So which Volvo

Well after 2 hours of you tube rally Volvo , holy hell ... I guess the corolla can get sold in lieu of a Volvo,and the Saturn can go to the local junkyard, is there a certain year,make,model I need to look for, specific engine .. Of course a manual trans, I'll search this forum and see what I can find, if anyone has any rally Volvo videos or extra sites they can share it would be appreciated!!

240. Two door or 4 door sedan. Made from like 1865 til 92. 75 or so I mean. Is look for a 2.3 turbo model.

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Grant Hughes

Note: I am a "probably never will be" rallyist who codrove in one Canadian event a decade ago, but I'm a sick motorheard who spends waaaaay too much time on the interwebz. Rally got too rich for my blood, especially with two little kids. I can get three rallies worth of seat time in one LeMons race for way less money, so although it isn't QUITE as much fun as scaring myself to death going sideways on dirt...it's a better fix than methadone is to heroin (I think).

Any solid 240 sedan will work for you, but I think you want to go 1981 or earlier for the true Dana 30 rear end (which means cheap final drives). But I'm sure there are other options there

2 doors look cooler, 4 doors are easier to live with (ESPECIALLY with a roll cage).

Those Bertone coupe abominations they did in the early 80s will make you miserable if you roll it and need roof panels. If you stumble into one of those, buy it cheap and flip it on Turbopr...bricks or the LeMons forum.

I've noticed that the 240s are starting to get rare in the boneyards in New England, but even the later 7 and 9 series cars are not as prevalent (last time I went to Holland Auto Parts in Billerica, MA [John's favorite part about his time in New England] it was almost ALL 850s and later FWD crap). But still, it's the newest common, simple, basic shell to start from, and even if you can't find them in the junkyard every day anymore, you CAN find them on Craigslist daily.

The Merkur XR4Ti (Ford Sierra) is also a great RWD launching point, as it's the sister of the Sierra Cosworth. But there were a bazillion or so more Volvos sold in the USA than the Merkurs, so things like windscreens and body panels are easier to get for the Swede.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

OK, here's a quick run down...
Rust is a pain.
Whatever 2 door or 4 door that pops up, and is cheap.

Don't worry is its an "autotragique" if its solid and CHEAP...

You don't give a shit about swank interior, it gets tosses anyway. You keep door cards and dash.

Motors are
B21.....bore 92, stroke 80...forged steel crank---Good
B23.....Bore 96, stroke 80....same crank, just bigger bore, extra good.
B230...96 and 80, cast iron crank...meh, but whatever, they're fine

And then there's turbos of each of those.. They all have the same valve sizes and they're big enough to have fun with.
96mm bore means you can---at rebuild time whenever that is---drop in 46mm intakes and 38mm exhausts...and those are cheap and worthwhile in normal aspirated.

Start searching for this: Chevy Camaro V8 Borg Warner T5...You will want that sooner or later so start searching now and jump on one if its cheap. Like 250 or less.

The links to the ones down in Missoula for $200 is interesting cause its so cheap, has the Dana 30 and round headlights which look best...
The money save over the others can be put toward a good T5..

On the other hand the later cars have easier to live with injection but they the "early" B230 with little spindly connecting rods which are scary scrawny...

If you have a truck that decent mileage, _{and you had better get one}, Al Kun, know affectionately by his nom de gurre Alperti Kunkanen (everybody eventually gets a nickname, often a faux Finnish one, and I be the guy who hands them out) who lives just North of San Francisco a couple of minutes will GIVE YOU a nice starter car

16 hours driving there but that's better than a stab in the eye with a sharp stick. Probably even has a core motor so you could start dinking with an eventual "freshened up" build.



Whatever car you get you'll need a cage eventually so tell us what you thought you were going to do there.

I say this cause i know 2 240s that have to get cage soon and I though I might ask soem of the local guys if they would be realistic and maybe to the bend up and notch for 3 -4 at the same time. We all know that takes only a litle more time to repeat the gawddam annoying tubes you stared at for _______minutes so 3-4 isn't 3-4 times the time, its maybe 1.3, maybe 1.5 the time...
Maybe you could get in on that.

What tools, skills, and connections for welding do you have?

What sort of work you do?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I can weld I worked for a company who built machines for production, so I've had a lot of time behind a mig welder, bending tubing, no experience , I was also a heavy equipment lube tech so the tools I have are just about every hand tool I'd need , slept on the couch more than my share after the wife saw the snap-on Cromwell, Matco charge every time the truck showed up , connection none, work I do now , because the economy sucks.... Work at the va hospital...

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79corolla
I can weld I worked for a company who built machines for production, so I've had a lot of time behind a mig welder, bending tubing, no experience , I was also a heavy equipment lube tech so the tools I have are just about every hand tool I'd need , slept on the couch more than my share after the wife saw the snap-on Cromwell, Matco charge every time the truck showed up , connection none, work I do now , because the economy sucks.... Work at the va hospital...

Well, thanks for working at the VA hospital and taking care of our vets (regardless of what you do there, you're helping those who have served the country).

If you can lay an excellent MIG bead with muy bueno penetration, and can listen to what rally people tell you do do for the cage, getting a pre-bent and notched kit would be a Very Good Thing. Listen to what heymagic and rallymech have to say, ABOVE ALL OTHERS with regards to cage/safety stuff, they want you to get out in the woods and have fun...AND be safe. I trust their word on safety items.

John V will get you the best value suspension that works, especially on a platform that's been done before (you want to try to reinvent the wheel and run something like a 94 Saturn or 79 Corolla, there may be some more time/effort/cost involved with custom stuff).

Ugh. Must go to bed.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

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john vanlandingham
I say this cause i know 2 240s that have to get cage soon and I though I might ask soem of the local guys if they would be realistic and maybe to the bend up and notch for 3 -4 at the same time.

Who do I need to talk to about this? I've got a bare shell out in the barn and I'm getting close to pulling the trigger on buying a bender, but I'd like to explore my options.

My two cents:

If you have the time and money to do an immediate trans swap get the newest four door 240 automatic that you can find. Otherwise hold out for a manual. You want a 90s model for the better parts availability and the bigger motor. Remember, no boost for novices so forget about a turbo.

A rally car is a disposable tool. The fundamentals of the car need to be in excellent condition and reliable. Color, interior, stereo system etc are irrelevant.

As soon as a project car becomes disabled it's value plummets and you start to loose interest. Keep the car drivable as much as you can.

Remember, if you can't afford to buy a new car, you can't afford to build a rally car. This is why you don't do every thing at once and don't disable the car.

Ask questions.

Keep it simple.

Good luck.

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Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

I'll keep it running for sure, there's some nice dirt roads around here to get some practice on and figure out all the tweaking , I can lay a pretty nice bead of weld so the weld in cage would be awesome and save tons of money, not to mention getting the biggest hurdle out of the way, I want it to be as safe as possible, my old man broke his leg and back when he was thrown from his blown gas flat bottom right before the finish, his boat went through the traps at 143 mph without him in it, shortly after that he rebuilt the boat with a capsule!! So safety is key... He now lives on vicodine!!! I e-mailed 2 different volvos one 1988 auto and 1976 manual , haven't heard any word back yet...

If you are going volvo, get on Turbobricks.com, a great resource for cars and parts, lots of info there,much of it wrong, but hey. Beware of the members, they are the trolliest, dirt-baggiest, misinformed bunch of hipster wannabes ever.

I'll go take a peek, I still haven't been emailed about those 2 volvos on CL , wish people would give alternate emails... Is the 240 the only volvo that'll work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2013 03:58PM by 79corolla.

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alkun
If you are going volvo, get on Turbobricks.com, a great resource for cars and parts, lots of info there,much of it wrong, but hey. Beware of the members, they are the trolliest, dirt-baggiest, misinformed bunch of hipster wannabes ever.

You forgot to mention how stupid we are.

There's this guy whose SN is RedwoodChair and he doesn't seem to be a retarded douchebag, but he lives in CA. But he might know other guys in....Montana.

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Something about something....dirt.

Quote
79corolla
I'll keep it running for sure, there's some nice dirt roads around here to get some practice on and figure out all the tweaking , I can lay a pretty nice bead of weld so the weld in cage would be awesome and save tons of money, not to mention getting the biggest hurdle out of the way, I want it to be as safe as possible, my old man broke his leg and back when he was thrown from his blown gas flat bottom right before the finish, his boat went through the traps at 143 mph without him in it, shortly after that he rebuilt the boat with a capsule!! So safety is key... He now lives on vicodine!!! I e-mailed 2 different volvos one 1988 auto and 1976 manual , haven't heard any word back yet...

If there were numbers CALL.
And leave numbers...

240 is the easiest and the best. Not too long, nearly 50/50 weight balance which makes sideways dancing much easier.
7 series can work but stretch-limo wheelbase (109" means you have to attack the corners hard every time to get the thing to eventually rotate, or you plow..
That have the hybrid Dana 30 stuff that is actually like combo Dana 35 and 44 size and unique to Vovlo---so verty expensive for alternate ratios--from overseas...If that is encountered the Toyota Pickup or 4 Runner 8" comple axle swap is an obvious choice.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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Houdini91

Quote
alkun
If you are going volvo, get on Turbobricks.com, a great resource for cars and parts, lots of info there,much of it wrong, but hey. Beware of the members, they are the trolliest, dirt-baggiest, misinformed bunch of hipster wannabes ever.

You forgot to mention how stupid we are.

There's this guy whose SN is RedwoodChair and he doesn't seem to be a retarded douchebag, but he lives in CA. But he might know other guys in....Montana.

Ha! we TB'ers are above all else lazy too.

I have about 8 of RedwoodChairs redwood chairs here at my place, known him for 20+ years...

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alkun

Quote
Houdini91

Quote
alkun
If you are going volvo, get on Turbobricks.com, a great resource for cars and parts, lots of info there,much of it wrong, but hey. Beware of the members, they are the trolliest, dirt-baggiest, misinformed bunch of hipster wannabes ever.

You forgot to mention how stupid we are.

There's this guy whose SN is RedwoodChair and he doesn't seem to be a retarded douchebag, but he lives in CA. But he might know other guys in....Montana.

Ha! we TB'ers are above all else lazy too.

I have about 8 of RedwoodChairs redwood chairs here at my place, known him for 20+ years...

Ahhhh yeah, we sure are. With our flannel shirts and beards and the living at home....We suck.
Yeah, isn't his name Ken or something like that? Cool guy.

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Something about something....dirt.