Greg's Gold 1991 240GLE wagon B230FT-to-be

First cold start today after adjusting throttle plate. No real difference (still starts up fine, idles around 700-800 RPM and starts puffing out black exhaust smoke. Rev it up a bit and it clears its throat and all good. After warming up, letting the car sit for 20 mins while shopping, when I come back to start it (hot start) it cranks for about 5 seconds before firing up then revs flare to about 1500, then settles back to normal idle speed. Guess it’s time to swap out the idle valve to rule that out.

Also, I have stock exhaust system with rear muffler delete and pipe straight out the back. I noticed when it idles it sounds a bit like a V8, and not much in the way any exhaust pulses (just a very light exhaust flow almost like a person just exhaling). We always noticed that after a decent drive, when you pull into the garage it smells quite hot from the area of the catalytic converter. Wondering now whether the cat might be partly blocked? Time to swap in a gutted one and test that theory too.

Guess I could easily swap the fuel rail and injectors from the 93 sedan donor car and see if that makes any difference. Some day I’ll get this thing running perfect LOL!

ALVO360

I'd expect a partially blocked cat would show itself when you open up the throttle and you'd notice your down on power. I recently fixed a rough start condition by changing the Fuel pressure regulator and It was showing within spec pressure when I tested it. I'm not sure what the story was there, but it worked.

Can you just pull the cold start injector and the injectors out of the manifold and prime the pump to check for leaks?

Chasing gremlins like this can be a nightmare. I empathise with you. But it usually leads to a 'refresh' of components and a greater understanding of your machine, so it's not all bad. I hope you managed to sort this out.

Thanks for the feedback @ALVO360 Yep, more work to do and more things to look at. At the moment we’re having to use it for any drives beyond range of the EV as I have the front axle out of the C30 awaiting a tool. Once the C30 is back together I can spend a bit more time on the 240 whether it be swapping out parts with the other engine I have on hand or testing the injectors etc.

More bits for the project arrived today from GCP...OE 240 Turbo exhaust system. Looks huge compared to the standard system...about 63 mm diameter. Yes it has “Mr Squiggle” tailpipe, but that’s fine...looks “sleeper” LOL! Will be interesting to see if it fits with the 86-later plastic rear valence panel.

Cam205

Awesome stuff. Im keen to do the same thing on mine. I see theres only the rear muffler. Did you also get the other 2?

The 240s only ever had 2 mufflers - one in front of the axle and one at the rear behind the fuel tank. Some 240 turbos had the front one deleted (according to the parts book these bits are for a B21ET, so non-catalyst 240 turbo. I already have a 2.5 inch downpipe from @DaiBrace at Classic Swede, so I’ll probably purchase a generic 2.5 inch catalytic converter, then will have to cut the front pipe on the new system short to fit the cat in. Unless of course the downpipe from Dai is exactly the right length to connect to the new system in which case I might umm, ahh, temporarily eliminate the cat for testing purposes...but seriously I want to run with a cat because I hate the stench of the exhaust when running without it.

See the pic below of the original B21ET exhaust system. The system I have replaces the front muffler and pipe with a straight single pipe. They must have discovered in later years (??) that the front resonator wasn’t needed, or it was deleted for some markets? Who knows...anyway I’m happy to get rid of it.

Ok, did a bit more research...when I look at the parts diagram for the B21FT (240 T with cat) it shows no front muffler (pic below). So maybe the system I got is in fact the FT system, and maybe they decided they didn’t need the front muffler on cars with cat because the cat quieted it down enough. Anyway, I look forward to getting it on the car possibly before the turbo conversion because I deleted the rear muffler already and it’s too loud going straight out the back LOL!

Paul_Roodenrys

How does the GCP exhaust stack up against other options price wise? I'm beginning to think about an exhaust for my B230FT into GT242 swap. Motors in, gear box about to go back in.

about $450 including shipping if you include all the clamps and brackets.

Ex850R

Maybe a 3" cat in case you copy the downpipe , make a jig so 3 inch ones can be made off?

I would make some stainless ones if you want. I'm committing to build stuff....

My downpipe is 2.5 inch...I’m anxious to see how it clears everything in the RHD. My dad has a 3 inch downpipe on his LHD and everything is very tight!

Paul_Roodenrys

There are several places online that sell mandrel bends and straight sections, I've had absolutely no experience with exhausts apart from repairing holes in the exhausts on my BMW bike with fruit cans and rivets (worked for a while). I'm wondering if, theoretically, at least I could assemble an exhaust from bits using clamps?

I’m embarrassed to say it but my dad had an exhaust system on his 1800ES that was about 50% clamps LOL!

Come to papa! Finally bringing my 88 740T engine and M46 back home after loooong term storage in Wayne's mum's shed. Will get stuck into this engine swap/manual conversion after I get the yellow 245 on the road.

Got the engine/trans back home. Need to reassemble my engine crane so I can unload it...job for tomorrow. The shed is starting to look like a tip shop again. Time for a clean-out!

Gave the gold wagon a wash the other day. Can't wait to get stuck into the turbo conversion...need to get the yellow 79 done first. Grrr.

I was telling @Andoria about this planned engine swap today...when he said his +T was the longest-running project, I went back thru my pics and realised I've had my turbo engine/trans since August 2004. Yikes! Maybe 2021 it will go into the wagon? Not if I keep pulling other cars apart. Need to get stuck into another one of MY projects one day LOL! In fact, looking at the pic below I can see that when I bought the 740T, I didn't even have the gold wagon yet (the supercharged 88 240 sedan and my long-gone Amazon wagon are sitting in the shed at our old house in Williamstown). Time flies when you're having fun! Wish I had kept those wheels!