Looking to buy a brick

[GavinAtkins]

Hey guys.

I’m planning getting a brick in the near future. The current one I’m gonna go look at this weekend was a friend’s, but it’s been parked since the mid 90s. It’s a 744, and a manual 4 speed with electric overdrive. He can’t remember if it was the turbo or the clutch that it got parked for.

Initially I just need to get it running and reliable, the performance bug can bite me later.

I’ve got pretty strong mechanical skills, and I’m unafraid to dive into working on anything but the guts of automatic transmissions. I’ve got a 7.3 I’ve fixed basically everything on, and after looking at a few Volvos at the junkyard, I’m very confident I can fix them.

Any sage advice? Things you wish you did with your cars to begin with? Not looking for gimmies, but if I knew what I know now when I started on my 7.3, I would have saved thousands.

I’ve seen mention of service books in my perusing the forum, and I’ll likely get a set soon, budget is kinda tight right now, but getting something more fuel efficient than my f350 is the first step in freeing up some money.

Thank y’all for any input.

 

[MKUltra]

Great news is it'll probably run and will be fairly straight forward to fix. Bad news is if it's been sitting for that long the wiring could have plenty of issues. The 240's had biodegradable wiring harnesses (not a joke). The 744's may have been a bit better about that.

At this point these cars are pushing 40 years old and expecting it to be reliable after sitting forever is wishful at best.

But not impossible.

Expect about 20MPG with running premium and turbo happy foot.

If it's super cheap ($500?) and super straight/rust free I say go for it as a side project and see what comes of it.

 

[GavinAtkins]

I understand it’ll take alot of work, and potentially a year or two of trial and error, and it’ll still have a few old car problems. But I’d rather spend $10k over a couple years building a car I get to know and can repair than spend the same on a craptastic newer car that’s just gonna fall apart anyways.

My truck already put me through this process, so I’m definitely understanding of what it takes.

On the wiring harness, are there replacements or would I have to build one?

 

[tintintin]

On the wiring harness, are there replacements or would I have to build one?

Try here:

Dave's Volvo Engine Wire Harness Page

www.prancingmoose.com

 

[the_hairy_baboon]

He can’t remember if it was the turbo or the clutch that it got parked for.

Easy test. drag it with your 7.3L and then pop the clutch, if there's no change in how it drags, clutch was the problem. If it changes, check the turbo.

 

[dl242gt]

What year is the car? The 740 series had a lot of changes and a couple fuel injection systems. In general if it is a turbo prepare for about twice as much work to fix it up as a non turbo model. Not a bad thing at all just more stuff to do to bring a turbo car up to stage zero which is our terms for a fully sorted out car that you can rely on.

 

[GavinAtkins]

Easy test. drag it with your 7.3L and then pop the clutch, if there's no change in how it drags, clutch was the problem. If it changes, check the turbo.

Sounds like a great plan… only problem is that 7.3 don’t care 😂😂

 

[GavinAtkins]

What year is the car? The 740 series had a lot of changes and a couple fuel injection systems. In general if it is a turbo prepare for about twice as much work to fix it up as a non turbo model. Not a bad thing at all just more stuff to do to bring a turbo car up to stage zero which is our terms for a fully sorted out car that you can rely on.

He said he thought it was an 85, but we’re not 100% sure.

I like that term, that’s what I ended up having to do on my truck. Tear it down to stock, get it right and then build up from there.

 

[TilledChip]

He said he thought it was an 85, but we’re not 100% sure.

I like that term, that’s what I ended up having to do on my truck. Tear it down to stock, get it right and then build up from there.

With an 85 you're gonna have to watch that wiring harness cause they're biodegradable. You can get replacements from Dave Barton for a few hundo

DaveBarton.com

Dave's Volvo Page, featuring the Volvo Prancing Moose, Volvo engine wire harness information, replica Volvo R-Sport and Alpina horn buttons, Volvo 240 Turbo racing videos, Volvo 240 white face gauge kits, Volvo 740 Turbo boost gauge faces, Bosch alternator adjustable voltage regulators, and more.

www.davebarton.com

 

[ZVOLV]

I’ve got pretty strong mechanical skills, and I’m unafraid to dive into working on anything but the guts of automatic transmissions.

It's not that bad...

 

[1968 volvo]

It's not that bad...View attachment 20868

Bless your heart.

 

[2manyturbos]

If it older than 1989 it will almost certainly need a replacement engine harness. Be prepared for that. They aren't terrible to replace. 2-4 hours time for a competent mechanic.

 

[GavinAtkins]

Ok, sounds good. I’m kinda putting together a list of stuff Im gonna have to do right off the bat. Tires, oil change, spark plugs, wires, fresh gas and a fuel system cleaner are leading it. Some things are gonna have to be as I find the problem, (wiring harness for example).

But if the car is running, it’s gonna be saving me $100-$150 a week, and that pays for all manner of parts pretty quickly.

 

[alschnertz]

Good advice above.
Yes, the biodegradable harness is a real thing as evidenced by my '86 745T that's had a pampered life.

Where has your potential 744 been sitting since the mid-90s? Is if from a rust belt state?
Even if it's a 1985, that car wasn't very old before being given up on.
Not dissing on your friend, but there may be more to the car's story.

 

[dl242gt]

A car that's been sitting a long time is going to need fuel system attention. Up to and including new injectors. They gum up from sitting. I would look at all the rubber parts like engine mounts, and trans mount. On the front suspension there is a diagonal stay arm that bolts to the control arm. The bushings clamped to the control arm are almost always bad. You can change them to poly. Ball joints wear out too as they are heavy cars. Upper strut mounts are almost always dead. Bleed the brakes if you can get the bleeders free.

Make a circuit around the car and note any cracked, broken lenses. The lights being big and plastic get lots of abuse. The early 740s get a lot of interior decay. Plastic gets brittle and cracks. Hopefully, you have the cloth seats instead of the cracked split leather.

I'd say thanks to covid the overall guesstimate of fixing an old vovo back to stage zero is probably around 2-3k minimum doing all the work yourself. Buy parts carefully. Try to get oem and aftermarket quality as much as you can. Still one of the most reasonable quality classic autos to fix up that you can have daily driver duty with.

 

[GavinAtkins]

It’s been sitting just north of San Antonio, Texas. Rust is a minimal worry.

The rest of the story was he didn’t want to deal with it, and had a 3rd kid on the way so a new suburban sounded like a great decision. The biggest question mark is if it got sold for scrap. Even if it did, I’ve decided I’m getting a bricky Volvo no matter what. They’re comfy for me (6’5” 250ish), they get good enough gas mileage, I think they’re cool. That’s not an easy combo to find.

I also know where there are ~6-8 similar era cars sitting in a salvage yard. So that helps in some ways, not so much in others.

I’ll have 4k avalible soon. Hoping to skate by for 2k, but sometimes cars take a little more than you hope they do. And that’s ok.

 

[HiSPL]

They are pretty easy to work on, but there is no OBD port on a 740. If its a 92 or later ( I think) it'll flash out a trouble code from a test point under the hood. Other than that there are test procedures for pretty much everything, but it's all manual hands-on stuff.

The biggest advice I can give is that for almost every part on the car it is best to go with OEM Volvo or Bosch stuff. If you can get NOS items, even better because Bosch doesn't make every part anymore and it's often better to grab ab AMM from the junkyard than it is to buy and offbrand one online. The quality of knockoff parts is absolute dogshit today. Its a waste of money.

You should be able to tell if its the turbo by opening it up and spinning the vanes and wiggling the shaft. It's just a fancy fan.

 

[HiSPL]

It’s been sitting just north of San Antonio, Texas. Rust is a minimal worry.

The rest of the story was he didn’t want to deal with it, and had a 3rd kid on the way so a new suburban sounded like a great decision. The biggest question mark is if it got sold for scrap. Even if it did, I’ve decided I’m getting a bricky Volvo no matter what. They’re comfy for me (6’5” 250ish), they get good enough gas mileage, I think they’re cool. That’s not an easy combo to find.

I also know where there are ~6-8 similar era cars sitting in a salvage yard. So that helps in some ways, not so much in others.

I’ll have 4k avalible soon. Hoping to skate by for 2k, but sometimes cars take a little more than you hope they do. And that’s ok.

In your travels if you run across a 740 wagon with a half decent body please let me know. My daughter's got totalled by a drunk. I'd love to stick her good drivetrain into a straight shell.

 

[GavinAtkins]

In your travels if you run across a 740 wagon with a half decent body please let me know. My daughter's got totalled by a drunk. I'd love to stick her good drivetrain into a straight shell.

I know where there are 2 Volvo wagons. Both basket case, but I think they are both 240s. They are straight, but need paint.

 

[HiSPL]

Yeah. Got to be a 745 for her.