Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

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Fred
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Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

Post by Fred »

Well, I fucked up. A couple of glasses of wine, other bidders not bidding, threw an auto bid of 400 on it, and hello, no one bid past 355! :-D

So I have to go and collect it from half way down the north island pretty soon, then I need to get it running, or borrow a 2.5 tonne 4wd with low ratio to drag it up our steep driveway out of Auckland.

Can't keep it here for more than about a week or so. So I have about a week to learn enough about this car and K-Jetronic weirdness to make this thing blow some smoke out the back and move under its own power.

Good points:

1) Full set of rare all-black trim, will remove and keep for my gold wagon, as I've been looking for a set of this for ever to replace the missing one on that car.
2) 7 seater parts! Also quite likely to end up on my gold wagon later, but can stay in this shell for now as parts storage.
3) Low front cowl and 262C Bertone style long bulgy bonnet
4) Plates are live and rego on hold, so this can be put back on the road with a bit of work, maybe? Rust dependent.
5) Manual! In working order, but at the least, the components are useful for a manual 240 setup using a CD009 or something in future.

Bad points:

1) 5 years not running
2) Was not running when parked 5 years ago, so now have a 5 year old fault to find/fix
3) Bonnet may be overly rusty - could clean it up and make a female from it and make a composite one instead.

So yeah, didn't really want/need this right now, but for 355 + 2 or 3 or 4 tanks of gas in the Stagea and 200 of two trailer hires to move it around = not a bad price for a 240 wagon! :-D

Photos to come.
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Re: Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

Post by Fred »

List of gear required for the mission:

1) Caffeine
2) Water to drink
3) Snacks
4) Straps, chains, shackles, etc
5) Large battery to chuck in it
6) Sunglasses
7) Warm clothes, change of clothes
8) Towel, moisturiser, soap
9) Tyre pressure gauge
10) A few tools for nuts/bolts/shackles - pliers, grips, etc.
11) Brush to clear rust dust in engine bay
12) Paper towel to check oil in engine
13) Bulk water for cooling system so not dry while cranking - 5l enough
14) ?

Prerequisites by Friday night:

1) CC paid off for the month allowing space to buy gas
2) Stagea inside, charged up, tyre pressures checked/adjusted
3) 240 sedan back in one piece and out on the street to make room

Plan for Saturday evening, wash outside, vacuum insides, clear out glove box, centre console, door pockets, under seats, etc.

Plan for Sunday:

0) find how to bridge the main relay that is apparently missing
1) get some fresh 91 RON into her
2) check for fuel pressure with key/cranking
3) check for ignition when cranking
4) get it running somehow or other, try spraying fuel/startyabastard down intake etc

So many plans, no attack. Good night, over and out, for now. :-D
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Re: Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

Post by Fred »

570km driven: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0375625728

Image





Picking up this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9484393473

Image





Loaded up like this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2039717888

Image





Started fixing a few things on it when I got everything unloaded/away tonight.

Bonnet release cable stiff as, needs lube and working until free again. Partial success there, need to get it good before I put the grill back in, or might get locked out of the engine bay.

Rust in lip of bonnet kinda bad, would be a lot of MIG work, better to bog and use as a mould.

Rust in sills, below tail gate, rear guard pockets, and a few other places looks fixable if I want to.

Engine cranks like it has compression. Got some sparks out off the coil cranking earlier, but relay from other 240 wagon cycles with the cylinders! Bad ground or something, insufficient voltage to keep the coil engaged. Might hard-code that tomorrow to see if I can make it run.

Unsure of fueling situation but due to relay behaviour even a liberal application of start ya bastard didn't make it fire up despite sparks flying from coil lead on cranking. I think because sparks flying randomly due to relay.

Filled interior with fly spray mist and closed doors.

Oiled bonnet hinges and latches etc. Sprayed a light coat of oil all over the engine bay in general.

Found spark plugs corroded on the outside, pulled those, sprayed bores with CRC and cranked, then with more to sit overnight to free up rings if sticky.

Have cap and rotor in the house for cleaning up. Will buy new plugs and probably new leads, too.

If I can get it running, that's half the battle done.

Will drill the glued in floor pan bungs to let any future water out of. Will brush baking soda into all the carpet and seats. Will spray cleaning stuff onto all other hard surfaces and allow to dry there.

That ought to keep it fresh and free from mould in storage.

I'll chip loose rust out of the places I can see and rub grease into them to halt it. I'll spray oil into the cavities that are hit with it, too.

Poor car has seen better days!

Comments welcome.
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Re: Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

Post by Fred »

Water blasted it pretty thoroughly today: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1185300480

Image





Blasted all the hinge areas and underneath and suspension and guards and engine bay and bonnet and gas filler pocket etc. Chemically cleaned the wheels and blasted them, too.

Looking good. Shame it doesn't move! :-D

Today I noticed that I can hear the fuel pump humming in the back when the key is on. Not sure if it's dry, or regulator stuck or what, but it didn't sound loaded. I put maybe 3 or 4 litres into it the other day, but that may not have been enough.
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Re: Fred's $355 1984 Volvo 240 GLT Wagon

Post by Fred »

Progress:

Saturday:

stole A-frame from caravan and abandoned that with the olds for a couple of weeks under shelter

Sunday:

Collected A-frame with a wagon as I couldn't fit it in a sedan
picked up 4 940 15s from storage
collected trailer lights/wiring

Today:

Ripped off bumper and bumper brackets
Started measuring/thinking/designing

Constraints:

Single M14 fastener through chassis, sandwiching our attachment (or the shock absorber bumper brackets)
Two M8 holes on the front face to stabilise the direction/angle of the main piece
52mm hole centred(true???) on the 45mm clamp zone ~180mm back

Material: 40x40x4 has corner to corner width of 51mm, perfect.

Design:

40x40x4 box + 40x5 bar = 45 thickness to match OEM part, two pieces ~200+89,100, or 50 as per:
75 probably not okay, so 89x89x5 or 100x100x5 square or 100x50x5 rectangle, two pieces 120 wide
32 long thick wall tube or dowel drilled out say 30 OD 5mm wall or anything with 14-16 mm ID, two pieces to prevent crushing

bolts in hinges are on ~40 centre spacing with washers diameter 30

~40 centres on hinge bolts + 30 washers + 10 wall thickness + 10 radius = 90 minimum width box at the front, 100 better, and 89 likely odd size not available.

alignment of forces:

centre to centre A-frame is ~720
centre to centre Volvo holes are ~780

so fasteners for hinges will be on the inside of centre by 30 on each side. I think this is adjustable. Confirmed, but already to max width. Perfect.

Tomorrow will go and buy:

2 x 100x50x5 @ 120 long, get them to cut
2 x thick wall tube or dowel with 14mm+ hole @ 32 long, buy 1m, cut to length
2 x 40x40x4 box @ 250/300, buy 1m, cut to length, keep for tow fitting projects
40x3 1m, 40x2 1m, 40x5 1m, for spacing up to 45mm evenly if necessary

And:

4 x M8 cap screws with 30mm thread + 4 hardened washers
+ some of the fasteners for vice stand project
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