My name is chad im from upstate NY. my car history has been a Honda civic and a Subaru impreza.
I have always loved the way Volvo look and preformed and i recently found a 98 v70 GLT wagon with a B5254T fwd..

so excuse my ignorance if i have not searched hard enough but my question is can I convert its drive train to awd? such as a xc rear diff and tranny? or find a awd 5 spd tranny and just match the rear diff gears?

also i believe the car has a single exhaust outlet and the awd models have dual with the cut out in the bumper, do the fwd have a mount for the hanger as well?

should i just save my money and find a 5sp awd later on or deal with the fwd? as far as anything goes I would prefer to 5sp convert it.

any help is appreciated and what else i could check out on the car besides the usually ball joints wheel bearings and oil leaking from the valve cover.

also the car has 150k on it

 

Well, at least around here (WI), the AWD ones sell for less than the FWD ones.

I could be wrong, but I think all the US AWD models were automatics. There were AWD R-specs that were 5spd, but I think they were only for the UK market and they had a different engine.
And honestly, if you're after performance I'd stick to the FWD model - it's quicker.

 

thanks for the help. is there anything i should check out on the car before buying that that model is notorious for having go bad with that many miles on it?

 

Check when the timing belt was last changed - there should be a sticker noting the mileage on the belt or ECU cover plates. Also check for blue smoke at the exhaust (bad turbo) or white smoke at the oil dipstick with the engine warm & running (failing PCV system). If you have an OBDII scanner, check for any codes that have been cleared but are still stored in the system.
AFAIK, that era of V70 doesn't have any big trouble spots.

 

From the research I did before buying my 1999 2.5tdi it isn't a good idea to buy a awd from before 2004, Volvo changed to the Helix transfer case then which proved to be a much more reliable system. The old transfer case failure rate is why so many awd's have been converted to 2wd, to expensive to repair, so better to convert.
As Willvo says the major thing to look for is cambelt renewal, make sure that it has been done recently, and ask for receit to prove it.
The costs involved in changing from 2wd to awd makes it a non starter, less expensive to find a factory built awd and buy that.

 

1+ With Willvo. These are great car but they are getting pretty old. There is a buyer's guide in the 850 DIY - Hot Topic sticky. It will apply to '98 S/V70 95%.

 

I had a '98 XC that was amazing in the snow. I couldn't even tell the system was working. However, I had the same problem here in WA when it came time to sell it...took forever, and I got less than I would have expected to get for a FWD turbo model.

There are problems with angle gears, but in my experience the thing that scared off buyers was driveshaft concerns. When they go bad, Volvo wants to sell you a complete driveshaft for about $1100. There is a place in Colorado that rebuilds them, but you gotta box it up, ship it, and wait. That should only set you back about $600 though.