91 Volvo 240

[The ManLaw]

So, pending getting a hold of the guy, looks like i'll be picking up a 91 volvo 240. Yes it is not a mazda and it'll be over a year since I have owned a mazda, but my first 2 cars and my first 2 loves were the volvo 240's. I'll be looking to turbo it pretty quickly after purchase and have a few suspension mods done. I'll probably turn this thread into a build thread when I do.

So, even after a year of not owning a mazda, I am still in love with 247. By far the best community i've been a part of and i have no thoughts of not checking it daily and leaving entirely. Love this damn place.

 

[MSP1714]

Ill for sure follow man

 

[The ManLaw]

sounds good. with a bit of reading and research, looks like if i get a volvo with the 2.3L engine, i could double the HP for less than a grand... 200ish hp reliable on a rwd platform? i do want. best part, if i do get the car, it'll cost a whopping $1 more a month on my insurance

 

[MSP1714]

hell yeah! man! Im going to be dropping my insurance price. 03.5 MSP to a 94 sentra with 200k miles. so it should be a big difference in price id say.
put up some pics of it when you make a purchase.

 

[The ManLaw]

I'm planning on taking plenty of pictures. there's another 91 in VA that I might check out if this one doesnt go through. I hope it does cause it had the clutch replaced a few months ago...i dont do clutches lol.

 

[The ManLaw]

Well I made the purchase yesterday. came with about $500 worth of parts to do a turbo swap in. to do it, i'm missing one injector and the hot pipe. paid $1500 for it lol. there's no rust to speak of except for 2 spots on the hood and roof. engine and trans are running strong as a beast. first up today is beginning to figure out what all suspension work will have to be completed and begin doing it.

So, am I slammed material now? haha

IMG_20120227_175951 by sgardkam, on Flickr

 

[MSP1714]

she looks good man.

 

[The ManLaw]

They are cut springs. going to replace with different springs that will raise it up slightly than it is now. I hate them because i hate cut springs. granted i like the way it looks, i just know what it does in the long run...it ruins everything. well today started off with a flushing oil change, 3qts 10w-40 and 1 bottle of seafoam. drove for about 15 miles and drained the oil...came out black. it needed it bad apparently. replaced oil with 15w40 heavy duty. Oh, it was leaking like mad with the 10w-40 with seafoam. once i put in the 15w40 it stopped leaking and ran smoother than ever.

bought about $800 in suspension parts:

IMG_20120228_165120 by sgardkam, on Flickr
removed front grill and lights, they all need to be replaced:

IMG_20120228_135720 by sgardkam, on Flickr
took out the ghetto fabulous brackets holding the wrong radiator on:

IMG_20120228_135733 by sgardkam, on Flickr
took off the door panel because it wont lock...

IMG_20120228_135748 by sgardkam, on Flickr

and finally, the turbo goodies that came with. also came with a spare head and I found a T cam in great shape inside

IMG_20120228_164948 by sgardkam, on Flickr

 

[The ManLaw]

today I ordered new springs, front struts, and top mount caps for it. also headlights and assemblies, radiator shroud and fan, and radiator supports. when all of this gets here and gets installed with the parts pictured in the first pic, I should be able to finally pass inspection and get it on the road. Soon after that will be the turbo install and then new body parts and painted.

 

[The ManLaw]

Update time,

Yesterday, I tackled the tail lights as only 4 of 10 lights actually worked. Got it up to 8/10 working lights.

Today, went to a junk yard around here, turned out to be a gold mine. Got a new hood catch (mine was held on by one bolt), bunch of light sockets for the tail lights, new wiring connector for the tail light that isnt working properly, rear plate light (non existent on my car), some random clips, and lastly, found a damn near perfect front valence with all brackets intact. look at the photo up top, it's currently hanging down and cracked.

Tomorrow i'll be going back to the junk yard with the RIGHT tools this time, going to get a new door lock mechanism, and possibly a trunk... then starts the complete suspension/steering component rebuild. that'll be fun and hopefully i remember to bring my camera cause cell pics only do so much.

 

[AzteCypher]

Subbin..

 

[The ManLaw]

Well today's hopefully the day that I get everything finished on the car to get it back to stage 0, aside from IPD sport springs and IPD sport exhaust. I'll be begging work on it hopefully around 10-11 this morning because I have to go to the cop shop up in Baltimore to get some things for work, I love new toys lol. Managed to get basically all of the bugs worked out with the lighting issue's that I was having the other day, just have to hope that my current ghetto-fied headlights will stay in place long enough to pass inspection haha. I need to get to a junk yard to pull the final pieces needed to properly secure the headlights soon. Just dont have the time in the next few days before I have to go back to work for another 7 days.

If I remember, I'll take some pictures of how it sits with the IPD springs, granted the car will still be full of all the parts so i'm sure it'll sag in the rear a touch.

Up for today, replacing front struts, springs all around, put on the front/rear rotors, pads and e-brake shoes/hardware, exhaust, new radiator, fan blade and shroud. Should keep me busy all day long!

 

[The ManLaw]

and just realized I never updated this from the last time I worked on it before the lighting issues. Replaced ball joints, tie rod ends, front wheel bearings, front end links, 13 out of 20 studs, rear shocks, spark plugs, fixed the door lock, put in new headlights (well ghetto installed), and that about sums it up. all of that was a days worth of work for me and a buddy lol. the day after, I took apart the front and rear rotors and calipers to replace with all new parts, aside from the calipers, going to just replace the hardware today since there seems to be no issues with the caliper pistons. It'll be a busy day for me today but thankfully, it is all fairly easy for me to do by myself, especially since I have everything basically taken apart with the brakes, makes the reinstall go a LOT smoother

 

[AzteCypher]

Needs to see some pics when you get time.

 

[The ManLaw]

As for today, ran into a few issues that I was thankfully able to resolve moderately easily lol. started by replacing the ebrakes and hardware, HUGE p-i-a. the passenger side didnt want to extract the cable properly until I finally forced it past a little rust and it got working properly. that literally took about 2 hours just for the ebrakes. then I went about doing the rear springs, the bottom seat on the passenger side had to be cut off at the bolt because of rust again. thankfully I was able to maguiver that thing with a new bolt and some lock washers. brakes went on after that and everything works great in the rear!

Then I went about tackling the front struts...mind you without the proper tools either. Had to air-chisel the strut bolt thingy in the middle, whatever it is called, to get it loose. then I had to grind off the top seats because the idiot before me welded them to the springs. once that was said and done, with some other issues and a long trip to sears to replace a bunch of tools i'd broken thus far, the new struts and springs went in!

Didn't have time today to do the exhaust, fan, shroud, or radiator. But I'll be going at that on Sunday unless plans come up first. holy crapppppppp my back is SORE. Oh, and she needs to be aligned badly haha. I moved the tie rod ends a bit on accident and couldnt line them back up. and it's probably 3/4 of an inch higher since the previous springs were cut.

Long story but i'm sticking to it. I was able to drive it out of the garage tonight without any issues at all. St. Patty's day tomorrow so green beer all around!

 

[The ManLaw]

Oh and I'll try to actually remember my camera on sunday when I go to work on it again. Too busy today to even stop to take a break. Havent eaten since 10:30 this morning lol