Swap 940 b230ft into 740 chassis

[bchubb]

I recently purchased a 98 volvo 940 estate with a b230ft redblock and the m90 gearbox, because i’m an idiot and make impulsive purchases it also came with a LOT of rust

long story short i’d love to save the engine and gearbox and have always loved the 740 estates, so am considering buying a shell and fitting my gearbox and engine, of which i’ve found a 92 740 shell that looks really clean but is missing the rear diff, ecu and wiring harness, the latter two i assume i would bring over from the donor 940, but unsure of the diff

from what i know all 240-940 engines are pretty similar, i’m not sure what the 740 previously had in it but mechanically my 940 is pretty good so happy to move as much over as i can

Is there anything i should look out for/big things to note/anything to buy ahead of time before actually considering this project? I am still a beginner when it comes to working on cars but more than happy to jump in the deep end

the 740 doesn’t look to have had air conditioning as there are no buttons on the centre console with the dials (where it is on my 940), ideally i’d be able to fit the AC from my 940 to it but i feel that could end up being the bigger of the two tasks

 

[JW240]

Everything will swap over. It's just a lot of big heavy LEGO mostly.
Is the 740 b230 and also equipped with abs and is it turbo or not? Cars without turbo have the abs on the exhaust side of the engine bay and this will interfere with stock airbox. 740 will have two fuel pumps. The 940 one in the tank. Small differences and what I remember from similar swaps (740 turbo bits to 760 v6) 95% just bolts in.
I'd expect the 92 740 has the same style of dashboard/cluster as the 940, then that should swap over too easily.

Good time to do some further maintenance on the drivetrain too.
Sounds like a fun project, especially if you can park both cars next to each other it is very doable to swap the drivetrain and everything that's in better condition over to the 740.

 

[fatcatbestcat]

91-92 740 is functionally the same as a 91-98 940. Individual components will be different but basically everything will swap over. Down to the instrument cluster, most of the wiring harness, of course engine/transmission, shifter, all the interior parts etc.

EDIT: For accuracy's sake I should specify that 91-92 940 parts are direct bolt-ons for a 91-92 740. 1993+ they changed a few things and specific things like the instrument clusters need some work to swap over.

[otherwise] Pretty straightforward swap. Mechanically straightforward.