1997 Volvo V90

wagon Wagon

8 - Cyl.

Manual

yv1kw9607v1044012

Gasoline

For auction is my Volvo V90 LS1 hybrid. The V90 is the last of the rear wheel drive Volvos. The V90 is the most expensive Volvo available in 1997, it is the flagship. The car comes equipped with power windows, power door locks with remote opening, glass power sunroof, heated leather seats, cruise, tilt wheel, intermittant wipers, power memory seats, high end stereo (which I never got the security code for) with lots of speakers, privacy shade for the back, and who knows what else. This car has the second generation independent rear suspension with a transverse composite spring (like the later Corvettes) which provides an improved ride, and handling. The body was offered in exclusive colors, this car is black cherry. The fenders, hood, grille and lights were specific to the V90 and S90, with more rounded corners than other “bricks” (Volvos). Part of the look was body colored bumpers, door handles, body side moldings, and roof rack. The interior is deluxe by any standard with multi color leather on the door panels, darker piping on the seats, and tastefully done wood grain trim. Originally equiped with 24 valve 6 cylinder, this car has had a modern all aluminum GM V8 engine installed. The engine is the LS1 originally offered in the C5 Corvettes, and some Trans Ams and Z28s. This engine and transmission is from a 2004 GTO. The engine is rated at 350HP, has aluminum heads and aluminum block. The GTO engine and transmission are about 100 pounds lighter than the Volvo engine/trans that was removed. The transmission is the latest generation of the T56 six speed which has improved shift forks and synchroniser rings. The donor GTO had less than 40,000 miles. The car uses the GTO clutch and clutch hydraulics. A custom driveshaft mates the GTO transmission to the Volvo rear axle. All of the mounts and parts required to do the swap were designed and fabricated by me. I’m a mechanical engineer with going on 40 years experience in muscle cars and high performance imports. The custom front to back exhaust is all mandrel bent tubing, 2.5 inch in the front, 3 inch out the back. The car has a definate rumble, there is no doubt that this is not a stock Volvo, but it is not loud enough to cause people to look. I catch many a Mustang GT sleeping with this car. The struts and shocks have been replaced as well as the ball joints, sway bar links, and lower A arm bushings. The front springs were shorted one turn to bring the front down from the 4WD look it started with. I should have done the upper strut bearings, thought they were ok, but they do clunk on rough roads. The wheels are Volvo S60R, 17”x 8” with 245 tires in the back and 225s up front. The front wheels are on 15 mm spacers for clearance, they do rub over bumps. The inner fenders can easily be removed and the fender lips rolled. I have not done that as the next owner may want to run stock wheels and tires for the full sleeper look. The body is excellent for the age, couple minor scratches and chips, few if any door dings. The paint cleaned up well except the hood is etched with water spots that may sand out, I didn’t want to try. The interior is very nice except for the torn bolster on the driver’s seat and dried leather on the center arm rest. Turns out it has a built in booster seat in the rear seat arm rest, didn't know that until I was taking pictures today. The swap took me the better part of a year of spare time and money. I don’t want to think about how much of either was invested in this “for the fun of it” project. I’ve always wanted to do a sleeper volvo wagon, and I had the time and money to do this one the way I wanted to. I would say it’s 90% done, I drive it everyday I don’t drive my Z06 with no issues. A car like this can be worked on for ever it seems, a little thing there, another one over there, etc.. Most of thing that I would do if I kept the car are more related to the Volvo than the swap. The right rear window makes noise when it goes down, the sunroof does close perfectly, things like that that show up on most older cars. It has a few buzzes and rattles, needs a few more things done, but makes a great driver as it sits, and, you will not see another one at any car show or cruise. I go to a 400 plus cruise regularly. I had a 70 Trans Am, replaced by a Z06 Corvette. Niether of these cars got 20% of the attention this car gets. I drive in, and get a sacastic "hot rod Volvo" from one of the guys directing traffic, blip the throttle, and his reaction was "I guess it is". That's what this car is about. There’s too much to write out, best to contact me to discuss the swap. here's a teaser.... http://www.youtube.com/embed/dCpFQJfk5RE?hl=en&fs=1 You can read about it on Turbobricks at this link http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=235015 You will need to become a member to get to the link, but that’s simple and if you're interested in a Volvo, you should be a member. Here’s a link to a video walk around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIP3AftIYpc Many pictures can be seen at my photobucket account here http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i141/mikezohsix/Volvo%20V90%20LS1/ Pictures tell a story, it's all there, the exhaust fabrication, clutch pedals, drive shafts, motor mounts, shifter positioning and shortening, fitting the engine, the headache of getting the left side exhaust manifold to fit etc.. Like I said, if you're really interested, contact me thru eBay, send me a phone number and I can talk for hours, if you're local, come see it. to answer a couple of specific questions: - AC - the compressor fits with about 3/4" clearance in the lower right, not enough room for the stock hose fitting. My thought was to machine the bracket and pick up a 1/2" plus, maybe enough room, if not, just box the frame rail there. It's in front of the suspension so is not a heavily loaded area. After you do that, it's have the hoses mated, Volvo to GM, or custom hoses, a couple of companies make them. Use the Volvo wiring to run the compressor. - Tach - isn't done. Two ways to approach it. First, use the 4 cyl Volvo tach I have, add it to the current instrument cluster. Don't know if the connectors are the same between the two cluster I have so don't know if that would work or not because no ones done it, but it probably would. Option 2, buy a signal converter from Dakota Digital, convert the 4 cyl LS1 output to the 6 cyl input the cluster is looking for. $89 or so. - other dash stuff - all the heater controls work, which is climate control by the way. ABS and Air bags were not affected by the swap. Fuel and speedo work (speedo comes off the rear axle in the volvo), water temp and oil pressure gages were added to a small panel I made right in front of the shifter. On Oct-16-11 at 11:02:17 PDT, seller added the following information: here's some more videos done with a still camera, so not great, but, better than nothing.... http://youtu.be/Ba6w_sBfEy8 http://youtu.be/wwQN0Ca58nw http://youtu.be/dCpFQJfk5RE http://youtu.be/vH-OJ_6u_XE http://youtu.be/mNgeeyOyR6I http://youtu.be/3sL3qWF1XEI