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The unwanted LS 240

TuxedoS60

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2019
Location
Walla Walla, WA
Welp. I messed up. You're probably wondering how I got here...

Been a Volvo fan since the day I could drive. Got into 240s last year and was HOOKED and have been buying way more than my fair share. Recently my local friend has been LS swapping his 240 and completing a build thread as well. (I'm sure he will comment at some point to which I will point him out)

My luck with buying Volvos ran out and I bought......... this...

A 242 listed on craigslist for a whopping $350. Sketchy photos that barely showed the car and or were out of focus, and it was 3.5 hours away... one way.

So I told him I would buy it - thats where it all went wrong.

I asked my other Volvo addicted buddy to come get it with me... at 7pm (with a 7 hour drive ahead of us... on a weekday) He obliged.

When we arrived, we saw the car...

Its shoved into the trees, surrounded by dirty cloths, beer bottles and cans, other trash, tents, backpacks, and other not so lovely things. I was wating to step on a needle. The gentleman greets us... hes just as weird as the placement of the car. Its 10:30 at night... this is the middle of nowhere.

We look at it, and as you will see later - I was ready to turn around and go home empty trailered, BUT my buddy takes the reins and says "We'll give you 240." I cringe, and the guy says "Sure!" As I'm walking back to the truck to prep it to load the car and grab the money my friend says "Is 240 too much?" I nod furiously and we try to renegotiate with the guy. We get him to $200 and load the car up.

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We return home at 4am the next morning.

The Next Morning:

I go outside and see what I've done and I'm horrified.

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There were literal used panties (the lacy kind so at least he has good taste) in a walmart bag... under the front seat.

Mouth agape, I wondered what the hell I'm gonna do with this thing. I can get $100 in scrap and MAYBE salvage $100 in parts. But I spent $80 on gas and $40 on dinner. I would still be underwater on this car. I very much considered that to be okay when it hit me.

Put an LS in it.

So we begin...

Pulled front end apart to make pulling redblock and installing LS (im sure many times) easier.

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Then removed the entire interior. Will try to transport it to the wilderness and burn it. Not sure any landfill needs to be exposed to whatever species of something that was growing in here.

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And now she sits outside... bare, cold, and really honestly unwanted. But I think that'll change here very shortly...

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk - more soon ;)
 
Welcome, and good luck! Storing panties under the front seat...makes ya wonder...glad it's getting disinfected and a new lease on life! How's the rust situation?

Be careful getting rid of stuff, if it can be cleaned up keep it. Parts are getting rare and expensive.
 
wow looks like it has potential to be a cool build. what kind of ls are you planning on putting in? is this going to be a resto / sleeper build or like a stancey kinda car?
 
Welcome, and good luck! Storing panties under the front seat...makes ya wonder...glad it's getting disinfected and a new lease on life! How's the rust situation?

Be careful getting rid of stuff, if it can be cleaned up keep it. Parts are getting rare and expensive.

Rust is good! This is a California car which is a good sign. Means its likely stayed over on this coast its whole life. There is a minor rust hole in the spare tire area, nothing that cant be repaired really easily. A VERY small rust patch on the drivers fender, just a sand and prime deal.

Yeah I saved a lot of trim stuff. Will prolly be welding some panels in to hide areas that I dont plan on reinstalling (like the rear seat backs). Will be looking for an early dash if anyone knows of one.
 
wow looks like it has potential to be a cool build. what kind of ls are you planning on putting in? is this going to be a resto / sleeper build or like a stancey kinda car?

I have a 5.3 lined up at the moment. It will be a resto/sleeper/racecar build. Wont be putting in rear seats, and will likely go with race style front seats, but also will keep a lot of stock interior too. Not looking to gut it, but I also wont be putting EVERYTHING back in... and definitely not looking for the stancey life.
 
Welcome, and good luck! Storing panties under the front seat...makes ya wonder...glad it's getting disinfected and a new lease on life! How's the rust situation?

Be careful getting rid of stuff, if it can be cleaned up keep it. Parts are getting rare and expensive.

^ This, good luck finding 242 specific parts.

:x:
 
Good luck on the dash, you will be fighting me for it haha. There are covers available, they are ok but don't fit perfectly. I have one on one of my 242s and it needs to be trimmed to open the glovebox.
 
What did you expect at the price? Don't throw away seat frames, those are specific to the coupe. Front and rear door panels can be saved. They are all vinyl so you can easily paint them a with Sem product(with the color of your choice). Same with carpet. Take it to the car wash and power wash it. Let it dry and order the Sem color that you want(get at least 3 cans, did one recently and 2 barely covered it). B pillar/c pillars, again specific to a coupe so don't throw them away. Seat belt covers for front seat belts should be saved if not crumbly. Door armrest look okay(can be painted too). If the rear seat cushions are still good and not falling apart, you can keep them. You can source covers from someone or parts car in the junkyard(this will allow you to clean seat covers before you install them. Lot of people make mistakes about throwing away stuff and then whine later on that they can't find parts or don't want to pay for the parts that are available on the second hand market.

You can sell the manual transmission parts for $300-400. So you can easily make your money back. The engine/engine parts are not worth very much so you might offer it to a local for dirt cheap.

I have a dash pad that has one crack. I send pictures if interested.
 
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What did you expect at the price? Don't throw away seat frames, those are specific to the coupe. Front and rear door panels can be saved. They are all vinyl so you can easily paint them a with Sem product(with the color of your choice). Same with carpet. Take it to the car wash and power wash it. Let it dry and order the Sem color that you want(get at least 3 cans, did one recently and 2 barely covered it). B pillar/c pillars, again specific to a coupe so don't throw them away. Seat belt covers for front seat belts should be saved if not crumbly. Door armrest look okay(can be painted too). If the rear seat cushions are still good and not falling apart, you can keep them. You can source covers from someone or parts car in the junkyard(this will allow you to clean seat covers before you install them. Lot of people make mistakes about throwing away stuff and then whine later on that they can't find parts or don't want to pay for the parts that are available on the second hand market.

You can sell the manual transmission parts for $300-400. So you can easily make your money back. The engine/engine parts are not worth very much so you might offer it to a local for dirt cheap.

I have a dash pad that has one crack. I send pictures if interested.

Awesome reply bro, thanks for the tough love.

Ill be going aftermarket seats with aftermarket seat brackets so nothing needed there.

Door Cards: I saved the rears, might go save the fronts tho I think they sat in the rain. :( First mistake of many this build I presume.

Have better carpet from donor car so not worried about saving the other one.

Saved seatbelt covers and arm rests and rear seats will not be a thing in this car so those are leaving for good.

Ill be sure to be a bit more diligent about what I toss from now on for sure.
 
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