2 litre turbo engine in a 480

[Steve Hogg]

Hi,

Has anyone out there turocharged the 2 litre engine in the 480 model? I thought it might be a bit of fun to upgrade the 1.7 engine in my 480 turbo to 2 litres and also increase the boost pressure. My thoughts are that any improvements which can be made to the 1.7 tubo should be increased by about 15% because of the capacity increase.

OK, I know there will be several other issues to resolve but at the moment I have been unable to find specifications for the available camshafts ie. turbo/2 litre/something special.

Any thoughts or advice greatfully recieved.

Steve

i recon you'll run out of space under there - there must be a good reason why volvo turbo'd the 1.7, not the 2l block

[Steve Hogg]

It's the same block, only the bore/stroke has been changed to give the increased capacity. I have one of each of these so I am aware of all the physical differences and I don't think any of them are a major problem. I am undecided as to whether I should retain the origional turbo cylinder head or use the 2 litre head wich has larger (but softer) inlet valves.

Keep the comments coming I want to resolve as many problems as possible before starting.

Steve

[davebslater(uk)]

if you post or search on the volvo 480 club europe , youll find volvo didnt do it because of cooling issues , although i have never seen the evidence , anyway the 2 litre head has different casting specs so proceed when you have a 1.7 and 2 litre head side by side .

Dan has been building a 2litre turbo for a while now and to get across a few problems has decided on forged custom pistons since he couldnt make the 2 litre engine work for him , basically reducing compresion ratio .

Of course if you hept the boost to about 8 psi and worked on new cam /flowed head principles youll end up at the same power level theoretically .

My understanding is that the 2 litres have a combustion chamber in the head aswell , which makes things interesting , i believe youll be better off with a 2litre bottom end and starting from there , although youll have oil feed issues which can be overcome .

[Steve Hogg]

Thanks Dave, I've got a spare 1.7 engine in pieces but as yet I've not removed the head on the 2 litre so did not realise it has a chambered head, it would be interesting to know how much this can be enlarged to reduce the compression ratio. Presumably Dan will know the answer to this. Are there any major disadvantages to a spacer plate between the head and the block (possibly the loss of any squish area) as it would be cheaper than custom pistons. On the subject of cooling there are available various cooling mediums with better heat tranfer rates than water. I will check on the 480 europe site to discover what the cooling issues related to.

[Peter Milnes]

I would think that a lowered compression ratio would be of great benefit for the turbo as the CR is a bit high on the 2 Litre for just slapping on a turbo.

All the best, Peter

[Steve Hogg]

Hi,

I was doing a lot of thinking last night and hope someone can answer this question.

The 2 litre engine has a longer stroke than the 1.7 so to make things work does it have a) shorter con rods, b) a taller block or c) pistons with the gudgeon pin relocated nearer the crown of the piston?

I am thinking now that an easier option may be just to use the 2 litre crank in the 1.7 turbo engine resulting in a capacity of just over 1.9, however the practicalities will depend upon the answer to the above question and the availability of appropriate components.

Steve

[davebslater(uk)]

thaats exactly what dan came up with !! - hes making custom pistons to fit, because the con rods wouldnt fit .

If it were me i would start on a diesel , hence the huge rods , and bore it out to fit 2 litre pistons , of course deck height may become an issue although i think the diesel heads do run chambered aswell.

[Rooster]

Isn't there any renault blocks or heads that can be used instead of volvo as it is a renault engine after all.

What about putting a T4 engine in it or is that to big to fit,

[TheJoyOfSix]

I dare say with a combination of Volvo 2.0 block, Renault 19 16v head, Volvo 1.7 turbo manifolds etc and whatever pistons fit best, a fairly potent engine could be made.

Or why not put a V6 in the boot driving the rear wheels..........?