1966 Volvo Amazon Wagon - just getting started

Hi, I just picked up a couple amazon wagons since I've gotten bored of my Audi urs6 and wanted something without so much plastic. My plan is to add a motor capable of 350-400hp, a 6spd, a stouter rearend and beef up the brakes and suspension. The engine choice needs to come first since that sets up a lot of the next decisions. I'm looking to get people's opinion. Here's my criteria: 1. Like I said, at least 350hp 2. Good aftermarket support. I love the turbo I5 in my Audi, but there wasn't much to choose from if you wanted to modify the engine (or fee rest of the car) 3. Small and lightweight. The engine bay is tight for both width and length. V-engines are possible, but the headers are really close to the a-arm pivots. The car is around 2500lbs, so a big heavy engine would make it pretty most heavy.

Engines i'm considering is: 1. Lsx. Obvious choice for power and aftermarket, but would be a really tight fit and a little on the heavy side. I doing I could get turbos on in the future if I felt inclined. 2. New mustang 3.7l v6. The power seems decent, the size is better, but the aftermarket isnt as good. 3. Nissan v6, either the 3.5 or 3.7. They look good on paper, but I don't know much about the aftermarket. 4. Turbo Volvo i4 or i5. Would be the best got size and weight, but power would be a stretch and aftermarket probably not much better than my old Audi.

Thoughts?

V engines are a bad choice in there. They do not fit well.

S2000 motor? You don't have a whole lot of width to work with.

SR20DET, RB20/5 or 1JZ would be my choice for a motor. Preference given to what fits the best. (Probably the SR)

That looks like a pretty solid start.

Good luck with it!

The Swedes are making crazy power from the i4 Volvo turbos. The aftermarket might not be Miata-like, but you can go pretty far simply by mixing and matching stock parts - for some reason the turbo block with a 16V head comes to mind, but I think you'll need a custom turbo header for that (or one from Sweden).

Of course the mustang wont compete with an LSX on aftermarket but it is still a Mustang. There are already many things out there and it has only been around for a few years. What aftermarket are you concerned with? The only thing that I can tell that you will be able to use are internals and everything but the Volvos will have plenty of support there. Of what you listed I would vote Ford. However, I also think you might want to look at the V6 used in the Hyundai Genesis coupe. The second gen is at you power minimums and it sounds wicked

Scrap the Hyundai. The second gen has DI.

B5234T3 or preferably a B6294T, either with a large turbo.

• Lee

Pretty sure that a set of block-huggers will fit in the available space

Another option is the GM 60 degree LFX as installed in the Camaro and Cadillac CTS. The Amazon has the height to keep the tall V6 4 cam under the hood.

REDBLOCK.

LS conversion stuff, bolt in modern suspension, radiators etc. http://swedishops.com/

This is sort of an old topic. See NOHOME's thread. IMNSHO, there are a few options:

1. As mentioned, build up the stock engine or replace with a overbored (and maybe stroked) version. Up to 2.5L has been done. While not cheap, this is a fairly well traveled road and you'll find a lot of sources for help. Even turbos and supercharged versions have been done.

2. Swap in a V6 or V8. The problem here is the exhaust ports exit into the upper suspension and steering components. A V6 doesn't really fit any better, so you may as well go V8. Here you have two paths. The "hard way" like NOHOME is doing it. Or the "bolt-in way" using one of the Swedish Ops kits linked above. Do you want to drive or build? How much is your time worth to you?

3. Sort of in the middle is a 16V turbo Volvo engine. It won't be a bolt-in, but it'll fit easier than a V8. Again - tons of past info on various Volvo sites here and in Sweden.

Ian F wrote: This is sort of an old topic. See NOHOME's thread. IMNSHO, there are a few options: 2. Swap in a V6 or V8...the "FUN way" like NOHOME is doing it. ...

Fixed that for ya

From where I sit Swedish Ops is not a choice.

There are folks who have been waiting a long time to receive their stuff.

His suspension geometry is not a step forward.

The Volvo Uni-body especially one with ANY rust is not up for the loads that his suspension would imply.

Nohome is one of the more talented fabricators on here, and his project is still heavily torn apart. Unless you have a lot of ambition and patience, I would stick to an inline engine and bypass the horsepower requirement. That's a light car, and a boosted four cylinder would be a good match.

Tuna, thanks for the compliment, but the reality is that I am trying to become a better fabricator. This will be my master's thesis and has yet to be evaluated.

All kidding aside, Ian is right in that what I am doing is not for the feint of heart or wallet. The scary bit is that you need pretty much ALL of the parts in house so that they can be located relative to each other. This means that you spend a lot of $$$ up front. Then there is the issue of cutting up your shell to a point where it is scrap metal until you get over that hump. It's that "Holy E36 M3 what have I done" feeling that makes this fun.

I will be lucky if I can get this done for the budget of $25k and 3 years time that I have alloted. Tuna knows all about schedules!

I am going down this route because I am a hot rodder at heart, not a Volvo fan in any way other than I really like the body style of the P1800ES. If I were a Volvo fan I would be going with a Volvo drivetrain and a Turbo and I would have kept the front and rear suspension.

The boys and I were dreaming about the big Mercruiser I4 3.7 in one of those, it's half of a Ford 460. It would slide right in, already has an aluminum block, and an aluminum head would drastically reduce the weight. You're not going to get it to 350 hp, but you could get close with standard 460 hop up stuff.

bentwrench wrote: From where I sit Swedish Ops is not a choice. There are folks who have been waiting a long time to receive their stuff. His suspension geometry is not a step forward. The Volvo Uni-body especially one with ANY rust is not up for the loads that his suspension would imply.

I'm not sure where you're basing ths on.

I understand his lead-times aren't great, but I do know of guys who've received their orders. But I agree I would definitely establish a time-line before paying the full amount. I'd feel even better if I lived in SoCal and could go to the shop to bug him in person.

The suspension geometery isn't perfect, but neither is the OE. The OE front suspension camber goes incredibly positive under compression. Unless you're going to cut out the entire front of the car and build a tube-chassis, there will be compromises. Robert's subframe allows for fitting a V engine, which is the main reason for it.

I don't see how his mounting set-up places any more or excessively different loads than the OE subframe assembly. The mounting points are essentially the same.

Believe it or not, I'm no fan-boi of Swedish Ops. I had many terse disagreements with him on the 1800 forum when he first introduced the prototype for his front suspension a few years ago.

Thanks for all the input. To answer a couple of the questions that have come up.

I've set aside 2 years for this project and I've enlisted (i.e. i'm paying) the help of my brother in law that runs a custom offroad shop and my father in law whose a body guy and has been building hotrods for longer than I've been alive.

What I meant by after market is the ability to buy various performance add-ons that aren't just repurposed OEM bits. On my Audi project I basically had 2 shops I could get parts from and often had only one choice for a given part. I was always jealous when I saw all the options in jegs or summit.

On the v6 option, I saw one build that made it look like the headers turned away in time to miss the suspension pivot, but he also cut up the firewall some .I've tried getting a hold of the Swedishops guy just to learn more about it, but he's not gotten back with me.

It seems the most reliable way to talk to Swedish Ops right now is through Facebook. He posts there with reasonable frequency.

There is an 'OK' aftermarker for the Volvo OHC and DOHC turbo engines, but the upgrades for the B18/20 are pretty much internal and require sending the head to a guy who knows what he's doing with a porting tool. There are a few 'gotchas' that are apparently somewhat counter-intuitive compared to other engines. Adding bolt-on upgrades without a clear-cut plan generally doesn't work out well.

We have a few vendors in the US that do this work. One of them is VClassics who occasionally posts in the Classic Motorsports forum. He's based in the PNW and specializes in performace B20's. On the east coast we have Team R Sport and VPerformance, although the former is focused more on vintage race cars.

I think I'm leaning towards the Nissan v6, its a pretty good compromise of power,size and aftermarket. I think i'm going to skip the v8 due to weight. The i5 and i6 Volvo engines are still in the running, but I'm still trying to find more info on their size (length) and weight.

tallpaul wrote: I think I'm leaning towards the Nissan v6, its a pretty good compromise of power,size and aftermarket. I think i'm going to skip the v8 due to weight. The i5 and i6 Volvo engines are still in the running, but I'm still trying to find more info on their size (length) and weight.

A Nissan VG or VQ is going to be VERY wide. Much wider than a 302 or 350. Measure carefully.

although in an 1800, the engine bay dimensions are similar

^ How the heck do you change spark plugs on that?

That said, cool car. Looking forward to seeing progress.

amg_rx7 wrote: ^ How the heck do you change spark plugs on that?

Hole saw?

That would stink. I haven't put my hands on a vq, but my internet research has said that both engines are around 22 inches wide at the corners of the heads. I assumed that since the vq is taller, that the widest part would be up higher than the a-arm mounts.

tuna55 wrote:

tallpaul wrote: I think I'm leaning towards the Nissan v6, its a pretty good compromise of power,size and aftermarket. I think i'm going to skip the v8 due to weight. The i5 and i6 Volvo engines are still in the running, but I'm still trying to find more info on their size (length) and weight.

A Nissan VG or VQ is going to be VERY wide. Much wider than a 302 or 350. Measure carefully.