Mike K's '79 242 Barn Car Revival

[WillettRun?]

was a little dissapointed about having matt's wagon hacked up, I spent a just a little time in that car and doing some MS tuning on it - but it's cool an better seeing it all go into a really nice 242.

 

[slow240]

This looks spectacular. Props on the work and attention to detail. Hopefully my 242 will get to this level someday

 

[blkaplan]

Man this is looking awesome! I dont think i've ever looked in here before.

 

[Stiggy Pop]

was a little dissapointed about having matt's wagon hacked up, I spent a just a little time in that car and doing some MS tuning on it - but it's cool an better seeing it all go into a really nice 242.

Yeah he mentioned that you had helped him tune it, car ran great so good work. Matt is a really good guy and he did a nice job on the car. He certainly spent money in the right places, it was the first Volvo I had seen with that kind of work done to it. If it helps at all by the time I got up there Matt was just happy to get the car out of his barn and have something be done with it. Hopefully the tan car is a deserving home.

Can't thank everyone enough for the positive remarks on the car. I've been at it for a while now but never wanted to put a thread up because I didn't think it was exciting or interesting enough. It's nice to share it with people who "get it" and appreciate the work.

 

[diponyou]

I like this build. Reminds me of a more high quality version of my build lol.

And I did the same thing you did by buying a few 240s and donating them to the cause. People get bent out of shape, but at the end of the day it is your build.

 

[Rfoltz53]

Very nice build im looking forward to seeing it complete!

 

[odinthewanderer]

Yeah he mentioned that you had helped him tune it, car ran great so good work. Matt is a really good guy and he did a nice job on the car. He certainly spent money in the right places, it was the first Volvo I had seen with that kind of work done to it. If it helps at all by the time I got up there Matt was just happy to get the car out of his barn and have something be done with it. Hopefully the tan car is a deserving home.

Can't thank everyone enough for the positive remarks on the car. I've been at it for a while now but never wanted to put a thread up because I didn't think it was exciting or interesting enough. It's nice to share it with people who "get it" and appreciate the work.

Tan car looks nice! was more solid than my 77 244 was...
for what its worth to those that are sad about the gold 245, i did get Mike's rotten red 245 parts car "back on the road"

glad to see the parts go to a good project, nice work so far!

...and yes, i was happy to have the car out of the barn. for one, Mike can attest to how it did on the roads around my house with its ride height, and the other is, i had these guys on their way, and needed the cars out of the barn.

some of the funding mike provided went to the needed role of, truck.

i'll keep looking for updates, and stop stealing this thread with sheep...

 

[odinthewanderer]

...undercoating is not easy to remove! i hope you used an oscillating tool to scrap it, made my life a lot easier with the 244.

 

[Stiggy Pop]

I think we left off around here. I still have wire tying up and some tidying up to do.

With the engine in and running I needed to get an intercooler figured out. I decided to buy one off of eBay because they are big, cheap, brand new and I haven't read about anyone having issues. It's 31x12x3 with 3" in/out.... big.

We made a bracket out of a piece of industrial shelving from the back yard that mounts it just forward of the lower radiator support. I decided to offset it a bit to the passenger side to make life a little easier for cold side piping with the ABS module. The upper mounts on the IC didn't land in a good spot on the upper radiator support so we made two small brackets and used SAAB 900 ignition bushings as spacers for extra swede cred.

Threw some hydras on for around the yard duty. In the garage with my Dad's '83 242 turbo

With the big intercooler up front the oil cooler wasn't going to get any airflow in the stock location. I wanted to move it up front in the airdam so was going to need to run custom lines. If I was going to go through the trouble I would like to have nice lines with AN fittings. I learned that the oil cooler uses BSP fittings with limited options (BSP>AN adapters were $50). Better option seemed to be cutting the BSP end off and welding on an AN bung.

I got two male-male -10 AN fittings and I cut one end off of each and the BSP threads off of the oil cooler.

He had a coworker weld them on for me who did a great job. He even touched up the factory welds and painted it and all for way less then adapters would have cost.

We made another bracket to sandwich between the intercooler bracket and lower rad support. I had to notch that center brace there a bit to clear the cooler. Happy with how this came together, looks clean and nice and solid.

For hoses I ran -10 AN Aeroquip socketless hose with 90* fittings. I thought the socketless hose was good to work with, it's nice heavy stuff and once you have it cut to length you just push it onto the fitting and it's done. I'll add some clamps off the bracing here to keep them in place.

Also put on some parts I've had waiting; non rusty headlight buckets from out west with Hella H4 rounds. I have a relay setup and 80/100w bulbs to run them. Also put in a really nice looking powdercoated hood latch set up that I bought from Jordan. Also bought an RSI stg 2 cam from him that I'll sit on until I've run the engine a bit.

I had bought some couplers and was starting to think about getting intercooler piping figured out and exhaust hung on it. But, as with the gold car, something that popped up in For Sale caught my eye and sent me off in another direction. I drove down to the CT shore to meet another tbricker (psac). Like the hood latch, cam, and overflow tank bracket these pieces came off of Jordan's car... but are a little more exciting.

Ended up with:
- Holset HX35
- RSI manifold with TIAL MVS wastegate
- RSI 3" stainless downpipe
- RSI 3" stainless exhaust with single magnaflow. (think I'm going to have to get a cat in it for inspection)
- Synapse BOV
- box of assorted goodies

I guess this all follows the general theme of "jumping in with both feet". The quality on the RSI stuff is impressive; I didn't plan on getting the exhaust but it all went together so well it made sense to keep it.

Did a test fit on a spare block and

Unfortunately I saw that my 740 oil cooler setup wasn't going to clear this stuff, and I JUST made my lines. I am buying a 240 cooler plate which should fit fine and am hoping I can just cut and shorten one end of the oil cooler lines. Glad the socketless hose is so easy to get together. The other thing I'll need to do is get the -12 AN oil return from the Holset to the block. I have a pipe thread to AN adapter, so will need to tap the stock return in the block. I wish I had known this was happening when the engine was out and the pan was off but will have to make it work.

The stock oil return spot has a larger bore with a narrower step at the bottom: has anyone tapped pipe thread into just the larger dia to the step? Or will I need to drill the step out and tap all the way through?

Glad I have the turbo that will stay on the car so I can make my intercooler piping once and for good. Need to buy some 3" aluminum bends and start making pieces. The battery is very much in the way so I'm going to need to move it to the trunk.

Also think I need a heater control valve, since I noticed mine dripping once I got the heater core plumbed

Still lots to do. Spent a couple of minutes driving the car up and down the road and running VE Analyze Live on the megasquirt today. Discovered it runs better with the vac line hooked up to the MAP sensor . I'd like to get the plumbing stuff figured so I can put the turbo on, make the intercooler piping and then start putting the inside of the car together. Figuring I'll keep boost low on the Holset while I figure things out and learn how to get a nice safe tune on it. Still want to grab a squirter block and put some rods in it to go for some real power.

Long list, would love to have plates on it this Spring.

 

[mikezohsix]

My, what a messy workbench - is that a piece of bone there?
Maybe you should help your dad out and clean that up for him?

 

[didenpx]

My, what a messy workbench - is that a piece of bone there?
Maybe you should help your dad out and clean that up for him?

 

[The Full Banana]

Those are rear torque rods

 

[Stiggy Pop]

In the box of stuff I got with the header there were these two adjustable rods with heim joints on either end, about 16" long eye-to-eye. Any ideas what they could be for?

also been wondering if guys with heavy turbos on headers like these are bracing them in any way? Seems like a lot of weight hanging out there.

 

[Stiggy Pop]

Those are rear torque rods

That's what I was thinking, but they seemed so small compared to the ends on the car now I wasn't sure.

Got a big NPT tap, going to do some trial on a spare b21 then run it into the block in the car so I can get the 3/4 NPT to -12 AN return fitting for the Holset on. Also have a 240 style oil cooler sandwich plate on the way so I can redo the lines.

 

[volvoskiah]

Great thread, much inspiration to the +t of my 79 242 GT this summer!

 

[boostabear]

I am so glad someone saved that car, and is doing a spectacular job at that. Well done!

 

[blkaplan]

We made another bracket to sandwich between the intercooler bracket and lower rad support. I had to notch that center brace there a bit to clear the cooler. Happy with how this came together, looks clean and nice and solid.

I would be careful with that mounting scheme, You will want some type of impact protection on that oil cooler. Something like that is susceptible to getting damaged by silly stuff like branches or cones in the road.

A skid tray with proper ducting would be sufficient.

 

[Stiggy Pop]

Great thread, much inspiration to the +t of my 79 242 GT this summer!

Thanks. Stop by with the GT once we thaw out, we're about 20min west of you.

I am so glad someone saved that car, and is doing a spectacular job at that. Well done!

credit to senior for spotting it on CL. it needed a lot of saving...

I would be careful with that mounting scheme, You will want some type of impact protection on that oil cooler. Something like that is susceptible to getting damaged by silly stuff like branches or cones in the road.

A skid tray with proper ducting would be sufficient.

Yeah I thought about that. I'm going to see what things look like once I put a bumper back on it and see what I want to do.

Pulled out the manifold/15g and drilled the oil return hole. Greased everything up and it doesn't seem like much of anything went into the pan. Drill bit was wicked sharp, and had been shortened and turned so I could fit a drill in the bay. Waiting on exhaust manifold studs then I can tap, flush, hang turbo, run lines and have it running again.

Starting to think about the interior. I like the beige/brown but don't think I'm going to find the kind of seat I want in brown very easily.

 

[2fast242gt]

very.... very nice work!

 

[Old Iron]

This car really looked great when you gotbtoir hands on it! Its really get the work over and shaping up nicely!