Volvo specialist

[Ngenius1]

Hi all.
New owner of a 480 ES
Can you point me in the direction of a specialist who can do an engine swap.
Basically put a 2.0 from a V40 into the 1.7 ES
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Alan 480]

m m m mm m

sounds interesting, and probably a nightmare unless you can do it yerself? ? ?

lots of bits that are NOT common, why such a lump, choose a newer version of the existing engine might be easier . . . .

see Ade's engine swap story for what might be involved,

only my tuppence worth

[brinkie]

Why on earth would someone let a specialist shoehorn a 2.0 Volvo engine into the 480's engine bay to replace the 1.7 Renault F3N unit? I would rather source a more powerful, but physically similar sized Renault F-engine (e.g. the F7R-engine from a Clio Williams) mated to a Renault JC5 gearbox = Volvo M59-373E, and get a Quaife diff. Ditch the electronics, put a proper set of carbs onto the engine and race away. Should be able to do a reliable 150 bhp and can be tuned to 250 bhp, which is a bit much for an FWD car without traction control...

Or better, ditch the 1.7 ES altogether and get a 2.0 ES or a 1.7 Turbo, much cheaper and much, much more reliable since you don't have to do endless fiddling with the electronics.

[Ngenius1]

m m m mm m

sounds interesting, and probably a nightmare unless you can do it yerself? ? ?

lots of bits that are NOT common, why such a lump, choose a newer version of the existing engine might be easier . . . .

see Ade's engine swap story for what might be involved,

only my tuppence worth

Thanks for the response.
Still need to find someone who can actually do it, if i could do it myself i wouldnt be asking.

[Ngenius1]

Not looking to make a racing car, just something with a bit more power and a less coarse sounding engine.
Are there no Volvo specialist in London ?

[jamescarruthers]

How about we try and find out where the horses have gone from your car and why it sounds coarse?

I have a 1.7 ES and it is smooth and pretty nippy and the engine sounds fine.

[Ngenius1]

Would love to get it checked out if someone can point me in the direction of garage that can look at it.
Preferably in London, but not essential.
Thanks.

[Ade]

Give it a good service, check valve clearances (my turbo engine is much quieter now V.C.'s have been done, not that it was that bad anyway) and maybe stick some injector cleaner through it then see where you are. I've only ever had a turbo and driven a couple of 2.0's so can't speak for the NA 1.7 but I can't imagine it's that rough or underpowered when in good order. The 2.0 is a lovely smooth, quiet and torquey engine and I guess the NA 1.7 should be similarly nice, just a little less gutsy I suppose, the turbo is the roughest of the lot and even they're quite nice when in good order, well mine is, but it has had a massive amount of work, although it was never that bad, I always liked it as an engine anyway.

James is right, give it some love and try and get it running right before doing anything drastic. Engine swap for a 2.0 or a turbo is relatively easy, although not for the faint hearted but total conversion to something never meant to be is a massive engineering challenge and TBH there's probably not many garages that would take the job on unless you gave them a blank cheque and they had the engineering capability, which most won't.

[Ngenius1]

Thanks for the input Ade.