Hi- New to forum so please excuse any misstep. Good friend and fellow car enthusiast got cancer so decided we were going to chase a dream and race a car. I bought an 89 240 for $320, made some mechanical repairs, stripped interior, installed roll cage, racing seat, harness, etc. Raced it at Road Atlanta in 24 Hours of Lemons(google if you're unfamiliar). Most dangerous part of race was almost being run down by other "$500 cars". Need serious increase in HP so I am picking up a 91 940 turbo for turbo guts and wider tires-
2- questions-
1- Am I living in a fantasy that I'll be able to make the swap? It appears I'll need to swap the motor from what I am seeing here.
2- Is there an easier way to get more than 100 HP through my pink brick and the 5 speed?

D'Licious Motorsports

 

the 5-speed probably won't survive long with turbo torque and racing driving, the turbo stick shifts used the M46 4 speed with a separate overdrive 5th

you'd best transplant that whole 940 engine, as the turbo engines have lower compression, sodium filled exhaust valves, etc. you'll need the intercooler and I don't know how well a 91 intercooler will fit on a 240 but for LeMons, anything can be hacked

you'll likely get more/better advice on the turbobricks.com forum, as they live eat and breath this stuff.... with an m46, and a b230FT, they can pretty easily tweak them up to about 250 HP and well over 200 ft-lbs before you need beefier everything-else.

 

 

actually, the AW71 autos on 940 turbos are really sturdy stout transmissions, they are the same gearbox used on many Toyota RWD pickup trucks since the 80s. If your tracks don't require speeds much over 100MPH, I'd consider locking out overdrive, and just letting it be a 3-speed slushbox, you'll probably mostly be in 2-3 on a track.

 

If you don't power shift an M47 they will hold up surprisingly well, 3rd gear is the weakest link or gear shall I say and often people slam it from 2nd to 3rd power shifting. I am running at 250 hp on my M47 and have only exceeded the stock clutch limitation. I don't power shift or slam gears like I am driving a mustang or corvette because I know that will be the end of my transmission.


Check out Swedish Mafia , they race a 240 wagon in lemons races and run an M47 , you won't see them slamming it into gears
As far as swapping engines go its pretty easy if you know how to turn a wrench, in a nut shell you will have to make an exhaust that hooks to the turbo, swap engines and ecu's as well as the fuel injectors or wire in a resistor pack, extend the MAF wires so that they can be on the other side, all basically simple. Also need to swap distributors and the auxiliary shaft from the 240 engine into the 940 engine.

I think your 89 is an lh 2.2 and your 91 is an lh 2.4 so that will be an issue, but you can use the lh.24 wiring harness out of the 940 or get an lh2.4 harness from a 240 because it will fit the same as your old one with out modifications.

Here is my 1st start after doing a swap from a 92 740 into a 90 240 at this point everything was all stock


To be honest the worst part is cleaning all the parts









I did it by myself with no lift or engine stand so that why I put it together while it was under the hood.

 

89 non-turbo is LH 2.4, only the 89 740 turbos were still LH 2.2.

 

Thanks guys.

John- you lost me between 'As far as swapping the engine and...its basically simple' LOL. I did drive 2 1/2 hours to get it last weekend.


I plan on starting to break the engine down in the 940 to get ready to pull.


First step of course, is making sure it is not seized. I don't believe it has run in 5+ years so I'm sure all gaskets will need to be replaced. I'll get a hoist and stand, pull all electronics and harnesses and go from there. Did get a good set of rims that bolt right up and I was surprised that the height of the tire was the same as that of the 14" rims. I'll be back looking for insight.

Apparently our captain signed us up to race again In "Southern Discomfort" at Carolina Motorsports Park on April 28th and 29th so I'm not shooting for any swap for that race.

Now my biggest challenge is that fellow team mates think we should convert the 940 into the track car. Too many hours, not enough room to store it and another 1K in safety equipment. No thanks! I'd rather fix the suspension in the 240.

 

Did you sort it?

Anna

 

yes u did sorry - i just joined sorry

 

I'm sorry about this what happened to D'Licious pls?

 

ok D'Licious is probably a 940 ... ok coz I was born in 1966.
On 24 (May) so I got a bit ... wondering about it that's all.

Anyway that's good.

I have a 940 roof rack coz I want to take my sofa and all my stuff wherever I end up so now everything in my life is sorted, and I thought why not get a Volvo 940?!!! But obviously that would be in the UK.

Ok thanks.

 

I'm terribly sorry I would like to ask is your friend ok and did you do any more races pls?