Hello everyone,
First post on the Volvo forums. I am the proud owner of a 1993 Volvo 940 Wagon. I purchased the car in April of 2019 and have slowly been getting her back to tip top. I'd like to get more power from the car. Sadly it is a Regina injection car. I'm looking to get the most out of my motor without doing any fuel system changes. I know stock I'm at about 114HP I'd like to get closer to 175 out of the motor. In January I'm going to be doing the following I am VERY open to suggestion for the car.




timing belt
front camshaft seal
auxiliary/layshaft seal
front crankshaft seal
timing belt tensioner
New Radiator fan
New Radiator fan Relay box
Valve Cover Casket
Oil pan gasket
Valve Adjustment
o2 Sensor replacement
New Hood
New Headlights
Transmission Flush
COMPLETE positive crankcase ventilation System replacement

 

find a recently bent low mileage 92-95 740/940 turbo, and transplant everything under the hood, including the engine and transmission, electrics, radiator and intercooler, etc. be sure to get the wiring harness, and the ECU/ICU which are in the passenger footwell. swap the fuel pumps, too, as turbo needs more gas than a NA fuel system will deliver.

dead stock, that will get you 160 HP and 200 ft-lbs. now you can bring it up to stage II (see the stuff on the turbo-bricks forum for whats involved) and that will get you around 200 HP. make sure your brakes are in tip-top shape, if it goes fast, it should stop fast, too.

 

Careful with all the replacements. Keep in mind that most replacement parts today are Asian and inferior, so if ain't broke, leave it alone! You can try another cam to gain some extra HP, but 175 is doubtful without some serious mods.
By the looks of the car I'd say you need some other front end parts as well, and some decent OEM alloy wheels.

 

yeah, a 'hot' cam might get you 10 more HP at very high RPMs, probably at the expense of low end torque and drivability.

no way no how a regina (or bosch) system on a stock block will get you anything anywhere near your goal, you'll need turbocharging for that. and for turbo charging to work, you need to lower the compression ratio of the block, you need bigger injectors, and more fuel delivery, sodium filled valves so they don't fry. you need the beefier AW71 transmission or you'll eat your stock AW70 for lunch. the turbo charged cars have the battery and air cleaner box on opposite sides so the air can go from the airbox -> MAF -> turbo -> intercooler -> throttle body -> engine.... the only other way to get more HP is to raise the redline and increase the fuel delivery, that would require stiffer springs on the valves, and a custom ECU/ICU that won't shut the motor down at its current redline, and frankly, these cars aren't much fun to drive at high RPMs and really aren't geared for it... the factory turbo setup does its strongest pulling from 2500-4500 rpm.

 

Good luck finding a "low mileage" 740/940! I am always searching and can tell that they are becoming increasingly rare, putting it mildly. Fortunately if they are in good original state even milers can be decent cars which is the benefit of a quality brand. 200+K in a RWD Volvo can still be a great car! My lowest mileage one is a '94 945 NA with 70K, and is not going anywhere (except when I drive it). It's like new.

 

Well the old girl just hit 300k. not long ago. I will take all of this into account Thank you all

 

Goldenblock here!! 2 million miles and more( no misprint)
my personal account... I did a diy mod to my na 1989 hybrid volvo 740 gl a couple years ago. The horsepower gain was crazy unexpected.
I initially got 106 miles a gallon! But it lasted a week.
but the horse power went from 114 to about 290 no lie! This is un dyno tested but verified by Master volvo techs with 50 years experience. My 0 to 60 time is 5.7 seconds! Verified times!!!
I cant give you exactly what i did, but you need nothing extra on your car! Good luck Oss

 

troll troll troll yer boot.....

 

I ve posted many ads and replies on here. Ive given much advice to people.
I had to look up definition of a troll lol.
A forum is a place to be free not agreeable with everyone!!!
Anything out of the normal is not a troll... Its just different.
the first mod i did actually was before a 106 mile trip. I started the trip at a little over half tank when i got there basically the same.
my gauge wasnt broken??? I have a regina car with 2 fuel pumps... People didnt believe that either until they did the resesrch. Its not trolling its different.
Ive out run high powered cars completely on the highway after this simple mod?? Not troll its unusual yes. My gas gauge still works while disconnected?? Not trolling just different...

All your plans to change things can possibly help your car s horsepower. Good luck and be free Osss

 

In addition I believe pierce always clowns autozone is only good for wipers, fluids etc etc
but they actually have alot of great parts and great customer service.
People on here just be sweating Volvo oem because its normal to. Volvo groupies... Alot of volvo parts aint all that. And fail often, oftentimes more than aftermarket.
Follow your heart and have fun with your car!!
Goldenblock 2 million miles and running!!
Oss

 

My personal view is there was a missed attempt at satire in the original post. I got a chuckle from the remark about the disconnected gas gauge working.

For those who still use an old stack of Popular Mechanics magazines from the 60s at their technology reference library, I'll play a round of "I calll BS on that". Without referring to an episode from "Myth Busters" to provide the science, there's just no way a DIY change will get 290 HP from an NA engine. Consider volumetric efficiency here - this claims you can get more HP per liter of displacement from a red block than a Nascar engine... Oh and to boot, can we get 100 MPG from said engine? Well that pretty much says you have the ability to extract more power than the energy density of the fuel itself. Even professional hyper-mileage drivers (who use techniques like slow driving/coasting/high pressure tires/aero trip mods) struggle to get 100 mpg on a test circuit. Now if the reference is to a hybrid car, are saying you installed an electric motor and stole a battery pack from you neighbors's Tesla Model X, I'd have to move that into a "not a DIY" project category. I'm also curious how this car handles the heat put out by the battery pack when providing the extra 180 HP...

Gotta go, I need to check out eBay now, I need to see if there's any old issues of Popular Mechanics that talk to how to make my 850T into an airplane so I can shorten my commute. :-)

 

to be fair there are a lot of vehicles that can achieve 100mpg's out there... they're called mopeds ! my old 49cc 2 stroke indian made 'ped could do
that... and it took me a long time to do the 100 miles! however, they certainly are not volvo red blocks...

 

Please don't feed the troll. Thank you

 

autozone.... maybe down in your neck of the woods they are better but around my area they are hopeless...
great parts? took 3 tries before i could get a vw golf alternator that actually worked and did not sound like a dying pig... lol
that's just the tip of the iceberg...
customer service was also grim... seems they couldn't even tie their own shoes ... they will literally hire anyone
willing to work there.