Hey everyone new to the sight but long time reader. I always loved Volvo's and when I needed a new commuter a little while ago I knew I needed a Volvo. So I found an 855 GLE and have Put the miles on it, and I found myself falling with it. The only regret i had was that I purchased an N/A and I missed the power of other cars I had owned from the same time period (a BMW 328 and a 96 Impala SS) but I knew I wanted to stay Volvo. At this point I still owned the impala, and said if I found a Volvo I wanted I would sell it. Well luckily for me living in Canada we got the T5 M in a 855, and I found my car. It's a 96, dark green on tan cloth/leather. High kms (300k) but that doesn't worry me on these cars. She was $2000 Canadian, and I have big plans for it. I parked it for the winter, and I drive the GLE in the winter, and I am collecting parts... As next summer the car will get alot of goodies. So far I have ordered silicone intercooler hoses, a manual boost controller, and a turbo timer. I already have a boost gauge, and I also picked up a 16t turbo from my local yard. My plan is to make the 16t a 19t (it needs a rebuild anyway) and get an obx exhaust system, as well as ARD Blue tune. Lots more after that but one step at a time. At this point my main problem is the heavy lag I am encountering. The car has no boost until about 3000, 3200 rpm, and is extremely slow. When it gets on boost it goes good, but my gauge shows 15psi!! And it is a completely factory car still at this point, all new vacuum lines, new pcv, fuel filter, and spark plugs. I took it to the track and the best it ran was a 16.9, and most of the time mid 17's... Not good at all. It certainly doesn't pull like I would expect a car with 15psi would, very confused. I had a CEL, and bought a good scanner (Innova Equus 3100) but while my OBD port powers up my scanner, my scanner says it cannot detect the protocol? I dont understand, the scanner works fine on my parents 2002 v70 T5, but anyway I ordered a USB scan tool so we will see if perhaps I can read with that. I also ordered a TPS to maybe help my lag problem, but I still need to figure out why I apparently have 15psi... But not really any power. It has hit fuel cut before, the car fell on it's face and then would take off again. So I'm assuming boost is there, just not really that hard of acceleration. When I did spark plugs, I did a compression test and got 145psi in all 5 on a wet test, but stupid me I forgot to give it full throttle when testing so I'm assuming that even without the complete airflow it achieved 145 psi compression should be fine. I will keep everyone posted as I progress, this isn't a HELP ME thread it's just me explaining my problem and telling how I go about fixing it (assuming I'm able to lol) and it's also a build thread for this beast when I finally finish my stage 0, but it won't be getting more power until I get the bugs worked out!! Also, I will post pictures later when I'm on my computer. Sorry for the long post, I just like to leave detail! Means less questions, and more answers for everyone!
Cheers,
Billy

 

Also wanted to apologize for all the spelling mistakes in that, I sound smarter in person I swear! Lol

 

Been awhile since I posted anything. I have been quite busy with the car, I have lots of

pictures and when I get a second I will post them. So far I have done:

17 inch peg replicas with 225/45/17 maxxis ma-z1 tires

A speedtuning 17psi computer with an ard HD TCV

38mm plug wires

Msd blaster SS coil with Ipd mount and wire

Complete stage 0, cap rotor pcv ect.

Poly top engine mount

New front control arms and outer tie rod ends

Full 3 inch magnaflow exhaust, complete with 3 inch downpipe

Silicone intercooler hoses

Ipd HD CBV kit

T-5R interior swap, seats, door inserts, center console lid

I have a spare b5234ft in my garage out of an 855 T-5R I had...

Which I will be fitting with forged rods and either a 19t, gt2871, or gt3076

Also just received TA technix coilovers.. To be installed this week with new strut mounts /

spring seats

Car runs good now. With the wastegate misadjusted, and my snowtires on it at 35psi and

the turbo only producing 11psi (due to wastegate) it ran a 15.4 at 92 mph, with lots of

Wheelspin. Car now holds a constant 17psi after wastegate adjustment, but I have yet to

try it out, should have a bit more grab with the 225's also. That's it for now! Will keep

everyone posted. Cheers,

Billy

 

Good job buddy keep us posted. are you going to do an engine rebuild considering the mileage you have on your motor right now?

 

Actually The plan is to leave the engine I have now stock, and build the engine out of my old T-5R. That engine had 450XXXkms on it when I pulled it... So it's even worse than the one in my T-5M, but it actually seemed to run smoother and quieter. It was a good engine. My intention is to put rods, bearings and seals in the T-5R engine, but use stock pistons with either 19T or gt2871... And new rings, but if I decide to use a gt3076 instead then I will be tempted to get weisco pistons. I do however want to keep everything as close to factory spec. As possible, so if I can get away without cylinder boring I would be a happy camper. Might get an RN head for better flow, already have an NA intake manifold with a NA throttle body and 960 plate, and I have a line on an R manifold. So I'm really in a stage right now where I'm deciding which turbo I want to go with, and build the engine accordingly. Im going to college in January so the engine won't be done until after then, so I may slap the R manifold and a 19T on my current engine for now anyway... Just until the other engine is ready to go in. When this engine comes out, it will be completed overhauled and stuffed in a 245.. Hehe that's the plan anyway. We'll see how it plays out. The engine in the car is pretty good right now... Cam seals just started leaking, but it needs a timing belt soon anyway. That's really about it.. But definently not what I intend on running with the bigger turbo when I get there. Hopefully I can get up some pictures tonight! The car has come a long way already. I also installed a new grille, it's black steel mesh but with an s60 badge, I think it looks nice. And I have the front bumper off my T-5R which once I paint it will also go on the car. The project this week however is going to be the coilovers, it sits like a prerunner truck a the moment lol

 

what kind of coilovers are you going to be running? l am running D2 right now and l love it. next year l will be using my car as a project car, bigger turbo, an ecu upgrade, and an new down pipe. but for now l am running stock everything. Get IPD sway bars on your to do list and you wont be disappointed.

 

The coilovers are TA Technix, they are a German brand. Height adjustable only, but to be honest other than drag racing my car never sees a track, so I would never use the other features D2's offer. And the TA's were only $550 shipped, so I really couldn't justify the extra cash for my purposes. I'll let you know how they are! And sounds good, even just a 17psi ecu makes an incredible difference in the performance of the car, I would recommend ARD... Lucky makes impressive stuff. I have the speed tuning ecu because I got it cheap second hand, the power is awesome but my Mileage has been terrible, because this tune runs very rich and Is set up for a 95 automatic car, so it has a few quirks.. But still fun. In time I will get either an ARD blue, Black, or a turbo tuner USB, depending on again what Turbo I go with lol. And yes, sways are very high on my list!! Ipd seems to be the best for sure. I'm hoping the coilovers get rid of some of the front wheel tuck I get when cornering hard, if not sways it is. I've also been eyeing some pretty slick looking suspension braces.. But I think shipping will kill me. Anyhow, more later as usual!

 

Dont ignore that cam leak. With the added boost and the miles on the engine you are probably getting a bit more crank case pressure. If your PCV is not free flowing you can end up blowing out seals. Trust me

 

Yeah I was worried about it, but the car was sitting for just over a month, so I think it started seeping from that. I just replaced the pcv and I've done the glove Test and check my dipstick for vapor and it all seems fine. I definently want to get It done, I just noticed it at my last oilchange, I had oil that almost looked like it was dripping from my hydraulic tensioner for the timing belt, which I can only assume is actually the cam seals leaking and going down the back of the timing belt cover and out over the tensioner. Beautiful car by the way boxpin! I've always liked the way your car looks
Cheers

 

Okay! So hopefully this works, I'm trying to post some pictures through photobucket to show the progress i've made so far. If it does work, then enjoy! lol

Here is the car as I got it. Factory origional 96 855 T5M, even had volvo wipers on it...
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2016f20a.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps238851a4.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps903877ac.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psccea72a5.jpg

Here it is doing the front brakes and Pcv..
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1229a260.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psdf214aa4.jpg

Tinted the tailights and polished it up;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps634b42be.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5b82e7d.jpg

Got some Bartons, and driving it in the winter:
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0831f280.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...pseded8367.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps53bc7ee1.jpg

6000k HID's and Led Plate lights;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3b58d9be.jpg

Clutch slave cylinder went on me for the 4TH TIME, so I was fed up and parked it until I could figure out the problem. In the mean while i bought this.. Its a 95 855 T-5R, Factory Black car and one of the previous owners painted it red.. dont ask me why lol. It had volans on it too, but the guy i bought it off kept those for his 850 AWD. The car is a numbers matching T-5R though, just a weird example. But for $850 canadian bucks, i wasn't passing it up;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps887c9709.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5fc9dd95.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psd94eca35.jpg

I installed the Columba's off my T-5M, and cleaned it up a bit... The car had a chipped ecu and 3 inch magnaflow exhaust, complete with downpipe!! Which to me was worth the cost of the car alone.. also had a NA throttle body and 960 plate, and I was told when i bought the car it had a 16t, but i later found out that for reasons unknown to me... it had a 13g. anyhow;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psc964a4f0.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps948be120.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7437769a.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7c5adfc.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psb124ae88.jpg

Picked up some steel braided brake lines;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps704f39a2.jpg

38mm silicone jacketed plug wires;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps99ceebc9.jpg

Cheapo Ebay electronic boost gauge, worked great actually. Quite impressed for $20 shipped;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps522bd535.jpg

Spent some more time under the hood.. Blaster SS coil, complete stage 0, car had rich running problems at WOT and only hit 13psi... I can only assume this is due to the 13g;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps777f68c8.jpg

Junk yarded some euro rails;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27309444.jpg

And bought some 17 inch peg replicas...
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6029915a.jpg

New slave cylinder showed up for 855 T-5M, after discovering the slaves between NA 5 speed cars and Turbo 5 speed cars are different... havent had a problem since knock on wood lol. Same day this arrived, Heater core line blew on T-5R, and a wheel was about to fall off due to a bad wheel bearing. time to get the T-5M back from storage, and start dismantling the T-5R. It was too far gone to invest in anymore;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psd0625979.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psbedd5328.jpg

Did a small interior swap... really liked the T-5R seats, centre console lid, and door inserts, so they went in my T-5M;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psbff712cd.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps49a90b78.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psa2f1521c.jpg

My 2 12's, yes i know the box looks terrible lol
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps93febf88.jpg

Got the exhaust off the R
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psb2b2c6fd.jpg

The difference in downpipes... HUGE
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1f2fbe6a.jpg

Had the M out at the strip, lol
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7fb807a6.jpg

The R looking sorry;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psa7ab145b.jpg

Got the euro rails on the M, the exhaust didnt fit well because of the trailer hitch, I got it sorted now.
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psa8acb940.jpg

Got my tires mounted on the pegs!! exciting day. went with 225/45-17 Maxxis ma-z1's, really happy with them so far. Big difference between 205's and 225's
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psad757ef0.jpg

Looking good!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps503fbc3c.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps733239ef.jpg

It fought, but the R gave its heart. To a good cause, i will add
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7bd0a06e.jpg

My M pretty much as she sits now..
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4ac87b6c.jpg

My TA Technix coilovers, to be installed this week!!
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1a78a877.jpg

And a couple professional pics by James Downie photography to finish it off, enjoy! lots more to come;
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6de7b20c.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9ab2c2be.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psa48090b0.jpg

 

I made a post with a bunch of pictures, and it said it needed to be approved before it could be posted? Anyway I made that post a couple days ago and it has yet to be posted.. Just incase anyone wondered. I did however get the coilovers on today, and so far so good! Just trying to figure out the height I need it at so she won't rub with the 225's, but still give me a stance I like. I've pretty well got it where I want it now, just doing fine tuning. As always I'll keep everyone posted!