I've done some research and now understand I need a donor car for a manual swap, I have a 90 740 wagon and I found an 84 740 turbo diesel sedan with an m46, would the stuff from that car swap into mine? thanks!

 

yeah, I think it should. thats a very early 740, and I've never had one that old nor have I had a manual, so I'm not sure what all would be involved, hopefully, you can park the two cars side by side so you can move stuff over til its good to go.

oh, one thing, you'll need to cut a notch in the bell housing of the 84 for your lH2.4's crank position sensor.

 

The Volvo Diesel is the 6 cyl VW engine - so the bell housing, flywheel, shift lever extension on the back of the trans, clutch, maybe clutch release mechanism (cable- yes or hydraulic - no), maybe transmission cross member/mount and driveshaft won't swap over.

The overdrive units wear out - I've rebuilt maybe 20 of them, but none in the past 23 years - does it work, and are parts still available?

If you are going to put a manual in - consider the pure 5 speed the m47 - yes it's not as reliable as the 4+od but won't have a bad overdrive unit on the back of it or need wiring, a switch and a relay to make 5th gear work. .

If you are curious what parts for an OD might be needed - Attached is a copy of my OD overhaul job list - the parts prices are from 1997, the last time I did one -