MATT'S C70 AWD "R" BUILD

MattJ

I few years ago I picked up a cheap 2007 C70 T5 as a fixer-up-a. It also helped to reduce the Ks on my S60R daily driver.

I found the C70 to be a bit soft and wallowey and lacking in power and grip, compared to what I had become accustomed to in the R.

I fitted Bilstein coilovers, and Whiteline swaybars which made it much more compliant.

I also installed a stage 2 Hilton tune which made it much more responsive.

While buying a set of wheels (above) for it from Nev, he showed me his AWD converted Focus and decided that’s what the C70 needs. I also decided to counter the additional weight and parasitic loss the AWD would add it will need a K16 turbo setup and bigger brakes to stop it all, like Nev had done on the Focus.

I decided the car I wanted to build is a C70R that is more of a Grand Tourer rather than a hot hatch.

To upgrade the T5 to an R spec I worked out I would need to upgrade the engine, intake & exhaust, trans cooling, drive train, suspension, and brakes.

I came up with the following list of upgrades.

Engine: Focus RS K16 turbo, 750cc injectors, Audi RS4 MAF, Hilton Stage 4 Tune, Block Shims, Focus RS Oil cooler.

Intake & Exhaust: Elevate Intercooler, Plenum and piping, Elevate 3” Exhaust.

Auto Trans cooling: Additional thermostat-controlled air to oil cooler. (Similar setup to the S60R auto.)

Drive train: Converted to AWD using a S40 T5 AWD donor car, Haldex controller may come later.

Suspension: Bilstein B14 Coil overs, Whiteline adjustable sway bars and links, Superpro control arm bushes.

Brakes: 350mm front with 4 pot RS Brembo callipers, 302mm rear with Mazda 5 calliper brackets. (Similar setup to MK3 Focus RS.)

240

I'd recommend the do88 intercooler over the elevate, it flows better and pretty sure it's cheaper.

Same with the intake pipe, the do88 or Snabb is way better than the elevate.

If you were going to get the Elevate plenum, it's just a rebranded part that you can get locally, eg I think the one DVS sells is the same. But if you want a proper upgrade the Anembo one is the way to go.

Also you probably already know but I'm pretty sure the rear suspension on a C70 is different compared to an XR5/C30/S40 etc, it might affect how you can do the AWD swap.

Again you probably already know but I'm pretty sure the Bilstein B14 kit won't fit with an AWD setup, I believe you can get an AWD version of the B16 though.

For the front control arms I'd highly recommend the Whiteline KCA428, well worth it.

Looks like a nice build though, is the C70 auto or manual?

timbo

Have a look at ultimate_c70 on Instagram.

He has some pics of the modifications to the floor to fit the AWD rear subframe.

MattJ

I picked up an AWD donor car from the salvage auctions which came with about $5k worth of Elevate parts fitted to it.

The car is a stat write-off 2010 S40 T5 AWD (auto) with only 77,000km.

It came with a full Elevate intake system piping, Plenum and intercooler, full Elevate 3” exhaust, Elevate springs and swaybars, Elevate TCV & diverter valve. This is why I'm using all Elevate and not DO88.

I had seen the work that was done on the ultimate_c70 on Instagram as mentioned above by timbo

From this I could see that the main issue is the boot floor and the need to cut away the part of it to give enough clearance for the AWD subframe.

Unlike the C30 and AWD S40/V50, the C70 and FWD S40/V50 have a recessed boot floor to accommodate the spare wheel and roof pump in the case of the C70.

S40 AWD Boot Floor from the rear

C70 Boot floor from the RH side without rear subframe

In regard to the C70 rear suspension. From what I've found there are 3 minor differences between it and the other FWD cars

The rear shocks are shorter due to their top mount being lower to accommodate the roof mechanism.

There are 5mm spaces between the rear hubs and trailing arms to widen the track due to the c70's wider body.

Lastly it has cross braces tying the rear subframe to the sills. (SEE BELOW)

To use the Bilstein B14 kit on a C70 I needed to substitute the rear shocks for B8 C70 shocks which are shorter.

However, with the AWD in the C70 they will need to be even shorter due to the AWD lower shock mount being higher on the trailing arm. I will need to find a custom solution for this.

MattJ

Just before starting to pull apart the C70 I ended up buying another one to convert instead as I much prefer looks of the later facelifted version.

It's a 2010 T5 with half as many Ks and in much better condition.

I started by stripping the AWD doner car of the entire drive train and all the underbody.

Cleaning all the parts taken off.

Once Everything I would need was out. I put the body outside

and bought in the C70.

Removed the rear subframe, exhaust and fuel tank from the C70.

Offered up the bare AWD subframe to see how much needs to be cut away.

Cut out the section of the rear floor, made up the patch panels and welded them in

I only removed just enough to ensure the boot floor liner and spare wheel still fits. The roof pump will need to sit in the boot. I will have to make a cover for it.

Sealed and painted the new panels.

There is no accommodation on the AWD subframe for the C70’s cross bracing I had to weld on some plates to mount the bracing to.

Cleaned up, painted and assembled the rear subframe.

240

Nice, what are the white camber arms in the last photo?

phonsa

Nice project and great find on the salvaged car.

MattJ

The camber arm are whiteline.

AshDVS

Excellent project! Great work and Nev is a good bloke and source of AWD P1 info (as is @timbo , but that was simply implied. ;) )

I have a pair of Heico C70 rear springs here if they're of use to you.

MattJ

It's been a while since adding more post. I've been busy working away at it.
The next few post shows the last 6 months of work.

FUEL TANK

Cleaned up and installed the AWD fuel tank. I had to reconfigure the AWD tank harness to make it fit in the C70.

The C70's fuel filter pipe won't fit with the AWD subframe and the AWD pipe won't fit around the C70's boot floor. I had to cut up both to make it fit. I had to find some fuel resistant hose to fit the pipes to join them.

Modified the C70,s rear heat sheild to fit with the cutout floor.

REAR AXLE

Installed the rear axle assembly.

FRONT AXLE

The AWD subframe is spaced about 1" lower than the FWD one.
As I'm lowering the car this will cause issues. So I'll use the C70's original one.
Pulled out the front subframe, stripped it and cleaned all the gunk off it.

Gave the subframe a coat of paint along with a few other parts.

Reassembled the front subrrame with new arm from Superpro with poly bushes.
New tierods and ends in the rack.
Whiteline adjustable sway bar for a Mk3 Focus ST.

Due to the shape of the bar It needed 10mm spaces under the mounts.

Cleaned up, painted and reassembled the swivel hubs

FRONT BRAKES & UPRIGHTS

Another pat of the R upgrade is the brakes.
I purchased a set of new Brembo calipers for the MK3 RS from Tasca Parts in the US. They were only about US$150 each.
Trial fitted them before I took the car off the road.
To make them fit the earlier P1s the disk needs to be spaced 5mm off the hub and drill out the mounting holes on the stub axle from 12mm to 14mm.

I like the look of the Gold Polestar brakes fitted on the new model Volvos.
I repainted them in S60 Maya Gold and applied Brembo stickers I made up.
Disc are 350mm DBA slotted T2 for MK3 RS
5mm spaces to go under the disc.
Brake hoses are Hell braded hoses for MK3 RS
Callipers are bolted on using 14mm Calliper bolts for a P3 Volvo

Assembled the front uprights with Bilstein B14 Coil over struts, Whiteline adjustable drop links and the Mk3 RS Brembo Brakes.

Difference between the original uprights and my new ones

The hole setup in the car. fits perfectly inside the C70(18x8) R design wheel.

REAR BRAKES

Like the front the rear brakes are upgraded to MK3 RS spec.
The RS uses the same Calliper as the P1 Volvos but with a larger disc.
The clippers are the standard Volvo calliper with Mazda 5 Carrier brackets to mount them further out.
The discs are 302mm DBA slotted T2 for MK3 RS
Brake hoses are Hell braded hoses for MK3 RS
the calliper and carrier bracket are painted in Maya Gold to match the front.

Volski

I noticed you said you would use a audi maf, having issues with mine atm in the the c30, so just wondering are these bigger and is it a straight swap with no codes

timbo

Volski you have to have a specific tune that's scaled for the Audi maf and I think you also need to change the connector

@MattJ amazing work! I bet your itching to be able to drive it

MattJ

That's absolutely right. The bigger MAF is to suit the stage 4 tune needed for the bigger turbo. You can't just swap one in without the computer being remapped to suit it.

Volski

Thanks guys ione more quick question while i have your attention i removed auxiliary brake vacuum pump (as on seen on xr5 models) was for over 2 weeks then add just a simple cold air pipe up to the pod and now out of no where getting p0100 and p0101 codes🙄

Volski

Should i buy a new maf or put it back to original as was working fine for some time, need the issues gone this weekend

timbo

Volski check for air leaks at the silicon joiner to the turbo and also make sure if there's any unused ports on the intake that they're blocked off. Also if that's an oiled pod filter it has probably coated the maf sensor and is upsetting the reading to the ecu so give it a clean with maf cleaner. If the filter is oiled either get a dry one or blast off the excess oil with compressed air

MattJ

THE ENGINE

The Engine is being upgraded with a K16 turbo for a MK2 RS.
The first thing to do is remove the head to install block shims.
This is a mod Recommended when upping the power of these engines to help prevent the block cracking.

I leak tested the Valves and had the head refaced before reinstalling it.

The K16 Turbo finally arrived after being on backorder for about 6 months.

You can see the difference in size of the K16 over the original K04 Turbo.

The bigger turbo hits the heatsheild for the angle gear

I had to modify the edge by cutting out the edge, bending the top down and welding it back together.

The original coolant lines still fit but the oil lines and PCV Valve don’t and need to order the RS ones.

I ordered the genuine ford oil drain pipe and PCV Valve but opted to make up the oil feed using Aeroflow AN hose & fittings.

The Elevate plenum was in raw aluminium, painted Satin black.

Recoloured all the black plastics with Bowdens trim restorer kit. (the timing gear cover is not yet done for comparison)

Cleaned up the engine bay ready for the engine to go in.

Engine is all back together and ready to go in.
Using a MK2 RS ECU mount
I worked out earlier the reason the AWD subframe sits lower is to allow enough clearance between the angle gear and the steering rack.
With the FWD subframe it fits but there's not much clearance
So I raised the engine 10mm to give that clearance.

Raised the engine by making 10mm spaces to go under the engine mounts.

The engine is put together and ready to go back in.

Engine is finally in

With the engine spaces up the torque mount then wouldn't line up. A new one had to be made.

I measures and CAD Designed it, then 3d printed a prototype to check the fitment.

I could then get the part made from my drawing.

To use the RS ECU mount I had to reconfigure the engine loom to get the plugs over the the ECU.

Getting the engine bay back together and the front end on with the cooling pack with the Elevate intercooler form the donor S40

With the extra torque going through the auto trans, I Added an additional trans oil cooler with a bypass thermostat.

The extra cooler is connected to the outlet of the stock cooler and returns to the transmission.

SwedVolvoc70

Hello

Very nice project and result. I lve in Sweden and I am thinking doing the same as you did and will follow your project.

I hava a question about the rear brakes. You write that you have used the Mazda 5 brake Carrier. Do you have the part number or what year and model, engine i must look for to find this part.

Best regards

Razvan

MattJ

SwedVolvoc70 The Mazda part No. for the rear caliper brackets is C2Y6-26-28XA.

I've been meaning to do an update on the car as I've had it on the road for 6 months now. I still have a few loose ends and gremlins to sort out before I can call it finished. I plan to start putting more info up soon including all the part Numbers of genuine parts used.

VolvoMike

Your S60R, my S60R and the one for sale https://ozvolvo.org/d/30309-act-2004-s60r-black-awd-geartronic-12-mths-rego-16000-ono all came down the production line at the same time as the chassis numbers are within 46 units.