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1990 245 DL Silver / Black DD

Mark G

STARTTLS
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Location
Vermont
A friend of a friend wanted to pass on her beloved 1990 245 to a good home

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I only wound up paying a few hundred dollars, based upon the work that it needs (suspension, mainly), and she was happier giving it to someone that is going to repair and keep the car on the road as opposed to parting it out or scrapping it.

I haven't had a good chance to look at anything yet, due to the weather here in NJ for the past week. I'm assuming it's going to need shocks & struts, bushings, and ball joints for starters. Engine and transmission are in good shape, besides an oil leak that has left the passenger's side of the bay (& alternator) coated.

I've been reading a bit and thinking about my use of this car, and I'd really like to make it fun to drive, but still extremely functional. Like, no brakes that require wheels larger than 15 inch. I want to maintain a normal ride height & throw on snows in the winter. I'll likely load up the back from time to time with construction or gardening supplies. Also, it needs to be comfortable enough to drive for the ~6 hour road trips we wind up making at least a few times a year.

I've been tempted by some John V posts to prep this car as a gravel stage rally spec, but I'm wary of getting ahead of myself. So, at this point it's a second car that can stay off the road for a few months while I work on it.
 
Looks good. Manual or auto? The oil leak is most likely the valve cover gasket and/or oil cap. Could be caused by a clogged PCV system so make sure that is clean first and replace gaskets second.
 
Auto. If I ever decide to make significant changes to the engine, I'd be interested in swapping in a T5.

Yes, flame trap will be cleaned along with the bay in general, just to try and get a handle on what condition everything is in. This will be followed immediately by all of the fluids getting changed.
 
Heh ... opened this thread thinking someone'd done the old two-tone trick (black over silver) to save on paint costs but cover up the woeful peeling Euro metallic paint. :)

The coke sitting on top of that car would sell for way more than the $500 purchase price!
 
Just one more picture for right now. A greasy shot of the engine bay, as I received it. The flame trap was almost entirely clogged. I cleared it out with some degreaser, a hot soak in some soapy water, and a pin.

After putting the trap back together, I spent a few minutes cleaning off some of the oil and dirt. After going through a several blue shop towels and a good bit of cleaner / degreaser spray, I'm fairly sure I'll be taking this to the self service car wash once I get some new plates.

I also got my Haynes manual (Chilton and Bentley soon to follow) in the mail yesterday. I'll be using the maintenance lists at the beginning to guide my upcoming work on the car, beyond the obvious suspension and brakes work that I know about.
 

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Found some parts I had nearly forgotten about in the basement. These came from an '84 242 parts car that I scrapped a few years ago. Looking up the tag, this originally came off of '83-'85 740, I think. This is an early manifold as well, correct? The later ones have a bar across the runners? A little bit of shaft play. But it's free!
 

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Parts acquisition has begun! I took a trip up to meet paulcurran this morning. Tailgate shocks, front and rear Bilstein HDs and some Sirius alloys.

One of the struts is frozen. I'm hoping that it's just some water in the tube. If I can unfreeze it (3/32" drill bit near the bottom, off center?), I'd like to install the parts as is, for now. I don't really have the extra money to get upgraded springs and send these out to San Diego, but that's the ultimate plan. If I can't make any progress on the inoperable strut, that may happen sooner rather than later.

On the wheels, I'll probably put on something like Eagle Sport 195/65/15. These wheels will also allow for a likely RX7 brake conversion in the future.
 

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It's time to get serious:

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The last of the four came in the mail yesterday.

Also, dove into some interior problems recently, including pulling the seats to vacuum, etc. I also confirmed this:

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PO had told me the odometer had stopped a while ago, so I assumed as much. Sort of happy it's not something more mysterious. I just wish these stupid things weren't so expensive for what they are. Also, This would be my first legitimate use of a 3D printer, if I had (access to) one.
 
Some inspiration:

The aesthetics (and philosophy?) of this Nova:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/96Hv_jRQMv8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

But I'm not a drag racer. More like this kind of driving:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/yA9f-Jo-yME" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

But really, my budget is more like this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZcjpXbMiCtg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
True! But make no mistake, I have no specific interest in a 400hp v8 swap nor delusions of grandeur. Probably something a lot closer to 175-200hp from a junkyard / ebay setup.

I'd like the car to make really predictable, reliable power from about 20 - 80 mph. I want to to handle real world driving well. I want it to be fun to drive. And a sleeper, complete with ding and dents, rust and patina, is more my style than a really immaculate car.
 
Looks like a fun project. If you're looking for some +T help this summer, shoot me a PM. I'm local.
 
Funny you mention that... I was just looking a thread where you talked about doing multiple +T's over a weekend!

I may take you up on that once I get my hands on all of the needed parts :nod: Thanks!
 
Finally drilled a hole in each of my Bilstein inserts. No water came pouring out, but upon rebound, this:

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Also, one of the inserts rebounds to full extension ~5 seconds, the other closer to 10 seconds.

***edit***

I also did the extremely scientific test of seeing what displayed on the bathroom scale when I held the inserts at a constant 1" of compression and the scale read roughly 40lbs for each insert.
 
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I have a thread going where I'm getting the suspension of the car sorted out with the help of John V. Parts have been dropped off at UPS as of this morning.

Also, today was the day that I take out the dash and pull the blower motor.

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Not a fun process, but not too bad. Autopsy on the motor:

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Not pictured, all of the black crap that fell out (carbon?) when I opened the case. Before opening, I applied 12V DC, and there were no signs of life.
 
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In true Turbobricks fashion, I am now ready for my upcoming junkyard trips:

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I also picked up a backup battery as well. This will pretty much be a JY only tool, as I have an air impact at home. Maybe keep it in the car and get an inverter for charging?
 
Dash is mostly back in. I'm still sorting out some console / heater vacuum hose questions. I've found a couple of threads that should help button that stuff up in the next few hours of work (this weekend).

In more exciting news, I took the day off today and headed to the NE PA junkyards. I started off at Joe's EZ Pull in New Ringgold, which was a bust. Only two 240s, and both pretty much picked over. Talked to one guy there that was pulling some pre-86 headlight bezels from one of the 244s and he recommended I head to Harry's, about a half hour away in Hazelton. Harry's is marginally more expensive, but has a much more organized layout and includes a car's row number in their online inventory. Recommended.

Today's haul. Nothing great, but a few things I needed. I desperately needed a driver's seat. (this thread can now be closed) Found a pair in surprisingly good shape out nearly the identical car, a silver 1990 244. I don't like the idea of driving around with a 25+ year old airbag, so I pulled the steering wheel out of a 1988 244. The washer fluid reservoir was shattered when I bought the car, and the car was also missing a gas cap (?!). Done and done.

I wanted to pick up some strut assemblies to mail out to JVAB, but the fates did not align today. The pair of assemblies at the yard were covered in that unholy trifecta of rust, undercoat, and mud. My 330 lb/ft max torque cordless impact was just not up to the task. I'm guessing if I had a serious breaker bar with me it might have been different.

Either way, a good trip:

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