Hello everyone! I am new here this is my first post on this site.
I have a 1990 760 turbo that I just picked up a couple of weeks ago. Never owned a Volvo before (or any European car for that matter). Overall it's a pretty nice car in great shape. My biggest complaint however (besides it being an automatic :P heh) is the turbo. Although it is very nice to have the added power from the turbo, I have never seen such a small turbo in my life! First thing I did was put a boost controller on it and I'm pretty sure it's already maxed out. It spools up really quickly but runs out of boost almost immediately. I'm not trying to go crazy here, it's my daily driver I have a 280zx for when I want to go fast, so I'm not trying to get an aftermarket t66 or anything but it would be nice to have a little extra power out of this thing. It already has a turbo so I'm naturally gonna want to toy with it!

The real question here is: Does anybody know of another turbo that will bolt up with little to no modification? I'm thinking of a stock one from a different Volvo like say a one from a newer s60 or something? I work at a salvage yard (and we actually have many volvos, pretty much all late model though) so I have access to all types of turbos. I just simply don't have the slightest clue if there are others out there that would work as a direct swap/ interchange (or close to it). I have a good amount of automotive knowledge and experience, but I don't know much about Volvos at all really. I guess if anybody would know, this is a good place to ask. Any info is greatly appreciated... Thanks!

 

Not sure about what you can do but from what I remember from the B230 engine I had in my non-turbo 740 GLE is my car only had 114 HP. We named her Grace for a reason. I believe that car you have may have the same motor with the turbo which would max it out at something like 190 HP. The car will never be FAST, especially considering the weight. But it will do well on it's own. Like my 960 which has about 186 HP. Just some input.

 

Yeah, your car has a midget Mitsubishi turbo...a response and effort to reduce turbo lag. Early 740T's and 760T's had a larger T3 turbo...produced much more horsepower but lagged a bit. Americans, used to V8's, didn't understand how to compensate for lag. You can easily get your car to 225-250 by doing a few mods. Swap the green top stock injectors to "brown tops" from a mid eighties turbo TBird. Swap out your 016 amm for an 012 from a 960 (larger 3" diameter), swap out the 3 bar fuel pressure regulator for a 3.5 or 4 bar, buy an IPD turbo cam, swap out the restrictive exhaust for a 3" turbo to tail exhaust system, add Bilstein struts and shocks, IPD 25mm sways front and back and a more effective turbo...you could go w/ a 15G Mitsu w/ internal CBV or go w/ an old school T3/T4 and add an external CBV. Add a water/meth injection set up and you're good for close to 300 wheel hp. And...don't be too quick to diss your transmission. The turbos got the AW71 which can handle way more torque than the M46 manual. To get a stout manny, you'd need to swap to a T5, Getrag or Supra tranny. And...there is a simple accumulator lock up mod for the AW71 that will allow you to bark the tires in all 3 gears. Ease on over to turbobricks.com I'll think you be surprised...

 

yeah, i'll admit there's no lag, but it runs out really early. Thanks, really good info I'll have to look into it. I'm not trying to go all out but there could be some potential here. I'm going to go do a little more reading now...

 

Sweet!!! SwiftJustice44, thanks for your input. I knew there were some real fast 740's and 760's out there but they have some real mods, not just a turbo swap. I hope to make a real sleeper one day and I hope turbobricks.com is around for me to gleen from. Thanks again for helping out.

 

very good read. I also just bought a 760 turbo with the automatic. I was toying with the idea of throwing a cheap chinese knock-off 16g on it and turning the wick down a little to see how it rode but I like your advice.

It seems you and I are on the same page as far as mods go. I come from a 2.3L Turbo Ford background so I'm pretty familiar with the injectors and T3 turbos.

 

Until recently, I had an 84 760T. Of all my cars, it was the most fun for the least amount of money. And...effing gorgeous!!

 

Hey Swift, I added you to my friends list but I'd love to exchange contact info with you to bounce some ideas off you. Is that doable?