• RWD

  • Nancy Pants - 1983 245

Considering the amount of help I've gotten from Oz Volvo in the short time that I've had my 245 I figured it was only right to share my (low budget) build with all of you.

About a month ago I purchased my first Volvo. I'd been looking for a manual 360 or 240 for a looong time and finally one popped up in my price range with an M46 manual.

After inspecting the car and speaking with the previous owner, I fell in love. It'd been in their family forever and used to taxi around the (now adult) kids, the previous owner had also spent a decent amount of time adding little improvements all over the car. It was affectionately known as 'Nancy'.

It'd been sitting for 5 years, had over 400xxx kms and it had all the usual 240 problems but the motor started first try and ran relatively well, the engine loom had been (at least mostly) replaced but the whole car was a dirty mess.

I ride a bike as my daily commuter so Nancy will be used when the weather is poor, occasional camping and infrequent weekend cruises with my car club.

My plan is to restore the car to 100% working order to start with. Then I'll start looking at body, steering, braking and maybe (probably) some extra power.

The night I got her (after a quick wash to get most of the moss and grime off)




So far I've done:
- Radiator hoses
- Radiator flush
- Oil change
- Oil filter
- Spark leads
- Spark plugs
- Air filter
- Fuel filter
- Wipers
- Timing belt
- Fuses
- Powersteering fluid change
- Brake fluid change
- Cleaned fuel pickup sock
- Distributor rotor
- Distributor cap
- Clean out flame trap
- Re-black all the faded plastic
- Quick polish
- Engine bay clean and silicon seal (I keep finding more muck to clean up as I'm going)
- Wheel studs and nuts
- Mod airbox to remove hot air intake and open cold air intake

Still to do:
- Inner and outer rack ends
- Ball joints
- Finish AC delete
- Gearbox fluid
- See if I can get the overdrive working (relay is good, dash light comes on, doesn't engage)
- Jump interior light rheostat (I have no dash lights atm)
- Replace taillights (why are they so damn expensive?)
- Fix/replace leaning drivers seat
- Stop seatbelt warning light coming on around corners (it's like a ghetto G-meter)
- Battery (that isn't borrowed from one of my other cars)
- Tyres
- RWC
- Club permit

I'm basically trying to get all the boring stuff out of the way so I can get to the fun.
Parts I'm hunting for:
- 2 mint early type 240 indicator lenses (preferably all white rather than egg yolk)
- 1 240 flat bonnet (in good condition, colour doesn't matter)
- 1 un-cracked black/tan 240 dash pad
- 1 pair of B23/0 power steering lines
- 1 pair of late 245 tail lights
- 1 drivers seat to fit 240 in good condition (will consider anything stock or aftermarket)
Not bad, what other cars do you have?
Thanks guys. I've got an FC RX7, KE70 Corolla and a Honda CB400SF.
Did some more work today. This AC delete is turning into a mission, someone has shortened my power steering hoses so they don't reach to the original pump location. Sigh.
Such a beautiful colour, great find. I have a few questions!

Could you please detail how you modified the airbox? Im thinking of doing the same thing but I haven't seen anything like what you've done before.

What wheels does it have on it (if not volvo wheels, from what car, if you know)?

and, where did you get all the parts from?

Love this car already. Good luck
There's a flex pipe that runs to the headers from the air box, I removed it from the car and capped the airbox hole. Then I removed the trap door inside the air box.

They are Volvo wheels with original centre caps. I think they're from a 240 but unsure of which model.

Just got all my parts online. EBay has most servicing parts and manuals cheap, ipd for the delete kit and a few local shops and super cheap.

Thanks mate, making progress :)
After giving the mounts (that @Angus242164 kindly made up for me) a quick paint and getting some bushes/bolts I was ready to put the P/S pump back in the car.


The finished result is a pump that lines up properly with the new belt and A/C delete kit.



I now need to get new power steering lines because my ones have been shortened. Not sure if I should get new ones made or hit a wrecker/WTB forum. I've gotta make some calls.

Also did some other minor bits and pieces, starting to get close to the end of the Stage 0 list.

Sorry for the potato image quality, greasy hands and a phone in low light = not professional quality haha
The fluid return line is just a regular old hose, available by the metre from parts stores. The pressure line will need to be the correct part due to the tight routing at the bottom
Looks good, I'm glad the bracket does the job.

The low pressure PS line is easy, just get some trans cooler hose off the roll from your preferred auto parts supplier. I'm pretty sure it's 8mm ID, but best to confirm.

I should have a high pressure line in good condition here, I can check if you like.
Good to know the return line isn't anything special, I wasn't sure if they'd just hose clamped the return because they were lazy or if it was actually low pressure.

I may need to take you up on that offer @Angus242164 I'll let you know.

I also realised that they'd beaten my power steering pump to make room to fit it how they wanted. Pump seems to work fine (the dinting has just impacted the reservoir area I'm pretty sure) but I might be in the market for a replacement pump too.
If it's not leaking it should be fine, but I do have pumps here if needed.
Nice work, delt with Angus before for parts would recommend, try him for parts and a great service from him.
It appears to be a Saginaw pump, very easy and inexpensive to obtain. XF Falcon was one of the common uses.
12 days later
So I'd planned to visit the Berry open day and go get some power steering lines in the arvo on Saturday. But I saw this pop up on Friday night and decided that I needed to get the panels off it instead. I grabbed a trailer and was there at opening time, a couple of hours later I had:
- Bonnet, bent but saveable
- Hinges, one slightly bent but fixable
- Two gaurds, one lightly dinted
- Two commando bumpers with surprisingly okay rubber
- 3 commando bumper mounts, one was seriously stuck
- Filler panel and rubber filler stripping
- All chrome trim for front panels, good condition

Now all I need is a grill and I can go round headlight :)

Next on the list though is to finish what I was supposed to this weekend so I can take the car in for RWC.
Why not stick with plastic bumpers with the rounds? Looks a lot better imo. Also less weight.

Berry will have a hinge, bent ones are a pita to repair and not have a crooked opening bonnet forever.
I actually like the look of the commandos, especially when they're slimmed. My plastic front bar has holes drilled in it from spotlights previously fitted.

Haven't made a rock solid decision on the bars yet but I at least have the choice now.

Boils down to this https://tinyurl.com/gprn38n vs this https://tinyurl.com/z7k6ppo

I'd be happy with either. Weight isn't a huge concern, I'm not looking to go properly fast.

Are the flat bonnet hinges different to the early humped bonnet? I haven't compared closely yet but if I could use my original hinges that'd be ideal.
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