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Canadian 1984 244 DL B21A/B6304 project log.

Broke4speed

Broke4speed

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Location
Marionville, Ontario, Canada
I'm more of a lurker, but I like posting pictures, so I suppose I'll post them here.

I recently got this from a co-worker's wife (2nd owner, first was her aunt), and she was so happy that it might go to someone who would care for it, that she just signed it over to me...no cost :). 125km, kept indoors every day of it's life, Krown undercoated every year (more on this later), and absolutely immaculate. I have full service records from brand new as well. It's a canadian car, so it's got the B21A under the hood, and it runs great.

Now...pics.
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Now...the downside of yearly oil-coating. Totally rust free...but disgusting.
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I can't stand working in a dirty bay, so I cleaned it. Krown oil coating must be a combination of crude oil and gorilla glue, because it was AWFUL to remove. This is as far as I could go without removing the engine, which I didn't feel like doing since it runs so nice. I'll do it eventually, but for now, this is much better. I also pulled the chassis harness and removed/repaired all the biodegradable parts, then re-loomed it.
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This is the part that might be unpopular. My driver's seat is 100% wrecked, back and bottom, and being a pre-86, there's DEFINITELY no parts cars around my local area. Until I can find what I need, I'm using a WRX seat. It's not perfect, but after 30 minutes in the stock seat, I could barely walk (got a really bad back :( ). This will do for now.
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I replaced the engine harness with one I got from Elbertbos.nl, since Dave Barton's shop doesn't cater to any of the canadian B21A cars. I can't say enough good things about Elbert's work. It's a beautiful piece, and was cake to install. It came in THREE DAYS too, from the Netherlands. The stock engine harness crumbled into dust as I removed it, so I'm glad I splurged.
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FUTURE PLANS

Well, I like playing with stuff under the hood, so I'll eventually swap to EFI (have a MS3 Pro here, from my old project VW). I intend to keep it auto, and have no interest in tracking down parts that are hard to find up here, so I decided to make a 4-window distributor w/hall sender out of a B230 dizzy I got at the scrappers. It's the only one I've seen in at least a year, so I grabbed it just in case. I took apart a watercooled VW hall-sender dizzy and swapped the hall sender into the B230 body, since the body is identical. The upper portion of the distributor shaft is exactly the same diameter as the VW stuff, so the wheel slid right on. I was able to drill and tap the mounting holes for the hall sender, and cutting a notch in the body was easy. This also allows me to swap to a single-window wheel for any future ideas that involve a crank wheel and sequential injection.

I'm one of those 'work with what I've got' guys, which is why I did it this way instead of ebay or forum-hunting for what I need. I just happened to have a stockpile of VW dizzies (solid-state and points) that had what I need in them, so what the hell :).

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Immediate plans are to register it and drive it the rest of the summer, as-is. Come fall, I'll get started on the suspension.
 
Cool. I just found a full VW knockbox ignition setup in my garage. The early CIS VWs had a standalone ignition that uses the hall-sender distributor, so since I just made one, I think I'll try to run my B21 on it. The ignition curve is quite similar to the stock points distributor I have, according to the green books. It also uses a knock sensor, but it would be very sensitive to the larger volvo engine, since it was originally on a 1.8L. I may just tie it up out of the way, although I doubt there's any consequence to running without one with an ecu from the early 80s.
 
I too can't stand working on cars that have been Krowned; it does work at stopping rust however, you end up looking like a coal miner. Let me know if there's anything you're looking for the conversion to metered fuel... i might have some of the stuff kicking around in a box headed to the dump soon.
 
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Since you're planning to keep it autotragic, try to find a 1984 GL or GLE, or a 1985 car with the Aw70 (or Aw71). Swap that on while you've the engine out for removing the remaining Krown goop. Then, swap your LH-Jet intake, injectors, etc on with the MS3 box. When you're done, essentially you'll have a late model Cali-spec 1982 244DL (electronic fuel injection, instead of K-Jet).

Anyway, looks like a cool project...

-J
 
I promised my wife I would NOT take the engine out yet, haha. Once I do that, then it would be years before I get to drive it...due to a bad case of 'while I'm in there'-itis ;).

There is a car with an AW70 at a local scrappers (where I got the LH stuff from), and it would only be $50 if I can get it out, so I may snag it before it gets crushed.

Today I was killing time before we leave for vacation and decided to tackle the dented rear buttcheeks...which are also full of krown on the inside, sigh. They're cleaner now, and round again. It was a very satisfying project :).
 
Safetied, registered, and out terrorizing the Russell-Embrun area...albeit very slowly, with a slight misfire :). I'm a happy guy, it's been years since I've had a toy car that was actually driveable. I don't care if it's slow, I love it.

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I have an Accuspark points-replacement module on the way, and I have to get a Momo wheel hub, since the stock steering wheel is only slightly smaller than a school bus one. My knees hit it, which is very irritating.
 
I have actually considered dual webers. I have run them many times in the past, and since this is already a carbed car...heh.
I really like the 123 ignition stuff, except due to the crappy canadian $$, I have been avoiding shopping online for a while. I keep hoping it comes up, because those units would cost in the neighbourhood of 600-650 CAD right now :(.
 
Get used to that "misfire" with that Stromberg 175. They are absolute junk. Best and cheapest thing to do with these is fit an SU HIF-6 from a '78-81 240. MUCH better throttle response and has proper mixture adjustment. It is a straight swap, and you'll never regret it. I've done it in every B21A car I've had. Check with Europarts in Aylmer. They may still have some kicking around. BTW, your car is pre-wired for the auxiliary gauge pack above the center vents should you decide you want to add them.

Rob
 
I may have a redblock distributor and electronic ignition module in my stash of parts. Let me know if you're interested and I'll go digging.
 
robsvolvos said:
Get used to that "misfire" with that Stromberg 175. They are absolute junk. Best and cheapest thing to do with these is fit an SU HIF-6 from a '78-81 240. MUCH better throttle response and has proper mixture adjustment. It is a straight swap, and you'll never regret it. I've done it in every B21A car I've had. Check with Europarts in Aylmer. They may still have some kicking around. BTW, your car is pre-wired for the auxiliary gauge pack above the center vents should you decide you want to add them.

Rob
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I suspected as much with that over-complex carb, doh :(. Thanks for the tip. I'm definitely going to start hunting for a suitable replacement, rather than rebuild mine (it's pretty crusty, and looks to be in need of a rebuild). I have had lots of fun in the past with dual carbed cars, but I don't think this car would benefit from that treatment.

I have a solid-state points replacement coming soon, and if that fails, I'm going to throw on a megajolt setup I have here.

I am definitely thinking about hunting for gauges, but I have such a nice cubby pocket there...I'm hesitant to get rid of it, haha. I REALLY want to find a tach though, to replace my performance clockometer.
 
amerbritcan said:
Someone on here found Asian Weber knockoffs that are 1.WAY cheaper and 2. Simpler to adjust. Definitely my plan if I ever get another b21a car.
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I've seen those, they're from a 'company' called FJAS. The quality used to be pretty bad, but they've come a long way, so they're definitely an option.

The very first thing I plan to do, is get rid of the GIGANTIC steering wheel. It's HORRIBLE, lol. It makes me feel claustrophobic, as a member of the 'larger' portion of the population (ie: I was called 'husky' as a child in the 70s, lol).
 
Broke4speed said:
I suspected as much with that over-complex carb, doh :(. Thanks for the tip. I'm definitely going to start hunting for a suitable replacement, rather than rebuild mine (it's pretty crusty, and looks to be in need of a rebuild). I have had lots of fun in the past with dual carbed cars, but I don't think this car would benefit from that treatment.

I have a solid-state points replacement coming soon, and if that fails, I'm going to throw on a megajolt setup I have here.

I am definitely thinking about hunting for gauges, but I have such a nice cubby pocket there...I'm hesitant to get rid of it, haha. I REALLY want to find a tach though, to replace my performance clockometer.
Click to expand...

I have a large tach/ remote clock kit with harness if you're interested.
Rob
 
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