Salman's Volvo 240 Wagon

Salman

Hi,I am new to this forum. I just thought I would introduce myself. Yesterday I bought myself a white 1990 Volvo 240 GL Silver Anniversary Wagon. The car has around 280,000 kilometres on it. Here is what it looks like

I bought the car from Volvrek in Mitcham along with some parts to begin restoring it.

Here is what the car looked like in their Ebay ad

The car is very rough on the inside with dirty and broken front seats and holed and dirty carpet. Some trim bits are missing, The outside sheetmetal is very decent. It has no rust and the body is straight with only the smallest of chips and rashes. However the trim is rough, the bumper is damaged and the lamps need replacing

The tyres are in good shape as is the engine. All the glass is in good shape without scratches. The timing belt was recently done and the fuel pump is new. The air conditioning runs ice cold. The car had a timing belt done 15K ago. Not sure what else was done then. The auto transmission fluid smells good.

Before picking the car up I had the engine and transmission mount and the rear torque tube bushes replaced.

The car handles surprisingly well. Better than I was expecting. It appears that someone may have added some handlng bits to the car. For one its got strut braces. Not sure what else it has. I am going to measure the sway bar diameter to see what they are.

Anyway the engine pulls very strongly and does not overheat. Gears change well. Its got an AW70 or AW71 transmission.

Anyway I am slowly going to restore it to bring it back to its former glory. Then in January it will get club plates and live a life of leisure.

A_Volvo_Driver

Welcome to the forum Salman. My old 240 wagon had so much body roll that I felt like I was going to fall out of the window :)

Salman

Hi Scott. Thanks. Was that body roll normal. I do recall a previous Volvo a 1983 sedan having quite a bit of roll. Also the 940GLE that I traded my wagon for had significantly more roll as well. I wonder if the previous owner put some suspension bits on my car. I drove between Warrandyte and Kangaroo Ground. That road is very windy and the car felt surprisingly capable. My terms of reference are a 2014 XR6 manual and a 2013 FocusTitanium.

Tzantushka

Welcome!

Wagons rule...

egads (she/her)

Correct, wagonz fo lyfe yo! :-P

Vee_Que

Welcome. The roll usually is worn out shocks and sagged springs. New shocks of any brand make a huge difference. The strut bars to the firewall are stock for Australian cars. There are real performance suspension parts out there and good springs etc that you can add to make it handle real well .

Salman

The cars shocks seem good. How do I check the ball joints

Salman

. also what roll bars are good

Vee_Que

Sway bar options for rear are limited to IPD ones IIRC, Ash at DVS sell tuned for Australia 240 springs for front and rear to improve handling, front sway bar you can fit an EL Falcon front sway bar apparantly which is thicker than most IPD bars and cheaper too if you're happy to pull it out yourself at centre rd wreckers.

Salman

Vee Que Does this combination work well. I mean does it keep the handling characteristics. I would hate for the car to start under or over steering like mad :)

240Joe

I have a set of DVS springs and good Bilstein shocks in my silver 240. I tried the lowering springs (and currently have them in the 240 wagon) and the DVS springs a big improvement. Once you get the DVS ones you won't want to go back!

I also have a 25mm front sway and used to have a 25mm rear (I now have a 21mm on for dirt driving & the 25mm is in the wagon). They also make a huge difference, definitely outweighing any under/over steer you might notice if you can find any. You feel like you can push the car through most corners safely.

You are welcome to have a ride in my 240 if you're keen.

A_Volvo_Driver

Just don't have Joe install your springs/shocks and you'll be fine :)

I have the uprated GLE swaybars in my 240 with the DVS front/King Springs rear springs. Coupled with a decent set of tyres, my car is a lot more fun on the twisty bits.

240Joe

Haha you can't beat my pro spring instal skills!

Salman

Well today I spent a couple of hours of quality time changing the coolant and the lower radiator hose with my son. He is studying Mechanical Engineering and I thought it would be nice for him to get some hands on experience plus its good father son bonding. It was one of the main reasons of buying the car. Anyway does anyone know how tight the brass drain plug on the block needs to be. I didnt want to tighten too much so I turned about 90 degrees with the spanner after I could not turn it by hand.

Salman

Ok here is another update. Just took the bumper and headlights off to replace the bumper and replace the reflectors.

irishbastard

Hi @salman , if ur looking to get it on club plates, I'd get it on them as soon as u can, club plates will soon require a roadworthy, so it'd be cheaper to stick it on now before they bring the roadworthy changes into effect,
Regards,
Darcy

Salman

Darcy unfortunately it only becomes 25 years old in Jan 2015 so I can't do it before then.

irishbastard

Yep, no worries, if u need any help restoring ur 240 let me know, I'm more experienced with 740s as most people know, but I've dismantled quite a few 240s so I do have experience with them if u need a hand

Salman

Thanks for the offer. Right now I am looking for parts and am trying to decide what to do with my interior. It smells and looks rank. I was going to put in a new carpet and worker replace or wash and fix the seats.

irishbastard

I dismantled a volvo 240 wagon a few months ago at voldat, u may find what ur looking for there, they've got plenty of 240 stuff, seats, interior bits, and exterior bits

If the smell is horrible in ur 240, I'd be taking the seats out, and removing the carpet, which is pretty easy, wash the carpet and clean the door cards, dash and other interior bits and then plastic polish if u want a shine, then maybe get some better seats if urs are torn or smell?
Ur 240 has nice paintwork and I'd like to see it at a volvo club event in the near future ;)
Regards,
Darcy