Was gonna buy a truck, got a 1980 245 instead

[spock345]

A few months ago 122Power listed a pair of wagons (1977 and 1980). They languished for a bit in Vacaville. Meanwhile I was looking for a truck. Decided to go check the 1980 while heading home from Sacramento. A week later it is sitting in my driveway instead of a truck. Really a very clean example of a wagon. Probably the cleanest Volvo I've gotten to start with.

It has a B21F with an M46 and 3.54:1 rear end.

I am not quite sure what to make of the odometer. I know it works. Might be too good to be true. The car has seen some work in the past.

Definitely a respray, I think light blue was originally a single stage paint. Decent patina on the hood though.

Decently clean interior, normal seat wear on the fronts and minor lean on the drivers seat. Really trivial upholstery work to do compared to my other cars. The back is pristine.

Now for what needs to be done.

• Rust bubbling on the windshield bottom edge needs to be fixed, I poked it a bit and it seems solid, but the trim and possibly the windshield has to come out.
• Paint work other than the minor rust, maybe at some point.
• Tow hitch
• Window scrapers and channels

Done:

• Heater valve is frozen
• Front seat rebuild.
• Rebuild brakes, vented front rotors
• Windshield washers in the front need work, rear wiper motor is loose in the trunk, more diagnosis needed. Really splitting hairs at this point.
• The OD switch wasn't working, fixed that the day after I bought it by making some new terminals.
• Needs a new reverse light harness.
• Upper chassis braces
• Engine harness is biodegradable, new harness included with the car.
• PCV setup is a quick fix at present to make it look and operate somewhat right so it would pass smog. Hey, it works, but might as well get the proper parts on there.
• Motor mounts
• Investigate bushing condition, maybe a front sway bar upgrade (went to 23mm front)

I don't think I'll be modifying this car much beyond maybe some nice tires, upper and lower chassis braces, maybe a thicker front sway bar.

 

[fatcatbestcat]

Now for what needs to be done.

You missed the part where you yank that silly gas motor out, and then give it to me in trade for the D24.

In all seriousness, looks like you have the start of a pretty good driver/minor project there. Congrats!

 

[spock345]

You missed the part where you yank that silly gas motor out, and then give it to me in trade for the D24.

In all seriousness, looks like you have the start of a pretty good driver/minor project there. Congrats!

Depends on if you wanna pay freight and import duties on it.

 

[fatcatbestcat]

Depends on if you wanna pay freight and import duties on it.

If you wanna throw in some junk carburetors to go with, that sounds good to me

 

[spock345]

If you wanna throw in some junk carburetors to go with, that sounds good to me

I do have some thoroughly ****ed up Mikuni side draft carbs (Solex clones) in a box somewhere.

 

[fatcatbestcat]

I do have some thoroughly ****ed up Mikuni side draft carbs (Solex clones) in a box somewhere.

Mmmm, I had a great experience with those before.

 

[dl242gt]

The ratio on your speedo is .960. I think that was the one used for a 3.91 rear axle which is what the m46 B21F car usually came with. So, if you really have a 3.54 in that car. That's been changed or a special ordered car that way.

Special ordered cars are out there. I had a 81 wagon m46, B21F car with a 3.31 in it and that thing was the slowest volvo I ever had. Just
horrible. The B21F also had some version of the early M cam so it didn't
even rev up well like a B21 should.

Anyway, nice save! That looks like it's going to be a good car for you.

 

[spock345]

The ratio on your speedo is .960. I think that was the one used for a 3.91 rear axle which is what the m46 B21F car usually came with. So, if you really have a 3.54 in that car. That's been changed or a special ordered car that way.

Special ordered cars are out there. I had a 81 wagon m46, B21F car with a 3.31 in it and that thing was the slowest volvo I ever had. Just
horrible. The B21F also had some version of the early M cam so it didn't
even rev up well like a B21 should.

Anyway, nice save! That looks like it's going to be a good car for you.

Interesting. Luke told me 3.54. It was slow enough off the line and 1st gear didn't seem so short so I'd buy it being something tall. I've yet to verify the accuracy of the speedometer though. He said he observed it reading a bit off.

If it is an M cam I'll probably be on the lookout for a B. I know James has one listed.

 

[dl242gt]

To my knowledge an 80 should have the B cam in it already. If it revs out nicely to 4/4.5k rpms it's a B. Can look up the speedo ratio in the parts catalog. When I added overdrive to my 242. I got the setup from a 3.91
79 wagon. I think it had that speedo in it and I forgot to take it. So then the speedo in my 242 read about 3mph slow thereafter. It sure was nice getting that drop in rpms when cruising.

 

[spock345]

Made a discovery this weekend while poking around underneath to check out the OD and reverse light wiring.

Luckily it was just that little bit that had rotted through. I patched that small section.

And welded in with my very ****ty welding skills (missed a pin hole to the left of the patch). I wouldn't be welding it myself if it were anything more serious. I think I caught this early enough. Also wiped it down with water to more clearly discern remaining paint from rust.

I forgot to get photos of scrapping off the last of the seam sealer left around the surface rust and giving the whole thing a coat of POR 15.

 

[spock345]

To my knowledge an 80 should have the B cam in it already. If it revs out nicely to 4/4.5k rpms it's a B. Can look up the speedo ratio in the parts catalog. When I added overdrive to my 242. I got the setup from a 3.91
79 wagon. I think it had that speedo in it and I forgot to take it. So then the speedo in my 242 read about 3mph slow thereafter. It sure was nice getting that drop in rpms when cruising.

I got a tach installed and it showed 3000-ish rpm at 70mph (gps speedometer). Which given the 185/70r14 tires would indicate a 3.91:1 rear end.

Also it pulls nicely to 4.5k, so definitely a B cam. It generally wants to go, which is never something I saw with an M.

 

[spock345]

New heater valve install with some parts I had laying around.

In the process of replacing the engine harness I nicked a fuel line line, had to make a new one following steps from a helpful cleanflametrap article.

Also found a previous owner had gotten frustrated with reverse light wiring in the past. Looks like they punch two holes with a hole saw. Gonna try to figure out a rubber plug for that.

 

[spock345]

Update for now, will add pictures later. Upgrades the brakes to vented rotors in the front courtesy of some junkyard calipers. Also found out that the rear calipers were toast when I went to compress the calipers to replace the pads and got some fluid coming out. Now today after bleeding it twice the master cylinder is toast (used a power bleeder). I guess a full brake rebuild is the name of the game right now.

The impetus for doing the brakes. Every last cent from the last set of rear pads.

Also just some normal 40 year old Volvo seat things.

The bottom foam was toast on the drivers seat. I got some of the nicer grids from wagonmeister. I had some difficulty with some seat skins I had from Swedish Relics, being ignorant of the early and late seat distinction. I can't find an email on their website to complain about them labeling the covers "1975-93" when they are really '86-93 covers. I got some seats from James in Davis. I used the back of one to rebuild the drivers seat with the new cover. The original, while externally fine had some issues with the sleeves that held the metal rods and I didn't really want to play surgeon with the seat cover.

I did reinforce the foam on the '86-93 seat back and cloned what cleanframetrap (http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/seat_back.htm) did with adding additional straps to support the back where the grid is otherwise unsupported.

Really kind of highlights the difference in the seat backs on the later cars. I'm going to try to figure out how to get covers for the earlier seat back and go back to that. Then maybe turn the '86-98 seat into a desk chair or something.

Lastly got some tires. Seems whoever was packing things shipped me the more expensive tires with the white stripe when the listing showed the black wall ones. Not that I am complaining.

 

[John242Ti]

The ratio on your speedo is .960. I think that was the one used for a 3.91 rear axle which is what the m46 B21F car usually came with. So, if you really have a 3.54 in that car. That's been changed or a special ordered car that way.

Special ordered cars are out there. I had a 81 wagon m46, B21F car with a 3.31 in it and that thing was the slowest volvo I ever had. Just
horrible. The B21F also had some version of the early M cam so it didn't
even rev up well like a B21 should.

Anyway, nice save! That looks like it's going to be a good car for you.

It actually means wagon tire size. r0,960 is for 185R14 tires. r0,980 is for either 175R14, 185/70R14, or 195/60R15. 1981-82 245s with the B21MPG and B21F-LH engines have 3.54 rear axles from the factory and r0,960 speedometers. 1983-85 245s with the B23/230F and the 3.31 rear axle also have the r0,960 speedometer. A 245 GLT or Turbo, however, will have a sedan r0,980 speedometer with either a 3.91 or 3.73 rear axle.


To the OP, nice score.

 

[John242Ti]

To add on what I typed above, the speedometer gear in the overdrive or the transmission is what you'd change if you went from an Aw70 to a M46, etc, not the speedometer itself. Currently, I have the M46 a couple TBers and I installed in my old 245 in the 242. Speedometer reads ~3 mph low. Which makes sense, since it has a 3.91 speedometer gear installed and the car has a 3.73 rear axle installed. Stock sedan speedometer ratio (in this case, since metric speedometer, r0,605 instead of r0,980). The 245 was my old '84 turbo wagon, so, again, sedan speedometer. In that car, the speedometer read correctly, since the car had a 3.91 rear end, being originally an Aw71 car.

 

[spock345]

To add on what I typed above, the speedometer gear in the overdrive or the transmission is what you'd change if you went from an Aw70 to a M46, etc, not the speedometer itself. Currently, I have the M46 a couple TBers and I installed in my old 245 in the 242. Speedometer reads ~3 mph low. Which makes sense, since it has a 3.91 speedometer gear installed and the car has a 3.73 rear axle installed. Stock sedan speedometer ratio (in this case, since metric speedometer, r0,605 instead of r0,980). The 245 was my old '84 turbo wagon, so, again, sedan speedometer. In that car, the speedometer read correctly, since the car had a 3.91 rear end, being originally an Aw71 car.

Interesting. I've gotta figure out whether the instrument is just off, if I am wrong about the rear end, or whether I have the wrong gear in the transmission.

 

[spock345]

Brakes, tie rods, ball joints, and a DIY alignment done. It is now road worthy.

Also a roof rack, just because.

 

[spock345]

Well, fun time in my little world. The speedometer is broken. Took out the cluster to fix the temp gauge and left the speedometer on my desk. Came back from work to find it stuck to a neodymium magnet. Time to go get that recalibrated because it is way off now instead of the 5mph slow it once was.

 

[bobxyz]

Do you know if the later r0,960 round face speedo guts are the same as your earlier square face speedo? If so, I have a couple later 85 mph clusters that I'll make you a good deal on. I ran one of them for a while and the speed seemed pretty accurate, the other one was off ebay and I only got it for the VR sensor. I think the odo is working on both.

Edit: gratuitous pic of my blue wagon - spider eyes FTW

 

[spock345]

Do you know if the later r0,960 round face speedo guts are the same as your earlier square face speedo? If so, I have a couple later 85 mph clusters that I'll make you a good deal on. I ran one of them for a while and the speed seemed pretty accurate, the other one was off ebay and I only got it for the VR sensor. I think the odo is working on both.

Edit: gratuitous pic of my blue wagon - spider eyes FTW

I believe they are the same. At least judging from the pictures of the different speedometers disassembled on Dave Barton's site.

The spider eyes are what sold me on this car.