Volvrat II - Zippy Lea - Volvo 940 V8

[Crazy]

Forgive the start of the thread, the first bits were done before that V8 transplant. We all make mistakes (mine was getting a turbo'd 4 banger) but we correct them (with a tasty V8 ) and that's the main thing )


July 19th:

Well Volvrat I has passed away and I am now breaking her for parts

For those of you who don't know my original Volvrat, affectionately known as the OVLOV, this was her:



She died of a busted head gasket, that went with such style that the cam cover is welded to the head!!!!!



So bring on Volvrat II!! The spirit of the rat shall live on!!! Volvrat II has already gained the name of Zippy Lea too


Went to auction yesterday, and picked up a 1997 Volvo 940 SE wagon, for £325!!!!!!!! 1 previous owner, 145k on the clock, really happy with it. Got a few issues with her though, like the tail gate handle doesn't work on the outside, and some of the lights on the dash don't work, but otherwise, it's all pretty sweet.


Redblock turbo lump, not too bad condition. Bit tatty on the exhaust system, so that'll get ripped off and a straight through pipe will be installed, and the paintwork is pretty scratched and tatty too, so it'll all be going matt black again, but no rust this time.

Interior isn't too bad at all so will keep that as it is pretty much.

Gonna stick the 15G turbo off the 850 T5 on it as well as the manual boost controller and increase the boost a bit.


Got my sounds to stick in there too, and the roof rack to chuck up top again too



Best bit is, I have the whole car to get to a suitable ratty standard, by the 8th of August for Retro Rides show!! So with my days off, that works out as 5 full days for:

- Respray
- ICE install
- Fitting of roof rack, air horns, steelies and other bits

And hopefully time for a straight through exhaust to be sorted out too

[Crazy]

July 22nd:




Before:


After some matt black paint:




And a nice pic I rather like

[Crazy]

July 24th:

Couple of pics for y'all of my audio install





And done a little bit more matt blacking too, now done from the top of the bump strips down, done the fuel filler flap too, and put another of my warning labels on, a flammable liquid one again

[Crazy]

July 25th:

Well I've been busy today and here is the result:



Not been flatted back yet so you'll have to forgive the patchiness, just it was getting too hot!


July 26th:

Some play pics

[Crazy]

July 27th:

Lotta photos, but nice photos of work in progress on the new side exit exhaust.

100% custom fabricated by the guys down at Incarsolutions in Crayford, Kent (01322 274 462) and it sounds IMMENSE!!!!














And of course, the all important video!

[Crazy]

August 6th:

Pair of tights on the headlamps, actually wrapped around the glass itself on the main unit too, and not just stretched all over the back.

Also the roof rack is on there, and the painted grill too




Oh, first touch of hawaiian theme for the Retro Rides show with Rat-Look.com

[Crazy]

August 12th:

So after 8 1/2 hours of hard work, and I mean VERY hard work, I have a new turbo on the wagon

Again, much thanks to the guys in Crayford at In Car Solutions

The original (and somewhat buggered) 13C turbo is gone and the 15G turbo off my old Volvo 850 T5 is on! Wooop wooooop!!!

Sounds soooo much better, much beefier now, no smoke, quieter too, and it really pulls well, even though I've set the boost lower cos I still need to sort out the intercooler pipework as it's all jiggled about now, and the air intake was on the top, and is now on the bottom of the snail. Helluva lot of work, but my god was it worth it!

There is a circlip that holds the core into the housing, and it took my mate and I half an hour just to get it back on!!! 4" circlip made of 3mm metal



So here she is, in her shiny(ish) snailish glory!!

[Crazy]

August 15th:

New door cards Well, not exactly new door cards, but rather modified ones




Done the steering wheel too, and ripped out the airbag too (I hate airbags, and it adds to the rat look plus I now have an ashtray that I can reach easily no matter what )

[Crazy]

August 22nd:


Well after much arguing with, well, everything, I managed to get the new speakers in

Unfortunately after all the work, found that the bloody amp has packed up!! Ah well, guess I'll get a new JBL one, been needing to replace my Vibe amps with JBL ones anyways, so now I have a good reason to!


I also started tinting my windows but the bloody neighbourhood chavs decided to f**k it up for me and I ended up slicing my arm right open as they jumped on the car as I was sitting in the back trimming it a bit. They're just lucky I didn't manage to get out the trunk in time before they rode off on their bikes I've decided I can't be arsed to pay out for more tint film, so I'm just gonna paint the inside of the windows. 100% tint, and damn sight easier to do too


But here's the result of today's work:





Yes, they are shelving brackets holding the speaker pods up. There's another bracket on the other side too Hey, it works eh?


I know you guys are used to nice tidy installs which cost a fair bit and take a while to do, but y'all gotta remember, I'm all about the rat look. This works, very nicely, and the set up in the old Volvo was tested just under 130dB out of two 10" subs

[Crazy]

September 3rd:


Good news and bad news folks.



Good news - the whole car is now matt black and looks awesome


Bad news - the turbo seal has blown Need to replace the turbo but luckily I should hopefully be getting one on Sunday off a mate of mine.




But enjoy the photos

[Crazy]

THIS IS THE POST THAT BRINGS ME TO YOU GUYS


September 9th:


Well some sad news, the engine is dead Checked everything and everything seems fine, but there is oil getting into the combustion chamber for some unknown reason.



Good news though - I've bought a Rover 3.5 litre V8 to drop into her!! Gonna be running on carbs and straight through pipes, so with a few little mods should see me to about 180 - 200hp


This is my new engine Not in yet, but will be sweet when it's in there!! Sooooo can't wait!!





Also ghetto tinted my windows. To those of you not completely familiar with the rat look scene, that means I painted my windows on the inside so they look tinted, but a fraction of the cost





Got a couple new stickers too. The top one is in anticipation of the new heart Don't go anywhere at the moment

[Crazy]

September 19th:


I got bored today, so thought I'd play around with the car a bit.

Took the door cards off the rear doors, taped up and tidied the wiring, and painted it all matt black. Might do the same on the front doors too, but with speakers on there too







I also now have all the bits bar one required for doing the engine transplant. Awaiting delivery on a couple of bits, and just need to go n get a gearbox (ZF 4HP22) from a local place at some point, and then I'll have everything I need

[Crazy]

September 28th:

Had some trouble with the bell housing Went to fit it to the engine and found it didn't fit Then looking around spotted in small writing "300TDI" so it's from the diesel Landie, not the V8 like it was sold to me as, so that was a pain in the ass, but a couple of phone calls to the place and they're sending me the right one free of charge and unless they can arrange a courier to come n get the wrong one, I've now got a bell housing to put on the landie gearbox I have and sell it so hopefully get more money from it that way


Been cleaning today. Getting all the paint and crap off the rocker covers and the starter motor, and given it a bit of a polish, but it's still a 34 year old engine so gonna keep a bit of the older look on it, think it'll look nicer like that.

[Nollywood]

Nice work! Can't wait to see her with her new V8 heart.

[ChrisJC]

Is that a High Dynamic Range camera you are using?

Chris.