• RWD

  • Cal's '85 245_Iced VoVo

I'll be selling my wagon this year, tossing up whether to do it now or later. I'm in no rush as it's still my daily.
Initial asking price is $3000

It's a factory manual 1985 with around 320,000 kms. Rego till July.

Last year I jagged a trailer of parts, the whole car except shell, gearbox and motor. It was all off a early nineties GLE (apparently anniversary edition) that had only done 40 000kms, this is clear by the state of the parts.
In the past year I've swapped it all onto my wagon including but not limited to:
  • doors including interior trim ie; power windows, front and rear speakers etc
  • all interior including carpet, leather seats, smaller steering wheel etc
  • front end including: new ps rack, all bushing/joints, control arms, struts and towers
  • all springs and shocks, I cut the springs though, still have some originals if you want to put it back to standard height
Other work i've done is just getting it back to Stage 0:
  • K cam
  • New pads, callipers and vented discs
  • in-tank fuel pump
  • all gaskets + seals
  • plugs + leads
  • injectors
  • k&n filter
  • all new fluids
  • fuel filter
  • oil filter
  • new battery
  • new windscreen
My favourite bits are the wind deflectors, roof racks, white walls, fender mirror and that 85 grill mmmmm

It starts first go every time although it can take a couple seconds and some gas.
If i was keeping it I would eventually tackle the rear end and bushings but not urgent. Has a rust spot under one of the A pillars C pillars so i would patch these up and re-spray it.

Reason for selling is i'm moving to the states nek year

I'll chuck up some more photos tonight.



Cheers

Oh and i'm in Sydney
It's a pretty cool wagon, I've seen it in person a few times. Sad to hear you're leaving!
jamesinc;102912 wroteIt's a pretty cool wagon, I've seen it in person a few times. Sad to hear you're leaving!
Cheers mate, i'll be back. Next project will be a biofuel converted diesel v8 245
Biodiesel was great if you like destroying injector pumps... Glws.
Damn! them some sweet white walls!
a month later
Rust has been patched, now for the paint.
@jamesinc how do I move this thread to rwd? I feel I may be here to stay..
@Cal got any photos of the rust work?
jamesinc;106942 wrote@Cal got any photos of the rust work?
Look i'm not that proud of my work at this stage (i went a little ham with the bog) but i'll take some photos over the weekend and let the h8rs h8
3 months later
A photo from the side showing its new shoes. They are the 16" steelies off a ford focus, i'm adding 25mm spacers all round and will white wall the tyres once i get an alignment done. I'll be sure to photograph the whitewalling process.
You can see my cars paints 3 shades atm, i pulled off the rubber strips at the base of the doors and bogged up the holes and sprayed over it. Was thinking of doing the same with the chrome trim running down the sides.
Also patched up the rust on A pillar and under rear window.
I've been deliberating for months now on what colour to paint the car or if to paint it at all. I don't mind the ghetto look it's currently running and don't want a shiny car i'm going to be precious about.


2 months later
White walled and spaced



Nice. Have you considered painting the whole car matte black? Not enough people are painting their Volvos black.
jamesinc;119398 wroteNice. Have you considered painting the whole car matte black? Not enough people are painting their Volvos black.
I consider this every damn day. Reason i haven't done it is because my air con still doesn't work and those wind deflectors are fucked in summer but obvz can't remove them because steeze.
I'm opening James's budget A/C service sometime soon. Targeting $50 regas
I'll run the gauntlet as your first customer. If the heater works does that mean it just needs a regas and the compressor is sweet?
Nope, heater is a totally separate system (well, other than the fan). The compressor is probably functional, the more likely problem is that your system has a leak. For about $30 an A/C shop can put nitrogen in your system and measure the pressure over 24h to see if it leaks/how badly it leaks.

If your system has been degassed for a long time or has not been converted from R12 to R134a, there'd be a couple of additional costs. You'd need to buy R134a line adapters. You'll also want to replace the dryer (I have some in stock for about $20). I'm going to be using a product called HyChill Minus 30, which should be compatible with the R12 oil in your system.

Anyway I'll let you know. I still need to buy the venturi adaptor for the compressor, the line kit and a large HyChill bottle.
Amazing, thanks for that break down @jamesinc .

On another note, on the weekend i finally fried my clutch doing skids, it still drives but grabs very late (last inch or so). I've been waiting for this to happen for some time as an excuse to pull her off the road and make moves on the motor and drivetrain. $$ going towards the following, any resources would be much appreciated.

- I'm going to take a leaf out of head honchos brapwagon thread and order a Stage 3 clutch
- Resurfaced flywheel while i'm at it.
- The m46 seems fine to me, rarely crunches so not sure whether to touch it or not. Rebuild kits are fairly exy
- Diff...welded for now, locker down the track if i can't live with welded.
- Mmmmotor. Do i do a swap for a b230ft, do i rebuild the b230e and go 16v conversion and keep the k-jet or go 531 and turblow. Whatever i do i will likely be taking it to someone with the means and know how as the side of the road in Bronte is a bit red hot (any takers?)
- Stiffen the thing up: new springs, shocks, bushes, braces etc....

Evidently I have a lot of research to do... Budgeting around 3k FYI
NA 16v build might be interesting. If you can get a 740/940 turbo donor car for a good price, a turbo conversion would be easy. I found doing it in a 240, it's the little things that get you. Radiator fan, IC supports, etc, most of which you'll have with a donor car, but if you buy a turbo and a manifold and think you're half way there, you are not.

If you go turbo remember to put ~$1200 aside for a decent full downpipe and exhaust.
Jesus, $1200 for an exhaust!?

I wouldn't go with the stage 3 clutch for a turbo build, I offer a 240mm flat flywheel conversion for a t5 disc, and a 235mm m46 clutch fits and will cost about $700 with the lighter flywheel over the dished one.
Vee_Que;119414 wroteJesus, $1200 for an exhaust!?

I wouldn't go with the stage 3 clutch for a turbo build, I offer a 240mm flat flywheel conversion for a t5 disc, and a 235mm m46 clutch fits and will cost about $700 with the lighter flywheel over the dished one.
A good turbo back with supports and high flow cat, yeah
Not in Melbourne. But yeah.
jamesinc;119412 wroteNA 16v build might be interesting. If you can get a 740/940 turbo donor car for a good price, a turbo conversion would be easy. I found doing it in a 240, it's the little things that get you. Radiator fan, IC supports, etc, most of which you'll have with a donor car, but if you buy a turbo and a manifold and think you're half way there, you are not.

If you go turbo remember to put ~$1200 aside for a decent full downpipe and exhaust.
Thanks for the input James, at this stage i'm leaning towards 16V, i know @Massey165 has some heads. As much as i'd love to turbo I have reliability concerns which may or may not be rational, i probably wouldn't do it unless I did an entire engine swap, my b230e has 320k on it, i fear with the higher compression block i would blow it up. But then 16V is probably the same concern, maybe even more so as it's more components. At this stage it's still my daily..
Vee_Que;119414 wroteJesus, $1200 for an exhaust!?

I wouldn't go with the stage 3 clutch for a turbo build, I offer a 240mm flat flywheel conversion for a t5 disc, and a 235mm m46 clutch fits and will cost about $700 with the lighter flywheel over the dished one.
Sorry, i need you to educate me a little here.
Could/would you still use this on NA?
Do you mean pairing a t5 disc with an m46 pressure plate?
Is that 700 the flywheel alone?

Thanks
I wouldn't worry about compression. The rods will be fine, just install a knock sensor to ensure you don't overdo it on the timing. You can buy kits online and hook up an LED on your dash somewhere. Very easy to do.
Also, every time I mention the cost of an exhaust, someone tells me it's a crazy amount, yet every cheaper solution always has come with a catch: it rattles, it's uncoated mild steel, it didn't include the downpipe/reused some of the existing bends, it uses slip joints, it doesn't have a catalytic converter, it only uses a single resonator, I had to take it back three times to get them to adjust it properly, the downpipe isn't braced properly to the bellhousing, or I ran it under the rear axle.
I would, increased compression forces the rings out and if they are already weak, so fail. Same with a 16v build, you could flycut the pistons in your car, but it would need a re ring regardless. And there's no point doing an Na build if you don't go higher than stock compression, they will be happy at 11:1 with a tune. Alloy heads dissipate heat faster so you can use more compression than you can on my 122s b20 for instance.

Other way around, the 240mm pressure plate with the 235/230mm dished flywheel clutch disc to suit the m46. Dished flywheels get slip issues due to the design. Particularly with turbo builds. You can use it on an Na build, the lighter flywheel is an advantage for a start, about 15kg vs 20kg for the setup James has.
The exhaust a friend had recently made was from end to end and he didn't want to re use any parts supplied other than a stainless straight section, 3" with a supplied muffler and no other issues. Nothing wrong with mild steel in Australia outside of the snow too.
Cal;119404 wroteI'll run the gauntlet as your first customer. If the heater works does that mean it just needs a regas and the compressor is sweet?
Happy to have a look at your A/C if you need mate. Located in Daceyville.
Volvo850;119490 wrote
Cal;119404 wroteI'll run the gauntlet as your first customer. If the heater works does that mean it just needs a regas and the compressor is sweet?
Happy to have a look at your A/C if you need mate. Located in Daceyville.
Awesome, cars currently sitting on the central coast, i'll hit you up when I get it back to Syd. Thanks heaps!
Cal;119492 wrote
Volvo850;119490 wrote
Cal;119404 wroteI'll run the gauntlet as your first customer. If the heater works does that mean it just needs a regas and the compressor is sweet?
Happy to have a look at your A/C if you need mate. Located in Daceyville.
Awesome, cars currently sitting on the central coast, i'll hit you up when I get it back to Syd. Thanks heaps!
Where on the central coast is it located? I could come up and have a look if need be?
20 days later
In regards to clutch replacement options I found an 8.5" HD exedy clutch, suited for a flat flywheel.
According to an Anthony Hyde article:

"INTRO - All early model 240's (1977-85) with mechanical K-Jet fuel injection used a flat flywheel with a clutch disc diameter of 8.5"

http://people.physics.anu.edu.au/~amh110/Clutch/clutch_upgrade.htm

This should work should it not?
If it does the affordability appeals to me for this build, I can stick with the original fly.
That it literally the clutch I offer on a redrilled flywheel...
2 months later
On Tuesday night we loaded up my brothers Forrester to begin a round trip from Sydney to Meredith Music Festival. As we neared Wollongong his clutch started giving up on the hills so we turned back to Sydney and much to my pleasure loaded up the Volvo (with what I would guess was 500kgs of luggage, beer and human) and set off again for our second attempt that same night.
2400kms later I returned to Sydney prouder than ever, albeit a tad fried from 3 days partying and 12 hours driving with no overdrive. The only issue that arose was a loose calliper that I was able to repair thanks to some advice from Bruce.
Volvo for the win.




She looks as beautiful as ever mate. Would love to come have a look at the overdrive for you.

I'm happy to pitch in overdrive skills. I have at least one functional AW70 gearbox that I don't want.
jamesinc;126179 wroteI'm happy to pitch in overdrive skills. I have at least one functional AW70 gearbox that I don't want.
I finally found the fault, after resoldering the relay probably unnecessarily and checking the wires in the cabin and gear lever I went under the car and found one of the plugs that sleeve over the terminals on top of the transmission to be completely dissintergrated. Was thinking I can just cut the end off and crimp the wire around the little nipple thang and tape it up...
Shitty picture, at least it gives you an idea of how fiddly it is reaching blindly up there
If you want to make life a lot easier, drop the rear cross member and tilt the gearbox down. Just wedge a towel between the head and the firewall so you don't scratch anything.

If you rewire it, get some adhesive heatshrink from jaycar and cover the entire wire, it should stop it degrading further.
jamesinc;126188 wroteIf you want to make life a lot easier, drop the rear cross member and tilt the gearbox down. Just wedge a towel between the head and the firewall so you don't scratch anything.

If you rewire it, get some adhesive heatshrink from jaycar and cover the entire wire, it should stop it degrading further.
Fuck, thank you so much mate, saving me a lot of headache as usual.
a month later
So I painted my car with Rust Guard on the weekend....




Was going for a pale pink but has turned out looking more white than anything. Probably for the best as I imagine i would grow tired of approaching a pink car every day.
I got 4 litres of paint mixed up from Bunnings for $100, added 200ml thinner ($40) to every 700ml paint.
Supercheap auto has a ridiculous deal on gravity fed spray guns at the moment at $25 reduced from 80.
After cutting out the rust, a little rust converter and some bog I followed the steps in the below link fairly closely, I just didn't polish it at the end as i'm enjoying the flat finish for now.

http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/showthread.php?55335-The-140-paint-job

I ended up doing 3 coats everywhere except for any upward facing surfaces (bonnet, roof) where I would do a fourth as the original paint was fairly warn in these spots.
I've said before, I don't want a show car, i've owned tidy cars before and don't enjoy them as much so didn't spend a huge amount of time on preparation, for example there was still clear coat in some areas. Still the paint feels pretty tough, i reckon it will get grubby especially with flat finish so when/if that happens i'll just hit it with a wet sand.








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