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Another V6 Wagon is born


TimV

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My life with 505 wagons started when I bought a dead 86 GL from a customer (I'm a professional mechanic). I got it for my wife when our son was 6 months old. She fell in love with it and I began to appreciate the good design and space utilization. Anyway, this project started with another car I purchased from a customer in 2000 that needed more work than he was willing to pay for (that's pretty much how I get all my cars. In my 40 years of driving I've purchased 2 cars in running condition). It was a 89 Turbo Wagon auto with about 95K miles in beautiful shape. I put it back on the road and about 4 years later it needed a head. I took one off a parts car and had the machine work done. The cam had bad lobe wear so I sent the best one I could find to Webb Cams (try googling that) to be reground and hardened. Five years later it needed another head. I never liked the N9TEA engine, it's loud and rough, so I didn't want to put anymore work into it. I parked it and bought another car from a customer, a 89 Volvo 760 2.3t Wagon. Side by side they are almost the same size, but that's where the similarity ends. The Volvo wallows down the road and has no interior space. I was missing the Pug.

We had a '87 STX parts car at the shop and I gave into temptation and put the engine and transmission into it. It sounds easier than it is. I did as much online research as I could and found that a V6 swap into a 4 cylinder sedan is popular in Africa. They usually use the 4 cylinder crossmember so the rear flange of the transmission is in the same location. This puts the engine several inches back which means you have to take out some of the firewall and modify the exhaust to clear the steering. I wanted to use the V6 crossmember and have the engine where it belongs. That entails a custom length torque tube and driveshaft. I spent hours measuring to figure out the exact length so the rear wheels would be in the correct location. I took a tube and shaft form a 5 speed to a machine shop and had them shortened. I used a horse collar transmission mount and made support brackets to strengthen the area (see the pictures). I knew the FI and ignition harnesses would have to be changed but hoped the body and instrument harnesses would just plug in. No. Most of the wiring forward of the front seats is different. I also cut the brackets (for the air filter, etc.) and battery tray from the STX and welded them in place. The suspension and brakes from the STX were too bad to use and since the parts are made out of unobtainium I used the original ones from the Turbo. The fore-aft location of the control arm mounting is 9mm different between the two crossmembers so I had to modify the control arms as well. The parts car didn't have a radiator and I couldn't find a new one or even a good used one, so I put in an aluminum Ford radiator from Summit Racing and made brackets, etc. to make it work. It is 1 inch thicker so I cut that much off of the shroud. The hoses were more fun. Yes, that is a custom model designation made from SW8 and STX emblems.

So, whats the bottom line? It's smooth, quiet, peppy, fun to drive. Worth it? Debatable. If I knew upfront how much it would take, I would not have even started. It was a "spare time" project and took 2 1/2 years. I had a lift to use and many fabrication tools plus 35 years experience. Doing a project like this in a home garage would be even harder. If anyone else out there is thinking about it, therapy is cheaper.

I'm curious, how many verifiable V6 wagons are there in the world? The only other one I know of is the in New Zealand. From the pictures it looks like they used the 4 cylinder crossmember. Does anyone know of another? I would be happy to answer any questions. Tim

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welcome tim, and thank you for posting the details of this amazing swap!

ukit here in southern california (former peugeot US employee back in the day, currently owns a repair shop in el monte) has told me that he did this swap once ("never again!" he says :) ). i will be seeing him soon, i will ask him what ever became of that car.

andré

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Holy cow Tim! Welcome to the forum, and kudos on the spectacular first post...

I can fully appreciate the work done, and because I didn't actually do the work - I think it was well worth your effort. :) This kind of work really had to be a labour of love, and really the only justification that makes any sense is that it was done because you could. Not many could do a swap like this, and the detail level that you obviously had shows why it took as long as it did, and why it was frustrating.

I don't really have any questions, except for wanting to ogle more pics!

I hope my 86' TD wagon turns out as nice as yours, and while it is well enough as a 4sp auto - I've got a 5sp sedan donor car that I am sorely tempted to 5sp swap the wagon along with the other mods I have planned.

Rabin

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OK - just saw your list of cars in your signature and I have to ask about the 5sp manual vs the 4sp auto in your wagons...

My goal for my wagon is for absolute reliability, which is why I'm tempted to swap the 5sp manual into it. I also much prefer manual as well, and figure an extra ratio could be nice to have if I ever wanted to do some towing.

Rabin

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Hey Tim!

I love this project--I think the V6 is a natural for the 505, especially the wagon. Good job!

I see you're in Raleigh too. Which shop do you work at, the one on Durant Rd or another? I'd love to see this bad boy some time. Sadly I'm Peugeot-less at the moment but in time I hope to change that.

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I can't stop looking at the pictures - car looks gorgeous. The fact it's an 89' with a rare colour makes this a very desirable combo. If I wasn't so deep into my TD I'd be PM'ing pestering notes to Tim asking for dibs if he ever decides to sell!

The one comfort I have with my TD over the V6 is the 40+ MPG (IMP) capability...

Rabin

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OK - just saw your list of cars in your signature and I have to ask about the 5sp manual vs the 4sp auto in your wagons...

My goal for my wagon is for absolute reliability, which is why I'm tempted to swap the 5sp manual into it. I also much prefer manual as well, and figure an extra ratio could be nice to have if I ever wanted to do some towing.

Rabin

When you get old and shiftless like me sometimes an auto is nice. A couple of days ago we had a rare snowstorm that plugged up Raleigh like a cheap toilet. It took me 3.5 hours to get home, normally a 20 minute trip. I was wishing I didn't have that clutch pedal. As to reliability, if you have a BA10/5 to slip in there it could be better than the auto. Diesels produce much higher negative torque than gas engines which is hard on transmissions. The problem with the 4HP22's are twofold. First, they tend to burn up the front clutch if reved in park. ZF came out with a service bulletin which involved checking the seal surfaces on the front drum and replacing the steel seal rings with teflon. The old state inspection proceedure in NC involved running the engine at 2,000 rpm for 1 minute to warm up the cat before checking the exhaust gases. The car would drive in, but not out. Many inspection stations bought new transmissions. The second problem is the valving in the Peugeot 4 cylinder versions; they bang into 2nd gear. Many other manufacturers (Rover, BMW, Jag) used this same trans and none of them shifted as harsh. To get a smooth 1 -2 shift you have to lift the throttle as it shifts. The V6 autos, on the other hand, are smooth.

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Hey Tim!

I love this project--I think the V6 is a natural for the 505, especially the wagon. Good job!

I see you're in Raleigh too. Which shop do you work at, the one on Durant Rd or another? I'd love to see this bad boy some time. Sadly I'm Peugeot-less at the moment but in time I hope to change that.

PM me

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I can't stop looking at the pictures - car looks gorgeous. The fact it's an 89' with a rare colour makes this a very desirable combo. If I wasn't so deep into my TD I'd be PM'ing pestering notes to Tim asking for dibs if he ever decides to sell!

The one comfort I have with my TD over the V6 is the 40+ MPG (IMP) capability...

Rabin

I have some more pictures I'll post in the gallery when I get a chance. They're in RAW format so I have to process and shrink them first. If anyone looked closely at the side molding you can see that the "chrome strip" looks horrible. Has anyone found something in the aftermarket to replace it? Rabin, to get this car you would have to pry the keys from my wife's cold dead fingers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I put a set of rubber side strips on the selling section. They don't have the chrome-plastic bs. I am not giving them away, just in case I'd ever want them. I am noticing the rarity of these cars on ebay the last couple of years.

I had a nice complement the other day when I took it in for an alignment. The young man working there had never seen one, and he said "It looks like a car that someone in the mob would be driving".

Bill

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  • 6 years later...

I am still trying to locate some technical information from the V6 swap for boostin'euro89 who is thinking about doing one. As I find it I will post it here so it will be easier for others to find. This is all I have so far. They are notes I made comparing electrical connectors between the 87 STX and the 89 Turbo Wagon. The STX had the starter relay modification so the wire numbers for the yellow connector (by the other engine harness connectors) reflects that. Connectors marked "in bag" are in the plastic pouch if I remember right that is above the fuse box The I/C connectors are the ones that plug into the cluster. If you can't make sense of them don't feel bad, I can't either after all these years. The P and H numbers are connector numbers. When I did this project I had access to Alldata which has the factory wiring diagrams and a list of connector locations. You can buy access to it at alldatadiy.com for cheap, well worth it if your trying a project like this.

In bag 2.pdf In bag 1 - start - low coolant mod.pdf Above evap.pdf Instrument Cluster 2.pdf Instrument Cluster 1.pdf

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