Introduction
I know its all about the car, but I'll introduce myself as well just in case people don't know. I'm Matt, 21, Volvo 440 owner, computer programmer by trade. Ok onto the car history...
My first car was a hand-me down from my parents, a Mazda 323, fuel injected 1.6 (if I remember correctly). Anyways it didnt last long with me being a new driver and I bumped it, only slightly, but with it being japanese and the age of the vehicle it distorted the bodywork (it was like monkeymetal).
So I was in search of a new car, and my dad rode past a Volvo garage every morning and every night and his eye caught this Volvo 440. I thought, its an old mans car (which they tend to be), but went and took it for a test drive and it handled well. 1.8 litre single point injection (B18U - not sure what Renault call this engine). As I was 17 at the time, I thought this was quite a large engine and it had 89 bhp, more than enough.
I drove it for about 6 months, a bit too fast, like most young guys do and started to feel the need to modify it. I've always had a interest in car mechanics and used to help my dad a lot with the family car, so I thought it was a great way of getting the experience from him.
What I realised is because it was a Volvo 440, tuning parts and aftermarket parts are very rare, unlike for Novas, Renaults etc..
Anyways first thing I bought was a set of Bilsteine shocks + 40mm lowering springs (Pi), fitted these and boy did it make the Volvo stick to the road. Then got alloys, new interior, all the boring stuff. I invested in a Superchip for the B18U as I was interested in how much performance a remap could give. I ended up with just short of 100bhp at the fly. The engine ran brilliantly, but I wanted more. So I read up that the engine block was part of the same family as the 19 and that Renault produced a 16v head that Volvo never took on. So I sourced one on eBay (in Devon) and drove from Blackpool to Devon, collected the head, and then drove all the way back up to Blackpool. Why I didn't go to a local scrap yard? Well I love to drive!
Me and my dad got ready to remove the head on the B18U, I was so excited, got the headgasket kit ready etc.. we started stripping bits off ready, and then he took a long hard look at the shape of the 16v head and the one on the car. Also at the head gasket cut outs, and he informed me (much to my disappointment) that without sealing the oilways the head wouldnt work on the block. So I said I'd find a bottom end to suit. I eventually did find one, in London, but I met the guy at Watford Gap services on the M1. I'd removed the rear seats in the Volvo and sat it where the rear seat would be. The Volvo shot off as if there wasnt a heavy engine in the back. I started to smell something, we got it home and I looked in the back and the guy who I'd bought the engine off hadn't drained the engine oil! So I got black stinky used engine oil all under the carpets, in the boot etc.. I was not a happy guy.
Anyways after cleaning up the mess, we decided to build up the block with the head, cleaning everything up, we took our time in the garage as there was no real rush, and I was being taught various bits and bats.
Then the time came and we took the old engine out of the Volvo and eventually put the F7P engine in. Alas it didn't fit quite right, on the Volvo the brake master cylinder is in the rear left hand corner, and due to the width and depth it hit the back of the engine. The plenum chamber is sat with about 2mm gap from the front of the car so we could not go any further forward with the engine.
So eventually Dad made some nylon inserts to go inside the master cylinder with two stainless hoses which travelled up through the bulkhead under the windscreen where we mounted the master cylinder expansion bottle. This foul was gone, and we could alter the engine mounts to move the engine more central in the bay.
I set out to work wiring the car, originally wanting to use Megasquirt to do the fuel and the Renault 19 ECU to do the ignition. After a few weeks of wiring loom modification (I was also learning the Megasquirt side of things and how fuel injection ECUS work) I got the car running, it was pig rich. Unfortunately it was my only car and I'd recently got married so all the time it was off the road, I was having to beg for lifts, walk/bike to work etc.. Not ideal! So the pressure was on to get the engine running. MOT was due to expire but I drove it about rich for a short time, just to stop me having to walk. MOT time came, I took it in, and it failed the emissions in a bad way (I'm not surprised, but it was worth a shot).
I needed a few electronic bits for the Volvo at this stage (wingmirrors etc..) and I saw a cheap (£50) top spec 1996 Volvo 440 on eBay, in Leeds which was a B20F (2 litre) with a cambelt failure. Well I bought it and got it towed back to Blackpool, sourced a B20F engine and me and Dad dropped that in and got it running for 3-4 months. During this time I'd been poached over to my works competitors, over in the north-east, so the B20F Volvo moved me across.
The B20F 2 litre engine
The £50 1996 Volvo 440 back up and running with its 2 litre engine
The original plan was to strip the B20F down and use the bits for the F7P Volvo, but after we looked underneath and the fact that the B20F had ABS, rear anti-roll ball and was less corroded, I made the hard decision to scrap the F7P volvo which I'd had for 3 years and to move the F7P engine out of it, remove the recently fitted B20F and replace it with the F7P.
The 1994 original Volvo 440 ready to be worked on for the last time 
To be continued!
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