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Blue 242

linuxman51

Railspeeder Enthusiast #1
300+ Club
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Location
mont, AL
170916654.jpg


So... pre-covid, this was going to be a fun "spring on the guys" at mountain meet kinda thing, me being a notorious 240 hater and all... and I have my reasons, some of which have not yet been exorcised on this particular vehicle.

Astute readers and facebook stalkers are already familiar with this car, as it spent long summers and walks on the beach at chateau howard getting what turned out to be the full workup (and what originally was going to be a "wire it up and get it running" project). At any rate, the owner at the time decided to go another way with his vehicular ambitions about a year after picking the car up. Knowing what he replaced it with, I can't say I blame him at all.. and having ridden in a similar vehicle since then, I wonder why I do these things to myself but then I've made bad car decisions my whole life, why should that change now? :lol:

At any rate, here it is. the blue 242.

170916657.jpg


It has a bespoke go-autoworks intercooler setup that has retained virtually all of the stock cooling system and a/c routing, while having an intercooler that can sit at 20psi for 7-8 seconds in 95 degree weather and only pick up 5 degrees of temperature.

ok fine, enough with the churching it up. I'll just list where it's at now (which is easy because I have a spreadsheet complete with part numbers for almost everything on it)..

ms3pro installed and tuned by yours truely, with front and rear VSS inputs for traction control (or whatever else... boost by gear, simple logging, etc), full flex fuel with table blending, and other more boring things like sequential injection and ignition and boost control
GT3076R
What appears to be an early IPD turbo cam (may verifiy that with the other ipd turbo cam I have on the shelf)
isky double valve springs and retainers
T5 transmission, hydraulic conversion, DSS 1 piece alu driveshaft
TruTrac diff(the high pre-load one)
A smattering of BNE components...
ok fine, almost the full catalog of BNE components... coilovers, billet strutmounts, 2.0 trailing arms, adjustable panhardbar, strut bar, various bushings, I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
Eikers
and various supporting mods (450 in tank pump, ID 1300's, yoshifab CAS, breather, oil cap, and other things)

When it left here, it made somewhere around 330whp on e85. there's been all sorts of talk about what all is in the engine (which looks to be a fairly normal b23, with an aftermarket stock replacement 530 head), but to date I haven't had reason or need to pull the head off and look, so it's anyone's guess. It runs good, smooth, makes good power

and I'm somewhat (but not really) ashamed to admit... it's really a hell of a lot of fun to drive.
Fret not, fellow 7/900 folks, I am not reducing that side of the fleet (it's going to replace the R, so... you know, just another fancy p2 on the market lol), and I still fit better in those cars.. but a nice 242 is a hard thing to say no to, especially if you know where all of the bodies are burried.

immediate plans:
get this tank of gas burned (it's half fresh e85 now) and get it back on the dyno, verify everything. won't likely turn the wick up on it any further right now.
sort out the two annoying oil leaks.. valve cover, and what looks to be the breather plate

pull the dash, fix the heat, and replace the a/c system with one from a newer 240. I absolutely have to have a/c if I'm going to do much more than drive the car in the fall/winter/early spring... and it's too much fun to leave parked for 6 months (that's an alabama heat joke, but the heat here is no joke).

I'll also be procuring an 8v lower half of the kl racing plenum setup to go with the 16v one I bought recently... some of you may already see where this will ultimately end... but hopefully that part of this car's life is a few years out. The eventual plan will probably include the old stroker crank from the gold car, and a modest 16v setup (because... I mean it's what I do). For those who are suddenly asking about the gold car's future engine... worry not about that, it will not want for development of the blue car.


but hey I finally have an apropos platform to put my "swedish racing green" sticker on.

I'll have to dig around and drum up all the old pictures and videos, it was fairly well documented but at the time it wasn't my build, so I didn't post a bunch on my pbase.

some old stuff:
https://youtu.be/VWbU3Q361Ig

shortly after the first start (lol nitrous)
https://youtu.be/cPvCSWy2ehU
 
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Also if you finger out how to get the head to not make kissy kissy with the firewall AC lines let me know.

Also also you will want tintz as 242s are literal greenhouses. 3M makes a film that is virtually transparent and does a marvelous job at keeping the interior livable. The TSX waggo has it and I cannot wait to put it in my garbage.
 
^Pretty much anything 240 is that way. But, yes, especially 242 and 244 sedans. The darker the paint color, the hotter the car is inside.

Anyway, Kenny, welcome to the 242 world...
 
What did you do for the VSS signal on the front? Are you running ABS strut housings?

Welcome to the 242 world.

Jordan
 
What did you do for the VSS signal on the front? Are you running ABS strut housings?

Welcome to the 242 world.

Jordan

yeah abs strut housing on the front. there was a donor car involved...

Nice. Another fellow scotia blue. It?s an 81 right? I have the same black headlight doors.

Haven't decoded the vin yet, and I think the sticker is missing on the door.. soooo I dunno? it's got the older style tail lights, but that may not mean anything.
 
yeah abs strut housing on the front. there was a donor car involved...



Haven't decoded the vin yet, and I think the sticker is missing on the door.. soooo I dunno? it's got the older style tail lights, but that may not mean anything.


I'd probably look at the data plate on the strut tower or on the body where the passenger door hinges are mounted. The Bosch tails were used through 1983 in the US, with some very early 1984 models getting them as well.


Year codes are:


A = 1980 (VIN will be VC24245A1xxxxxx, instead of YV1AX452xB1xxxxxx)
B = 1981
C = 1982
D = 1983
etc...


Since it has the later dash, it's most likely a 1981 or a 1982. With respect to the headlamp bezels, some early 1982 cars had the GTX-style grilles below the headlamps.
 
If you need any additional beautification on it let me know

the temptation for a repaint is strong... not that the stuff that's there won't clean up, but I'm pretty sure the front driver's fender isn't original, and there's little things here and there that I wouldn't normally care about, but the damn thing is a lot nicer than my other usual aquisitions lol
 
That paint should buff out pretty good actually

I’d love to do another Group-A ish 242. It’s not to bad to do really.
Here’s a short list of parts needed and where to find them.
Early Flat hood (I know where a bunch of these are)
Late model 86+ fenders (PAP)
Late model 86+ E-codes and turns (PAP)
Late model 86+ Lower front panel (PAP)
Group-A or late model egg crate flat hood grille (Here or eBay)
Short bumpers (PAP)
6 panel tail lamps (PAP or eBay)

It’d be funny to see you in a super cool looking, as well as performing, 240.
 
For those who have gone the truetrac route, does it do strange things in reverse? this thing seems to jump around on engagement going into reverse (far more so than going forward). if I can slip it in quick, it'll behave but if I'm turning (backing out of a parking space, for instance) it does all kinds of crazy things... is that a pre-load deal where it's binding both axles like a locker/spool?
 
That sounds like loose diff flange bolts to me. Mine binds a little only when accelerating out of turns from a stop.
 
nothing seemed amiss when I had it on the lift last week, at least not in that regard
 
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