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Upgrading my 740 700 1987

You did the easy and simple stuff. What you propose now is orders of magnitude more difficult and expensive.

LSD is easy. You can use an aftermarket unit like the Spicer (now Dana?) in your axle, or convert to a locker style. Just make sure your speedo sensor will not be deranged. Or you could swap axles with a car that had a Volvo LSD. Again, get the right speedo sensor. They changed around 88-89. Or you could convert your speedo to accept the new sender, but I am not sure how hard this is. So your costs could range from the price of a used axle to $400 or more plus installation.

ABS would be a real pain to do. I would want the entire donor car to strip. You can have great brakes without it. You can upgrade your little brakes to the bigger later ones or the bigger and thicker much later ones, but you need the associated parts. The cost would depend on the deal you got on the donor car. Paying a mechanic to do the labor would be pretty expensive; I would estimate a day or more or labor. Updating the brakes with a combination of new and used parts could cost a couple of hundred dollars to several times that or more, depending on who does the labor.

Traction control would be easiest if it was left at the limited slip or locker. It is an expensive upgrade to have automatic. With some effort you might be able to fit a kit that works off the ABS, but that means getting the ABS first and then trying to adapt a kit. There is a kit for BMW with ABS, but it is around $1000 to $1500. Plus installation.

Is your old car worth this kind of investment? I would sell it and buy a 95 945T if I wanted the latest and best RWD 4 cylinder Turbo Volvo sold in the US.

Philip Bradley






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New Upgrading my 740 [700][1987]
posted by  gholmer  on Wed Oct 23 09:59 CST 2002 >


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