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The red 1986 745 build

Swedbrick

Swedbrick

Active member
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Location
Netherlands, Source of Grolsch
Hi All, Since I'm new to turbobrick I thought I would create a thread to keep track of my progress on my track/daily red wagon, for myself and those interested. Here's what has been done thusfar (Updated as of 1-2023)

The start
A clean 1986 Volvo 745GL with a b230k, pierburg (junk) carb and ezk118 and a m47 5-speed
N2vTWTil.jpg


The car as it sits now
UbA37TKl.jpg


Suspension upgrades
Shocks: Koni yellow shocks front and rear
Springs: IPD wagon lowering springs (-44mm rear, - 32mm front)
Swaybars: IPD blue 25mm up front, turbo 19mm on the rear
Wheels: Revolution Motorsport Millenium 7.5j front, 8j rear, et13 both
Tyres: Vredenstein Ultrac's 235/45r17 rear, 225/45r17 front
Brakes: xc90 T6 (336 front, 308 rear ventilated)
Camber mod, TXR anti bump and quicksteer plates, 960 braces, reinforced rear subframe
Racingdiffs LSD conversion in 3.54 ratio axle (940 48t with aluminium cover)

lLCTT7vl.jpg


The current engine
B230FK, 9.3:1 ET pistons, Maxspeeding rods, squirters, KGtrimning valve springs, port and polish 530 head , V cam, stock valves.
Hybrid 18T td04 hybrid with modified 13c compressor housing and 7cm3 conical housing.
LH2.4 conversion with redblockpowered stage 2 chips, buchka wasted spark, 470cc ev6 injectors
pLEn7rBl.jpg

Engine build thread: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=345333
 
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Second update

The first step, some new wheels with new rubber, the switch to some hankook tires with decent rain performance was made, because well, the Netherlands to be short. I also liked the sirius wheel look, so the upgrade to alloy was also made. At the yearly volvo convention, I found some hubcaps that fitted perfectly and where better looking than the stock option so I threw those on.
Lb9u6rsl.jpg


From there on it was time to get started with the performance upgrades, first up, a cluster capable of rpm indication.
wE0qMKJl.jpg


Next up, a set of IPD progressive lowering springs
auBiki0l.jpg


And I managed to find a set of cheap koni yellow rear shocks, just look at the difference with the stock gas struts:oogle:
jMEmMbil.jpg


The next step was to upgrade the engine, I ordered a k-profile camshaft from KGtrimmning, in the form of the kg004 cam (lift: 11,95 LSA: 111? Duration in/out: 273?), aka streetable (although the pierburg agreed to a lesser extend:rofl2: although mixture and idle air screws can get you far:-P)
7w7rmxjl.jpg


Installation and valve shim adjustment.
sLwA5lXl.jpg


Next up, IPD sways at a 2nd hand discount, lower brace was also included luckily:)
zgSRsikl.jpg


Since I had access to a welder, and had my subframe out for reinforcement (a 2.0 version of this with pictures will be coming up) I made my panhard bar ajustable to some extend to get the wheels back in line.
MCNiQ4Dl.jpg


Since I was getting sick of the pierburgs bad behaviour, and the volvo had already proven quite the towing rig, I got myself all the bits to start a turbo conversion which is currently a build in progress, hopefully I'll find the images once more to give it it's own post. Below some pictures of the bits, and the mighty brick towing my moped project.
9XbUFLKl.jpg


9cAahcGl.jpg
 
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Update 3

Found the latest pictures hidden away on my pc after some more procastination, so with this update we should have all the progress thusfar.

During winter I helped out some friends from the surfing association with the parting out of their old tired 945, from which I bought an M90L2, the radiatior, the turbo, the engine harness and several other bits. Somewhere in the following weeks I welded the 3rd gear syncro, repainted it, and forgot about it until I got around to ordering the new clutch.
wDrg77Kl.jpg


Very snowy, for dutch standards that is:-P
aiftlVkl.jpg


As the second project for the winter, I chose to paint a set of wheels in a bronze color, after much deliberation, starting off with a silver base coat, following a gold-bronze coat, and finishing with a strong clear laquer. Since the tires would have to come off for this process to do it well, I bought a second set, and sold the old set to my brother who also owns an old wagon.
QWA6KpJl.jpg


And yes the turbo's received a coat as well:)
XUbp4a8l.jpg


For the final result I also upgraded to a set of Vredenstein Sportrac 5 tires, 205/60 r15, which have proven very good, especially in the rain. I was doubtful about the gold at first, but it has really grown on me.
N9djdjal.jpg


During my second trackday at Zandvoort circuit, they proved very effective in the rain, improving my best dry time thusfar in the wet by 7 seconds, from 2.50 to 2.43, crazy:omg: Below an impression of what they had to cope with.

Passing a GTR with cold toyo proxxes:cool:
NBPBN1Sl.jpg


Nice shot on track
T3cpb6zl.jpg


Next up were some more chassis upgrades, first of which, roll-steer correctors from RetroTurbo that also perform a quick rack functionality. Due to the longer length of the steering arms, the tires were rubbing against the front swaybar, which I was able to prevent with two ABS stops for the steering rack, simple enough.

Roll steer correctors, with adjustable ackermann
5C9QBnkl.jpg


Secondly, a change of diff ratio's was required (from 3.31 -> 3.94) since during a previous trackday at Zandvoort circuit, the shift between 2nd and 3rd gear was less than ideal, since it would drop the k-cam right out of the powerband. At this point the reinforced subframe (v1.0) was installed as well.

The new rear axle, all nice and prepped
AUm9xWXl.jpg


The old subframe and rear axle
mvbcsApl.jpg


The car without it's rear axle, still looking good
IZGtMpIl.jpg


With all of the suspension/chassis upgrades finished for now, it is time to get into the serious stuff. First up, convert to the M90 transmission and hydraulic clutch, with a diesel clutch, and a sachs sintered pressureplate from KGtrimmning, good for approx 440Nm. To make sure the M90 could hold all this, I also installed the M90 thrust bearing adapter once more from retroturbo, to assure it would hold my 300whp goal. The flywheel was sandblasted beforehand, to create a good surface for bedding in.

Sandblasted flywheel and retroturbo m90 pilot bearing adapter
IEJR6sTl.jpg


Pressure plate in place
4eqlUVJl.jpg


With the new flywheel in place, the preparation for fuel injection conversion could begin.

Nicely painted mainfold with new seals and all
OhZ1hpXl.jpg


Walboro 450 install, including upgrade to later model fuel pump hangar (less chance of rusted fuel lines), pump shimmed with aluminium foil (tightly rolled, no chance of flakes) and tightened in place with hose clamps
YVgHVJLl.jpg


Upgrade to bigger radiator and e-fan with unavoidable issues with brittle plastic.
dojBaxIl.jpg


Manifold install and cooling system revamp (plugging coolant holes in head for carb manifold), with all new air intake
XlsexmWl.jpg


Those where the updates for now, more will follow soon! As far as the engine build is concerned, a little teaser below (and yes I will explain more about the TT, and why)
cQF5rvel.jpg


TBCGcBdl.jpg
 
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Old Iron said:
Nice build. What kind of bike is it towing?
Click to expand...

Thanks!, the bike it's towing is an Peripoli Guilietta Super Sport, built in 1962 in Italy to get exported to Germany. It has a 50cc, 3-speed, air cooled moto morini engine, and used to do 70-80km/h which I had to dial back a bit due to regulations, it also has twin exhausts from factory for those extra .5 hp's:lol:
 
I am impressed with the amount of work you have done. I used to have a 1986 745 turbo and i still regret selling it.

If you really want to unleash the full potential of your suspension, you should do the camber mod, do the caster mod and install the volvo 960 lower braces.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=230362
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=319020

The caster mod is done by putting spacer rings behind the lower control arm bushing. Longer trailing arms are available from volvo, but spacers are cheap, and you can buy them at you local gamma/praxis/etc.
 
MadDog_945 said:
oh erm.. plz report back when you drove it a bit.. curios if the m90 bearing will silence the m90 noises..
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Hi MadDog, I've already made a couple of trips with the M90, the difference is quite noticable, my brother also has an M90 behind his 6304 without the bearing and mine almost never crunches compared to his. However it must be said, both have the welded 3rd gear retainer ring, but with my brother's trans it had already sprung loose before it got welded and it has an even shorter shift, so it is not a fair comparison.

I also used a good quality gear oil from 'De Kroon' a dutch quality brand, in the right spec for the M90 since the volvo oil is annoying to get, which from what I have read makes quite some difference.
 
mark244turbo said:
I am impressed with the amount of work you have done. I used to have a 1986 745 turbo and i still regret selling it.

If you really want to unleash the full potential of your suspension, you should do the camber mod, do the caster mod and install the volvo 960 lower braces.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=230362
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=319020

The caster mod is done by putting spacer rings behind the lower control arm bushing. Longer trailing arms are available from volvo, but spacers are cheap, and you can buy them at you local gamma/praxis/etc.
Click to expand...

Hi, Thanks for the tips, I'll put those on the list for after the injection conversion, something to work on during winter, the 960 brace is more triangulated I presume?

P.S. Was the 1986 turbo dark silver, and sold somewhere around Brabant?
 
The 960 braces reduce flexing of the subframe. The camber and caster mod improve grip and eliminate understeer, the 960 braces improve steering precision. It nice if the car follows your steering instructions exactly and not having to constantly make little corrections.

My 745 was blue metallic and sold from brabant to belgium.
 
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mark244turbo said:
The 960 braces reduce flexing of the subframe. The camber and caster mod improve grip and eliminate understeer, the 960 braces improve steering precision. It nice if the car follows your steering instructions exactly and not having to constantly make little corrections.
Click to expand...

Alright, I was already trying to figure out the cause of this flex, but I never looked at the subframe as the cause before. Since I am planning on getting into some fabricating for the rear subframe and strutbrace, I'll probably order a little extra for some adjustable tubular control arms and improved underbody to subframe bracing then.

Maybe I might be able create some solidworks files, and be able to construct some extra's afterwards for those interested.:oogle:

mark244turbo said:
My 745 was blue metallic and sold from brabant to belgium.
Click to expand...

Ah okay, maybe one day I will come along. The one my brother bought was imported recently and had an not so legal turbo swap, which made a perfect excuse to put a b6304 in (still trying to get him to do a writeup:))
 
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