• RWD
  • my $50 volvo 240

hey guys im new to volvos ive always liked them but never thought i would actually buy one .
went to a mates place the other week and theres a mint 1990 240 in the driveway, he bought it off another mate for $100 who bought it of the elderly original owner with one week rego for $300 ,,,, his mate thrashed it for a week then sold it to him who was going to put a pos commonwhore motor in it and turn it into a burnout car .... so i slapped him ,gave him $50 and took it away before it got destroyed ....
so now i own a volvo .
the car has 320xxxks but doesnt miss a beat, it is honestly the cleanest engine bay ive seen in years , every bit of rubber looks new,not a drop of oil ,dirt or anything else , it has all new leads,distributor cap,oil filter,air filter and the overflow bottle even looks brand new lol
i have noticed there is a nasty oil pan leak so i will need to do that and ill put in some new engine mounts and do a full service while i have the motor out
the paint is mint all round with only a couple small scratches that will buff out and a couple small dints , there is one spot of bad rust on the front drivers fender behind the bar but thats it .
interior is mint as well except for 1 tiny wear spot on the drivers seat
needless to say im stoked









i was abit of a wanker years ago and got done dui and speeding so lost my license for 5 years , its been long but i get it back next October so i have a year to have this car how i want it and ready for rego, im not going overboard atm just doing what needs to be done and a couple other things ..
im getting ready to replace all shocks and springs going with the lowered king springs in the rear and the dvs special springs in the front and replacing all bushes with the super pro poly bushes
unfortunately its auto so that has to change i was going to jump the gun and race out and get everything but after sitting down thinking about the long term goal i decided the auto can stay for now it runs well and has no noises changes good etc
i would like to go +T and t5 box in the future so theres no point doing the gearbox swap twice
for now ill freshen her up and keep it pretty stock other then the lowered springs .

now there is one thing i must change and need to pick your brains about ....

ok so after many hours staring at the volvo i have decided i absolutely hate the huge rectangle headlights and need to convert it to round ones ... ive researched heaps and have come up with i need to swap over everything and then ill end up with a gap where the bonnet meets the cowl ..this is not an option , my panels and paint are mint and im way to ocd to have a gap and way under qualified to fix that , so i found a thread on stanceworks about the Awful wagon ( http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51776 )
where he used the datsun 280zx projector headlights in a blacked out reflector ..so this is the way i would like to go, its cheap and nasty just how i like it .. my question is my reflectors are different to his , they are alot smaller with a huge plastic surround , what model did they come on and would i have any issues fitting them considering they are both the huge rectangle kind i figured they would just bolt in ... mine is the 1990 240gl and his was the 1990 245dl wagon ..


sorry for the novel i cant seem to keep things short lol
anyway names dave im down in wollongong on the south coast always up for a chat or a beer if you're down this way,
im pretty good at navigating forums so you wont hear from me much only if i get really stuck
heres a couple pics i took on the day ill take some more this week when i pull it out of the shed
cheers guys


Love it and love your last for weird headlights!
I frankensteined v70 headlight bucket with Lexus es300 dual projectors.
Maybe they are an option for this?
Cheap to get at most Wreckers
Keep us posted
Welcome! Love the car - silver is one of the best 2 colours on a 240 :)

Really looking forward to see how you progress with this. You'll be amazed how nice the stock steelies can look with a $15 can of wheel paint from Autobarn:


cheers guys , its great how much info is out there for these cars ive spent the last 2 weeks reading everything i can i have to control myself theres so many possibilities . im poor and a tight arse so everything will be done on the cheap ..
black steelies was the plan from the start and you have just reinforced that they look great , what can you fit under the stock guards?
i was looking at getting a set made up i know theres a guy down vic that widens all the vw wheels and alot run the Porsche stud pattern which i believe is the same as the 240 ..
the misses daily is a classic beetle with Porsche cookie cutter rims i might try to steal them and see how they fit they are 15x7 if i remember correctly
Morton & May in Narellan (used to be at Warwick Farm) do steel wheel widening.

http://mortonandmay.wixsite.com/wheelrepairs

Volvo stud pattern is 5 x 108, same as HK/HG/HT Holden. 240s have ET20 offset as standard.

Your 240 appears to have some 15 inch 140 wheels on the rear, they are ET40 offset.
The buckets are not that different. American headlights are all plastic, you remove the reflectors and make them fit in the remains. However. The headlights are normal 7" round headlights, not just 280xx ones....
Nice car, just needs a Commodore engine now!
so pulled the old girl out yesterday to degrease everything and find this oil leak .. after cleaning all the shit off i cant find a leak anywhere and the oil pan gasket along with everything else looks perfect so thats a plus hopefully it was just a heap of left over crap from a previous leak but i will investigate things more thoroughly today , i removed the towbar as its not needed so if anyone needs one theres one here .
the bumpers are off and sanded and ready for some bumper paint just to freshen things up and to attack this rust spot ...
after reading many threads on the cold start valve getting stuck i thought i would check mine and what do you know its stuck and only pulling hot air so i ripped the box out to fix that too ... im going to jut remove the flap and run the hose to the drivers side front so it can pull cool air from both sides instead of jut blocking it off unless anyone has had issues doing this?

im buying a K cam tomorrow simply because it popped up and i have cash so why not .... it looks like ill be wanting to go manual sooner rather than later to get the most out of it ..
heres a few more pics








bgpzfm142;87487 wroteMorton & May in Narellan (used to be at Warwick Farm) do steel wheel widening.

http://mortonandmay.wixsite.com/wheelrepairs

Volvo stud pattern is 5 x 108, same as HK/HG/HT Holden. 240s have ET20 offset as standard.

Your 240 appears to have some 15 inch 140 wheels on the rear, they are ET40 offset.
cheers mate narellan is alot closer and i wont have to ship them so more money for something else :D

Angus242164;87538 wroteNice car, just needs a Commodore engine now!
lol god no maybe a jz motor though ;)


Air box mod ftw. Take the flappy paddle out and block the angled hole that comes from the hot air hose. I screwed an old credit card to cover mine!
I've previously used a Postpak tube end cap, and a spray paint can cap to block the hot air tubes.
did a lil more today
went to pick a part and grabbed a 27mm falcon sway bar to beef up the front a lil , ill be buying the dvs adjustable link kit in the next few weeks




so this also happened
it didn't really work and ive got a window so in the bin it goes , tomorrow ill space the power steering forward and measure it for a belt .
i will be going 2 belts apposed to 1 just to even out the load .





front bar is all sanded and primed ready to go back on orrr im looking at splicing it with something else for a lil more low ill get back to this ...
just spaced the power steering forward i just used a few washers and little spacers i had lying around , super simple everything lines up now just need a belt .



so a mate just came over with his turbo 240 .............
ive decided i need to go turbo , im looking at around the same money for a much better return i have bought the k cam and read that its ok with the turbo so it should be a fun mix also manual conversion is still in the works
5 days later
K cam with a turbo makes your car feel like it has a tiny turbo and then all of a sudden have a normal sized turbo. A V or B cam will serve you much better and the car will have a nice broad torque curve.
Slowbrick;87972 wroteK cam with a turbo makes your car feel like it has a tiny turbo and then all of a sudden have a normal sized turbo. A V or B cam will serve you much better and the car will have a nice broad torque curve.
thanks for that, ive already bought the k cam so ill see how it goes and look at other option down the track if need be . ill be running an adjustable cam gear as well so i can have a play around with what works best..

atm im trying to get my head around going turbo , ive never worked on a turbo and honestly im way under qualified but ill have a crack it seems pretty straight forward .
my biggest hurdle is going to be me not knowing how to weld so im going to need to find some help there
ive organized a TD04-15G turbo already now its a matter of collecting all the other parts needed
17 days later
haven't really done much im in the gathering parts stage.
So far ive sourced : turbo, turbo manifold, manual box and another cam that's more suitable .
ive got a bloke with the intercooler, turbo ecu and ezk just need to wait till payday for those , haven't really spent a great deal which is always good

The auto box is out that was abit more of a pain than i anticipated but nothing a few beers and a lot of swearing couldn't fix




9 months later
9 days later
plans have changed once again lol
slowly been gathering parts for the 240 but haven't really been in the project as i decided realistically i need a wagon so everything just kinda stopped for abit until the otherday .
a mate msgd me wanting to swap a wagon for the sedan so i jumped on it ..
so now i own a wagon, unfortunately its a 265 wagon with the prv v6 which ive heard can be trouble ...

heres the plan... the wagon will be here soon it needs both taillights,1 headlight , tailgate hinges and a water pump and its ready for rego , im going to asses the state of the engine if i feel it will last awhile ill rego the wagon drive it and save some cash to do a b230ft and t5 trans swap if i feel the motor isnt going to make it ill put the wagon in the shed as a project and buy another more suitable wagon for a daily .
i get my license back in 2 months so just need something sorted asap ..

heres a couple pics of the new wagon.