1988 S10... turbo volvo powered

i'm going to run though my old posts that I posted elsewhere but not on GRM because of the lack of a dedicated project section (anyone that knows me knows that my prior projects where very pic heavy lol... I'll also add the time stamp of when I posted so it gives a time frame basis...

04-01-2011 well WAY back in '07 I tried to get ahold of an s10... specifically my memas (grandmother-in-law)... this was a "farm truck" used on their 20 acres... would run into town on occasion... at that point it had been parked and replaced with a newer model S10... needed an exhaust manifold and some eaten wires replaced... she wouldn't let it go as it was papas (her husband) who'd passed a few years prior... prior to them owning it it was owned by the local water company... it still has bits of the service company sticker on the door lol.

now a few years latter she's down sizing, shes giving me the truck in trade for some work (that i'd do for free but she'd insist on paying me for)

it's an '88 2.5L duke/tech 4 with a slushy box trans.

interior was full of crap.

the anemic 2.5L iron duke/tech4 with it's all iron OHV pushrod awesomeness.... 92hp 130tq

I knew it had some running problems and hoped to get it sorted before I did anything else with it... a few mice had nests up in the engine bay, found another one in the cowl vent, some of the wire harness had been eaten and i was told the exhaust manifold was cracked and the fuel pump needed replaced...

some of the mouse eaten harness... not to bad honestly.

fuel pump was OK but the hose connecting to the sender had melted... replaced with some EFI hose and that took care of the fuel issues

replaced the cap, plugs, wires, rotor and got her running... but she was rought... compression test told the story 110-0-0-110 so pulled the head to verify the inevitable blown HG

I found this while pulling stuff...

and this tells the story

at this point I had a decision to make...

put the $35 into a headgasket set (yes a SET) or while it's this far apart pull the entire dang thing and test fit the volvo drivetrain... so out it all came....

the same day I picked up the truck I also picked up an '89 745ti... it had been mine but I sold it to a friend some years back with no turbo attached (stock turbo was blowing smoke so i pulled but never got it back together)... but it's been sitting at memas land waiting for him to come and get it... that was back in '07... the mice where far less kind to the volvo :(

a pic of it when I got the engine in back in '04... the engine came from an '86 765 with a nasty body... engine has about 145k miles on it now.

a quick drop in verified that we have plenty of room... sans the head mount dizzy... I was lucky enough to find that i have the teeth on the shaft for a block mount dizzy so :)...

not much room back there.

my biggest concern for clearance was the TB and steering shaft... plenty of room... and thats with the pan sitting on the cross rail... when I put a 2x4 under clearance got even better everywhere

haven't removed the stock motor mounts from the frame (had to cut into the frame to get to the bottom nut... other option is to drop the lower control arm... but obviously plenty of room once the mounts are gone

space for a down pipe is a little tight but nothing a BFH can't fix... accessories fitment may be tight... no a/c to worry about so If needed I could run the alternator high on a hacked a/c / alternator mount... will do another test fit with the power steering installed before I go any further though.

plans for a 3" exhaust... which will basically be a down pipe into a cherry bomb or something and a turn down under the bed of the truck.

will be running an aw71 for now... I have 2 and will do the accumulator mod, I would like to do a t5 at some point but budget restraints prevent that for now... for turbo I have a tdo4h 13g... also have a chinabay 50 trim t3t4... will need a '90+ manifold... the stock IC and 3 core volvo radiator fit like it was made for the truck... I have a chinabay FMIC also but it's only a 20x7x3 core so not sure if i should try it out or just sell it and step up to a real big boy IC... for engine control i'm debating on running stock lh2.2 or going stright to Megasquirt... MS would simplify the wiring portion of the install but obviously increase initial cost and require tunning... but it's prob the best way to go if i'm honest with myself.

as of now the next step is to get mounts fabbed up... which means I need to pick up the proper dryer cord to adapt to my MIG lol... one day i'll have 220v running into my own garage... untill then...

edit I didn't mention... I hope to bring this truck to the GRM $2011 challenge... won't be super fast or competitive but just want something that is fun to drive around...

and from my findings i've got 4.10 rear end and it's about 500lbs less than the volvo wagon... the iron duke/trans combo should weigh within about 30lbs of the volvo setup... so should be pretty fun.

04-04-2011 i'm picking up a '95 extended cab with the 190hp 4.3L and a 5spd here in another month from a friend... waiting on more info but may have the zq8 "sport suspension" package (fat sways, 2" drop Bilstein shocks) (was thinking of taking the engine and swapping it into the s10 and adding a turbo... but the volvo power should be fun :) ... they are good BS daily drivers... not near the comfort of a volvo but they are simple

and some random facts... volvo vs s10 wheelbase 109.1 108.3 track fr/r 57.9/57.5 vs 54.1/54.4 curb weight 3272lbs vs 2568lbs length 188.4 vs 178.2

I expect the volvo setup to add less than 50lbs vs the stock duke... the 4l60e weighs 30lbs more than the aw71 the engine should weigh about the same (no accessories) from what I found... so i'd say even with the turbo, IC and such i should weigh in pretty stinkin close to stock... if/when I goto a t5 weigh will be down another 75 lbs or so...

track will increase a bit with these 15x8 weld prostars... picked up a few weeks back... 12 lb wheels FTW (one has been cleaned the other cleaned and a quick polish)... one has a bit of rash but some time should clean it up and get it looking awesome... not bad for $130

today is a no school day for the kiddies... so no work to be done today :(

04-05-2011 not much today... removed the drivers side frame motor mount and then slipped the drivetrain in complete with trans... the power steering pump will JUST fit... the donor car had a/c also so i've got the big drivers side acc bracket... i'll need to cut it up a bit and just have a top mount alternator

also tossed the front end on just to see how stock hoses fit... i was amazed to see how well it all fits stock IC hose and all... motor mount building will be tight as you can see from the pics the stock 700 mount just sits there with no room to spare... I think i'll end up with some very narrow mounts and then do a 3rd anti tourqe mount along the passenger side frame rail to the head...

still finding a good source for metal to build the mounts...

04-08-2011 stopped by napa and picked up some motor mounts for a cj7 nice and stiff, has an interlock in case it does fail and under $25 for a urithane model when I deem it necessary (although feeling them I don't know that it will be)

stopped in at a local welding fab shop and picked up a good size chunk of 1/4" steel plate. going to be a lot of work to cut and shape with just a dremel, angle grinder and bench grinder and a hand drill lol... but it'll work i'm sure.

04-11-2011

worked out my mounts in my mind next step is to get the engine placed properly... got the engine shimed a little higher about where I want it but need to yank it out and massage the oil pan with a small hammer and massage the cross member with the BFH... then I can cardboard up my mounts and start cutting and welding...

paid for a used very partially built megasquirt with the stimulator and relay board... think it's fairly complete based on the pics but i won't know for sure untill it gets here... either way I paid a smidge more than I would have just for the relay board kit... so score...

04-11-2011

$75 for the lot of it... we'll see what all comes with it when it comes in

04-13-2011

picked up some cut off discs for my angle grinder... got the main plates cut and cleaned up around the edges... I may pull out the drill tonight... I wish I had a drill press but i'll make due with the good old hand drill (going to suck on 1/4" plate haha) I may start drilling tonight.

here you can see one of the CJ7 motor mounts... should have PLENTY of steel for the rest of the mounts...

also found i'll be able to use the front drive shaft without a problem... i have JUST enough room to mount it to a cross bar (any longer and the cross bar would hit the fuel tank).

also looking into the possibility of using the stock tranny cross member...

so i've lost some steam on this project but making progress....

04-15-2011

mounting plates are finished... would be so much faster with proper tools... a hand drill with a hodge-podge of bits (mostly wood bits at that lol) make for slow going when drilling though 1/4" steel plate... thankfully I at least have a bench vice... for drill bits... while slow going they do cut... unfortuantly my drill is a keyless chuck type so can't really tighten down the chuck tight enough and it's to small of a chuck to fit the larger bits I need... so ended up dragging a bit around to widen a few of the holes... but it is done...

next up is getting the engine 100% perfectly place and working on cutting the wedged bits and welding them between the engine and frame mounts... picking up an autodarkening helmet from a friend tonight... need to pick up some fresh wire for the wire feed (mine sat so long it's got rust and just doesn't want to feed very well lol)

excited to be this far along... I think the CJ7 mounts are about perfect... prob won't have any more progress untill monday or so... need to pull the engine out and massage the oil pan and cross frame for a little more clearance

also picked up some parts out of a friends junk parts bin... fuel pump to his Grand national (replaced when he did a TON of upgrades) and a VDO boost gauge... also borrowing his auto darkening welding helmet... should make welding much easier...

also was very pleased to find that the front of the stock volvo driveshaft will just fit... will be simply mounting the carrier bearing to a some square tubing... it's just short enough that it won't hit the fuel tank.... so very excited there (that I don't have to have that shaft shortened)

and lastly... been tracking the cost of the project based on GRM challenge standards... after I sell off parts (and I have enough that I shouldn't have a prob clearing out both car costs) I'll be under $300... so lots left for power, suspension and tires :)

04-15-2011

megasquirt came in today ... it's all there 1/2 assembled already... I need to pick up a data cable (thought I had one but apparently I don't) and check things out... hoping nothing is fouled up... but for the price I can live with it as long as it's nothing major

04-17-2011

so nothing eventful this weekend... but I was flipping though pics on my phone and found this... it's the tractor that pulled both the volvo and the s10 onto the trailer up at memas house... much quicker than the come-a-long that I was going to use lol... yes she lives out in the country... obviously haha

on the Megasquirt front... I had a chance to sit down and test the and find that at least the power supply portion of the MS was done properly :)... a few solder joints that I want to touch over and re-flow but overall looks like whoever started was doing an OK job... no flyback board like I thought... have an entire tub of components and based on what I can see everything is complete... so score :)... I think the only thing i'll need to buy is the relays for the relay board, heatshrink and wire loom... not bad for $75

04-19-2011

last night spent a little time playing with the MS stuff... retouched the solder joints on the relay board... joints look much better now much more comfortable installing it as it sits now ... also verified the power circuit is and the serial communication circuits are good... didn't get any further with that... I hope it goes as well moving forward but will save that for later.

got a little bit done today... not a ton but pleased. started with pulling the engine to massage the oil pan and the cross member... sorry for the pic quality... used my phone... couldn't find the point and shoot and didn't want to pull out the SLR... I do need to so a little more fine tuning towards the front of the pan but it has a lot more room now

cross member pic is even worse so I won't post it... also tapped the floor a bit to give a little more exhaust clearance.

from there I worked on the trans cross member... I was hopeful to use the stock one... the trans mount on the volvo trans sits about 1 1/2-2" to far back to use the stock mount point on the s10 cross member... but it lines up perfectly with the tubular section of the cross member... so I cut off the stock mount and drilled a hole in the cross member... fit perfectly... I need to install a rubber isolator of some sort so my plans will be to cut a notch out of the cross member and weld in the mounting pad and install a rubber pad over it... I thought I got a shot of the cross member... but apparently not... i'll get one at some point... but here's the stock mount plate for the s10

now that the transmission has a fixed point I could properly center the engine

mounts placed about where they need to be

now need to cut the wedges of metal to weld in and finish up the mounts.

04-19-2011

oh today was very eventful... I picked up nuts for the motor mounts... woot lol... couldn't find my welding gloves so picked up a new pair... also in the middle of trying to sell a car to fund a 945ti... so the (S)weed-10 has taken a back seat... hope to get at least the driver side mount tacked together and maybe finished this weekend... gota set goals ya know ;-)... lol

04-20-2011

first I want to thank my friend James for loaning me his harbor freight auto darkening welding helmet... prior to this i'd used the horrid stock hand held mask included with the harbor freight welder and a very old flip down mask... this made the job 1000% easier... so Thanks again James... I will def buy one down the road.

on another note... my welder... it was a gift from the mo-in-law back in '03 or '04... it's a 220v unit 120a as I recall... will do Gas or glassless welding... It hasn't seen enough use to bother with a bottle... but after today I can see where cleaning off the slag would get old quickly if you do a lot of welding... the spatter is also kinda ugly... anyway so it's an older unit made in Italy... supposedly better quality than the china stuff they do sell these days... I personally don't know as it's the only welder i've ever used

anyway on to the build...

1st wedge... I trimmed it and got a nice fit... then tacked it in... pulled it off the engine tossed her on the work bench and welded it in... not pretty (what flux core wire feeder is)... but plenty strong... the 1st weld was VERY ugly... ended up grinding off the exposed weld and found that it had no evidence of being separate metal pieces (good) ran another bead

hopefully tomorrow I can finish up that mount...

04-21-2011

drivers side mount is done :)... pics to follow...

04-21-2011

welp got the drivers side mount finished up today... my welds aren't great looking but they are plenty strong... and mind you they are flux core wire feed stuff... so will be ugly anyway lol... heres the pic of my best weld... lol note that I hadn't cleaned the slag off yet lol...

and the mount all finished up.

I will be pulling the engine real to drill the bottom mount hole and access hole so I can tighten up the mount

then I need to drill mount holes for the passenger side... mount pad, put the engine back in cut and weld in the wedge plates... from there I'll work on the trans mount and she'll be done for the mounting... then comes all the tons of little things

04-22-2011

pulled the engine and got the holes drilled for the bottom mount tab on the drivers side mount and both holes drilled on the passenger... both mounts bolted in... chebby didn't make it easy to access the backsides of the bolts... I'll tack the nuts onto the frame when I pull the front suspension bits off... should make life a little easier down the road.

getting the engine back in was a major pita... with the pads already in place I tried to get the engine in with the driver side mount attached... that didn't go so well... ended up pulling it from the engine and sitting it on the pad and then attaching the mount to the block with some wiggling back and fort... that was something I feared with the mounts at such angles :-/... also doesn't help that I don't have any sort of load leveler for the hoist... but she mounts nice and pretty

passenger side mount is a lot closer quarters to the block... even with how stiff and solid the mounts are i'm expecting to need a 3rd mount or do a ratchet strap type mount to help with the engine torquing over...

i finally got a shot of the stock trans cross member... I just cut off the stock bracket from it and drilled a hole into the tube itself... this is only temporary... i'll modify the cross member after the other motor mount is in...

where I cut off the stock trans mount tab

and the temporary hole drilled...

plans are to cut out a notch in the cross member and trim up the stock tab and place it into the tube section... this will give me a little back and forth space for the mount... I plan to be using a hockey puck as my trans mount... assuming I can find one here in FL lol...

04-22-2011

oh also been looking at the possibility of rear mounting the radiator... thats down the road... I've seen some of the 4x4 guys mount it right behind the cab for protection from mud... but thats so high up... i'm playing with the idea of sitting it under the bed at an angle behind the rear end... I snagged a washing machine from the street to harvest the sheet metal and make a scoop of sorts seems like a good possibility... I've owned an mr2 that has the radiator at the opposite end of the engine so i'm framiliar with the bleed process required... will get it running before I start playing with that idea... but lower center of gravity... and some weight over the rear end and away from the front would be a good thing...

04-25-2011

I got the passenger side mount welded up and in place... fighting one of the frame/pad bolts... I thought it might be a problem... I gave up and will get it in tomorrow (or maybe tonight after everyone else goes to bed)... just a matter of finessing the wrenches just right... it's a great sight seeing the mounts supporting the engine with no wood blocks under the oil pan...

after this i've got a ton of little things to do... I need to make myself a list so I can figure out where to go next... I'm waiting on a few things in the mail to continue with the megasquirt so that'll wait a bit... I need to hit the junkyard for EDIS stuff still.

so long to do list... just a figuring out where to go first.

04-25-2011

so she's in... no pics yet... phone was low on battery, the point and shoot was dead and the SLR wasn't coming out with the greasy hands I had lol

everyone went to bed so I hit the garage... got the troublesome nut mounted.... the mounts are SOLID even with a ratchet strap torquing the engine it didn't move much at all... maybe i'll be able to get away without a 3rd anti torque motor mount

after i got the mount done I played with the oil cooler adapter plates... thinking i'll go with the shorty flat one... I think I can get the stock oil cooler hoses mounted with a little work.

bolted the old stock t3 to the manifold and bolted it up to the engine, plenty of room even with the inner fender in place... with an external WG I could run as large of a turbo as I would ever care to mount...

mounted up the power steering pump and she also has a good chunk of room on the gear... but I don't recall how the hose mounts up... i'll have to dig out the hose tomorrow and check the fit...

will get pics tomorrow...

04-26-2011

pics are here...

she's in... bolted/mounted in

pulled out the power steering hose... as it sit it just touches the frame rail... the stock s10 hose however should fit... but I have other things to worry about first lol

so this is what we're sitting with right now...

04-26-2011

cut up the factory alternator bracket (it's a combo for the alternator and a/c) so I cut off the a/c portion and mounted it and bolted up the alternator... fits beautifully...

a very unproductive day lol...

04-26-2011

oh ya I also pulled off the filter from the filter arm thing... it's only been on there sence before I got the car the 1st time back in '04... the typicaly driving a screwdriver though and using that for tourqe just literally cut the filter to bits... so I ended up putting the base plate of the filter (all that was left) into the vice and putting a rod though the adapter and managed to get it spun off...

I think i'll go with that filter adapter... i'm going to mount it and see... the preferable route would be a filter relocation kit... but that costs $$$... and on a budget of $2011 it disappears quickly with random $30 purchases... so we'll see.

04-27-2011

spent a little (and I emphasis the "little") time splitting up the wire harness... I'm pretty amazed at how simple the wire harness is on this thing... once it's split up a good chunk of the wires terminate into the drivers side cab (mix of wires for gauges and power wires at the fuse box)... only about 3 wires or so from the cab harness that splice into the ECU harness (i'm sure they supply power)... looking at it I'm thinking more and more of just not using the relay board... need to get ahold of some decent s10 wire diagrams

it was very nice of GM to have the harness completely separate from the lights and stuff :)

04-27-2011

er oh ya in other highlights... I scored a challenge budget friendly set of 2" drop spindles and rear ZQ8 Bilsteins shocks...

04-28-2011

anyway bit later last night I pulled the PS pump out of it's location and mock fit the stock s10 alternator in it's position... it would fit pretty nicely... it would also put the weight lower down and mean that I could use the GM power steering pump in it's original spot... and in turn likely not have to mess with having any hoses built...

anyway I finished splitting a the s10's loom then tagged the wires that I know what are... then I split and tagged the volvo's harness... also yanked the intake air temp sensor from the s10's engine and cut the plug from the s10 harness for use on the Megasquirt setup... also spent a bit of time cleaning the inside of the ebay IC...

this is the engine bay (duh) you can also see that I test fit the volvo downpipe... it hits right next to where the engine harness hole is... I was planning to try and use it... and I could still by removing about an inch of it or so between the first bend and the turbo... but I think this just gives me more reason to just build a 3" downpipe... which I won't bother with untill after I have it running...

another engine bay shot at the fuse box panel... the ones dangling over the fender are the ones that i'm not sure of... found diagrams and will spend a little time researching it...

the volvo harness separated

also yanked the TBI from the s10's intake manifold and cut off the plugs for potential future use... I would love to put one of these on a small carbed car... so i'll hang onto it for that possible future car...