My soon to be Step Mother has a mid eighties 740. I know little about it other than it is an auto and old enough to have the quad headlights. She will be getting my grandmother's Malibu wagon in a couple of months.. so I am going to try to grab the volvo.
What do I need to know about it?
It's chock-full of made-in-Sweden turbo goodness?
Could be turbo, could be not. If it's an '89-89, it could be a 16-valve.
Change the fluids, throw in some copper NGKs, change the timing belt if you have no record of that - especially if it's a 16-valve, that's an interference motor.
Drive it like you hate it for the next 100,000 miles.
it is a turbo.. and it appears to be single cam (if the narrow cam cover is what that means.. but beyond that... I do not know (I checked the oil on it today)
I think most of the turbos are single cams, actually. They're pretty robust motors and in general those cars tend to hold up pretty well, too.
A 302 should fit nicely. 
I gotta read the rules concerning free cars in the challenge
All the turbos are the single cam. The twincam red block motor was a styling exersize so people who were going to buy a BMW would buy a Volvo instead. They leak, they are interference, they shake more with the balance shaft belt on than off, they won't start or run below -20*c and the only reason they are at all quicker than the single cam is because they have a steeper rear gear.
On the upside, I made a lot more money off them than I did off the simple engines that worked better.
On your new turbo, just remember to let it idle for a bit before you shut it off after any hooligan-like actions, particularly if its old enough that its not a watercooled turbo. They, like all turbops, tend to coke up the oil passages if you don't let the heat dissipate before you shut it down.
Yes, there were no twin-cam turbos sold in the US, only Italy.
I want to say all the 700's had water cooled turbos... but quad lights puts it 89 or earlier... 87 or earlier tended to have wire harnesses that where bio degradable especially on the turbos.
if it is NA 8v it's very easy to add a turbo (refered to as "+t" in the volvo community)
they are easy to work on... can even pull the engine without removing the hood (has a peice on em so you can literally have the hood go 90* up... makes working at the back of the engine much easier also :)
i'm on my 3rd... I started with a beat '86, moved to a '89 w/ a dead engine (rod though the block... swapped the 86 engine in)... now i'm rolling a 91...
I like em
considering it has close to a quarter of a million miles on it.. and no wiring issues.. It must be newer than 87
got some more info.. it is a 88.. so that gives it the better electrics. While I like the hauling aspects of a wagon.. I am interested in finally getting back into Motorsports.
I did some rallying when I was younger and more stupid.. fun stuff, but at almost 42, not something I have the time or interest in doing again. I especially do not want to wreck another car at speed.
As my time is limited.. I was thinking of trying autocross. I know a wagon may not be a good choice.. but all my other cars are rather well modded and I want to start with a mostly stock street class.
The biggest hangup will be the autotrans.. is there a 5 speed availible?
mad_machine wrote: got some more info.. it is a 88.. so that gives it the better electrics. While I like the hauling aspects of a wagon.. I am interested in finally getting back into Motorsports. I did some rallying when I was younger and more stupid.. fun stuff, but at almost 42, not something I have the time or interest in doing again. I especially do not want to wreck another car at speed. As my time is limited.. I was thinking of trying autocross. I know a wagon may not be a good choice.. but all my other cars are rather well modded and I want to start with a mostly stock street class. The biggest hangup will be the autotrans.. is there a 5 speed availible?
Get the adapter stuff and swap in a T5. The manual Volvo trans is pretty meh IMO. It's also a 4 speed with an electronically activated overdrive.
good to know.. the T5 is a good trans
Get over to Turbobricks.com forums. It's full of Volvo 7 series turbo nuts. I built a race car out of an 85 745T with advice from TurboBricks particiapants. The 230FT engine will take a bunch of boost with attention to air/fuel ratios. These cars are hilarious fun. A beefed-up Panhard rod in the rear helps greatly with handling. M47 5 speed Volvo transmissions are easy installs. Have fun with the paradoxical grocery hauler.
mad_machine wrote: got some more info.. it is a 88.. so that gives it the better electrics. While I like the hauling aspects of a wagon.. I am interested in finally getting back into Motorsports. I did some rallying when I was younger and more stupid.. fun stuff, but at almost 42, not something I have the time or interest in doing again. I especially do not want to wreck another car at speed. As my time is limited.. I was thinking of trying autocross. I know a wagon may not be a good choice.. but all my other cars are rather well modded and I want to start with a mostly stock street class. The biggest hangup will be the autotrans.. is there a 5 speed availible?
No one said that wagons and motorsports were mutually exclusive. In fact, although a bit heavier, the wagon will have better weight distribution. 
If it's an auto it should be the AW70/71( no, fellow anoraks, I have forgotten) which is a pretty stout auto. My old 240 has 280k on it now and it still sees autocross duty with no transmission issues. To answer your question though, yeah, 5 speeds are available. Check out Turbobricks, but beware: there's A LOT of white noise there, and filtering though internet memes and misguided youths may be a bit daunting.
so.. a turbobrick should make for an entertaining and potentially good AutoXer?
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