Looking for a Volvo

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lt1fire

lt1fire

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 4, 2006
Threads
636
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Location
Buckley, WA
Yeah I know... strange thread title, especially from me.
But after a year and a half of buying, trading and generally not knowing what kind of DD I want i've finally settled.

I do want to move the diesel from the suburban to the cruiser so that is going...... I get all anal and perfectionist when I think about the mercedes and don't want to sink 5k + getting it that way, and someone I know really wants to buy it off of me so that is going.

Was originally going to replace it with a 3rd gen camaro for the time being as my speed V8 muscle car bug has been biting hard lately..... but i've had way too many f-bodies in my time and don't want another one right now.

And I need a car with some room and to haul things and people with so the camaro is out.

Finally I decided that i'm going to take the money from selling the merc and buy a volvo wagon... it will haul people and things easily and get decent gas mileage....

That doesn't really satisfy my speed but but then I stumbled across a site that sells motor mounts and transmission mounts for an LS1 6speed swap for any RWD volvo wagon. So i'm set on that now it is the perfect DD/ sleeper/ people and parts hauler for my needs right now and will get almost 30MPG on the hwy when the swap is done.

Best part is the swap can be done for around 3K all in... with me doing the labor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBu6STlhh8Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOC1-_-9rs


So if anyone knows of any cheap 200,700 or 900 series wagons (no 800's as they are FWD) let me know. Prefer the 900's but not too picky... has to be pre OBDII so 95 and newer. Has to run as the swap is a year or more off. Have to get my job and financial life in order first.
 
Your logic escapes me, lol.

I say take the driveline out of the 'burb and put it in the garage, then scrap the rest. Use that money to fix up a couple of things on the mercedes, then drive it into the ground.
 
you sure about the 30mpg? sounds like a cool plan either way just make sure you got real world data before diving in. Esp if the MPG has a big portion of the allure to you; we know you like power and speed. Have been reading a little about ls1 swaps and 25-26 seems to be a good average for a 2500# corvette with the 6spd. Volvos are heavy, safe, but heavy. Just curiuos thats all.

there is one here in HP with a 308 and tremek (sp) transmisison for sale :D

will keep my eyes out around here, or send me a message if you see a contender in the area
 
jfz80 said:
you sure about the 30mpg? sounds like a cool plan either way just make sure you got real world data before diving in. Esp if the MPG has a big portion of the allure to you; we know you like power and speed. Have been reading a little about ls1 swaps and 25-26 seems to be a good average for a 2500# corvette with the 6spd. Volvos are heavy, safe, but heavy. Just curiuos thats all.

there is one here in HP with a 308 and tremek (sp) transmisison for sale :D

will keep my eyes out around here, or send me a message if you see a contender in the area
Click to expand...

Volvos aren't actual as heave as everyone seems to think the wagons... depending on model are around 3-3300 lbs.... less than a new GTO that can scrape 30 on the hwy if driven right (thats the main part). in the last form of my camaro at around a little north of 500HP my best on a trip from LA to San fran was 29mpg my best ever in stock form was 32 driving to Lake Tahoe.

Of course a volvo is not as are aerodynamic as the other two so i'm not expecting anything amazing but with a good tune i'm sure high 20's are possible with that .50 6th gear.

Only thing I don't know yet is the weight of the volvo running gear compared to the LS1.... I imagine it will be about the same as all iron vs all aluminum will make up for the size difference and the T56 is a fairly light transmission. One thing about MPG and an LS1 is how you drive.... I could easily get single digits for the tank if I drove with my foot to the floor all the time but got around 21 mixed driving and that wasn't taking it slow through the canyon roads going to work, or get 25 mixed driving taking it slow at 65. Since the troopers in charlotte seem to frown at anything ove 75 and really get pissed when you approach the triple digits I imagine i'll be driving it much slower than I used to.



GLTHFJ60 said:
Your logic escapes me, lol.

I say take the driveline out of the 'burb and put it in the garage, then scrap the rest. Use that money to fix up a couple of things on the mercedes, then drive it into the ground.
Click to expand...


couple reasons...... I take tools with me everywhere I go and haul things frequently.... not was the merc was built for and I feel stupid doing it, yes I could scrap the suburban for a few hundred bux but not make enough to actually do any of the things with the mercedes I want to do which would be a 5 speed and swedish IP which would cost around 6500-7500 bux. Which would make it fun to drive and fast but still not a great hauler.

The volvo would fit all of my criteia and still have that unique factor to it. That and they are incredibly safe so i'll feel ok letting Andrea drive it on the death road she takes to work.

I've also always had a soft spot for ugly wagons :hillbilly:

Another diesel mercedes is most likely in my future but it will be Andreas and a newer one as she doesn't like my old one at all :hillbilly: :princess:



I should add I want to buy the volvo on the cheap around 1500 but send me anything up to 2k..... i've already found a bunch of pretty nice ones for that price range already but want to see what people know of in other areas.
 
Johnny this might win you over.

B-blkgry2-domelo.png


The volvo prancing moose racing emblems :hillbilly::grinpimp:
 
Best idea of all.

Sell the mercedes forget buying another car especially a volvo (we like them as well but not the bad reputation for parts availability and associated repair costs). If you buy a 1500 Volvo you will have 1500 more into by the end of the month. We seriously have considered them in the past but way to many people back home have s*** canned them and purchased a Subaru. Tons of wagons out there. The 2.5L gets almost 30 MPG with the stick and you get plenty of room. Parts are super cheap the AWD system is phenominal. Go crazy and get turbo version but the MPG is then gone.

Or best of all just fix the suburban. You get all the room in the world, decent fuel economy after a few mods and you are in it for less than the 1500 you are looking at now. Yeah slow as hell but what is the hurry. Leave anywhere you need to go 30 seconds earlier and you are set.

Save the time stripping out the engine and parting everything out. There are thousands of those engine for nothing and when you have more money later on just pick one up and drop it in. That way you are not working around the damn thing sitting on your garage floor.
 
well if I got the volvo most of the actual parts would end up becoming Chevy so swedish parts availability wouldn't have too bad of an impact. I can do chevy parts with my eyes closed.


I like subarus but no 3rd row takes away one of the criteria. I tried to convince Andrea to get one this last go around but she wouldn't do it unless it was a hoped up WRX that was out of our price range.


But your 2nd suggestion might actually happen. Right after I posted this the guy that wants the merc called me again and we got to talking..... he has a 6.5 TD engine that only has 30k on it that he will give me if I sell him the merc for the price her originally suggested.... so that might make its way in the burb.... fix the body panels... add a 3rd row and call it good.
 
Heather's DD is a 99 Volvo S-80 with 200K on it. It has the same kind of issues any vehicle of it's age does. This is a very comfortable good running vehicle. We take trips in it all the time. Parts are not as expensive or hard to find as some may have you think, although Heather is in the car business and that helps. We get 32-33 MPG out of the stock drivetrain on trips, can only see it improved with an LS series motor. The motor and trans are very heavy, you will probably drop close to 200 lbs with the LS iand trans in there.

Heather and I have talked about an LS powertrain in a big bodied Jag, pre Ford. There are tons of kits out therer to put a GM 350 into them so I am sure there are now kits out there for the LS.

I know that diesel is all the rage right now. But, from where I sit the LS series of motors are the hot ticket. Parts support is HUGE in both OEM and aftermarket and they can be set up any way you like from stock to crazy HP and torque. They can be found in most any scrap yard.
 
Oh yeah, forgot. Obviously your Volvo swap would be a DD. But if folks are considering an engine swap for their LC, consider this. If you purchase the correct equiptment either OEM or aftermarket you can have the 8-6-4 setup on the motor.

At highway speeds the motor can cut all the way down to 4 operating cyliners, fantastic for MPG. Picture that setup in your 60 or 80. Stacey David put an LS into a Miada, surely not all that tough to put into something the size of a Volvo or Land Cruiser.
 
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