1980 Volvo 242GT to:

1980 Volvo 242GT+TiMSnSWB

Step 2 - Install Intercooler, Oil Cooler, Teardown for Turbo, and Oil Feed/Return lines

Step 3 - Install Oil Feed/Return, Turbo, Exhaust, Etc.

Step 4 - Rebuild Engine and Find New Turbo

Step 5 - Install Replacement Engine and 15G Turbo

Oil return was a major bitch. To add to the misery of dropping the crossmember and steering rack (ever so dirty) I didn't think about the engine-to-trans brace, so I had to lop a piece of it off. Then, guess what, the oil return leaks at the oil pan! It's hard to tell, but I think it's at the top of the weld, so it's basically unfixable. I'll try some RTV when I drain the oil. To get things to line up, I had to take a section out of the turbo return pipe, you can see where I welded it back together.

Next, gotta run the oil feed, you can also see where I added the turbo-style coolant pipe. This was necessary to clear the turbo. This was really easy, about five bucks worth of parts.

When I put the exhaust gaskets on, I could see that the head ports were quite a bit smaller than the gaskets, which lined up perfectly with the manifold. Time for a little porting... I didn't do a great job, because it was really hard to get into the ports with the engine in place. I really needed a right angle die grinder. Once that was done, I hooked up the compressor bypass valve. I don't have the holes in the cylinder head for the bracket, so I took the bracket off, left the CBV open, and ziptied it to the hotside intercooler pipe for now.

Time for the exhaust. This was a big job... I'm a better welder now than when I started, but I still don't know that I'd try to do this again. It's 3" mandrel-bent tubing from Jeg's, I think it was $20. I used the O2 bung and turbo flange from the 740 downpipe. Then I cut little wedges out of the 3" and hammered it down to fit the 2.5" section. The mounting at the bellhousing was a bitch and a half, and still isn't right. But it was good enough to run it around the block!

Yeah yeah yeah! Got boost! MegaTune showed about 120Kpa, which I figure is about 3PSI. The boost comes on nice and strong, and with no aircleaner or muffler, you can hear the turbo whine a mile away. A little tinkering with the tuning had it holding at 3PSI and running about 13:1 to 5,000RPM. Time to put it away for the day.

Big thanks to TurboBricks!!