Supra Tranny in a Volvo???

[stevehayes01]

Ok I ran across this link to directions on how to swap a Supra tranny into a Volvo. This seemed like an odd concept to me but I thought I would see if anyone here has ever done this or not? If so does it really net you much in the way of performance or any other gains? Oh well I thought it was interesting enough to post it up.

http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~amh110/supra_in_volvo.htm


http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/~amh110/all_gifs/Turbo%20page%20gifs/Supra%20gifs/supra_m46.gif
Rear: Volvo 240 steel cased M46 with Laycock 'J' Overdrive
Front: Toyota Supra W55 alloy cased 5 speed with Dellow bellhousing


SUPRA :Pros - Supra gearboxes are of strong design; different models (when available) give a choice in gear ratios, near perfect gear stick position with a shorter throw length, lighter weight, kit includes speedo cable,
Cons - Lot of effort to modify the crossmember that supports g/box and transmission mount.

[Tom (aka Godzilla)]

I didn't read the whole thing in detail, but it looks like the Supra tranny is lighter, which is good. The improved shifting action can never hurt.

Hot rodders have been hacking up crossmembers for years, no biggy if you've got the tools.

[stevehayes01]

I know I have driven heavily modded older Supra's and they shift really well so I can olny see that it would be an imporvment over stock. But I have always heard good things about the Volvo tranny as well.

[PWRPUFF]

The Volvo manual tranny is good ... for something out of the 70's. Kept stock, the older 4sp+elec OD M46 design holds up better than the later 5-speed M47, though both are still sloppy shifters.

Modified (when boost is measured in bars :D) ... well, there are a lot of M46's out there with shredded internals. 3rd is usually the first gear to go, but you name a part in there, and someone has broken it at some point or another. Some have given way at boost levels only about double that of stock, though ... the pitfall of turning the wick up on a car with 300k+ miles on it, I guess.

Nowadays, the tranny to swap is the Ford (Borg-Warner/Tremec) T5. More details at http://www.v-performance.com/pr_t5swap.html

-- Kane

[stevehayes01]

Atleast you have the benefit of having good tranny swaps available to you. The early SAAB C900 transmisions are a very weak design and blow up easily if you get above around 330HP MAX. The trannny goes below the motor ad leaves very little room for anything and has a very weak casting. The 9000 had a much better designed tranny and can handle much more power on stock gears due to its design. I still want to swap a SAAB motor into a Volvo shell with a Volvo tranny.