LS1 Volvo

I have the opportunity to buy a very solid '84 Volvo 240(rear wheel drive) for under 100 bucks.  This would make an unreal sleeper, since I don't think there has ever been such a thing as a fast 240 before.  I'm interested in swapping a sbc, preferably a LS1, but I have no clue where to start.  I've seen v8s in these cars a couple of times, and i know there are kits for swapping sbc and t350s in these cars, but I don't know where to find them or the cost.  I know this would mean finding a LS1 out of a wrecked fbody in the yard, getting a t350(easy) and i'd probably just swap in a 8.5 10 bolt.  Anybody have any idea on cost, parts, and where to find them? Thanks in advance for any help.

Stupid me, I should have looked on the web before posting.  A quick google search yielded me with Jaguars that Run, a popular sbc-jaguar swap company.  It looks like LS1 swaps are unavailable from them, so I'll settle with a older small block.  Not a big deal, b/c I'll probably end up saving a fortune.

Oh, you can fit an LS1 in there. You just have to make a small addition to the standard motor mounts.  

I used to have an 81 GL Wagon.  Cool car in a funky kinda way.  It was a four banger but if I recall they had a V-8 available in that year.  What I'm getting at is that I don't think swapping a SBC would be a problem except for mounting, the clutch and shifting.  If you go with a 4 speed you can probably just cut a hole in the tunnel and use an aftermarket boot of some type.  As far as a clutch goes I would look at a hydraulic set-up due to ease of routing the linkage - think flexible brake line here.  There are all kinds of hydraulic clutches available for SBCs in the racing arena.  One of these should work without too much trouble.  You might want to check out whether there is a difference in the 4 banger and V-8 rearends.  If there isn't you may be able to get by using the original driveshaft with the front u-joint yoke adapted to fit a chevy transmission yoke.  If you get lucky you may be able to find a u-joint that has one size on two sides and the other size on the other sides.  What you have to worry about is the length of the cross-shaft and the diameter of the cups.  You might be best to take everything down to the local driveshaft shop and show them what you want to do.  That way you may be able to just have the Volvo driveshaft shortened or lengthened.  Just some thoughts. Good luck and post some pics when you're done it sounds like a cool project.  

Thanks for the info. I've been doing some more research and have just decided that if I get one, I'm going to spend the extra bucks and make a carbed LS1 swap.  its surprising how cheap these engines are getting out of wrecked F-bodys and corvettes.  If this project actually gets underway someday, pics and videos will be aplenty.

Volvo+TurboLS1+Nitrous=ruined underpants.

Oh great. 

Now the GM visigoths have found a new way to defile another Ford product with a belly-button Bow-Tie lump.

(In case you've missed the memo and about 100,000 commercials on the subject, Volvo is a division of Ford Motor Company).

Any number of Ford engines will fit into the Volvo's bay.  The  SBF-into-Volvo swap has been done a number of times.

(I've just GOT to get started on that Ford-powered Corvette in order to shove it in the face of those uncreative knuckleheads who only think in terms of sticking a cheap, boring "me-too" Chevy in anything)

Volvo's been a Ford product since 1984?

Ford only owns half of it too...so its NOT a ford product...ford is a partner.  And you are right...fords only been a partner since like 1998.  So I say GO LS1

BTW...making a Volvo fast is hardly uncreative...and using a modern, badass of an engine to do it is even less uncreative.

definatly. Using an LS1, while more common now in older cars, isnt really put into odd ball cars like this. This is a great project.  

"Ford only owns half of it too...so its NOT a ford product...ford is a partner."

Like a lot of crap you read on this forum and on the internet, your information is only half right.

Volvo Cars is a wholly-owned subsidary of Ford Motor Company:

"Volvo, as one of the largest truck manufacturers in the world, took the initiative to sell its automobile manufacturing in 1998 in order to fully focus its efforts on the market for commercial vehicles. Ford, on the other hand saw advantages in acquiring a profitable prestige mid-size European automobile manufacturer, well renowned for its safety aspects, as an addition to its Premier Automotive Group. The buyout of Volvo Cars was announced on January 28, 1998, and in the following year an acquisition was completed at a price of $6.45 billion USD.

As a result of the divestiture, the Volvo name is now utilized by two separate companies:

• Volvo - a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, etc. owned by Swedish interests.
  
• Volvo Cars - a manufacturer of automobiles owned by Ford Motor Company, in its Premier Automotive Group.

The Volvo™ trademark is now jointly owned (50/50) by Volvo and Ford."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars

Because we're talking about a Volvo car, it is appropriate to view it as a Ford product,  because the company which made it belongs entirely to Ford.   If you go to the dealer to get any parts for it, those parts come from a Ford-owned distribution system.

The design rights and trademarks for the car also belong to Ford (except for the brand name and the logo, which are only half Ford's).

And if there's a lawsuit against the manufacturer of that 1984 Volvo, guess who has to defend it?   That's right, Ford.

BTW, would a pre-GM Oldsmobile or Buick or Cadillac be viewed as something other than part of the GM family simply because it was assembled before GM technically existed?   Of course not!  Is a Jeep not part of the DaimlerChrysler family because it was assembled by Willys, Kaiser-Jeep or American Motors? Should AMCs and Ramblers and Hudson Hornets be banned from the Mopar Nationals simply because the companies "merged" afterward? 

Volvo cars were heavily featured in Ford's Centennial celebration in 2003 (including a few Ford 5.0-powered Volvos on display) and the Volvo division engineered the platform (the D3) that is the basis for three current Ford-brand models, with more scheduled.

Regardless of how you spin it, Volvo Cars is fully a part of Ford Motor Company.

WHO CARES?????  ITS A VOLVO!!!!!!!!!!  Its NOT your car!!!!!!!!!

I mean we aren't talking about a mustang here...we're not talking about a car that anybody really thinks of as a performance car...so who really cares.  

This is just picking a fight to pick a fight.

GO LS1!!!!!!!!

You may be able to keep the Volvo rear end as they're pretty strong and used on a lot of hot rods in England because they're cheap, tough, pretty narrow and have disc brakes. I believe some of the V6s and turbo 4s had lsds too.  

#1 Who gives a rats ass if Volvo is now owned by Ford ? Is a ford jeep from ww2 now a Chrysler , still a ford, or lost in rambler limbo? Anybody can swap what they want where they want, if it offends the so called "purists" then they can keep the four banger in their pinto totaly stock and go away. If it's an angine swap it's changing the way the factory designed it period, even if it's a 289 in 260 falcon . Did Carrol Shelby offend any Ford guys when he put a 289 in an A/C Bristol to make the first Cobra? How much you change is up to you- the owner of the car and nobody elses damn bussiness. The man asked for help in doing a project, if all you want to do is *** at him just shut up!!

#2 I have had my eye on one of these as well, only a few years older-(I'm guessing early 60s) and being a fellow Olds nut my idea would be a 350 sneazle block bored .125" with the mondello 455 crank kit to make it a 440. not sure how it would fit as I have just looked at the car from a distance, sitting forlornly in a back alley surrounded by junk.

You don't need a V8 at all; Ford or Chevy. You just need a turbocharger.

http://videos.streetfire.net/search/sweden/6/351bfb5c-96f3-43c2-9e18-45e6e0e6760c.htm

You are wasting your time.  The reason Volvos are slow isn't the powerplant, it's the bad juju called Volvo that irresistably pulls your foot off the go pedal and makes you wear a straw hat, too.

Steve