Volvo C304 TGB13 6x6 "BreadBox" Poptop Van Thing

[DzlToy]

The gray and wood trim certainly go well together.

What size are the new tires?

 

[Bronzit]

The gray and wood trim certainly go well together.

What size are the new tires?

Thanks! I thought so too.

XMLs measure 38.5x13" ish. More like 37s with my rim setup.
And It's a bit over-tired but this helps a ton with top speed. The only hinderance is a bit of loss of turning radius and needing to downshift on most hills. I'm usually 45 or so going up steep grades.
But it goes 60-65 if needed. It likes 55 a bit more.

 

[Outback]

Any updates?

 

[RichardM539]

Thanks! I thought so too.

XMLs measure 38.5x13" ish. More like 37s with my rim setup.
And It's a bit over-tired but this helps a ton with top speed. The only hinderance is a bit of loss of turning radius and needing to downshift on most hills. I'm usually 45 or so going up steep grades.
But it goes 60-65 if needed. It likes 55 a bit more.

Hi! I'm curious about on road performance of the C304. Could you please comment, since you have been driving it for some time now? Is it suitable for longer travels? ... I know it's a beast offroad, no doubts ;-)

Thanks!

 

[Bronzit]

Okay... I suck at updating build threads. I suck at documenting the process. So here's a little sneak at what has happened.


So, I widened my wheels and beadlocked them.
Big job, but I could ditch the heavy stiff XMLs and I move to some Maxxis Creepy Crawlers. 38.5s.







Big fan and they've been amazing.




I also scooped up some rad old Recaro Cs. I've owned like three sets of these and never imagined them in my truck. But I absolutely love sitting in these. It's a treat.



We bought a canoe. Haha.








Then I just drove it a lot. It's such a fun rig.

Unfortunately, the poor old B30 engine that was in it was on its last leg. It basically just ate its valvetrain. I knew it has been coming for awhile, adjusting valves like every 100 mile stint.
So I began collecting parts for the swap.

 

[DzlToy]

Very cool on the Creepy's. :ylsmoke:

 

[Bronzit]

Okay, so engine is basically dead by mid summer. I had began collecting parts for the swap.
I did a terrible job at documenting it, but I would work all day then try and put a couple hours in at night.


Engine came out quick.


It was a good one.



New engine is an i5 20v OM605.
I did a mild build on it. Aiming for 250-300hp ish. Fully mechanical. Pretty neat sounding.

Trans is a C306 box. 5 speed. But still 1:1 5th. I had plans of swapping it to a .77 overdrive... I still might.



I did dumb little stuff while I was in there. A snorkel with the old factory airbox.




And with a fair bit of fiddling, it was in the truck. Fits really nice.

 

[ExpoMike]

Just so much awesomeness in these two updates!!!! Looks great!!!!

 

[Bronzit]

Would you be kind enough to share how you converted the electronic pump to mechanical?

I had a 7.5mm pump built by Dieselmeken for it. It’s a om602 pump modified with their elements. ?

 

[revelingnomad]

And here's some better pics of it.

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This was a bit of my end goal... I had a presentation for my thesis review two weeks ago. And the Volvo was a bit of a jump off point for this wild narrative about architecture saving the city after a disaster. Here's some other photos from the presentation. Which was neat to get over with.
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Brandon Haley took these review images. I dunno if he's on here... @bhaleyimage haha.





And that's about current. I took it to a Volvo show here. Which was comical.
I've ordered some brake goodies, so I can get those sorted out. And I definitely have some things to address, but I'm stoked to get it out and about.

That is one beautiful rig...

 

[ripper1600]

This is a sweet rig. Glad to see you are keeping that thing running.

 

[moose545]

Awesome rig, quite a lot behind the scenes to get and keep it running... I'd love to own one some day. I need to do a lot more reading!

 

[Bronzit]

So, I left off with the engine in.

It fit super well. Luckily with it fully mechanical, it was hooking up a couple fuel lines and like 3 wires and it was running.
I still did tons to finish up the swap, little details. And I'm still not done. haha.

I also built some little sliders and fixed a bit of rust I had been putting off.
And repainted it. Just a quick job.








BHaley with the photos. He shoots for Porsche.