for free and decided to use them as a base. In their stock form they gave the worst ride I had ever experienced in any vehicle I had been in. They use terrible 6” springs that bind with anything over 1” of travel. The springs are ridiculously stiff and the shocks horribly underdamped. I stroked the shaft by hand and could move the shaft in and out with just my index finger…

Anyways, I decided to try out the struts with the stock inserts just to see how they would do. I plan on placing Koni adjustable inserts in the bodies in a short time.

I used a set of high travel (low stack height) 9” 350# springs with Kaplhenke upper mounts and Luxesteer™. It almost felt sacrilegious pairing these beautiful mounts with Technixs, but it’s only temporary.

To get decent ride height I had to use the helper spring from the Technix.

I will be going to a dual spring setup in the future, so the helper is only temporary.

That’s it for this installment, check in next week for brakes!

[TIZIO AKA 1 HND MEC]

Looking forward for your front set-up brake wise, 1" spacers on the rear? stock rims? I guess not due to the huge calipers.

[Tightmopedman9]

I ran those 20mm front and 25mm rear spacers with +43ET TDRs 215/45R17. Really not a good choice on thickness, I had a substantial amount of rubbing. I think 18mm front and 20mm rear would have been much better.

I was planning on getting them shaved, but I'm planning on mounting +50ET 18's, so I'll reconsider once I get the new wheels.

[lookforjoe]

Really Nice Work and excellent documentation!

Couple of questions -

Did you use regular submersible fuel line to replace the stock nipple/line seal? I'm not sure that the feeder nipple is actually a significant concern, given I made 450AWHP using all stock lines with the DW300 pump. It certainly can't hurt since you are using one pump to feed the rail.

I also considered placing the FPR by the firewall, however I was concerned about the heat soak off the exhaust. Significant issue with headers, not quite so bad with a stock manifold. With a larger turbo & 3" exhaust, yours may still end up being a little too close. You may want to add an additional heat shield?

You will be using a AN06 radius elbow fitting on the fuel rail instead of a 90º degree, I presume?

How did you find that the Corvette shocks were similar dimensions to begin with?

Looking forward to more updates.

[Tightmopedman9]

I used the fuel line that came with the AEM pump. I certainly hope that the fuel line they provided is rated for fuel submersion, but thinking about it I never double checked. I'll give them a call on Monday to check.

I was/am a little worried about the proximity of the fuel lines to the exhaust, but I had my old rubber hoses just as close and never had any issues. I'll bust out the infrared thermometer right after some aggressive driving and see what the temperature is. I'm planning on upgrading to a tubular manifold, so I might consider shielding the lines at that point. For the time being, I really like the look of them as-is.

I would like to tell you how I found out about the Corvette shocks, but I think if I gave you an actual figure for the amount of time I spend on a computer researching such things you would get sick. It actually wasn't too bad once I knew what I was looking for. The majority of after market shock distributors post lists of all their shocks. I knew the weight, length and then had to make an educated guess on lower mount style. Orientation was also a consideration since I wanted twin tube shocks.

[Commander Riker]

I've been running that FPR setup for 35K miles. No issues with heat.

[Tightmopedman9]

I've been running that FPR setup for 35K miles. No issues with heat.

Pics?

[Big Will]

That's a lot of work and research you did there. Nice job. It's very cool to see how people are still re-engineering our cars 15+ years on.

[FINN]

This is gonna be awesome.

[WayAway]

Those Qa1 shocks, what did you do with the top shock mount on the car. Did it fit just fine?

Edited February 16, 2015 by WayAway

[ErikS]

Those look like two piece floating rotors for the front Wilwood calipers, what kind of mounting brackets will you use Aaron? I looked into it a couple years ago with the superlites I had (still have, sitting in a box) for the 850.

[andyb5]

Awesome work so far, especially on the fuel system!

[Brad850]

Matt told me that his rubber fuel line provided by AEM disintegrated within a week. He was having issues and found that to be the culprit. Not sure if this is the hose you are talking about, but just wanted to let you know.

[Simply Volvo]

Matt told me that his rubber fuel line provided by AEM disintegrated within a week. He was having issues and found that to be the culprit. Not sure if this is the hose you are talking about, but just wanted to let you know.

My AEM fuel hose dissenrgrated in the tank and turned very soft and mushy causing it to keep slipping off.

Build looks good so far.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Simply Volvo

[floggingmike]

Well thats nice as hell to know about the Vette shocks for the rear. Definitely a good route to go, looking forward to seeing your thoughts on them.

Thanks for putting in the time and research.