[unknown] Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum but I thought I would share some info and pics of a cool project I am working on.
First, background: My first car was my mother's first car which I got as a hand-me-down. A 1968 Volvo 164, built the same year I was born. When we first got the car, I could stand on the back seat and could only just touch the roof. It was our familly car for ever, but I only drove it for a couple years before seling it to fund a pilot's licence.
Over the years I have since owned a 343DL in England (great little car but rusty), a purple 240 in Texas, (and a Saab 99), a grey 240 wagon, a diesel 740 Wagon (bad move), a yellow 240 wagon, a red 740, a green 740 Turbo manual wagon (it flew), a green 240 sedan back in Australia, a grey wagon (now a parts car), and a silver 940SE. Probably a few others.
And just recently I had a chance to buy the subject of this blog. A 1980 262C.
The car was for sale in Tamworth. It had originally been owned by the Tamworth Volvo dealer's wife and she drove it for years. It then passed through a couple of owners and got a bit shabby before being parked. The vinyl roof was stuffed and there was rust in the C pillars apparently. A couple of blokes decided to fix it up and they spent considerable money on repairing the roof and replacing the vinyl top, interior work, a new paint job, fancy wheels, etc, etc. Unfortunately the project went sour and they seem to have had all sorts of trouble getting it to run right. I bought the car in outstanding structural and cosmetic condition but partially disassembled and not running. It has 220,000km on the clock.
When I got it home I finished all the trim work and fought with it for a long time to get the bloody awful PVR V6 with early K-jet injection going. I did eventually get it mostly sorted. It is now on historic plates and gets driven occasionally. I have probably put a couple thousand km on it so far. The engine runs actually surprisingly well, but it is developing the usual cam chain clatter and tappet rattle. Performance is adequate, just.
I bought a nice 940 SE Turbo car to try to swap the B230FT into the 262, but it is such a nice car, my wife commandeered it.
Then I came across a cheap Statesman with the awesome GenIII LS1 engine. That sounded like a plan. It should make the 262C go like it looks like it should. The Statesman has a couple months of rego on it so I drove the wheels off it, down to Sydney, up to Brisbane, back and forth. etc.
I have been in touch with Michael who has just finished a VERY nice conversion on a 240 that you can read about on this forum. He has been very helpful and encouraging. As has Ash Davis of DVS performace parts.
Here is a pic of the weapon in question. The plan is to use an old 240 wagon that I have parked in the bush as a parts car as a development mule, get everything fitting nicely, mounts, sump, radiator, headers, etc, etc, and then swap it all into the 262 and wire it all up.
Below is my organ donor:
And my long suffering mule:
alphax This is a build I have been planning for a few months now. Bought the car from WA to it's new home in Melbourne. Thanks to those that helped out in diagnosing some issues with the B23 engine. I replaced the cam belt, tensioner, cam seal and repaired some ignition wiring and it runs like a champ. I actually really like the way the car drives completely stock!
Car has just under 91,000km's on the Odometer and had very little use from the previous owner. Just short trips to the local shops and the occasional run into the countryside. Body and paint on the car is all original and great condition. Some little interior parts will need attention, but overall it's nice and not messed with.
The engine, transmission, differential and entire driveline will be removed along with all of the original suspension, brakes and fuel delivery system.
- Replacement engine is out of 2009 VE Commodore SS V with 100k on the clock. It's a 6 Litre L98 Gen IV.
- Transmission is a TR6060 6 speed manual also out of the same VE SS.
- Rear Axle is a cut and shut Ford Explorer 8.8 with 3.73 gears.
Goal for this car is a usable, registered, engineered vehicle with good power, handling and brakes. Not looking for a race car here in either looks or handling... It must retain it's utilitarian plain Jane looks and reasonable ride quality!
A lot more details to come.
Below is a video I put together to remember the car running in stock form and to motivate me to ensure I finish the build!
[video=1920,1080]https://youtu.be/kXfHR4E0tIg[/video]
