SINGv240's 1981 245 Turbo Build

SINGV240T · 1 Jan

Hi all, So i have always loved 240s! And in April 2024 I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy one after being a massive JDM Fan, having owned a lot of different cars (04 Subaru WRX, 1992 Mazda MX-6 Turbo, 97 Mazda MX-6, 1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GTST) Just to name a few…

In April i purchased this car, the 1981 245 Wagon! 4sp Manual WITHOUT overdrive! for i believe it was 3750.

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I Started by Repainting the front lip to tidy up the front end

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OLD Vs NEW LIP

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I then went on to purchase some Superlite replica wheels for a BARGAIN price $600! I did have to have them redrilled to a multi-fit to fit the 5x108 for a volvo.

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This is how they fit before lowering springs

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This was it after lowering springs

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Following the purchase of wheels, I really wanted to start focusing on tidying up the interior of the car as the 44 year old beige interior was starting to show its age. Just to my luck i opened facebook marketplace and found this 1988 240 wagon up for wrecking an hour after it was posted! It was perfect as it had the blue interior i always dreamed of for my white wagon. The wreckers wanted 600 for the interior alone which i was a bit taken back by, I asked if the car ran and drove they handed me the keys and told me i can test drive it, it ran incredibly well considering it has 580,000kms. I asked how much for the complete car and they started at 2000 but i managed to get them to 1400. So i went home, got a friend to drive me to it and i took it home for 1400 on September 7th 2024!

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I Took it home and spent some time cleaning it up and loving driving it and this is how it looked after a long bath

Image description This is the first time i had both cars parked next to one another

Following this nothing major happened between the 2 cars for a while besides minor maintainance items and life getting in the way and buying my first home.

Image description Following the purchase of my home and getting setlled in i decided to begin ripping apart the silver wagon for parts to make my white one better, unfortunate how i am bringing a good car off the road. But it was always the intention, and not only will it make my car better, but will also help to revive a lot of other 240s across australia. it has been listed on both facebook and in this forum for people to take parts if they wish. This is unfortunately how the silver wagon looked inside after removing the interior.

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The Blue interior looked amazing inside the white car (Mind the leftover tools etc scattered on the floor)

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Parts have begun being sold to others off the silver wagon, One fella came to get the front left quater and lights he is using to revive his Grandpas car he has owned since new!

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Unfortunately the silver 88 wagon will be going to scrap by the 5th of january. to make space for something else new…

Now this is where the fun? begins…

31st of december 2024 I got a 940 Turbo for 2500! Running and driving… with issues ofcourse but it runs, which is the main part. Unfortunately however, this car will be meeting the same fate as the silver 88 240. I purchased this car to pull out the motor and transmission and all other supporting electircal bits etc to be used as a new heart for my white 81 245. So the 940 is also currently being offered up for parts, to again help with reviving more peoples cars and will eventually meet the scrapyard unless someone wishes to purchase the shell.

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So now. i am still less than 8,000 into having 3 RWD Volvos and on the path to my dream Blue on White, manual, TURBO Volvo 240 wagon.

My long term plans are:

Remove and refresh the turbo motor with H Beam rods.
T5 swap my white wagon
Wasted spark conversion (So i dont have to block mount distributor)
Megasquirt ECU or something similar along the lines

This will all likely take some time. and become a slow project as having a mortgage makes things more difficult lol.

I will make sure to post future updates into this thread if anyone would like to follow the build!

RRoinik · 2 Jan

Unless you're going to poke heaps of boost in, the stock rods will be ok up to more than 300hp. Put your hard earned into other bits.

jamesinc · 2 Jan

SINGV240T Blue on White, manual, TURBO Volvo 240 wagon

JJohnno_ · 2 Jan

Looking good. I bought my first 240 wagon around the same time & have been appreciating the build quality on these old things.

Hopefully will get some bits off the silver one soon.

Please keep us updated with your build.

SINGV240T · 14 Jan

So a bit has happened in the last 2 weeks.

I purchased a 92' 240 wagon to pull the boot lid and LH2.4 Wiring harnesses,

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Picture of new bootlid on the wagon! (still needs paint

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Finally got to pulling the motor from the 940 today too

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Got an update from KLRacing that the New forged rods, bearings, etc etc are on their way! Motor will be stripped. Fully cleaned/repainted. Will be a long process to get this all into the 240 as i need to transfer the entire wiring loom from the 92' LH2.4 to the 81 KJet car.

jamesinc · 14 Jan

@SINGV240T ~~is the motor getting bored for the new pistons or are you just going to send it?~~

Sorry realised you're doing the rods not the pistons - still! Measure the clearances while you have it apart! If you don't have micrometers etc, Plastigauge works fine.

SINGV240T · 14 Jan

jamesinc Yep will be making sure to check all clearances prior to reassembly.

Also have a lot of conflicting information online about the KJET to LH2.4 Conversion… Is it possible to still have the car working/running without transferring the entire LH2.4 wiring harness over? I have a LH2.4 Engine harness from a 92' 240 but have been told i require the entire under the dash harness also? Is this something you can shed some light on? Also would it be possible to call and have a chat about it over the phone for easier discussion?

jamesinc · 14 Jan

SINGV240T yeah 100% I can clear this up for you. If you look at your main LH-2.4 harness, you will see two plugs on the cabin side, you have the distinctive-looking EZK plug (which I think is black), and then you have another large connector.

The "under dash" loom that everyone is talking about is the thing that plugs into this other connector. It's not the whole under dash loom by any means, it's basically just an extension harness that gets the wiring from the passenger side firewall to the driver's footwell. The rest of the car's under-dash wiring is on separate harnesses entirely.

Essentially, it just runs from that connector, across the dash, down to the panel to the right of the driver's feet. Behind that trim you will find the ECU. It has one or two other wires that go to the instrument cluster (for the speed input - and note that the instrument cluster itself processes the raw speed signal from the diff into a digital signal for the ECU).

But given you have the donor car, just go pull the kick panel to the right of the driver's feet off, disconnect the ECU, and begin pulling that harness out. You'll need to take the cluster out to access the connector behind so you can remove the speed signal and check engine light wires. FWIW you can pull everything without chopping a single wire, you will just need a precision flathead screwdriver to pop the relevant terminals out of the connector housings behind the cluster.

I have a complete 240 LH-2.4 harness down in the workshop, if you need visual references let me know and I will lay it out on the ground and take some photos for you.

SINGV240T · 15 Jan

jamesinc If you could please post that picture it would be a massive help!

Will go and get to pulling the ECU harness today