I've found a 1970ish Volvo 164 almost rust free, and cheap, is this a ok candidate? Or am I better off with a 240 Volvo? I know it's got a heavy engine, but what about the rest, it is a stick.

Justin Pritchard

teamjlp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've found a 1970ish Volvo 164 almost rust free,
> and cheap, is this a ok candidate? Or am I better
> off with a 240 Volvo? I know it's got a heavy
> engine, but what about the rest, it is a stick.
>
> Justin Pritchard

One thing I like about the 240s is the nice weight balance.
It's engine is about 4" farther rearward than the engine in my Xratties relative to the spindle/center of front wheel.
And the Xratties are well balanced.
A 164 with the loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong CAST IRON 6 will not be as well balanced.

The 240 has pretty good rack and pinion steering.

The 164 you may as well drag a 2x4 against the wheel on the side you hope to eventually provoke the car into veering slightly in that direction.

The 240 has a nearly indestructible engine with 4 cylinders,
The 164 has a nearly indestructible engine with 6.
WHEN you decide to rebuild it one day, it will cost 50% more.
For no good reason (and don't compare stock motors).

There are incredibly simple brake upgrades for the 240.
Not so for the 164.

Thousand of 240s are waiting in the "Future Rally Car Spare Parts Depots" which some coarse bastards call "junk yards" so there';s lots of doors, hoods, front core supports, headlights, rooves etc, just the thing an aspiring hero needs.

I have seen 2 164s in the yards in the last 4 years.

164s just a funky old car.
The 240 is something you can progressively build up to a truly fast car whic,. if you're good, could take you into the top 5 at any event in the country.


>
>
>
>

---

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.

So nothing swaps? It had four wheel disks, but that's all I know. Won't steer 'cause it's too heavy or another reason? I would likely swap motors for something lighter, I think you'd said a b23. Is the suspension the same as a 240? If no good I'll keep looking. Just can't find rust free cars in Ohio cheap, yet.

Thanks!

I'm guessing they don't steer so well due to some 8,945,432:1 ratio recirculating ball setup that makes turning sort of like spinning the big wheel on The Price Is Right.

But I'm just making an educated guess on the mechanical end of it.

A little old lady who I used to do yard work for had a pristine 69 or 70 Volvo wagon with just 65k miles on it, if it hadn't been an automatic, I would have bought it from her. I did take it around the block once, and do remember the steering was slllllloooooooooowwwwwww. Man, that was 17 years ago now...

---

Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY

teamjlp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So nothing swaps? It had four wheel disks, but
> that's all I know. Won't steer 'cause it's too
> heavy or another reason? I would likely swap
> motors for something lighter, I think you'd said a
> b23. Is the suspension the same as a 240? If no
> good I'll keep looking. Just can't find rust free
> cars in Ohio cheap, yet.
>
> Thanks!

You can convert it to 240 brakes easily enough.

It won't turn, because it's got an absolutely terrible steering setup.. aside from the 4 links it's got a horribly slow worm and roller steering box with a ratio that's somewhere around 5 thousand turns lock to lock.

The 164 and the 240 share a lot of sheet metal.. but all the front end stuff is 164 specific and not the easiest to find.

All in all, they are neet old cars, but you will find you will have turned it into a 240 with harder to find front end sheet metal by the time you've finished your build.

---

Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

teamjlp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So nothing swaps? It had four wheel disks, but
> that's all I know. Won't steer 'cause it's too
> heavy or another reason? I would likely swap
> motors for something lighter, I think you'd said a
> b23. Is the suspension the same as a 240? If no
> good I'll keep looking. Just can't find rust free
> cars in Ohio cheap, yet.
>
> Thanks!

Because the steering is closely related to this:

---

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.

So does the same go for the 144?

Does it have the crappy steering?
or is the 140 series more 240 like?

---

Michael LeCompte

pikespeakgtx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So does the same go for the 144?
>
> Does it have the crappy steering?
> or is the 140 series more 240 like?
>
> Michael LeCompte

Completely the same animal as the 164 steering wise.

The 140, 164 & 240 are essentially all the same from the firewall back. The 140 & 164 have essentially the same suspension and steering.

You could make a rack to fit for the 140.. although it has to be a damn small rack. Or you could convert it to a 240 front end (a lot of work).. or you could start with a 240.

---

Andrew M
Onterrible
30ish

Ok, no 164 then.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2009 08:19PM by teamjlp.

teamjlp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ok, no 164 then.
Justin, if you really want a 240 I have a friend in Richmond, VA that certainly can find you a cheap more or less rust free one.
Call (email is on the fritz just now) and I'll put you in touch.
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at Feb 24, 2009 by
> teamjlp.

---

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.

Why did you edit the subaru comment out?

---

Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Dazed_Driver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why did you edit the subaru comment out?
>
> Feisty Peacock?


Oh snap calling him out

---

-Jason

mack73 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dazed_Driver Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why did you edit the subaru comment out?
> >
> > Feisty Peacock?
>
>
> Oh snap calling him out

Well what did he say?
>
> 94 Golf
> www.Mack73.com

---

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.

Justin, my comrade from Virginia I mentioned somewhere is online now.
His name is "Fidel" aka Lawrence Knox aka Knox Motorsprout.

Get hold of this guy!
Fidel say hi!

---

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 defiantly help in finding a 240. i saw this post the other day and was waiting to see what y'all had to say before i posted.
i daily drive a 164, and would never think of prepping it for the dirt. it has a heavy front weight bias , the b30 is as heavy as a big block Merican motor. it does have a ton of torque but the crank will bend and snap above 7000rpm if you run some real compression. the stock trans has better ratios than a 240 and holds more power, but wear out quickly and all the bearing, ect are NLA. it would take a good amount of fab work to get a nice ratio T-5 compared to a 240. i have power steering in mine so its the same ratio as a 240, still to slow to have fun with. the front suspension would take a lot more work to strengthen it compared to a 240 also.
body part are hard to find for the 164, 240's (except 242's) are a dime a dozen.

---

lawrence knox aka fidel
knox motorspors
knoxmotorsports.us