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Anyone ever fitted a towbar to an early 70? The mechanical part looks okay but I'm not sure about the electrics.
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Sep 14, 2012 20:48
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TheJeffers posted:If you really want a turbo, I'd look for a 940 made after 1993, as those cars got the most refined version of the redblock. I've never missed a manual transmission in my car - Volvo manuals feel like rowing a boat and the automatic keeps the boost going between shifts. Agree that Volvo automatics from that era are surprisingly responsive and shift at all the right points, you won't miss a manual in a 240/740/940 much. The Redblock has great low-end torque (relative to its overall power) so these feel faster than they actually are since most of your driving in DC is going to be under 40 mph, and it helps the turbo from feeling laggy as well. And you can generally find all sorts of them in U-Pick style junkyards - which gives you a chance to practice disassembly on someone's wreck instead of your car, so if you break it you move onto the next one.
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Sep 15, 2012 06:19
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They last as long as any other Volvo bit, too; my dad's 960 has 217k on the original transmission and it still shifts effortlessly.
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Sep 15, 2012 07:34
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Bumping this because I encountered what may turn out to be my first car on the way home tonight. It's a gold 1987 240, with 160k miles, an automatic transmission, and leather interior. It's in very good exterior condition and almost perfect interior condition (the housing on the center brake light is missing). The clearcoat on the roof is a bit patchy, and there's some sort of scratched-up matte black paint strip at the base of the windows, but it's otherwise good. It's $2300; it's in California, so there's little chance of rust. It's been maintained by a mechanic who our family knows for the last three years, and it recently had the timing belt changed. I'm test-driving it tomorrow at 11:00. What should I look out for? atomicthumbs fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Sep 16, 2012 |
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Sep 16, 2012 05:42
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Triple-posting because I just bought my first car, for $2100.  It's actually an '88, the odometer stopped working recently, there's a minor power steering leak, and I'll need to replace the front brake rotors within a year, but I'm already in love with it. 
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Sep 16, 2012 20:34
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That's a clean 240. Odometer gears are cheap and easy, at least. Congrats!
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Sep 16, 2012 20:54
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Most likely buying a first generation s40 2.0t sedan from a friend of mine this week. It's got the typical rust on the fenders around the wheels but other than that it's great and it's fairly cheap to fix. Paying $1500 for it, this is in Sweden so it probably doesn't compare directly to US prices, but I think it's pretty fair. Should be fine, right?
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Sep 16, 2012 20:55
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and now I've ordered a shirt to go with the 240  
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Sep 17, 2012 22:53
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Welcome to the cult. In 20 years you're going to be able to sell that car for $2100 even if you never change the oil in it ever again. Get the steering leak looked at soon, it's very easy to ruin the rack if you let it run totally dry. The matte black strip under the windows exists on (I think) '84-89 cars, but not all of them, and even after studying trim variations through the 240 evolution for twenty five years, I'll be damned if I can figure out if there's a universal rule as to which trim levels got that. Those are GL wheels though! http://www.swedishbricks.net/faq/240.html http://people.physics.anu.edu.au/~amh110/240T_GpA_racing.htm
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Sep 17, 2012 23:40
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Ether Frenzy posted:Get the steering leak looked at soon, it's very easy to ruin the rack if you let it run totally dry. The mechanic who's been maintaining it (and maintains our other volvos) quoted $1100 to replace the rack, which I'm not sure I want to shell out right now. It's a small drip, and the previous owner said he's been adding more power steering fluid every couple of months. We called the mechanic and apparently he told the guy it needed a full front brake job, but he didn't take the mechanic up on it and instead just had the pads replaced by someone else. I'm getting the car later today and when I get it home I'm gonna take a wheel off and examine the rotors.
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Sep 17, 2012 23:46
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As long as you keep fluid in it regularly, it'll be okay probably forever. If you start hearing the power steering pump groaning when you get to the locks, it's time to definitely ensure you've got enough fluid in there, as that's the precursor to ruining the rack.
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Sep 18, 2012 00:05
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Upon inspection, the driver's seat seems to be rotated/tilted slightly. It seems to be a tiny bit too... clockwise, and it's tilted to the right a tiny bit. It's rubbing against the center console. How do I fix this? (pictures of it in the morning, if they'll help).
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Sep 18, 2012 07:51
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Well, an update. I bought the Purple 95 Volvo 940 Wagon. It's NA, and yes it is slow. Thats OK though, I should stop speeding so much, and being in a really slow car should help. It also has the added effect of making my 89 MR2 feel like a rocket-ship when I drive it. The reasons I picked it over the Turbo model: Its 4 years newer. It has a bunch of maintenance records. Including documented timing belt change (~30k mi ago). The interior, while not leather was in much better shape. The paint was in much better shape, it is actually shiny. It has 50k less miles than the other one (not that this matters too much). And best of all I got it for $1000. Now to get it to pass state inspection.... It has a cracked tail light housing (need to hit up the Junk Yard for this) HORRIBLY fogged front lights (I dunno if I want to spend the time sanding them, because the large plastic lens in the front is loose from the housing) And it is leaking a bit of fluid from the powersteering rack (hopefull the Lucas stop leak works on this, it did on my old MR2). I need to replace the water pump as there is a very slight leak from that. Any tips for removing the front seats? I need to clean & lubricate the rails. The drivers seat doesn't slide front or back. Overall, I'm happy & I feel I got a decent deal. I will post pictures as soon as I take some (it's raining now).
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Sep 18, 2012 17:38
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New headlight assemblies are $120 each from rockauto, with bulbs. I think it's worth it for the money - they will look brand new and work well for as long as you own the car. If you can get to all 4 seat bolts then pull it out, otherwise you're going to have to lube it and get it working before you can pull it out. Once you have all 4 bolts out, there are 2 big keyhole pins that hold it down, you have to slide the seat forward I think and then line them up and lift. It can be a bit frustrating.
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Sep 18, 2012 21:36
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Looking at my seats again, I think that it might be normal and I'm just seeing things. Took it out for its first long trip today and found some problems I'm definitly not imagining. The blower fan makes horrible noises (nothing I can easily do about that), it sometimes stays on after I turn the switch to "off", and the car stalls when I try to creep along in reverse, as well as having a slightly low idle otherwise. Are the stuck fan and reverse stalling problems common in 240s? I'm having the mechanic do its minor servicing soon, in any case.
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Sep 19, 2012 01:48
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Pretty Cool Name posted:Most likely buying a first generation s40 2.0t sedan from a friend of mine this week. It's got the typical rust on the fenders around the wheels but other than that it's great and it's fairly cheap to fix. Paying $1500 for it, this is in Sweden so it probably doesn't compare directly to US prices, but I think it's pretty fair. Phase 2 cars are better in every way but I guess if you get a working, albeit rusted 2,0T for 10000 kr or whatever you could do worse. Although if you look around a bit, you can get a S70 for the same money, and I'd say that's a better car in almost every respect.
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Sep 19, 2012 03:17
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Wasn't the first gen S40 essentially a rebadged Mitsubishi?
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Sep 19, 2012 04:14
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atomicthumbs posted:Looking at my seats again, I think that it might be normal and I'm just seeing things. The fan switch is a common problem. Mine is wedged between OFF and 1 to keep it off. My understanding is that the blower motor is one of those mechanical "rites of passage", like the Z car spindle pin, or spark plugs on an LS f-body. For the stalling, check for vacuum leaks such as broken or missing vacuum lines. If there doesn't seem to be any, you should be able to raise the idle with the TB bypass screw.
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Sep 19, 2012 04:25
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Augmented Dickey posted:Wasn't the first gen S40 essentially a rebadged Mitsubishi? Joint design like the BRZ/FR-S as far as I know.
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Sep 19, 2012 14:13
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So I found a 98 V70 base with 208k miles at a local dealer. Looks like it came straight from the auction. Battery was corroded to all hell so it needed jumped, but it ran pretty well. Felt a lot better than my 850 at least. I pulled an evap system and sec. air system code. I haven't looked too deep into the air pump crap, but it seems to be a non-issue for the most part. ABS is out too. Really, the only thing that worries was the half empty quart of advance auto parts DEX/MERC I found in front of the battery. The guy wants $1300 which I think is a pretty decent price. The paint is *glorious*. It's a dark green that's in flawless shape, much better than my 850. I need something a bit less conspicuous for my job doing surveillance than a big ol' red wagon. I get way too committed to buying cars in spite of issues. Would this be a mistake?
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Sep 20, 2012 00:19
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mafoose posted:The fan switch is a common problem. Mine is wedged between OFF and 1 to keep it off. My understanding is that the blower motor is one of those mechanical "rites of passage", like the Z car spindle pin, or spark plugs on an LS f-body. Yep - the 'jam it between OFF and 1' method is the go-to in my car as well. OFF is a lie, it still operates while it's at OFF, which is why it makes that warbling wail of despair. Yours just isn't horrible at the really low speed that OFF actually is, so it seems like it's still running for a while.
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Sep 20, 2012 02:42
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I've never wanted to buy a volvo before, i never paid much attention to them on the road. That is until sifting through this thread. I have to get a new car, mine just broke down. And i have a budget of $9000-$12000. What do you guys think of this? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ctd/3282940463.html Will it reliable? Do Volvo parts cost an arm and a leg? Are they complex to work on? Should i have just shut up and read through all the pages and post? Probably.
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Sep 20, 2012 02:49
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Tree squid posted:I've never wanted to buy a volvo before, i never paid much attention to them on the road. That is until sifting through this thread. I have to get a new car, mine just broke down. And i have a budget of $9000-$12000. What do you guys think of this? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ctd/3282940463.html Wow that does look super clean...I would still have it checked out by a Volvo mechanic though just to be on the safe side. 240s are cheap and plentiful though with the $9-12k range you could probably go a bit more modern if you wanted. I got my 98 V70R for $6k and really like it. It really depends on what style appeals to you.
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Sep 20, 2012 02:55
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Tree squid posted:I've never wanted to buy a volvo before, i never paid much attention to them on the road. That is until sifting through this thread. I have to get a new car, mine just broke down. And i have a budget of $9000-$12000. What do you guys think of this? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ctd/3282940463.html You can get a lot of Volvo for 9-12k. Although super-clean, I would pass on that particular 240 myself. There are better options with both classic Volvos (240 and 740 turbos) and newer Volvos (850s and V70s).
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Sep 20, 2012 03:13
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$9k on a 20 year old tank? Sure they're well built, but that's an insane price! You could get a lot more car for that money. Check the classifieds on the enthusiast's sites. For the most part they're usually more realistic about their prices as far as I've seen.
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Sep 20, 2012 03:49
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If it had super low miles on it I'd say it's worth it, but it doesn't. At that mileage I'd suspect a salvage title and a full repaint and re-do of the interior. The only clue that the car was babied is the door panels and plastic pockets, those get demolished and aren't available, so the fact that they're nice on that car is an indicator that it's in good shape. Still way too much money for a 240. You can get a low mileage late 90's 960 for half that price and have twice the car. With a $12k budget I'd be looking at 04-05 V70s or S60s, or maybe an 05-06 S40/V50.
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Sep 20, 2012 04:17
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That's extremely mint, but also quite a lot of money for a non-rare model. I don't think 143k is really that many miles for a 240, but Lloyd can spot a salvage/repaint better than I would, for sure. Whoever put it back together, if that's what happened, did a great job on the interior. But for price perspective - I bought my '85 in 1995, for $2100, and it had 145k at the time. It looked like that at the time. It's got 298k now and I could probably sell it for $2100. That's the same interior scheme I have, too aside from having cloth seats in mine - the black & tan look sharp.
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Sep 20, 2012 09:47
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Here in the sunny paradise that is Sweden, we pay about 8.2 dollars per gallon for petrol right now. That's why I really really tried to talk my friend out of the idea of buying an XC90 V8. He still did. 2006 XC90 V8 Executive with 150k kilometres (93k miles) on it. Having never even bothered to look at XC90s before, what could I reasonably expect to blow up first (since I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get called in to fix it/help him fix it)?
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Sep 20, 2012 23:35
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for 10k you could get a nice 242 turbo, a 245, and have money left over to maintain them for the next 10 years. That said, I love my 245 (that I paid 2k for and is pristine) and I think you should absolutely buy a cheaper one. here's mine since I don't think I've ever posted it in this thread. 
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Sep 20, 2012 23:58
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Just thought I'd pop in to say I'll be joining the Volvo club soon. I'm in the process of buying a 2007 S60R though due to complications I probably won't have it until the middle of October. I'll come back with photos when I've got it. I decided to go with an automatic because two of the biggest reliability issues with this car (angle gear and slave cylinder failure) are much less common/not an issue on the auto. Plus, well, I don't plan to track the car and I've never owned a manual before. I initially wanted a manual but I almost shied away from this car based on fear of the reliability issues it has. The automatic was a compromise, a bit less performance for a bit more reliability. In any case the particular specimen I have my eye on has 47k miles on it and is in very good condition. This is the first time I've been able to shop for a car for myself with any kind of worthwhile budget and I'm pretty damned excited about it.
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Sep 21, 2012 00:31
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Tree squid posted:I've never wanted to buy a volvo before, i never paid much attention to them on the road. That is until sifting through this thread. I have to get a new car, mine just broke down. And i have a budget of $9000-$12000. What do you guys think of this? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ctd/3282940463.html $10k for an old 240 is outrageous but damned if that thing isn't clean. Did old Volvos always have weird interior door opener levers (not sure what else to call them) like that? Bouillon Rube fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Sep 21, 2012 |
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Sep 21, 2012 02:26
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Yeah, the 740 door handles are just an evolution of the 240 also. They work fine, and it's just cheap plastic snapped over a sheetmetal lever, but it's a comfortable pull.Disgruntled Bovine posted:Just thought I'd pop in to say I'll be joining the Volvo club soon. I'm in the process of buying a 2007 S60R though due to complications I probably won't have it until the middle of October. I'll come back with photos when I've got it. Hot. What color combo? Post pics when you get it, and if you haven't already, join the R forum at swedespeed, it's a very deep well of knowledge of the common problems and some weird ones as well.
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Sep 21, 2012 05:19
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LloydDobler posted:Yeah, the 740 door handles are just an evolution of the 240 also. They work fine, and it's just cheap plastic snapped over a sheetmetal lever, but it's a comfortable pull. And fun everytime someone new gets in the car. There's no good way to explain it to someone fumbling with it either.  Did they change the handle for the 900s?
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Sep 21, 2012 12:55
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Not until 95, when they converted to the 850/x70 style.
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Sep 21, 2012 17:29
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LloydDobler posted:Hot. What color combo? Post pics when you get it, and if you haven't already, join the R forum at swedespeed, it's a very deep well of knowledge of the common problems and some weird ones as well. Titanium with Nordkap interior. I've been on swedespeed for a while now. They've proven an invaluable resource already and if/when I get into modding the car they'll be even more help. Though I don't plan to mod for horsepower, more for reliability and a few toys. I'll definitely post pics when I have them. I've already been to see and drive the car and basically settled on a price but the seller's wife is getting a new job that provides a company car and he's waiting until she has it before he can sell. Disgruntled Bovine fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Sep 21, 2012 |
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Sep 21, 2012 17:35
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Splizwarf posted:And fun everytime someone new gets in the car. There's no good way to explain it to someone fumbling with it either. I don't know why either, it seems relatively intuitive - but I grew up riding in Volvo 240's so maybe I'm biased.
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Sep 23, 2012 03:58
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LloydDobler posted:Not until 95, when they converted to the 850/x70 style. One of my favorite things about the 850 is that the door handles are almost identical to my old Celica's. The only difference is that they pull backwards where the Celica had more of an upward pull. Either way it's always fun to watch someone try to figure out how to open the doors, especially in the dark. Usually I just get out and start walking away, they'll figure it out...eventually.
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Sep 23, 2012 06:51
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well unfortunately the time has come to sell the 240  I just got a new job as a motorcycle mechanic and it's not quite paying the bills yet. I also don't think I'll be doing too well this winter. What are the odds I actually get rid of her for anywhere near my asking price? http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/3292206714.html I've had a couple offers for $300 and $500 respectively. I'm not accepting them since I just spent about $600 in repairs and she runs like a top. 
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Sep 24, 2012 04:26
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Terrible Robot posted:One of my favorite things about the 850 is that the door handles are almost identical to my old Celica's. The only difference is that they pull backwards where the Celica had more of an upward pull. Either way it's always fun to watch someone try to figure out how to open the doors, especially in the dark. Usually I just get out and start walking away, they'll figure it out...eventually. Ha wow, wtf is up with the fluctuation of Volvo prices? Baseline price for the crappiest of 240s in Ohio is $2k. With the prices I've been seeing around here I'd snatch up yours in a heartbeat. I've been trolling craigslist for weeks now looking for a decent example of a 240 or 164 or something neat and old. I may just say gently caress it and pick up that timebomb of a V70. astrollinthepork fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Sep 24, 2012 |
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Sep 24, 2012 05:19
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I would've started at $1200-$1400 to leave talk-down room. Trying to move it quickly, I suppose? e: for reference, a friend of mine (also in the DC suburbs) just sold his in worse overall condition and not startable for $1500. (Not the one we were talking about a couple months ago.) Splizwarf fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Sep 24, 2012 |
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Sep 24, 2012 13:07
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