1965 Volvo 1800S heart transplant

After design/building a 1951 Packard 250 convertible suited with a fresh LS swap, disc brakes, air ride, and custom interior for the wife she now wants something sporty!!! Go figure.... So I always like the stock look of these Volvo 1800's. They were sleek right off the showroom floor.  I said to her "Have I got a car for you", which didn't need much convincing! I drove 5 hours to pickup this beauty last month. The plan is to do safety upgrades, drop in a V6 3800 supercharged engine mated to a T5 trans. She needs floors and sill work which is not a problem. She may go black exterior with tan leather upholstery accented in black piping...not sure yet. For now, the original motor/trans is out and sold locally. Prepping to fabricate in the new motor and trans, and a complete nut and bolt resto-mod.

Pulling out the 4 banger and 4 speed transmission as 1 unit...tight egress though

My blank canvas

Boy, those are sharp. What are you thinking of a donor platform for the 3.8? 

In reply to brandonsmash :

I just picked up a 1999 V6 3800 series II from a Firebird

Have a ton of fun with this! I just wanted to compliment you on a shockingly clean and uncluttered workspace. Damn.

Ohhh... another favorite build. And I do like the color combo - tan interior looks so right for these cars, and any dark exterior would complement it.

What are you thinking suspension wise?

I've always wondered why more folks haven't tried V6 swaps into these. One should be much easier to fit than a V8.

Also jealous of that nice clean work space... 

Jealous of that nice rust free body. 

In reply to Piguin :

Undecided on the suspension or my options 

NOHOME said:

Jealous of that nice rust free body. 

That too... especially since I just made a tentative deal to buy a whole slew of ES body parts.  For no small amount of $$$ (but competitive and no shipping or sales tax). 

Suspension does have options since the front sub frame is removable thus it's possible to build a new one that has attributes you want - better geometry, R&P steering, etc.  There was a guy in TX who was offering swap-ready subframes, but for various reasons, not anymore.  From what I gather, it basically used hot rod uprights and braking components.  But the big advantage was it moved the upper control arm mounts out of the engine bay, which makes header routing a lot easier. 

What is the size of your shop?

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

So we can expect a build thread in the near future?

If the suspension you are thinking of was the one built by "Robert" (aka "I am the only one") I believe he had to take some time off to go to jail for fraud or somesuch. Pretty sure it was just Mustang II stuff as sold by  a lot of hot rod parts vendors.

I am both a volvo fan and a 3800 guy. I give you these words of warning.

Fitting an L67 into a RWD platform is tricky. The supercharger's drive belt has to be on the accessory side, which puts the throttle body well and truly into the firewall. 

Your donor motor is not an L67, it is an L36. A fine motor in its own right (205hp/240ftlbs IIRC) but aside from the oil pan won't do you much good if you want to go supercharged. The blocks are the same, but the pistons are different, the L36 is a higher compression. You can put a supercharger on it but you will need to run a larger pulley to prevent detonation. This is called a top-swap and you will need everything but the shortblock from an L67.  Supercharged motors have the injectors in the heads, NA motors put them in the manifold.

Most people doing RWD 3800 swaps generally do the opposite. they swap an L36 top end onto an L67 shortblock and run a turbo. I have a friend building a Regal T-Type like this right now and I really want to do the same to my Z28.

I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm really excited to see where this goes.

NOHOME said:

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

So we can expect a build thread in the near future?

If the suspension you are thinking of was the one built by "Robert" (aka "I am the only one") I believe he had to take some time off to go to jail for fraud or somesuch. Pretty sure it was just Mustang II stuff as sold by  a lot of hot rod parts vendors.

 

Eventually... after the GT6, TR8, Spitfire, E350, MINI repairs, house renovations and shop-build projects are completed.  Especially that last one as I can't work on the ES until I have a space to do said work.  The Volvo has always been my "retirement project" and at best I'm 7 years away from that milestone.

Yes... Robert... I'd forgotten his name.  Yeah... his sub-frame wasn't anything special and I pretty much dismissed him after he refused to provide any suspension numbers.    Like I said, "various reasons..." 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) : 30x32 

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

Thanks! I did do a lot of digging and research on this swap. My conclusion is to run the L36 with a turbo. Yes... the super charger swap is great on paper but the reality is too costly 

I always appreciate when a man doesn't stick a P where the P doesn't belong.

Super cool project and a very clean 1800S starting point.

Started on some rot removal today. This will require new flooring, sills and rockers

In reply to DIYCustoms :

That looks way too close to what I have been up to the last 5 weeks! Im glad to be on the downside.

The sills on the 1800ES were not too terrible to do once I got past the realization that I had to cut out a piece of the dog-leg to get at the back bits.  The bit being held by the vice grips gets welded back on after the new middle sill is in place.

Now you can get at the last few spot welds at the top of the middle sill. Apologies if I am preaching to the choir.

In reply to NOHOME :

Love your progress! I welcome all advice! I just did this same type of repair on my 67 MGB and 60 Austin Healey. Today I will level and brace the car before removing any more material. I have the car supported on rear axle and front A arms opposite of the fulcrum point so the body is relaxed. How did you support your ES?