My 960 D24TIC2/M46

[v8volvo]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

Would like to keep it diesel, but I guess 200hp/400ish torque is max for D24's, Merc diesels (OM606) are great but it would be a treason in a way... Whiteblocks (T4/5/6) are in my book "glass blocks" and just not cool, red-block is only 4 cylinder and I have it in my other 900's so I'm running out of the options...

A John Lane style PRV, perhaps?

I had a late-model PRV once, it was a 1989 760 GLE sedan. I liked driving it; the late B280 V6 with the even-fire split crank was a really smooth runner.

But it only came with a non-lockup automatic, and it really hogged fuel. The 145hp gas V6 was not really that much quicker than a good-running stock D24T with automatic, and the diesel got twice the MPG (seriously). The V6 can make power with a turbo and different heads, etc, but it seems like it takes a lot of work and money to do it since nothing is available off the shelf. I have met John Lane and seen his car, and it's pretty cool, but he definitely had to put in a lot of effort to get it as far as he did....

That V6 was also weird to work on, since almost every bolt head needed an 11mm wrench! Apparently fairly common French practice, but you almost never see an 11mm fastener head anywhere else, so I was surprised at first. My 11mm sockets had never gotten so much attention before I got that car...

Anyway, the PRV was a neat motor, definitely much more interesting than a redblock, but I think it would take time and money to make one fast and it would still use a lot of fuel.

Since you are in Europe, you probably have a lot of good diesel options that we don't have here. I think the 2.5L five cylinder TDI motor would be a great swap into a D24 Volvo, since the engines are very similar in their architecture and many parts (e.g. bellhousing, starter, flywheel/clutch, etc) would bolt right in where the D24 was. They came in all kinds of vehicles over there, Audi cars, VW LT and T4 vans, Volvo 850's, etc.

Then again, fixing the headgasket in the D24T is not that hard, and you could put in studs so that it doesn't give you trouble again. That is probably the fastest, cheapest, and easiest option, plus the nicest sound...