Greg's 79 245GL Barn Find

carnut222 · 2018-07-29T03:42:39+00:00

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.

carnut222

Got a bit more done today. Reinstalled front suspension and lower chassis braces, as well as the new SS brake hoses. Need to spray underbody deadener on the bits and pieces as necessary. Will do when I'm ready to touch up the rest of the underbody. Need to prime a few spots of surface rust along the one side where the sill was replaced. Also need to tighten the rear control arm bush nuts once car is on the ground and at proper suspension height. Decided not to change out the inner tie rods at this time as they felt OK...will double check once I get the wheels back on.

carnut222

Home from the Volvo Clubs national rally so getting stuck into it again (if stuck into it means working an hour a day LOL!) The shed is starting to look like an IKEA DIY Volvo 240 as I’m stripping the interior out of the 93 donor sedan to extract the wire harness...

Ex850R

Must be cold up there today? How is the shed insulation holding up?

carnut222

Ex850R;c-158036 wroteMust be cold up there today? How is the shed insulation holding up?

Not bad in the shed. House is nice and warm still but if the sun doesn’t keep shining we’ll have to start adding some heat.

heavy_dd

Are you just going to pull the firewall plate? That's what I did with mine.

carnut222

heavy_dd;c-158045 wroteAre you just going to pull the firewall plate? That's what I did with mine.

Yeah Dave, that’s the plan. I need the new-style firewall plate as the 93 has the different style engine harness with large connectors that pass through the large hole in the plate and connect under the dash. Saves modifying the old plate - assuming the bolt pattern and peripheral shape on the new plate is identical. Not sure whether 92 had the different wiring system as well? Pretty sure my 91 still has the old-style grey connector out in the engine bay, so it must have been an improvement they made in the final year(s)?

Angus242164

There is a change in the shape of the firewall insert plates towards the bottom where they meet the edge of the transmission tunnel, meaning you need plates from the same year range as the project car.

I think you might be OK in your case, I think the change occurred at either the start of the '78 model year, or the start of the '79 model year, meaning your project car should be the same as the donor car.

carnut222

A few interesting observations (sorry no pics at the moment. Changes from 79 to 93

Fuse panel. 79 is mounted to a metal plate that's welded between the upper and lower hinge reinforcements. 93 has a separate galvanised metal plate that's held in by a tab at the top and a screw and clip nut at the bottom, then fuse panel is mounted on the galv plate. I had to transfer the plate from the 93 to the 79 and make a few mods as the fuse panel is mounted lower on the 93 I think to clear the shape of the dash panel.

Little rubber grommets in the plenum that pins for the dash panel poke into...79 the grommets are open to the plenum, and 93 the grommets have a long tit on them and are closed to the plenum...guess they figured a good way to eliminate possible dust/water/CO leak??

This project is bigger than Ben Hur...I'm bouncing around from touching up sealer and adjusting doors on the 245, to pulling wiring harness on the 93 donor...at the rate I'm going it will not be done for another year or so LOL! I keep finding another small thing that needs to be done that distracts me...like lubing up the new (used) wiper spindles I got from @Angus242164 and trying to decide how I'm going to do the door wiring...the 93 has nice large accordion grommets that require oval holes in the doors and body...to fit those it will be doors off on the 245 to enlarge and re-shape the holes...more work! Shoulda bought a 93 wagon LOL!

Major Ledfoot

carnut222;158073 wroteA few interesting observations (sorry no pics at the moment. Changes from 79 to 93

This sort of stuff is always handy to know, thanks for posting it.

Would've liked to have chatted to you in Tamworth about this and about your 1800, but missed out.

carnut222

bgpzfm142;c-158074 wrote
carnut222;158073 wroteA few interesting observations (sorry no pics at the moment. Changes from 79 to 93
This sort of stuff is always handy to know, thanks for posting it.

Would've liked to have chatted to you in Tamworth about this and about your 1800, but missed out.

What car did you have at Tamworth? There were so many people and cars it's hard to keep track of who's who! :)

Major Ledfoot

Wife and I had the blue 780 with the belt troubles.

carnut222

bgpzfm142;c-158077 wroteWife and I had the blue 780 with the belt troubles.

Ahh bugger. I missed catching up as I saw you were pretty busy with that!

Angus242164

I think that fuse panel change occurred not long after '79, perhaps in '81.

It's not too hard to cut the holes for the wiring boots using hole saws and a die grinder, but it does require the doors to be off the car.

carnut222

Angus242164;c-158090 wroteI think that fuse panel change occurred not long after '79, perhaps in '81.

It's not too hard to cut the holes for the wiring boots using hole saws and a die grinder, but it does require the doors to be off the car.

That makes sense Angus - must have come in when the dash panel changed. The bracket for the LH side dash has 2 attachments thru the hinge pillar so I’ll have to drill a hole for the lower attachment. Yeah probably ought to pull the doors off and do the wire grommet mods...should have send the bare body shell out for painting LOL!

carnut222

A bit more progress today...on donor car, I removed rear seat and side trims, rear seatbelts and parcel shelf to liberate the rear wiring harness. Also removed front seatbelts, steering column, heater box and wiper mechanism. The IKEA 240 kit is getting more complete on the garage floor LOL! Next step is to remove the dash plates complete with harness and brake booster/master cylinder...then I need to mod the dash plate to accept clutch master cylinder and fit the manual pedal box...then start putting bits back into the 245. As mentioned before, I was lazy and didn’t pull the fuel sender to check the in-tank pump...however, I AM going to replace the heater fan while I have the heater box out...for $50 I’d be stoopid not to! :)

I hope I can remember how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again...

carnut222

A bit more progress today. Got the brake booster, pedals and dash plate removed from donor car, and drilled holes in the plate for the clutch master cylinder. Installed bits into 245. The clutch master is a new one from @DaiBrace but unfortunately doesn’t have an adjustable rod, so when attached to the clutch pedal, the pedal sits about 15-20 mm lower than the brake. In addition it requires the pipe to be cut and re-flared to fit the new coarse-thread flare nut. Not sure whether there will be enough pedal travel with the lower pedal position, so I may see if I can remove the rod and fit the old adjustable rod, or just leave it and see. Just a lot easier to access everything now with no engine and no dash in the car...also go the new a-pillar-mounted radio aerial installed thanks to Craig Rasmussen in SA.

heavy_dd

Would a few washers under the pivot help the clutch position?

carnut222

heavy_dd;c-158256 wroteWould a few washers under the pivot help the clutch position?

Hi Dave - how do you mean? I think the only real way to bring the pedal back up would be to extend the rod. The pivot on the top of the pedal isn’t adjustable unfortunately.

Ex850R

Swap the rod or weld in the adjustment part of it to existing.

carnut222

Ex850R;c-158259 wroteSwap the rod or weld in the adjustment part of it to existing.

Yeah I haven’t pulled apart the new slave but hoping I can just pull it apart and swap in one of the adjustable rods. Only problem there is the old master the clevis is worn so the holes are sort of oblong...I think I have several so maybe can pick the best one of the bunch. I also have the slave from the 740T so could possibly use that but was kind of saving it for the turbo swap into my 91 wagon.

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