I've had this 79 245GL since December 2016, when my dad Gary helped me and the seller Neil pull it out of its barn storage with Neil's tractor. The car was located near Wangaratta VIC, but apparently was originally from Tassie early in its life (David Stewart Autos, Hobart - sticker on back glass). I'm not sure how long Neil owned it, but he said he bought it for his daughter and she decided she didn't want it...so it ended up in his shed when the rego ran out in 2001.






We moved the car to my partner's mum's house in Oxley and I cleaned off 15 years of grime.




Fortunately it must have had a decent paint job as the paint came up OK with no real signs of damage from years of bird droppings and grime.












After cleaning it up, it sat in mum's shed until July 2018, when I finally got it shipped down to Daylesford where we live.


So, what I'm thinking of doing is taking all the running gear, engine, transmission, A/C, power steering, complete dash, wiring harness etc. from this 93 240GL sedan I have, while also converting it from auto to M46...but another option is using the 88 740T engine and M46 I have (although I've kind of been reserving that for my 91 240GLE wagon)...decisions, decisions! Or, I'll sell the lot for 1 MILLION dollars! ;)


Phworrrr! What a wagon! It's like mine but with a different shnoz.
Looks like a collectors car.. maybe best left original? I like it!
Put the turbo gear on the 93 block (drill the block for the oil drain) with the lh2. 4 from the 93 and turbo ecus with 850 turbo injectors. But then you should change the diff over anyway.
Vee_Que;c-142400 wrotePut the turbo gear on the 93 block (drill the block for the oil drain) with the lh2. 4 from the 93 and turbo ecus with 850 turbo injectors. But then you should change the diff over anyway.
Unfortunately the 93 sedan has had the B230FX swapped out with a B230E engine block and head (but still running the 93 LH2.4 injection/ECUs and accessories) as previous owner must have cooked the FX (old people who didn’t bother to check oil!) So yes, for my turbo swap I will definitely be doing LH2.4 as I have the 2.4 turbo ECUs...but I’m still undecided as to which car to do the turbo in. I also have the supercharger set-up that can go on something, so that’s another option. My plan is to swap over all the 93 running gear which includes diff, suspension, the lot, so it will end up being LH2.4 regardless of which engine I put in it. If I put the B230FT in my gold 91 wagon, then I can put the low-km B230F from that into the yellow car and put the supercharger on that. Or I can just sit here and blog about it and procrastinate LOL! :)
bigal;c-142388 wroteLooks like a collectors car.. maybe best left original? I like it!
Yeah, it is original, but given the potential dramas with K-jet and the fact I have this 93 just sitting there, it seems like a no-brainer. I might keep the outward appearance original with the exception of some Virgos or other alloy wheels though. My first thought was to black out all the chrome trim etc. to make it look like a GLE, but I’ve been through that on my ES so may keep the chrome on this one. I don’t know. I have some of the later rear window gaskets with the notches to help prevent water entrapment but they’ve got no slot for the chrome trim, so if I fit those then I might have to black out the rest of the window trim. Plus my dad gave me a new door upper shoulder black tape kit, so I could install that at the same time. Not sure quite where to go with this one yet, but it’s a good distraction from doing the much-needed maintenance work on my ES!
What a beauty. Must have been enjoyable cleaning her up!
alphax;c-142592 wroteWhat a beauty. Must have been enjoyable cleaning her up!
Yes, it was pretty amazing seeing the results of that power washer taking off the layer of brown grime! The car of course looks better in pics than close up. It’s no show car, but could be a good run-around and project car. Will keep my mind sharp scheming about it LOL!
6 months later
And it begins! Now that the white car is sold (payment pending) I’ll have some more room in the sheds. Started pulling apart the 245. The plan is to basically gut it and rebuild it using bits from my 93 240 parts car. Will be swapping over to the later style dash, all black trim, charcoal interior, possibly the slim plastic bumpers, and a B230F running LH2.4 and maybe my supercharger? Should keep me busy for a few years! If anyone needs any 79 parts (mechanical or electrical) see my “for sale” ad.


Two_Four_Zero;c-153465 wroteSupercharger?
Yeah, I put a supercharger on our 88 240GL (removed it when we sold it). Here’s a link to some historical articles I wrote about it for our Volvo Club magazine. It’s a Toyota SC14. I was running low boost (4-5 PSI) on a stock LH2.2 B230F. Had a rising-rate fuel pressure regulator to compensate for boost. If I did it again I’d use LH2.4 and turbo computers.

http://volvovic.org.au/blog/2003/05/15/supercharge/
Engine is out. Yay! Spent more time than I like sliding around on the shed floor undoing bits. Anyone need any K-jet bits or B21E engine or accessory parts, let me know. AFAIK this car was a runner (had a RWC just before it was “put away” back in about 1997).


bgpzfm142;c-153468 wrote
Great article.

Speaking of your now surplus K-Jet bits - what's the condition of the K-Jet main fuel pump and accumulator?
Not sure about the condition of the main pump and accumulator. I may try it as I need to pump the stale fuel out of the tank. I was trying to get a look at it but difficult to see with the metal shield in place. Will have a closer look.
Well.. if it's a goer and you wish to tidy up your shed, please let me know how many monies to donate to your car fund, so it can take a little trip across Bass Strait and into my stationary K-Jet 145.
Ok got a bit carried away today - whole interior out except brake pedal bracket and steering wheel as I need to be able to steer the car to put it up on the hoist. No rust anywhere which is great. It's tempting to pull the glass and get it re-sprayed but not economical so I'll just give it a cut and polish and touch up the stone chips I guess.




Planning to fit the rear seats and seatbelts from the 93 240 wagon (the EV). Also have a set of the late all black rear window rubbers so will pull the current windows/trim and tint the glass, then reinstall with new style gaskets. Gonna do a full black-out treatment on the trim I think. I like black and yellow together. Still haven't decided what engine to put in it...maybe the B230E running LH2.4 from my donor sedan as that's the easiest to do now and means I don't have to pull apart yet another car. Manual trans is up in Wangaratta so need to retrieve that. Pulling apart a car is a lot easier than putting it back together. I'll have to be a bit more careful when I'm pulling apart the donor car as the order in which things go together is pretty important! :)
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