262C with LS1

JELG · 2017-07-19T09:36:52+00:00

A sad sight Gutting in progress. I love hydraulics. (don't do this at home)

jamesinc

I know they cost an arm and a leg, but I do love AN fittings

JELG

Really. On all counts.

I actually re-used the heater hoses from the 262 and the wagon to move the heater fittings. Amazing quality hose. Not a crack or perish anywhere. So much better than the crap they sell at the parts store nowadays.

JELG

The headers and the first part of the exhaust are all welded up. It was a bit of a bugger as every time I welded anything the whole lot would move a tiny bit. My son and I spent some time heating and quenching to move things back to where they belong. Came out quite well though. We had to put a few small dents here and there to clear the steering shaft adequately.

The biggest and most expensive job so far. A more compact Tri-Y set up might have been better, or even off the shelf parts and then make the car fit.

Here you can see where the steering shaft and starter fit.

JELG

Drought has made progress slow. It is hard to concentrate on a project when you have just bought 72 ton of feed at $600 per ton, water is getting scarce and cattle sale prices are collapsing. But I have knocked over a few items:

Transmission shift linkage all works perfectly now.

The Computer has been re-flashed with a basic MAFless tune.

And I have more or less finalised the harness. That entailed cutting out all un-needed items and integrating a premade fuse/relay box and part of the old volvo engine harness. I have tried to set it up such that I can simply un-plug a couple plugs and lift the engine out with harness still attatched. I actually cut two 8 pin plugs out of the Statesman and reused them in my harness and cut the big white volvo engine harness plug out and reused it too.

I plan to move the battery to the boot and have made a bracket to mount the computer, in its original box where the battery used to be, with the relay box right beside it.

I have relocated one of the coils that was interfering with the brake booster.

And a mate made up a fan shroud for the radiator.

And the headers have been ceramic coated and are on the way back.

I'm almost ready to pull the whole lot out, paint the engine bay, and begin "final" assembly.

nugget_940

Sorry to hear about the cattle mate.
Progress is looking good though! Chin up from all the OzVolvo lads and lasses x

carnut222

Hope the drought breaks soon. Bloody dry down here too but no livestock to worry about for us. Great progress on the car.

JELG

Progress!

Headers ceramic coated and installed.

Wiring harness finalised, loomed and installed on the engine. I have wound the engine over with the starter and got good oil pressure and compression.

Battery relocated. I cut 32mm out of the original tray, welded it back together, and mounted it with bushings in the boot. But I Still have to paint it all.

And I just finished painting the bay. Looks great. The guys at my local paint shop were good enough to let me do all the prep in their shed with their gear and then they painted it for me. The car got covered in dust on the way home so I had to rinse it off. The tunnel looked pretty nasty before painting but everything fits.

See below for pics:

ALVO360

This is a very interesting build. Well done so far!

alphax

Quality and great progress!

JELG

Here's an update folks: Now for the fun part.

I pulled the cross-member out of the 262, trimmed an overhanging flange and seam welded the edge. Then painted it and relocated the brake lines, all to give me just a bit more clearance for the sump.

Then we started mounting the engine to it and fitting every thing up.

We then sat the whole assembly on the floor and hoiked the car up over it.

And there she blows.

Everything fit well. And it is nice to be finally puting things back together.

Once we had the engine mounted securely, we started hooking everything up and mounting other items. Remote oil filter, fuel lines, computer, fuse block, transmission linkage, cooler lines etc. Then we sat the radiator in and jury rigged some radiator hoses.

Now for the moment of truth...

My son took a video. Check it out!!

I'm not sure if the you tube link will work but if you search for Lindsay Gresham, (my son) you will find the clip. (Some of you may also be interested to check out another clip of Lindsay's. Me starting and driving a 100 year old Blackstone Crawler. Thought to be the one and only example in the world still running. A prize possession of our local museum).

I had some fun rigging the transmission/starter safety switch so I had the engine bay plug pulled for testing and had forgotten to plug it back in. So no life at all first time. Second time, I cranked for a few seconds and had no start. I scratched my head for a minute and gave it one more try and it just burst into life! I guess it needed to purge stale fuel or air locks or something.

The transmission was in neutral and the car started to creep a bit so I shut it off. The powerfull detent on the transmission park position is pulling the selector past the starter switch, so I had it in neutral. The second time, I had it in Park and handbrake on. (chocks might have been wise too.) The lap-top is talking to the computer and all seems well so far. I have not yet run it up to temperature or driven it but will do so very soon. (when I have bled the brakes).

Very exciting :-)

alphax

Wow, congrats! Very nicely done and a massive improvement over the absolute boat anchor of an engine that you pulled out. Modern reliable power transforms these cars but still feels like a Volvo :-)

carnut222

Great work. Looks like you have a fantastic workshop/shed. Nice-looking motorhome in the background of one shot. Not a Volvo by chance is it? :)

JELG

The bus is a Scania but it actually belongs to my Dad. Not used much now.

My philosophy with the conversion is to keep it simple. I doubt that a farmer with an angle grinder and a hammer is likely to be able to improve on the combined engineering might of Volvo and GM. So i have tryed to avoid stuffing around with either. Siimply make the two play well together. There is no muffler system at the moment so it sounds really fierce. And the power steering pump is whining a bit but it is probably just purging air.

Lots to do yet but it is so cool to have it runnning.

Andy

Awesome stuff mate. You will love it when you take it for a drive. It's an exciting feeling to get a engine swap started. I laughed when I heard you ask where's the fire extinguisher. I was the same on my first start!
Anyway it will be pretty quick even with a stock naturally aspirated LS. The fuel economy won't be that bad either.

JELG

It drives! Forwards, backwards and even a bit sideways.

Yesterday we let the engine heat right up and then drove it out of the shed under its own power, around the yard and up and down the driveway. About 2kms. Engine is very responsive. Runs very smoothly. No vibrations or harshness or smoke. Not even as loud as I would have expected considering there is zero muffler. Oil pressure light, Alternator light, temp and fuel gauge and tach all work, although the tach needs a bit of a calibration. No speedo yet.

Steering is light and the brakes are great. I think the LS sucks more vacuum than the old PVR so the brakes are much better than they were. I may have to reduce power steering pressure if it is too light on the highway. We shall see.

Lindsay took a video. Will post when able.

Andy

Sounds good mate. I think you will enjoy the power for a short amount of time until you get bored and want more. :)

So when's your son going to LS swap 70's 240 wagon ?

JELG

A wagon would be seriously cool, and thanks for all the encouragement guys.

Does anyone know where I can get slightly longer wheel studs? I think someone has put new studs in the hubs and they look too short to me. Only about 7 or 8 turns till tight. I am using open nuts and only about 1/2 the nut is used.

jamesinc

JELG;c-161074 wroteA wagon would be seriously cool, and thanks for all the encouragement guys.

Does anyone know where I can get slightly longer wheel studs? I think someone has put new studs in the hubs and they look too short to me. Only about 7 or 8 turns till tight. I am using open nuts and only about 1/2 the nut is used.

Kaplhenke sell super long studs - https://www.bneshop.com/products/240-extended-wheel-studs-wheel-spacers

But if you think the ones you have are shorter than stock studs, IPD, FCP etc sell new stock-length studs

larrylancer

Its a bit late for your build, but Ian Boechetter Race Parts have the Coleman 119-112 steering shafts in stock now. 6 of them!!! Or 5 after Monday next week when I go and get mine. Might be good for anyone else following your thread. Nice build by the way. Lots of information and very helpful. Thanks.

peterwgpa

I have 2 Coleman shafts I bought which are of no use as the manual steering spline is longer than the power steering spline. If any one wants one $35 express posted to you. Just PM me

Both shafts sold

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