ETA 4 years

[mblue240]

20190830_125959 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

With the addition of this 1984 244DL to our fleet we currently have 4 Volvos. My oldest son turns 12 in December and I've always wanted to get him a car to work on to be ready when he turns 16. When we looked at this one he told me he loved it and would save all his money to buy it from me (since he originally thought I would just hand over the keys for my '89 when the time came). He'll find out this weekend that the car is already his.

The good is the car has IPD springs, IPD sways, VX cam, and factory M46. The bad...well there's plenty of that, but we have 4 years to polish it out. The two things that have to be handled immediately is the alternator not charging and the straight pipe exhaust. I swapped in a spare alternator when I bought it, but it still didn't charge. On the 20min drive home I watched the volt gauge and gas gauge race to the bottom.

20190830_130010 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20190830_133329 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20190830_130020 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20190830_151604 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The PO decided the OEM heater control valve was a poor design, so they installed an MB unit. I haven't really tried to figure how it's all hooked up, but it will need to go back to stock.

20190830_151612 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

Plenty of little spots of surface rust. The only real cancer is the driver's butt cheek.

20190830_154621 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The trunk came full of spare parts. The big one for me was the PO threw in a full set of studs and an Isky cam for my 142.

20190830_130034 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20190830_133310 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

My 11 year old teaching my 7 year old the proper way to fill up tires.

20190830_150935 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

I hit the junk yard and already scored parts, plus he'll get to raid the parts shed too.

20190902_121250 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

My first car parked with my son's first car.

20190904_163001 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[soclosenotnear]

Love everything about this.

[oldschoolvolvo]

Good stuff!

[JohnMc]

:thumbs up:

The original heater valve on my 240 stuck in the open position. Combined with the lack of A/C (removed for 16V turbo, not added back in with the LS swap either), it was... a bit unpleasant. I got a replacement, but swapping it out was not fun, although it might help to be a smaller kid. You have to cram yourself into the driver's side footwell. I got a kit from IPD, which had lots of parts, but I was happy to discover that on a late model 240 you don't need to use many of them, but you do on earlier versions.

Is the alt warning light working? In a quirky, ironic twist, the warning light doesn't just warn of alternator issues, it can *cause* them if it burns out. Causing a lack of charging just by the warning light going out is not a wonderful design, but it is what it is. Turn the key on, dont' start it, see if the bulb lights. Current flowing through it is what excites (jump-starts) the alternator via the small wire on the D+ terminal.

[DrHutch]

This is awesome to witness. I hope you and your son enjoy the journey.

[2turbotoys]

Nice project for you and the boys!

If I may make a reccomendation or two..

https://www.wagonmeister.com/240-rep...t-heater-valve
Very nice replacement heater valve

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VOLVO-240-S...ry!19492!US!-1
Stainless steel exhaust, mandrel bent, fits and sounds like factory, never have to buy another exhaust

Awesome it came with spare goodies, I love it when that happens!

[Vol242vo]

So cool!

[mblue240]

Thanks guys! It'll get the wagonmeister valve for sure. My 89 valve is stuck open, so I know the pain all too well. The exhaust will be the IPD sport exhaust, mostly since it will be my money paying for it. I'm sure at some point he'll want to build the same stainless system I have on my car. He'll have to save up the money for that though and in the mean time he won't piss off the Dad of the girl he picks up for a date.

I told him the car was his today, he smiled a little (he most of gotten the enthusiasm from me). Then he looked at the pile of JY parts and immediately realized everything is from a power window car, he must get that from me too.

Anyone have experience using power window door cards in a manual window car?

[2turbotoys]

Pretty sure the door cards are the same, the armrest is different. I probably have a set of manual armrests in black if you need some.

[oldschoolvolvo]

Here's another option for a replacement heater valve. It has worked fine for me.
http://europartshouse.com/index.php?...products_id=36

[mblue240]

Yesterday our morning was taken up by my son's cello audition. He passed and got promoted to the next group up. Today we only had a few minutes before I left for work, so the door cards got cleaned.

20190922_124027 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20190922_124827 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

We found a decent passenger seat. Foam is less than perfect, bottom has been recovered, but it's still better than sitting on a 740 seat.

20190919_135212 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

I had to hide the new exhaust in the shed till his birthday in November. It's an IPD sport exhaust someone ran for 5 days before deciding it was too loud for him. I laughed and told him he should hear my car.

20190911_191020 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[mblue240]

The most immediate issue is that the alternator isn't charging. When I bought it I replaced the alternator in the seller's driveway, but it still wasn't charging. I assumed I needed to dig through wiring and boy was I right. I found this power wire near the starter.

[IMG]20191004_124417 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr[/IMG]

Mini me finally got some time to work on the car, but only about 2 hours. We started with replacing both front door cards. He did almost all the work with me just offering guidance in how stuff comes apart.

20191005_094235 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

With the old on the right and new on the left I'd say we made a bit of improvement.

20191005_103946 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191005_103950 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

We found sound deadner already applied to the driver's door.

20191005_111543 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The new cards came from a 93, so I snagged the plastic liners too.

20191005_113531 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191005_112202(0) by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191005_115217 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The new cards are from a power window car, but a buddy already worked up a plan for a 3D printed cover. VuvlaTurbo might make us a deal on the power windows setup, so we could use the nicer armrests I found too.

20191005_105732 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[mblue240]

I forgot, factory black exterior handles too.

20191005_112152 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[Vol242vo]

Looking good. Awesome to see skills being handed down. Making great memories together for sure.

[mblue240]

No school on Friday, so we got out by 9am and got to work. My wife came home from work at about 4pm and my son pointed out we hadn't stopped for lunch.

20191011_095955 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The white grab handles with disintegrating caps were replaced with tan 740 handles.

20191011_161455 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The rusty battery tray was replaced with a plastic one. This included painting rust reformer where the tray mounts and new stainless hardware.

20191011_144718 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The fog lights were removed, simply because i don't trust anything wired by the PO. I also found the window screen material floating around behind the grill.

20191011_161602 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

All four door cards are now tweed. We were happy to see not having power windows didn't leave any unwanted holes for the back doors. This included figureing out why the rear passenger door didn't open, then lubing the **** out of everything so it doesn't happen again.

20191011_112436 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

The purchase of the car included a front end setup that the PO painted black. It's a decent 10ft job, but has rock chips with the chrome showing through. The kid thinks they're awesome, so they went on. I did make sure the Turbo badge didn't go on an NA car.

20191011_163214 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

I built a new 1/0 power wire to run between the alternator and starter, since the old one was shot.

20191011_112357 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

Once I hooked it all up though I found the battery light stayed on, even when the key was out of the car. The volt gauge also read low while the car was running. I only ran the car long enough to pull it in the driveway, so maybe the battery needs a good charge. Any ideas?

20191011_162749 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191011_162835 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

My oldest and youngest hanging out while the last few items got buttoned up. There will be some fun before and after photos, especially showing how much the kids have grown before this car really hits the road.

20191011_161113 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[mblue240]

He made is first HP improvements today.

20191013_130501 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[mblue240]

We had an hour or two before I went to work today, so got a couple things checked off the list.

A nice black pen tray was swapped in place of the beat tan one. We both agree that the center console needs to be swapped to black, like the newer models.

20191018_122001 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

He was excited to find over $5 in change in the ashtray, but I laid claim to it.

20191018_115612 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

We also swapped in a Turbo steering wheel. I made the swap in my 83, but didn't like it. I'm sure it will be a much better fit on this car.

20191018_113523 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191018_114627 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[brickcupra]

Nice, I wished my father did something like that , but NOOO!!!
i had to fend for myself , Anyway Does your kiddo drives yet? and a stick shifter?
I learned when I was bout 12 so I thing he'll do good.
Take care
DZ

[Toybox]

Originally Posted by mblue240

When we looked at this one he told me he loved it and would save all his money to buy it from me

That speaks volumes for his sensibilities.

He'll find out this weekend that the car is already his.

And that speaks volumes for yours.

Originally Posted by brickcupra

Nice, I wished my father did something like that , but NOOO!!! i had to fend for myself

Same here. My dad showed me how to change a tire and change the oil, but that was about the limit of his foray into the wild world of automotive repair. This budding citizen is going to be so proud of this car that he'll understand the need to take care of it, and know how. Well done. (And a musician, too? That's a good balance.)

Very happy to see that he already understands the HP improvement possible with stickers. Next to grasp is the chrome plating.

One of my favorite eye-rolling stories I heard from a guy who actually attended the wealthy high school where it happened… a kid was given a shiny brand new Camaro for his 16th birthday, and while showing off, he managed to flip it over in the school parking lot on his third day of ownership. As punishment? Daddy didn't give him another brand new Camaro until he turned 17.

[Toybox]

Originally Posted by mblue240

The fog lights were removed, simply because i don't trust anything wired by the PO.

I built a new 1/0 power wire to run between the alternator and starter, since the old one was shot.

Once I hooked it all up though I found the battery light stayed on, even when the key was out of the car. The volt gauge also read low while the car was running. I only ran the car long enough to pull it in the driveway, so maybe the battery needs a good charge. Any ideas?

I trust your brain can stitch together the above examples I cherry-picked? I hope it's not too late to suggest disconnecting the battery until you figure it out. A charging system active while the key is out is awfully close to a fire waiting to happen. Might not be so catastrophic, but the melted charge wire already gives you a clue... you'll be teaching the young-un about fusible links, yes? And if you're going with the delightful overkill of a 1/0 cable, you'll want a mega fuse in there also.

You can test the battery with a simple voltmeter. 12.6 is nominal "full" when it's been at rest for a while. Of course there are much more exhaustive tests while under load, but this gives a quick and dirty baseline.

[mblue240]

Originally Posted by brickcupra

Nice, I wished my father did something like that , but NOOO!!!

My dad taught me plenty of handyman stuff along the way. I learned a lot about sweat equity from him. He never modified or did major repairs on a car though, so I learned (and continue to do so) as I went.

His Mom showed up a few weeks ago with a chunk missing out of the sidewall in her tire. i told her she wasn't taking the 2hr drive home with my kid in the car, so she needed to put on the spare. She promptly asked for help, being the useless millennial she is. So I told mini-me to round up the tools and get to work. I hope she felt silly watching her 12 year old son come to her rescue.

Originally Posted by Toybox

One of my favorite eye-rolling stories I heard from a guy who actually attended the wealthy high school where it happened… a kid was given a shiny brand new Camaro for his 16th birthday, and while showing off, he managed to flip it over in the school parking lot on his third day of ownership. As punishment? Daddy didn't give him another brand new Camaro until he turned 17.

I went to a similar school. Always grumbled that my parents couldn't give me everything I wanted. now I'm grown and thank them for everything they worked their ass off to give us. All 3 of my kids are learning the same lessons and so far are taking it much better than I ever did.

Originally Posted by Toybox

I trust your brain can stitch together the above examples I cherry-picked? I hope it's not too late to suggest disconnecting the battery until you figure it out. A charging system active while the key is out is awfully close to a fire waiting to happen. Might not be so catastrophic, but the melted charge wire already gives you a clue... you'll be teaching the young-un about fusible links, yes? And if you're going with the delightful overkill of a 1/0 cable, you'll want a mega fuse in there also.

You can test the battery with a simple voltmeter. 12.6 is nominal "full" when it's been at rest for a while. Of course there are much more exhaustive tests while under load, but this gives a quick and dirty baseline.

Yup, battery got unplugged right away. With a couple holiday breaks coming up we should have time to trace wires and see what we come up with. I want to dig in and fix it, but I have to remind myself it's his project.

The 1/0 wire is what I had on hand. I learned Pick n Pull charges the same for all battery cables, so you have to find a BMW with a trunk mounted battery and on a 50% off day it costs about $3 for 10ft of 1/0 wire and since it runs through the cabin it looks brand new. The clerks even know the loop hole and laugh when I bring it up.

[Toybox]

Originally Posted by mblue240

she needed to put on the spare. She promptly asked for help, being the useless millennial she is. So I told mini-me to round up the tools and get to work. I hope she felt silly watching her 12 year old son come to her rescue.

Or maybe even proud? Ya never know, it could happen... especially if you leave that door of possibility open in your mind.

Or it might not. A gal I knew in college was, to put it gently, the most full-figured female I'd ever met. One day she asked me why I had a trunk full of tools in my old jalopy. I spoke of possible repairs, or tire changes. She looked at me like I had four green heads. In my naivete, I said, "Don't you think it's important to be able to change a tire?" She laughed openly, and said, "Are you kidding? I'd just perch on the fender until someone screeched to a halt to help a poor damsel in distress..." And then she indicated that it never required more than about 20 seconds of perching to accomplish the task. And of course most guys would ever complain about a chance to rescue.

Men & Women. Funny creatures we are, sometimes.

I learned Pick n Pull charges the same for all battery cables, so you have to find a BMW with a trunk mounted battery

Brilliant.

[mblue240]

Another little thing checked off the list, sway bar endlinks. I noticed the bushings were blown out last time we worked on the car, so it got new endlinks and new poly bushings.

20191111_100919 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191111_095613 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

It's actually pretty hard to step back and do nothing.

20191111_101940 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

His first attempt wasn't quite right.

20191111_102459 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

20191111_104023 by M. Blue 240, on Flickr

[Vol242vo]

I like his first attempt. Please tell me you’re using jack stands....

[mblue240]

Originally Posted by Vol242vo

Please tell me you’re using jack stands....

Nope, car is floating. I had to go back and look at the pics, he happens to block the stand in each pic.