D24T.com - Red wagon build

D24T.com (http://d24t.com/index.php)

- The Garage (http://d24t.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17)

- - Red wagon build (http://d24t.com/showthread.php?t=715)

Look at you George with your personalized D24T plate... Don't you feel special!!!

What are the plans for it?

Jason

Yes, in fact, I did feel pretty special when I screwed that personalized D24T plate on! ;)

Plans is to build a long distance tourer, a road trip machine. It will be getting the engine and trans, etc from my very scruffy 1985 TD wagon, and some mods for quiet/smooth highway cruising... some chassis stiffening, fresh bushings, cushy Nivomat self-leveling rear shocks, etc. Probably not your cup of tea.... but don't worry, it will be fast too. I have a GT2056V variable vane turbo sitting on the shelf that is ready to do duty on the D24T going into this car... in the Jeep Liberty CRD it came out of, it moves enough air to make 160HP and 300 lbft of torque out of a 2.8L 4 cylinder. Should be able to wake up a D24T pretty nicely, I think, and hopefully make some good low end power too once I get the VNT dialed in right.

Still in disassembly stages for now, will keep updated with pictures as progress continues....

Well, I never did a very good job of keeping up with updates on here. This project has now been completed for a long time, driven many miles, and found a new owner, but for posterity's sake I suppose it is still worth putting some pictures of the swap up... Better late then never. Anyway, here goes.

This project started with this:

http://imageshack.us/a/img96/2951/20120127155831.jpg

and ended with this:

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/3802/20120924100609.jpg

With a little bit of work in between.

The story begins with a very ratty 1985 740 Turbodiesel, featuring a solid drivetrain living in a body that was beyond any chance of reasonable restoration. Next to enter the picture is an unusually shiny and straight, fire-engine red 1986 740 Turbo gas wagon with just a few ticks under 400,000 miles showing on the odo. The B230FT+M46 powertrain still ran nicely but had a worn out T3, beat exhaust, and some LH2.2 issues that were going to be tricky to fix. Around that same time a friend happened to wind up with a later 740 Turbo that had a melted motor and was in need of a solid B230FT long block. The solution was obvious...

The dismemberment begins.

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/1460/20120128142939.jpg

Powertrain module free of all its various interfaces, ready to emerge from its ugly host.

http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9882/20120128173443.jpg

Body and drivetrain separated with drivetrain left complete on its mountings with P/S system, steering, exhaust, etc all intact. Beats wrestling it out with a cherrypicker! Forum member "ngoma" provided a second set of hands and, more importantly, a second set of brains during this stage and we had the whole car stripped over the course of a weekend. :D

http://imageshack.us/a/img696/9310/20120128221734.jpg

A pickup truck full of diesel Volvo, with the remains of the old diesel shell departed on its way to China and whatever future life lies beyond.

http://imageshack.us/a/img831/5316/20120130135745.jpg

On to the next stage: the wagon in preparation for driving its final few feet on gasoline power, into the garage. Still running fine...

http://imageshack.us/a/img805/8171/20120302175241.jpg

The final clock reading for the B230FT gasser powertrain. That's 399,248, with only one engine rebuild @ 300k. Impressive!

http://imageshack.us/a/img21/8528/20120302200335.jpg

Now, the tricky process of doing what was done so easily on a shop hoist using nothing but a cherrypicker, a floor jack, a piece of chain, and some chunks of wood. Note -- we have not attempted something like this before.

Ready for liftoff.

http://imageshack.us/a/img40/1561/20120304152524.jpg

The redblock emerging from its home.

http://imageshack.us/a/img138/3159/20120304154615.jpg

Max elevation, B230FT wrestled out of the way, D24T dragged into place. Assembly is the reverse of removal. :-P

http://imageshack.us/a/img521/2174/20120304163237.jpg

The new setup slipping into place. The diesel crossmember has to be used when doing this swap, since the D24T's mounting locations are different. Since I knew the crossmember needed to go in with the motor anyway, it made sense to just do it all as one plug-and-play unit from below, rather than taking one piece out the top and another piece off the bottom and fussing with the mounts and power steering hoses.

http://imageshack.us/a/img440/5567/20120304181202.jpg

Best part is that the crossmember's integral tapered locating pins do the work of aligning everything for you. Just get it roughly into position, drop the car down, and screw the 4 bolts in. :cool:

http://imageshack.us/a/img90/6949/20120304183801.jpg

And we're done. Now for the rest of the car...

http://imageshack.us/a/img838/2729/20120304184233.jpg

Sorting out the details.

Swapping from hydraulic clutch to cable:

http://imageshack.us/a/img560/3779/20120312183030.jpg

Converting from gasser fuel filler tube to diesel.

http://imageshack.us/a/img843/9145/20120313152852.jpg

The diesel filler tube is enlarged to accept fatter high-speed diesel pump nozzles and does not have an evap system.

http://imageshack.us/a/img805/5738/20120314153253.jpg

Time for some motor rehab before we rouse the diesel from several years of hibernation and neglect. It's healthy, but needs everything, cam seals, valve clearances, glow plugs, fuel lines, timing belts, cooling system refresh, etc.

http://imageshack.us/a/img145/142/20120313152910.jpg

Getting there.

http://imageshack.us/a/img407/4587/20120313182755.jpg

Trick for replacing the #6 glow plug -- I find it easiest to stick it onto the end of the bus bar with the terminal nut finger tight, sneak it into the hole partly assembled, and then spin the plug in bit by bit with a combination wrench. Tedious no matter how you do it, but better than the alternatives. It is best to use the original style Volvo pinch nut on the terminal when doing it this way, though, since a normal nut can unscrew itself as you thread the glow plug in...

http://imageshack.us/a/img534/129/20120313225455.jpg

Narrow view of the plugs in place...

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/7613/20120313232052.jpg

Pump timing...

http://imageshack.us/a/img855/2296/20120314124408.jpg

I failed to take any good pictures of sorting out the wiring and fuel systems, but those were the next steps after this. I retained the stock low-pressure in-tank pump from the LH gas fuel system and eliminated the under-car high pressure pump and filter unit. The original diesel setup has no electric pumps at all, relying on the mechanical injection pump to suck all the way from the tank pickup, but it actually benefits from a low-pressure fuel feed and the in-tank pump from the LH system does that job perfectly.

OK, got fuel and electricity, finally ready for a test start in the new body. It grumbles, it coughs, it smokes. It's alive! Now for the minor bits, like brakes, suspension, wheels, exhaust, etc... :rolleyes:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hv-M_KSPzfI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sitting on fresh front suspension, full of coolant, and looking more or less like it should, although there are still various redundant gasser bits still visible in this shot that need to be tidied up. Ready for a test drive.

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/1782/20120328145557.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img28/1961/20120316163914.jpg

First fill of local B99.

http://imageshack.us/a/img141/6416/20120404175545.jpg

OK, the car seems to be working well. Time to try it out on a brief trip from WA to Colorado and back, and see if anything breaks. On a highway exit off I-90 in Montana:

http://imageshack.us/a/img255/1176/20120317150605.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img87/9674/20120317150636.jpg

While on the trip, we pass the 400k mile mark while cruising at an easy 85 through central MT (and getting 29 MPG!). So far, so good.

http://imageshack.us/a/img29/598/20120317131050.jpg

Parked at the top of Teton Pass outside Jackson, WY.

http://imageshack.us/a/img826/4552/20120331134310.jpg

Back from the trip and in for its first post-swap routine service. It survived!

http://imageshack.us/a/img802/2059/20120413101727.jpg

No hiccups so far, but still a few more loose ends to be tied up in the interior, on the exterior, and under the hood...

Some finishing touches.

Cluster parts swapping, necessary to get diesel tach, glow plug light, voltmeter, boost gauge, and correct original speedo all into the same cluster and everything working and reading as it should.

http://imageshack.us/a/img217/2387/20120412183819.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img337/4594/20120412183731.jpg

Re-pinning a harness connector at the cluster to add an additional terminal for lighting up the glow plug light, which the gasser cluster harness did not have (adding orange on far left).

http://imageshack.us/a/img337/7210/20120918150918.jpg

Success (in a picture taken a few miles further down the road):

http://imageshack.us/a/img411/3903/20120924100322.jpg

Now that it all works pretty nicely, time to give some cosmetic attention to the well-used interior. The tired houndstooth seats are to be swapped for clean black leather chairs and fresh black carpet.

Ratty old carpets bear witness to the 400,000+ miles.

http://imageshack.us/a/img21/605/20120707144402.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img163/3190/20120707144417.jpg

After some deep cleaning and with a new set of rugs in place.

http://imageshack.us/a/img29/4400/20120710195612.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img43/4646/20120710195632.jpg

Seats in, much better!

http://imageshack.us/a/img254/6479/20120924100420.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/804/20120924100511.jpg

Engine bay with the diesel adaptations all done and gasser bits eliminated.

http://imageshack.us/a/img37/4424/20120924100757.jpg

And, finally, a foglight to replace the missing one, various new lights and lenses, the right 740 Draco wheels, and a trip to the carwash.

http://imageshack.us/a/img19/9853/20120924100601.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img651/2818/20120924100655.jpg

This car fulfilled its role as a long-distance travel machine and proved to be remarkably trouble-free... I put 13,000 miles on in the space of 4 months over the summer, without a single hiccup, including putting on 6,000 miles in the space of 3 weeks in July looping thru southern CA and Nevada and Colorado. I sold it in September to a new owner who was enthusiastically looking for a good TD wagon, of the cars I had, I was most confident that this one would serve him well. I miss it, but the new owner is very happy and will give it plenty of love, and my other diesels needed attention more than this one did! :eek: Ultimately it ended up staying stock, never did end up trying out my VNT turbo on it, but maybe sometime in the future.... Hopefully at some point the new owner will join here and post some pictures of his own.

Some of my last travel pictures, taken on the way home from that trip at a stop near Goldendale, WA above the banks of the Columbia River. Next to the car is our state's unique replica of Stonehenge. Nice spot.

http://imageshack.us/a/img717/1443/20120807184804.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img843/7017/20120807184834.jpg

Enjoy!

Red 745TD alias RedArrow

Thank you so much for everyone who made this dream happen! You were right George, it IS a great long-distance tourer; you built it very nicely! I absolutely love it. Everyone who sees it, likes it a lot. It looks awesome and drives like a dream. A real tank... I drove many days above 8-9000 ft and that time I experienced some power loss of course BUT! ...
... I had a 3400mile trip across the USA with it, also a 2400m drive down to Florida and back so my odo now shows a little more than 419.000miles.
The car always starts right up for the very first crank, even in -12Celsius (10-12F), of course. CONGRATULATIONS for building it so reliable and MANY THANKS!
I can`t express how happy I am with this beauty!
Feel free to see my albums under my name.

Awesome thread!

Coincidentally, it looks like I am about to do a very similar swap. You helped me (via e-mail) do the belt on my 85 about a year ago. The car is a total piece of junk, but the engine and trans are rock solid. Ever since I did the t-belt, I've been looking for a clean wagon with a bad engine and I think I finally found a red one near me which I might go pick up this weekend.

How difficult is the wiring? That's the part I am most concerned about. I've converted a couple Benz diesels from auto to stick and a few VWs from gas to diesel, so I'm not completely new to this, but still looking for any tips you can give me.

The wagon is a 92 740 turbo with about 250K. I plan on rebuilding the diesel driveshaft and replacing most of the suspension components on the wagon before I finish the swap. I would like to have working cruise control and A/C, I do have A/C tools so it's just a matter of cobbling the parts together I suppose.