• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

'94 960 gets Mercedes OM606 diesel

nordmaschine

forced instruction
Joined
Feb 12, 2012
Location
The Balkans, BiH
UPDATE WITH DIESEL ON PAGE 2!


I don't know is this matherial for "projects", since it is a long time project, that is probably never going to end, but there isn't constantly work done on the car and there isn't too much of planning ahead, so perhaps it should stay here. Don't know. Anyway...

This was my first Volvo, bought in May '11, as a non-runner with blown engine and everything else pretty much dead. I wasn't even after a Volvo but a MB W123, but I just couldn't not buy it when I saw how ugly and run-down it was. Wasn't even cheap for a total wreck.

Found in this condition:
1dscn1829648x486.jpg

2dscn1822648x486.jpg

2dscn1852648x486.jpg


The D24TIC was blown heavily, bearings were eaten, piston rings were none, etc. Since I had no experience with Volvos, i.e. didn't know anything about such a thing as a Redblock, I rebuilt the diesel ground-up, for more then I paid for the car originally.

dscn1938640x480.jpg

dscn1983640x480.jpg

dscn1965480x640.jpg

dscn1982480x640.jpg


I liked the car, decided to keep it, drove it for about a year, got a B6304F and 944 B230FB in the meantime, but kept this one as the main car.

Then the harmonic balancer went, bent valves, etc...head work, gasket, etc, again.

Again, I drove it for about a year, started boosting it 1.8bar, turning the fuel up, and the usual stuff. In the process I broke the M46, it just blew the guts in 1000 pieces on a 2nd-3rd shift. Swapped an M47 from a 945 B230FD I got as a parts car, then decided to make a race car, then decided to make a daily...and now it just sits gutted in my garage, blocking it. lol

Then i blew the engine. Head cracked in 11 places, but at least it reached 220km/h. However, I got tired of the D24TIC, so I left it in my backyard and got 964 B204FT.

After a couple of months, I got another head and fixed the diesel in intention of driving it some more, untill MOT/TUeV/whatever you call it expires (28th may '14), hoping to decide what will I do with it after. Since reeeally liked the B204FT in the 964, I decided to go that route, but couldn't find a B204FT to start with. Then I searched for at least a B234F to turbocharge it, but again no luck. When I couldn't even find a B230FT, or ANY turbo redblock whatsoever, I just gave up on turbo Redblocks. Too much of an investment to make one and parts non-availability was just killing me. So I sold the B204FT car, got some money and a Fiat Tempra with 2.0 8v TwinSpark swapped in for it, and bought an M50B25, from an E34 525i; iron block, non VaNoS with a Getrag 260 on it, with intention of swapping it in the 965 and turbocharging it.





Have the auxillaries, intake, rest of the wiring and ECU as well, not pictured.

Put the slim brake booster since the original blew, had this one on hand and thought it would be tight under the hood anyway.



This as well, to replace the "Turbo Diesel" on the tailgate eventually.

Since the diesel had some more MOT, I drove it around till May the 27th, when I decided to do the governor mod. Got the lump to rev over 6500 rpm and it seemed happy with it, but then the governor shaft broke, sent pieces of it flying inside the pump spinning at >3000rpm, and then it went silent. Probably forever.

I was actually glad since I finally got an excuse to pull it out and start with the swap.



I have a lack of time and work alone, so it'll take time, but the goal it to get it to work before June 28th, so I can keep the licence plates.

this is where I'm at now:


All the bolts and links undone, hopefully I will be able to get something to pull it out tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
Got the engine by the car and did some measuring today...

What scared me the most was the driveshaft...how to adapt it to the Getrag 260. It turns out, M47 front driveshaft has exactly the same hardy joint as the Getrag... A tri-star, 14cm in diameter, 12cm between the bolts.

Also, M50+Getrag are roughly the same lenght - ~130cm, as the D24+M47, measured from the crank pulley to the hardy joint.

However, E34 (that's where the M50 came from) and 960 have the crossmember in different place, so the oil pan might turn out a problem, on M50 it's in the front, on D24 in the back...

Front sway-bar will have to go. Even so, it might not be enough clearence.

First, I'll try to do a trial fit these days. If it won't fit, the E36 M50 oil pan has the bulge in the back. And there's always welding...
 
Got the rest of the bits today, now just in need of a new MAF and clutch slave cylinder, and that would be it.

Apart from fabricating a bracket for Volvo PS pump and getting a BMW pulley on it.

The idea would be, when I get it to sit in the car, I'll put the tank and fuel pump from a petrol wagon with hoses, etc, then wire it all up and it...should...be ready to go.

As for positioning the engine...I came across this:

large_125984-1203584.jpg


large_125984-1172578.jpg


It's a E34 525tds sourced M51. It shares oil pan with petrol M50 engine, in the first picture you can see how far from the firewall it sits, and in the second picture there is dipstick on the front of the engine, and E36 pan has it in the rear.

Hence, I believe it will be able to fit somehow. Can't wait to try...

I'd still be happier if it would sit right "on" the firewall because of the balance, but I guess it would be just too much work and my other car's licence expires in 5 days, so I cant waste that much time. Maybe one day...
 
Thanks!

Did some work today...




Bolt on:


Don't have newer picture, when I aligned everything up it went about 1, 1.5 inches back, and it'll go maybe 1/2 inches more when everything aligns:


This is how it should stand, just the front will go a bit down, since now it stands on a wooden block untill I sort motor mounts...I aligned mounting holes with Volvo rubbers, so I'll try to get BMW mounts from a JY today, it might even be bolt on:


 
E34 525i mounts arrived. (Together with slave cylinder, MAF, M50 PS pump and some bits..)









It fits right onto Volvo rubbers, but it would have been too high, I'll need to come up with something lower. Have E34 rubbers and spare sets of Volvo mounts, will adapt it somehow.



Even with engine this high (two blocks of wood, ~1.5 inch together, sitting between sump and crossmember), hood closes. Barely, but it does. (left hood lock is missing and hinges f$cked-up, that's why it stands weird...)
 
Actually I did.

It's still the same engine that originally came with the car, but in the last 50.000 km's that I own it I went through two sets of pistons&rings, 4 MLS HG's, oil and water pump, two heads, 3 cams, ~36 valves, 4 sets of intake&exhaust gaskets, two radiators, various hoses, two transmissions, some diff mounts...etc.

Not bad. :)


I hope M50B25 will last longer.


tried out something...

In this picture, stock 960 3.0 motor mount and E34 rubber besides:


Aaaand:


Bolt on!

And as far as I remember, diesel mounts are the same, so that should be it. Getting there...
 
Gave up on mixing mounts and decided to fabricate them.

Then life went downhill once again, so I haven't seen the car until two days ago.

This is the way it stands now:









Driver side mount:


Passenger side:


Doesn't seem much and it's fugly, but it's got the engine where I want it and there's no way in hell it will ever brake or bend.
 
It seems like every time I make some progress on the car, life goes sideways and slaps me in the face and I don't see the car for a couple of months.

Since last post, I towed it to my garage, put in lift pump and sender unit from 945 B230 tank, new fuel lines and then it stood like that untouched until couple of days ago.

News:
Fitted P/S pump, alternator, belt and tensioner, made P/S reservoir -> Pump and Pump -> rack hoses fit.
Got some J/Y BMW radiator hoses and made Volvo radiator fit. Happy about that.
And... Part I feared the most - wiring.
Thankfully, theese engines are a common swap to E30's, so wiring data is abundant. Tonight i got chassis electrics to work, starter to turn the engine over, spark and fuel pump to work, so from now on, only thing left is to cut some wires to correct lenght and tuck them away neatly, align fuel lines, put the manifolds back on, pour some gas be done with the engine side of things.

Then:
Make custom (longer) shifter linkage, adapt tranny crossmember and lenghten the front part of the driveshaft, and it should be ready to go.

I can finaly see the light at the end of the tunnel...


Some pics from tonight:









And I got a set of wheels for it a couple of days ago.



Super rare Rial Vintage, 15x7, ET11. Even more rare in our 5x108 bolt pattern.
 
Wanted to post but I was browsing during my lunch on my phone - Looking good man! Can't wait for the BOOST :cool:
 
Volvo hose + machined adapter + BMW slave cyl:


Tranny mounts made to spec out of Polyamide:


Nearly there...


Should sort shifter mechanism tomorrow and take the driveshaft to be lengtened and balanced on monday...
 


After a light test-drive...

Everything seems tight, just a couple more clamps to tighten and dig up some Saab engine from my backyard to take ECT sensor for the dash since bimmer one is a whole different range, and the wiring is done. And I got to make some polyurethane shifter bushings for the M47 shifter I adapted to fit Getrag and we're ready to go full out sideways.

And I need to make an exhaust. There's a graveyard down the street and I don't want to wake them all up... It's seriously deafening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf6XQJ2u7OI
 
Back
Top