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1980 242 GT. A reasonable project.

The way to check for sure is the 83-85 aluminum reinforcement is flat and the 86+ is stepped and the bumper shocks are offset to match the step.

It for sure has a 91 front bumper, when the 242 was mine it was swapped off of a 91 wagon. The rear was off an 83 at the junk yard many many moons ago, like 2006.
finding toy bumpers is hard... you'll probably have to modify the shocks or maybe find someone on here to sell a set. I too had/ have turbo trim but never installed it because of the gap problem on that car, I never really put it as a top priority as I always had something else taking priority on that car.
 
Captain's log: 12,202 miles since first drive.

Justus (justlie) and I drove the car up to Eurowerks car show in Minneapolis this weekend. After continual sorting of things all over the car, it's starting to get there. The car was great, and they even gave me two awards: "Sleeper" (chosen by local PD) and "Broadway Auto Tech's Favorite" (awarded by a local shop that sponsored).

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...and another photo someone took when we were driving around before the show. I took the trim off while driving because I was paranoid about it falling off on the drive up)
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Glad the brace fits now, I don't think it Cleared my ls, did new motor mounts allow it to fit?
Tuff, it's a group a replica done by (the asperator) it was an old group buy a while back. Roger dee also made some iirc.
 
The car looks awesome, congrats on the prizes :)

What is that tank looking thingy that is right beside your air-filter ?
 
I really like that beefy looking strut brace bar.

Thanks, I really like how it sits in there, despite how tight it was with the fuel rail on this intake manifold.

Glad the brace fits now, I don't think it Cleared my ls, did new motor mounts allow it to fit?
Tuff, it's a group a replica done by (the asperator) it was an old group buy a while back. Roger dee also made some iirc.

I'm still using the the OE Volvo diesel 240 mounts (and I'm quite happy with them). I bought a set of Yoshifab strut tower reinforcement plates and stacked them beneath the brace in order to clear the fuel rail.

The car looks awesome, congrats on the prizes :)

What is that tank looking thingy that is right beside your air-filter ?

Thanks! That's my secondary oil separator plumbed between the factory PCV outlet and my intake pipe. I'll also be plumbing the Yoshifab oil cap into it as soon as I can get them to ship me the fitting for it.


Catching up with a few other updates.

A few weeks back I pulled apart the PCV system to see if it was clogged or if there were any other apparent issues. I had the dipstick push out twice, and some oil was being pushed out around the filler cap.

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As it turns out, the filter in the Provent gets pretty clogged up with blowby goo and is near impossible to clean. Under advisement of Homer, I removed the filter element and reinstalled everything after giving it a good thorough cleaning. This made an immediate improvement.

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A bit later, I took the car in to have it aligned at a BMW dealer. I've put this off for way too long. As you can see, the alignment was pretty awful. It feels good now, but I still need to get a lot more caster out of it than you see here. That might be a next-year thing.

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Before:
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After:
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I got new tires! Falken RT-615K in my favorite size--235/40R17. Thanks to both parties involved. These are fantastic so far. Grip, noise, and basically everything about them has been excellent.

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I put the wasted spark back in, and it's running well. I had this in briefly last year but removed it before the iPd trip when I was running into issues. The problem ended up being a bad EZK box. Everything seems pretty happy now with it in. The car definitely runs smoother and feels a lot more refined than it did previously, which is what I wanted more than anything.

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Just before my trip to Missouri, the seat support diaphragm tore in the driver's seat. I pulled it out and found this:

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It should look like this (the good one I stole from the passenger seat temporarily):

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And the passenger seat got this treatment so it could be usable for the trip to Eurowerks in Minneapolis--and while waiting for a seat webbing retrofit kit to arrive (I have the kit now, but haven't installed it yet)

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When I got home from Minneapolis, I noticed a couple drips of coolant on the radiator support... After further investigation, I found that the radiator end tank had begun seeping at a seam, and one of the fittings developed a hairline crack due to the MAF sensor bouncing on it.

I debated what route to take, but ultimately decided to upgrade to a 92+ 940 NA radiator for more cooling capacity. While not a major undertaking, this was a little more work than expected.

Step 1: Buy 92+ 940 NA radiator and accompanying upper radiator hose.
Step 2: Cut off these plastic standoffs on the bottom of the radiator end tanks. Also trim the drain cock (or drill a hole in the radiator support for it)
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Step 3: Fold the bottom core tabs flat (I gently used a deadblow hammer to do this.)
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Step 4: Remove 240 turbo oil cooler to be relocated at a later date.
Step 5: Install radiator. Bend up slam panel as needed to fit while tightening down top brackets (this radiator is taller than the 240 radiators).
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Step 6: Trim coolant reservoir to radiator hoses to fit.
Step 7 (for me): Get a silicone elbow with longer legs to reach around the larger radiator.
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Step 8 (for me): Rework the intake pipe because the expansion tank hose now connects right in the middle of the radiator where the intake used to run. This was annoying. In the process I stepped up to a 1" PCV return on the new intake pipe, to match the Provent.
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Step 9: Make a bracket to secure the air filter and intake pipe.
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Step 10: Install a uncut 940/960 efan shroud that is made to fit this radiator (I haven't done this yet)


Previously, the intercooler had only been mounted by two posts on the bottom about 16" apart. While I had the radiator out, I decided it was high time to add a bracket to the top as well.

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...and another picture from Eurowerks to remind me that someday I need to make the exhaust not look terrible from the back of the car.

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Looks great!
I'm working on a carb to lh2.4 conversion + wasted spark as wel. Do you have pics of where you mounted the ecu s and coil?
 
Looks great!
I'm working on a carb to lh2.4 conversion + wasted spark as wel. Do you have pics of where you mounted the ecu s and coil?

I mounted the ECU and EZK to the firewall in the passenger footwell (sorry not picture) and this is where my bracket for the coil bolts up.

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Funny you mention the exhaust in a negative light, it's one of my favorite parts of your car! This 242 serves as an inspiration to many, including me.
 
The exhaust was a pain, I welded it up but he only had 3 bends if I Remember correctly. Something happened after it was all tacked up also, it fit a bit tighter to the floor before final welding. I wasn't to happy after I saw how close it ended up being to the ground. I don't think he was either. But all In all for only having a three bends to work with, it went okish.
 
The exhaust was a pain, I welded it up but he only had 3 bends if I Remember correctly. Something happened after it was all tacked up also, it fit a bit tighter to the floor before final welding. I wasn't to happy after I saw how close it ended up being to the ground. I don't think he was either. But all In all for only having a three bends to work with, it went okish.

Not having the opportunity to see it in person/any actual detail, I'm very impressed (as a fellow exhaust builder) with the outcome. That is almost exactly what I have planned for the exhaust on my own 242.
 
Thank, with a couple 45? Bends it could come up tighter against the floor. I forget how tight the downpipe fit but if it hangs lower than it needs it it's hard to get it right after that. On a low car a nice tucked up exhaust is key, and his car is pretty low.
 
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