2 4 0 T U R B O . C O M
D A V E ' S V O L V O P A G E
| Some of Dave's Favorite 240s Just a few very cool (and modified) 240s to entertain you. |
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UPDATED: November 14, 2024
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Dave's 242 Turbo is shown in detail at https://www.240turbo.com/index.html
| Some awesome 240s with mods below. |
| This
1983 242
Turbo is owned by TB user smoothdurban in Ontario, Canada. He bought
the car in 2013 and soon began a restoration with the plan of using the
car as a fun daily driver. He
discovered rust that was not expected to be as serious as it turned
out, but to his credit, he stayed with the project and brought the
240 back to the living, which might not have happened if someone else had owned
it. His thread below chronicles years of work, with a lot of great
photos and details. The car has turned out great and has won awards at
nearby Volvo meets. turbobricks.com/smoothys-242-turbo-build.292243 |
| This
244
Turbo is owned by Aris from Greece. He has owned the car for many
years and had added a large variety of modifications to almost every
area. His engine is a built B21ET that has many modifications,
including an EMS from DTA (s40 ECU) in the U.K. It has produced
over 400 HP.
Aris has a very detailed build thread spanning many years with a lot of
photos. Don't ignore it if you like modified 240s like I do. turbobricks.com/the-build-story-of-a-greek-hopefully-fast-240-brick.310632 |
| This 1983 242 Turbo Flathood is owned by Dan Maley in Michigan (B2fkb0 in Turbobricks). He bought it in 2015 for $750. It was neglected by previous owners and was in very sad condition. He has spent the years restoring the car to beautiful condition. He's added a few nice mods too, such as late-240 AC, LH 2.4 EFI and other things you can discover in his very detailed thread below. Lots of great photos too. Still a work in progress. turbobricks.com/my-242-now-what-do-i-do.318066 He also has a YouTube channel with some videos of this car: https://www.youtube.com/@handydand |
| This
1984 242 Turbo was owned for many
years by KDM of Southern California. I think my first sighting of this
car was when he brought it to the 2001 annual SoCal VCOA Picnic at
Irvine Regional Park (the first pic above). It was mostly original back
then, except for a nice set of genuine Volvo Polaris 17 inch
wheels. KDM
worked for Volvo for many years and had a distinct advantage in
sourcing
cool Volvo parts, which became more serious in later years. Prior
to 2005 he fitted a 5 cylinder turbo motor from a 2004 S60R along
with a
5 speed Getrag gearbox. KDM continued to bring this car to a number of
local SoCal
Volvo meets over the years. After the R motor installation, I asked him
about the work he did installing it. He said that he bought a
240 front
clip and built all his mounting parts on that first. When he had
it all done correctly, he then transferred those parts to his 242. Since
this car was in California, it was required to be inspected and
certified by a referee from the Bureau of Automotive Repair. It passed,
except for the transmission. This was because the emissions were based
on the 2004 S60R, which only came with an automatice or 6-speed
transmission. Since KDM installed a 5-speed, they couldn't figure out
how to certify it. I don't have further details, except I know it
was eventually certified. The
many modifications on this car became extensive over the years. This car was sold in April 2018 for (at the time) a record amount for a 240. The below Bring A Trailer link offers an outstanding description of the car as well as a huge photo album. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-volvo-242-turbo-coupe-2/ |
| This 1982 242 Turbo is owned by Tate
Fanning of Cedar Hills, Utah. Tate bought this car in Oregon in 2014 as
a nearly stock example. He has invested a lot of time, effort and
money into transforming it into the stunning car is it now. It has original paint which still shows
extremely well. And the mods continue. Exceptional thread below. Tate's detailed build thread needs to be read to fully appreciate the hard work and awesome results: turbobricks.com/not-mediocre-242.326370 |
| This 1983 242 DL is nicknamed
"Badger." Patrick Dickman bought it years ago and it got
its
name
because of the collection of Volvo
high-mileage badges that were on the grill. It
had been a previous owner's daily driver for many years and this car
had
accumulated almost
600,000 miles before Patrick bought it. Patrick is famous for being meticulous when detailing or restoring his cars. The under hood restoration is amazing, even down to all the fasteners and brackets getting new silver cadmium plating. This car sure turned out nice. The exterior paint is original and is far from perfect, but this 240 certainly has the patina of a well loved Volvo. This car was sold to another 240 enthusiast in 2013: turbobricks.com/i-found-a-badger-in-my-garage.275556 Patrick created a very nice and detailed thread about the car. Unfortunately this thread has suffered from Photobucket's photo extortion massacre in mid 2017 and the photos are GONE. turbobricks.com/badger.234240/ |
| Here's a 1990 240 built by Jacob in
Kansas City that
now has a B5234T3 2.3 liter turbo engine that would have
originally been found in a 1998 S70 T5. His car has a large number of
modifications, including the retrofitting of Porsche Cayenne brake
calipers
that have been showcased in the 240 Big Brakes Page at 240turbo.com/volvo240bigbrakes.html.
Jacob's enormously detailed build thread can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/homers-1990-240-redblock-exorcism.219119 |
| Later Volvo 5 cylinder engine swaps
have been common in Europe for years, but are now becoming more popular
in the
U.S. Here's a 1980 242 GT with a B5234T, a 2.3 liter turbo engine
that would have
originally been found in an 1998 S70 Turbo. The below linked
Turbobricks build
thread by Tom Elmendorf of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, begins with a build up
of a 1995 B230FT for this car. The 5 cylinder engine then goes in
later.
If you have not yet spent the time reading this thread, you're missing
out. Nicely done. Lots of details and photos. More can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/1980-242-gt-a-reasonable-project.284730 He has also made some really great videos of some projects: https://www.youtube.com/@Drive.Revive.Tinker |
| This
car was a legend in the Pacific
Northwest in 2011. RSI (R-Sport International) was a well known Volvo
performance shop in Portland Oregon. This RSI shop-built 245 began
development in 2010
and was owned
by a Volvonut named Bergen. It produced over 500 RWHP when in debuted
in 2011 at the
Annual Davis Volvo Show in May of that year. That's a pretty good
horsepower number for an 8-valve engine.
Unfortunately the car was wrecked in the rain on the way home from
it's
very
first showing. It was gone forever. More can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/bergens-rsi-500whp-8v-245-wagon.222027 |
| Here's a 1979 242 that has been built
up over several years by Mike K of Granville, Massachusetts. His
build thread has a lot of detail and Mike has created a beautiful car
inside and out from the once former neglected hooptie stored in a barn
for 20 years by the previous owner. There is a lot of cool
technical stuff for those who are into building up turbo B230s. More can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/mike-ks-79-242-barn-car-revival.290558 |
       |
| I have a
soft place in my heart for black 242 Turbos. This 1983
example is owned by Dave in Fort Collins, Colorado. It's a great
looking car and his detailed Turbobricks thread is one I
have visited often. Dave's innovation and attention to detail is
a
pleasure to look at. At this writing this car had an electric
powered steering pump retrofitted from a Toyota MR2 and both an
HE351CW turbocharger AND an M90 Eaton supercharger from a 1990s Jaguar
XJR. More can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/242-build.88662. Unfortunately this thread suffered from Photobucket's photo extortion massacre in mid 2017 and the photos are GONE. |
    
|
| Here's a very nice '82 240 Turbo owned
by Bob George in Vermont. His build thread began in 2008 and
contains a lot of great photo details and modification ideas, such as
hiding the under hood wiring and installing coil-overs. More can be found in his thread here: turbobricks.com/bob-georges-82-242-turbo-project.157240. |
| This is the first V8 powered
Volvo I featured
here several years ago.
This ultra-clean 1982 242 DL was owned by Michael Yount of Charlotte,
North Carolina. The first V8 conversion was done using a Ross
Converse
kit
prior to 1996 with a 1991 Ford 5.0L. In 2016 Michael
changed the motor to a Chevy LS3. The transmission is a T-5Z (5 speed
manual). Rear end is a Ford 8.8 with 3.55 gears and Truetrac
differential. The wheel/tire
combo is 17 x
8 Voxx wheels with 235/45-17 tires. Stopping is done by 12 inch front
discs
with Wilwood brakes. The air conditioning was a complete redo using components from Classic Auto Air and Michael says he got very nice, cold 36 degree vent temps. More info on this AC conversion can be found at: https://www.240turbo.com/classicair.html This car was sold in March 2023 for (at the time) a record amount for a 240. The below Bring A Trailer link offers more about the car. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-volvo-240-20/ |
| This is a
1981 242 DL built in 2012 by Sean Fogli (Hackster) of Portland, Oregon.
The color is Scotia Blue, a color I'm fond of, because my old 1980 242 DL
was this same color. It might not have been so special except for the
exceptionally done Chevy LM7 V8 transplant (5.3 liter). I saw
this car in person (when I took the above pics) at the May 2012 annual RSI Picnic in Portland,
Oregon. I was really
taken by the clean under hood detail. This is the kind of stuff that
makes a 2,000 plus mile round trip worth it. The transmission is
a T56 6-speed. It was chosen over other options for the nicer
highway gas mileage possibilities. Like most project cars, it had a few changes as time went on, like the wheels. If you're a fan of stuff like this, you'll love the detailed Turbobricks build thread Sean posted: turbobricks.com/hacksters-daily-driver-242-lq4-and-t56.255021 In 2014 the car was sold to a new owner in Florida. As of December 2014: New owner began his own continuation build thread with more cool things to see, now including a turbo: turbobricks.com/blue-ls-t56-from-pdx-to-fla.304035. Here's a YouTube video published in April 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rGzQgja7W0 And the owners videos are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA8tY2CdR8s |
| This
magnificent 1984 245 Turbo is owned by Paul Schuh of Maryland.
Paul bought this car new in January 1984 in Portland, Oregon, where he
lived at the time. In
all these years he has only managed to put 23,000 miles on the car
(almost all of that in the first couple years). Years later
he began
slowly modifying the crap out of it and it soon became one of the most
modified 240's in the country. It has a brand
new custom 2.7 liter (2740 cc) stroker motor with a 16 valve head from Unitek&ST in Sweden. The
motor is capable of delivering over 600 RWHP. Also
from Unitek&ST is an M47 racing gearbox (5 speed close ratio) with
straight cut gears and no synchros! More on this car can be found at turbobricks.com/1984-245t-mlpt-b274ft-project.101844. |
| This beautiful 1983 242 Turbo Flathood was built by Jay Chee of SoCal (with my help) between 2000 and 2004. This car has a lot of work and a lot of money into it. All that shiny stuff under the hood is chrome. No polished aluminum anywhere. Even all aluminum parts were chromed. While the engine on the inside is a pretty standard B21FT, it has some mods which helped it run very well, such as an IPD turbo cam, later EFI intake manifold and later exhaust manifold with Mitsubishi turbo from an 850R. Jay lived a short distance from me during these years and he spent a lot of weekends in my garage while we made this car exceptional. Some of the notable additions: Bross body kit imported from Sweden, genuine Volvo Polaris 17 inch rims which were polished, and a lightweight all aluminum hood and trunk lid, which cost a fortune to have shipped from overseas. This car won a number of awards at many California Volvo shows. Jay sold the car in 2009 and reportedly it remains in SoCal, although I never saw it surface again after 2009. |
| Here's a 1980 242 DL
owned by Tim Otters of Whittier, California. He bought the car
new in 1980 and
has logged over 400,000 miles as a daily driver. Is it MODIFIED?
Just a little. I'll
put it
this way: Tim has found no limits to his imagination when
it comes to
modifications. The photos on the right are some of the numerous later versions. It
sports a 2.7 liter stroked 4 cylinder with a supercharger and a Garret
T-4 turbo. The motor began as a typical B21FT. As you can see it has a
top mounted intercooler. Fuel is
supplied by a digital programmable injection system from Simple Digital
Systems (SDS). After destroying some M46's, Tim fitted a
Promotion T5 transmission (rated at over 750 lb. torque)
and a Strange Engineering Ford 9-inch torsen-locking rear with 4.30
gears. There are very few things on this car that can still be
considered conventional. The car has been
dyno'd at 267 RWHP and 382 lbs. torque. Wheels are 17 x 9
front and 17 x 10.5 rear. Tires are 235/40's and 315/35's. Tim's 242 received the First Place Award for a Modified 200 Series at the 2006 VCOA West Coast Meet in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He continues to take it on roads trips to Volvo meets all over. A detailed article on this full evolution of Tim's car was published in 2021: https://drivetribe.com/p/this-supercharged-242 |
| "Tuff240" as this car became known as, was
built around 1999-2000 by Patrick Dickman of Central California. This
1982 242 started out as an ordinary DL and it eventually became a modified 240
legend. I first met Patrick (and this car) at the 2000
VCOA West Coast National Meet in Rancho Cordova, CA. This
car
received a second place award in the Modified 240/260 class. He also
brought it out to the Thunderhill track day that weekend. Even
though the engine was still the old B21F (non-turbo), he blew away
everyone else with some truly fast driving talent. Back then VCOA
actually recorded competitive lap times for the track day and then presented awards for the results. Patrick took
first
place with the fastest lap times of the day. As you can see in these photos, all taken many of years ago, the car went through a few changes, eventually getting a turbo motor and and a flat-nose hood and grill. A few years later Patrick sold the car to someone in the Pacific Northwest and it disappeared for a long time. In 2009 Patrick re-located the car and bought it back. It hadn't been very well taken care of, so he's now put it away until it's time for it to be restored again. This 240 was considered to be one of the best sorted and coolest modified Volvos in its day and it was always a big crowd-pleaser at west coast Volvo meets. |
| This 1982
242 Turbo was built and formerly owned by Doug Kauer of Northern
California. Doug put a ton of time and money into it, making it
into a very fast and nice looking performer. The huge Holset
turbo, which looked enormously out of place in the engine bay, was
capable of supplying
more boost than the engine could use. I don't know
how well the car drove on the street, but it could
fry the tires at a whim and turn mid-13 second quarter mile
times. The car put down some lead-foot satisfying
horsepower. The most important 240 contribution Doug made with this car was his pioneering effort in 2003/2004 of adapting a Ford T5 transmission to a Volvo 4-cylinder bell housing. It solved problems for many 240 builders (myself included) who were hopelessly tortured by fragile Volvo transmissions. If this transmission swap interests you, here's a great web page made by another person back in the day: http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/t5swap.html. Or you can see my page on T5 swaps that I made more recently: https://www.240turbo.com/T5.html. Doug was a pioneer in 240 performance mods in 2003 to 2005. This car was then sold to another Volvo enthusiast on the East Coast. If you would like to read more information on the build of this car, check out the Turbobricks Projects and Restoration Forum at turbobricks.com/project-swedish-pony-car-242tic.45457 and turbobricks.com/1982-242ti-clubvolvo-com-project-car.42863. |
| This 1976 245 was owned by Victor Kaplin of Southern California. These photos go back a bit... they were taken at local Southern California shows in 2000 and 2001. Victor had a knack for making this non-turbo Volvo run really well. At the time, with it's manual transmission, it could easily keep up with stock turbo cars. If you look closely, you'll notice the K-Jet fuel distributor is in a very different position than stock and it feeds into a 240 Turbo intake manifold. He also had a good eye for visual customization. The one-piece headlights were from a GM car. Victor moved to the Camarillo area years ago and I lost track of him and this car. In 2010 I learned that the car had been parted out and was gone forever. |
VOLVO CLUB OF VICTORIA
Here's a very nice Volvo enthusiast club web page that showcases lots of member's Volvos. It's a nice read if you haven't seen it.
https://volvovic.org.au/
Speedhunters is mostly known for light reading about modified cars without a lot of technical details about them, but if you're in the mood to browse their Volvo collections, here are some.
https://www.speedhunters.com/2015/04/brick-heaven-our-top-volvo-240-picks-from-elmia/
|
A
Used
Volvo for your Teen Driver?
If you had
to guess, what age-group
of drivers is most likely to smash the family car? That's easy…
law enforcement knows it . . . your insurance company knows it . .
. I'm sure you do too. The answer is your 16 year old teen driver!
Compared with adult drivers, teen drivers have much higher crash rates,
even when teens drive much less than adults. Based on crashes of
all severities, a 16 to 19 year old is four times as likely to crash a car compared to a driver 20 and older. The risk is
highest for a 16 year old.(Surviving Teen Drivers) So, as a responsible parent, is it possible to crash-proof your kids? Should you run out and buy the biggest land-yacht you can find to protect them? Do you keep them from driving a car at all? Having raised four kids and having dealt with this issue several times over, I've learned some things. I've been a Volvonut for a long time and I've owned more than 10 of them. I'll share some ideas with you. Most people have heard about how Volvos have been safe cars for a long time. Volvo has employed a lot of well-educated engineers, who have come up with a some great safety features. Here are just a few important safety features that were introduced by Volvo over the years: 1944 - Laminated windscreen 1959 - Three-point seat belts 1960 - Padded instrument panel 1966 - Twin-circuit triangular braking system, Crumple zones 1967 - Seat belts in the rear 1968 - Head restraints in front 1969 - Three-point inertia-reel seat belts in the front 1972 - Three-point seat belts in the rear, Child-proof door locks 1973 - Energy-absorbing steering columns 1974 - Energy-absorbing bumpers, Gas tanks relocated forward for enhanced safety 1984 - Anti-locking brakes 1986 - Brake lights placed at eye level, Three-point seat belt in the middle of the rear seat 2002 - ROPS (Roll-Over Protection System) for their SUV (XC90) 2006 - Proximity collision warning with automated brake support 2007 - Lane Departure Warning 2009 - City Safety: Automatically stops at speeds below 19 mph if obstruction is detected (XC60) 2010 - Pedestrian Detection with auto braking (S60) So is safety a chief concern in your decision? Are there other factors involved when trying to pick out a car for a young driver? Of course there are... but economics will play a part too. First, a little more about safety. Does BIG equal Safe? When it comes time to decide on a car for your teen, what factors will you use? Your decision might be based on several needs, such as Safety, Reliability, Economy, Safety, and Safety. But your teen might have his or her own ideas. Their goal might be, for instance; Style, Power, Music, Style and Style. Who wins? Well, YOU of course, since you're the one with the car. Should we consider that a larger vehicle just might make the difference in a collision between serious injury or walking away unhurt? Between life and death? Will a little extra metal make the difference? Should you consider a car that isn't so small that your kids will automatically lose if they get into a crash, especially if they get t-boned by a larger vehicle. Hopefully, your buying decision isn't based on mere cost. If crash-test ratings is something to consider, keep this in mind.... Very small cars are being awarded very high crash-test scores. How is this possible? It's possible because those compact cars you see with "five star" ratings are only being judged in how well they protect your kids in a crash with a similar sized vehicle. If a Smart car had to be rated in a crash against an SUV, all Smart cars would be rated ZERO. Keeping the above information in mind, you might be interested in what the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has to offer. They publish some interesting test results that might be useful. Their data can give you an idea of the saftey ratings of most cars and trucks, as well as projected insurance losses relative to inury or damage for most makes and models (this last one is key to your insurance costs). This data, however, may be more relative to newer cars, since most of the easy to find data at IIHS is for cars made in approximately the last 6 to 12 years, not so much for older cars. If you're thinking you should just go BIG and get an SUV, it may not always be such a good idea for a teen driver either. Even if an SUV shows a lower fatality rating, some of them might be quite a handful to an inexperienced driver in an emergency situation. Many SUVs are required to carry a label (usually on the visor) warning that "abrupt maneuvers should be avoided" or a catastrophic roll-over might happen. In other words, don't turn sharply. A Volvo SUV (or similar class type) might be an exception, since from their beginning, Volvo SUVs have been equipped with Volvo's Roll Stability Control. This RSC uses a sophisticated gyro sensor to identify a potential rollover situation. If the RSC senses such an event, it becomes active and literally takes control of the gas and brakes, applying them in such a way to avert a rollover and keep you driving straight. But maybe you're super-human and you think you can maintain control just as well as this robot car can. I'm here to tell you that unless you've figured out how to apply your brakes so that any one of your four wheels can brake independently of the others, you won't be able to do what this system can. I've seen it in action during severe testing and it works amazingly well. Is Safe Always Boring? Many drivers think so. This will be especially true for young, trendy teen drivers who know everything. The idea of a Volvo as a first car was not even close to the top of any list my teens had in mind. So, will a Volvo be a boring car for a teen? Maybe, but here's economics lesson #1.... Safe cars are NOT boring to insurance companies who base their rates, in a large part, on the safety features of the car you drive. But can there be that much difference in real-world auto insurance prices? When I was looking for insurance quotes for my new teen drivers, I found some interesting things. Newer vehicles generally cost a lot more to insure than older ones. This is partly because it's more expensive to fix them when they crash. The differences can be surprising. For older Volvos in particular, I have found auto insurance rates to be much, much less. Often more than 50% less, when compared to a newer car. And while on the subject of insurance costs, are you aware how much insurance for the same coverage varies state by state. It varies a lot! Here's an interesting article on that and you can also find out if you live in a cheap state or expensive state: As boring as a Volvo might seem to some (mostly I think to those who don't own one), you might be pleasantly surprised to know there is quite a following that is growing among younger drivers. A following I rarely saw when I was pushing old 240s on my kids. The internet is full of places where Volvos are getting great reviews by younger people, so if you go the same route as I did, you might have an easier sell. Pleasant Side-Effects: Valuable Lessons in Responsibility and Maturity: Since auto insurance prices can be so significant, especially for a young driver, I tried an idea that I though might help. As each teen approached that magical driving age, I sat them down and told them I would buy them (or hand down) a very nice used Volvo. This gift, I explained, came with some conditions. One such condition was that they would learn to pay a bill. They would know well in advance that their portion of paying for a car was the monthly insurance bill (having it billed monthly made it easier to understand than a few times per year). Each teen readily agreed to this, probably because getting a car was all they could see in their starry eyes. This agreement was reinforced with the understanding that I was counting on them to be fiscally responsible and that a default in their insurance payment would definitely result in their car being parked. They also understood that if they became an irresponsible driver and smashed the car, the increase in insurance premiums would directly affect their finances. I found this agreement worked quite well. And as they grew older, I found they had developed other positive attributes, such as an increased sense of fiscal responsibility and learning to plan ahead. These were lessons in maturity, which I found were putting them years ahead of most of their friends who weren't made to be responsible for things like insurance bills. Speed Kills: Common sense tells us that when cars go too fast, crashes tend to go up. Here's a question to ponder: If your teen's car is better handling than others, or more powerful, or generally more capable of dealing with risky maneuvers without losing control, will that encourage your kids to take even more risks? I'm not sure if there's an easy answer, but I do believe some restraint needs to be administered to achieve a good balance between, for instance; a rocket ship and a slug-mobile. Since I already knew Volvos had pretty good handling from the start and I believed in good handling and good brakes, I always liked making them better for my teens by adding larger anti-sway bars, sport springs, high-performance shocks and better brake pads from places like iPd. As for the speed and power department... I like that too, but I'm no idiot. I was a teen driver once and if my parents knew 10% of the land speed records I set in their cars, I'd still be grounded. Making an Impression in their Mushy Little Brains: There are lots of stories about teaching kids to drive. One I like to share is how I made them "earn" the privilege of driving FORWARD. That's right. Once they had a driving learning permit in hand, my kids spent a considerable amount of time driving in reverse. Not on the streets, though. I would take them to empty parking lots and carefully instruct them on reverse driving techniques, explaining how most low-speed accidents happened while backing. I made them pay attention by finding obstacles they had to maneuver around or by directing them to back into parking spaces, while staying evenly between the lines and stopping just shy of the bump-stops without bouncing off of them. After a few days of only driving in reverse, they had more reverse driving skill than most experienced drivers. The path I chose: My teens were given non-turbo 240s (and one got a non-turbo 740), which meant they could still get on the freeway without being embarrassed, but they would never win a drag race. The photo you see above was the result of another driver pulling out in front of my 16 year old daughter. That collision was estimated at more than 50 mph. She was able to walk away with only a few bumps and bruises. My teens survived well…. and so did I.
|
PAST VOLVOS CONTINUED FROM MAIN PAGE |
A funny thing
happened about the time I bought this
245.... It was 1997 and I just got the internet. I soon
discovered other Volvo people out there who also
had the internet. Turbobricks
was a brand new concept back then and I remember spending hours
reading the email digests
(that was
the early version of TB). I
learned an enormous amount from others who shared
their 240 experiences. The original
Turbobricks email
list is now extinct. As great as that old list was, the latest Turbobricks
forum
is much better. I'm
still learning about these cars. (or sometimes re-learning stuff I had
forgotten).You'll notice that my 245 began to move away from the original stock wagon look. I made a few cosmetic and functional adjustments. The first major step was the elimination of the old original wagon roof rack, which was done by a body shop (all holes welded shut and the roof repainted to match). Pretty early on I exchanged the original "coffin" hood for a flat hood and matching flat grill, both of which came from a junked ’83 242 Turbo SE “flathood” I stumbled across in a salvage yard one day. The "Flathood" (sometimes known as a "Flatnose"), was a special edition 242 Turbo built in 1983 for the North American market. Volvo built 500 of them to satisfy the FISA racing requirements for factory homologation for European Touring Car Group A racing. The most notable racing series was the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). More info on Volvo's Group A racing effort with this car can be found here: Volvo 240 Group A Racing. I prefer the look of this sleeker nose over the original North American import raised hood. And of course, the headlights were eventually changed to the European (E-Code) lamps. They work so much nicer than the original US DOT approved lights. In 1998 the internet supplied the connections which helped me import the Bross body kit shown in these photos, originally obtained from Hallsjo Styling of Sweden. It's no longer available from them and it became impossible to find for a few years. It was then offered by some other companies in Europe, however I think they may have vanished long ago. |
  This car was originally equipped with an automatic transmission and I considered my options for something that would hold up to more power. I settled on a custom prepared Volvo AW-71 auto trans built by Art Carr Racing Transmissions (later California Performance Transmissions) in Huntington Beach, CA. The transmission was prepared in the same way they built custom Toyota AW transmissions for off-road racing, so I had high hopes for it. Once installed, the new drivetrain seemed to run pretty well, logging a zero to 60 time of below 6 seconds while running about 14 pounds of boost. But from the beginning I felt the new motor was not running to its desired potential. The ignition was still stock and I remember spending a lot of time trying to get the primitive mechanical boost retard system to mesh well. It never did. As is always the case with modified cars, it's never enough. In 2003 I upgraded the existing SDS fuel injection to include a crank-triggered ignition system that was fully programmable. It helped a lot. I also installed a coil-over spring package I got from MVP (no longer available). I was very impressed with the handling improvement. Things were stiffened up a bit. I opted for 200 lb. front springs and 175 lb. rears, since this car was still a daily driver. I had a chance to take the car to some VCOA track days at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California and the coil-overs really seemed to make the handling better for the car. There are more photos of this installation in my 245 Spec Sheet Page.  
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After experiencing problems with the suped up AW-71
transmission (it started slipping and then failed at 11,000 miles!), I
decided in 2004 that I was long overdue for a manual
transmission. The Volvo M46 manual (4 speed plus OD), which
was
normally optioned in a 240 Turbo, would not do. The M46 is
well
known for breaking when
subjected to higher torque
levels. By this time I had found my stroker motor was making
well over 300 lbs. of torque at the wheels. Once again, the guys
on
the Turbobricks
forum came
though and led me
to a great transmission swap based on the Ford T5 gearbox. I chose a new Ford Motorsport T5-Z five-speed gearbox from Summit Racing. This gearbox is rated at 330 lbs. of torque and typically survives behind V8 engines with much more than that, so I felt it would be sufficient. It was mated to a modified Volvo M46 bell housing with an aluminum adapter plate. Doug Kauer’s 242 Turbo (you can find it here) was the original Guinea pig for this conversion and it worked so well for him that I had to try it for myself. Strangely, I had never owned a manual transmission Volvo before this, mainly because I never found the right one when hunting for them. I never knew what I was missing. The increased control and fun factor was no real surprise as I had owned other manual trans cars over the years. The jump in fuel mileage was a pleasant surprise. I knew it would increase a little, as I was used to gas mileage figures in the 16 to 18 MPG range. I suddenly found the car getting 26 plus MPG on the highway... exceptional considering the bigger displacement and my lead foot. I was also surprised at how much cooler the engine ran. The manual trans puts a LOT less demand on the motor. |
A car
like this is NEVER done.... so to keep that concept
alive, in 2004 I
installed some
nice big
front brakes. These were adapted from a 2004-2007 S60R.
The
photo at left is the mock-up a friend (Paul Jones) and I put together
using a junkyard strut assembly, before
actually installing the brakes.
The aluminum adapter brackets were designed by Travis Kijowski
in
Maryland. I had the pleasure of putting
together the first 240 on the planet
with R brakes. The
installation of 13 inch front rotors and big 4-piston calipers from the
‘R’ really
transformed the braking on this car. More info and photos about
how and why I did this can be
found in my 240
Big Brakes Page.While my 245 eventually stopped being a daily grocery getter, it was still very much a road trip machine. I made quite a few long trips to Volvo meets and shows in California and Arizona, Oregon and Washington and it never stranded me. With so many modifications, I crossed my fingers each time. In the summer of 2003 I drove this car 1,100 miles each way to the West Coast National Volvo Owners Meet in Olympia, Washington. It won First Place and Best of Show in the modified division that year. See those awards here: https://www.240turbo.com/specsheet245.html. |
| My first 240: 1983 240 DL. I bought this DL in 1990. It was in exceptional condition with only 50k miles. I drove this car for 6 years and over 100k miles. These photos show what was left of it after a crash involving my 16 year old daughter. The other driver pulled out in front of her and she broad-sided the other car (a Chevy Caprice) at more than 50 mph. Fortunately she was able to walk away with only a few bumps and bruises.  |
    The first two pics above were
taken
right
after it was towed home and dropped in my
driveway. The next pics were more
recent after applying brand new
paint (Volvo
139
Scotia Blue), later 1984 bumpers, black turbo
beltline
trim, new black trim above the bumpers
and around the windows, later style headlights (Cibie hi-wattage E-code), a "new"
junkyard
cloth interior, a nice "new" uncracked dash, freshly powder-coated
Virgos, full iPd suspension (IpD
sport
springs, 25mm sway bars and Bilsteins HD shocks), all new suspension
bushings, and lots of other
nice goodies. |
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OTHER
VOLVOS FROM THE PAST
 <<< Here's a pic
of my very
first Volvo . . .
a black 1988 760
Turbo. I
bought it brand new from the showroom floor of Riverside Volvo in
Riverside, CA in March 1988.
I
later added 100 watt
killer driving lamps,
Fittipaldi 15 x 7 wheels (they were the
hot ticket back then and nearly the ONLY
aftermarket wheel available for a
Volvo at the time), iPd
anti-sway bars (with the rear IRS type bar that's no longer offered),
and
a
factory Volvo rear
trunk-lid spoiler, which I got the dealer to throw in for free. It
was a
very nice car, but it did develop a few imperfections later. Less than a year after I bought it, this car suffered badly from the well known door panel problem, where the vinyl at the top of the door panels would shrink and peel back. This car came with a 12 month bumper-to-bumper warranty. After 12 months it only had a limited power-train warranty. I was a few weeks late getting the car in for its 12 month service and I showed them the bad door panels. The dealer agreed to talk with their Volvo factory rep. Volvo responded that they would NOT cover the defect. I couldn't believe it. The dealer then "generously" offered to sell me new door panels for $400 each. Dicks! I had a neighbor who worked at another dealer, Orange County Volvo (in next county over). He also couldn't believe Volvo refused the repair, since this was an EXTREMELY common problem with the 700 series and Volvo always replaced the door panels on a car this new. He did some checking for me and called me a couple days later. He said their Volvo factory rep had reversed the previous decision and authorized the replacement of the bad door panels without any hesitation. |
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 <<< Here's a red
1990 740 Turbo
I bought used in 1996 in San Diego with 60,000 miles. It also
soon became
blessed
with IPD sport springs,
25 mm sway bars and Bilstein HD shocks. It was a great driver and it
handled beautifully. The auto transmission failed at 100k
miles. That was expensive. It eventually got traded
in
2002 for a new S40 for my wife, which was pretty flawless for the 3 years we kept it. |
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NOT
MADE LIKE THEY USED TO BE
Here's the
2005 S40 T5
I bought new in mid-2005 after trading in my previous 2002
S40.
 This 2005 S40 was a pretty
nice car in the beginning,
but not nearly as trouble free as the 2002 S40. The 2005
suffered from
electrical failures
(sensors,
ECUs, etc.) and motor mount failures. The last electrical
failure,
about a month before the end of the four year warranty, stranded my
wife in
a less-than-nice part of town. She was NOT a happy camper! After the car was towed to Volvo,
the service manager showed me the invoice for the repairs being covered by Volvo. The cost was $3500. This was NOT a car you wanted to keep past the 4 year warranty! It got traded away just before the warranty expired. |
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S40 Chassis Rear Suspension Design Issues
This 2005 S40
suffered from what I
believe was a mis-engineered
rear suspension geometery. It allowed for too much
rear negative
camber, which had a nasty habit of destroyed tires prematurely.
I discovered this in December 2007 in the above car just after the 30,000 miles dealer service was completed. The first set of tires had gone nearly bald in on the inside before 15,000 miles. Then shortly after having the 30,000 mile service done, I discovered the second set of tires was ruined too. This second set were very good tires with a 40,000 mile warranty. When I looked closer, I discovered the extreme wear on the insides of the rear tires (see photos). These tires had been getting regular rotations every 5000 miles by the Volvo dealer since we bought the car. Since
these tires were getting rotated to rear to front to rear regularly,
this means these tires were destroyed by the rear suspension in far less
than 15,000 miles!
No one at the dealer seemed to notice the inside tread area on two of
the
tires was
worn slick by the time the 30,000 mile service (and a tire
rotation) was done a few days before taking the below photos.
The 40,000 mile tread-wear warranty on those tires was voided because of the defective suspension. |
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 This is how it was
discovered. This pic above shows one front and one rear tire after 15,000 miles
of use.
The middle and outside tread still had 60-70% left, but the inside tread on this REAR tire was worn SLICK. |
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So . . . After buying and installing the THIRD set of tires in 30,000 miles, I took the car back to the Volvo dealer. After showing them the above photos, I asked them to check
the rear alignment. After they said they "checked", the
service manager told me the camber settings for all four tires was "all within factory
spec." When
I asked him to tell me
what the camber measurement actually was, he had to send the car back and put it on the rack again to check.
REAR CAMBER: It measured negative 2.1 degrees on both rear wheels (that is definitely EXCESSIVE camber. This amount of camber is and was visibly obvious when you viewed the rear of the car). From what the service manager claimed, Volvo considered up to negative 2.5 degrees to be acceptable for this model to be "within spec." I think this was a a bunch of CRAP! If not, it's irresponsible to tell people that kind of camber setting is acceptable. The rear camber on a Volvo S40 is not adjustable or correctable without changing suspension parts. I was really disappointed when the service manager again insisted that they considered the camber on my car to be just fine and there was nothing that could be done. FRONT CAMBER: They checked the front camber too. It was negative 1.0 degree, which is closer to what the rear suspension should have been. Since this dealership was rotating my tires every 5000 miles, I asked the service manager if their technicians should have noticed the tread on the tires was worn smooth on the inside? He wouldn't give me an answer. SURPRISE! It quickly became evident that not all Volvos with this same chassis had this same issue. While at the dealer waiting, I spotted an identical 2005 S40 pulling into the service area, so I checked it out. I got down behind the car and I could see it obviously did NOT have as much negative camber as mine did. The difference was clearly visible. I closely checked the tires on this other S40 and I could see they were nearly worn out, but they were all EVENLY WORN, not worn on the insides like mine. So I asked the owner about his car. He told me he bought it new in 2005, same year I bought mine. He bought his car several months before I bought mine. He had 40,000 miles on the car and those EVENLY WORN tires were his ORIGINAL TIRES. I brought the service manager outside and showed him this car. I showed him there differences in the camber and tire wear. He acted like he had no clue of the significance, so I collected my car and left. After continuing my research, I discovered through a confidential Volvo insider (it helps to know a few insiders) that Volvo definitely knew about this defect (and YES, it WAS considered a DEFECT). There was even a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) in existence (but no recall was ever initiated). According to the TSB, the fix for this problem was a new, re-engineered set of rear control arms that were actually available from Volvo to correct this (obviously common) problem. I again checked with the service manager at my Volvo dealer and he said they knew nothing about a TSB on the issue. After I pointed him in the right direction and showed them the specific information that I had found, he contacted Volvo Corporate and verified the existence of the TSB. After all this, Volvo then agreed to replace the rear control arms free of charge.
While waiting for my
suspension to be fixed I had a
close look at
the new Volvos in the showroom. I found that all of the new (2009) C70s had way too much
rear
camber.
Since the S40 shared the same platform as the later C30, C70 and V50, it turned out that all those cars were all affected too. Volvo never did fix the problem, they just kept producing defective suspensions.
In February 2013 I received an
email from another Volvo owner regarding
this defect:
"I read of your rear alignment issues with your S40 and I had the same experience with a 2010 V50. I just traded that V50 for a 2011 with the T5 and it had the same problem. The local dealer replaced the control arms under warranty. This was also a problem on my wife's 2011 C30 and we just had the dealer replace those control arms under warranty (after buying a new set of tires at 18k miles). Too bad Volvo didn't just fix this one part early on. I know the Mazda 3 (same chassis) has the same problem too." S. R., Nindle, VA Reference Material: Uneven Rear Tire Wear, Correction of Excessive Negative Camber; Retailer Technical Journal RTJ15309-2009-12-16. This RTJ calls for the replacement of the rear upper control arms with PN 31201356, which reduces the camber by ~0.7 deg. It is applicable to: C30 2007-2010, C70 2006-2010, S40 2004.5-2010, V50 2005-2010. In 2012, this RTJ was updated to include the listed models through 2012. A fellow Volvo owner sent me a copy and I have loaded it here for you to read if needed: https://www.davebarton.com/pdf/RTJ15309.pdf Volvo RTJ19674 Wheel Alignment Specifications : https://www.davebarton.com/pdf/RTJ%2019674-2010.pdf Volvo TSB Listings: http://www.carproblemzoo.com/tsb/volvo/ More Volvo TSB Listings: http://www.faqs.org/car/volvo-s40n-2005/ Copies of TSBs may be obtained here (paid subscription required): www.eautorepair.net/app/TSBS |
| 1967 BMW 1600ti Alpina https://www.bmw2002.co.uk/history-of-the-02/alpina-02s/ I bought this car in 1978 for $2800, knowing very little about it at that time. It served as my daily driver for about four years and I sold it in 1982 for $3200. It was not very economical, since any part I needed became an expensive trip to a BMW dealer. Even though it was not a very old car at the time, it needed plenty of expensive parts from time to time. Despite the cost, it was a very fun car to drive. I didn't want to ever sell it, but at the time I had a pregnant wife and we were preparing to buy our first home. A vintage European production racing car with actual racing provenance did not mean nearly as much back then as it does now. If it did, I would have never let this extremely rare item go. Years later I would periodically do internet searches for the car. I was curious if I would ever see it again. Then I found it in the below ad. The below text was taken from the ad when this car last sold in about 2012. 1967 BMW 1600ti/Alpina VIN 1582969. Manufactured 12/8/67; delivered 12/12/67 to dealer Schultz, Frieberg (W.Germany). Authentic, rare BMW 1600ti. Polaris Metallic 060. Sibling class winner Nurburgring inaugural 24hr (Lauda '70). Tight, sounds right. w/quiet cabin, factory sunroof. California blue-plate, circa 81-82. Ex: Tony Oinuma, Peter Boyd. Not officially imported to US. Some Detail: Alpina flares, fitted Alpina roll bar, front struts/brakes, vintage BBS-Mahle-BMW (marked) 13x6 wheels, 205x60x13 Yoko’s A-008, long studs & shoulder nuts (no spacers!) 2 piece airdam, 2.0 Top End Performance motor w/ E-12 head, no leaks/smoke, very strong, smooth, ez start/idle, responsive power throughout rev range, dual 45mm DCOE Webers, Warneford manifold, step header, 2.5" exhaust, Ti(i) mechanical advance dist, underbody fuel pump, uprated radiator w/shroud, coolant recovery, new WP & hoses, quick ratio steering box, 3.90 long-neck lsd w/new pinion seal, rebuilt half-shafts & d/s; new: engine mounts, voltage reg, battery, struts & mounts, shocks, rebuilt starter & alternator. BMP aux cluster w/VDO gauges, Hella H-4 headlamps, performance springs, Ultimate strut/engine brace. Dual circuit power brakes, Alpina expanded calipers, vented sandwich rotors, braided steel flex lines, 250 mm rear drums, HD lower control arms w/new poly bushings (inc radius). Ti(i) boxed trailing arms, poly reinforced rear subframe mounts, new diff carrier bushings, Getrag 5 speed OD (xlnt shifting) hydraulic clutch. Unmolested clean underbody & floors, doors, no rust, perfect (non-perforated & straight) lower front valance and tail panel. Trunk lid replaced complete (spare tire pan & one rocker welded to correct neglect). Otherwise all original panels, original flares reset during restoration, Nardi signed leather wheel, original low-back full recliners, renewed latches, locks, lifts, seals; fresh carpet, seats, factory headliner, ez open sunroof, chrome dash & correct shorty console, Hirschman redtip, euro t/s, Talbots: W. Berlin & Berlin, rechromed correct tight short bumpers (have original center core with 5 holes for rally lights, original KM speedo & aux senders). Solid, no rust. Well sorted, sympathetic restoration/preservation, more. Here are a few of the photos accompanying the ad.
I was able to contact the seller in the above ad and he was able to put me in contact with the new owner, who was a vintage BMW collector in Southern California. in 2013 I paid the new owner a visit. The car was in the process of restoration.   |
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