:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
Better late than never, I've finally got around to starting my project thread!
Meet Honey Dijon... 
I found her February 16th, on craigslist...waited like 8 hours before calling, to find out that I was the first inquiry. Asked some quick qualifying questions before agreeing to meet in Fairfield, CA in an hour. This car came rolling into the parking lot like your quintessential '70's Volvo. Sure she rides high, but who could resist the sleek likes of the coupe with the back windows cracked open, especially in that mellow mustard yellow. 
This car was it! 183K on the dial; 4 speed manual with flip-switch overdrive. There's even a working cd player...wired to some 6.5" drivers, that are poorly retrofit in the doors. The original owner was based out of Travis AFB, and seemed to take meticulous care of the mechanicals...oil was kept clean, no leaks, grinds, whirrs, or nonsense...just a well kept 242! So, after finding out that the seller is a starving country musician, set to throw down a track with a friend of E40, we celebrated my new car with some celebratory chronic and parted ways! All points considered, I'd say she's a great find...especially for $500. No real committed plans, as of now; I just wanted a clean, simple, old skool sled for a daily driver...this is the ticket! Just trying to cover maintenance stuff for now...fluids changes, balance & rotation and alignment. So far, I've changed the motor oil; I put in a new filter and some 20w-50...which I'm not so sure was the best idea. I'll post more pics later, but I've had the diff welded and cut the springs so she can ride real low! Enjoy... 
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:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
I spent an afternoon at the exhaust shoppe the other week...wanted to get my diff welded. Coming from a Mazda Miata with a 6-speed and Torsen LSD...the open diff just wasn't cutting it.
So I loaded up a drain pan, some gear oil and a pump, and headed on down to the shoppe! Welding the diff didn't seem too complicated, so they were down to do it...and they said they'd be cool tack welding my bumper shocks, to complete the bumper tuck I did. SWEET! When he finished welding one side of the gear, he went to roll the car a bit to access the other side of the gear. I caught focus just in time, as he let the car roll off the lift with my dog and I right behind it...almost took the both of us out, had I not realized what was going on. Fortunately the car got caught on the rack and didn't come crashing down. So, I got my diff and bumper shocks welded, and I got him to put on a cool exhaust tip...for free, and pay for my replacement door. Here's how she looks after the trip... 
Oh yeah, and in my spare time that week, I removed the chrome trim and test fit my 15" ugly's on the left side...just cuz! I'll update later this weekend with the latest on my stance! :cool: |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
From the Junk Yard with love...
I went looking for a manual ZF steering rack to swap for my depowered CAM rack, but there were none in the two dozen 200-Series Volvo's at the Windsor P-N-P. I couldn't go home empty handed, so spend $50 on the 850 bumper cover for some test fitting. Some day, a mustard yellow 850R front bumper! |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
So I really wish I could say I went to the junk yard and dragged one of these home...
But I can't. 
I blew my middle u-joint and let it go so long that I destroyed the prop; now you try finding a prop for a '79 242. They are the really skinny type and searched 5 junk yards with no success. Finally decided to hit the Fairfield PNP where I found two; I took both just to have a spare. While I was there, I noticed a 2000-ish Z28 Camaro that was clean as a whistle that sustained a heavy front end impact. I guess it was running well enough to hit that wall with some speed. 
After speaking with the attendants, they said it was part of the week's "Fantasy 5," so I couldn't pick anything until 8am, Saturday morning. I went home to think things over and rallied all I could; I got my friends 3/4-ton pick-up, a portable, gas generator, impact gun, sawzal and all the tools I could find. I showed up at 7am, Saturday, to find two other guys waiting around...after breaking some ice, I discovered they were waiting to pick the engine of a Ford Focus, so I thought it safe to leak I was coming for the LS1...one of them told me they were camping out the past few nights in the parking lot, waiting to pick the LS1 first...but apparently it had sold, complete, before anyone could come. I thought he was bluffing, and I didn't want to waste my efforts for nothing, so I waited till they opened, paid my $2.00 entrance fee and saw for myself that the Camaro was gone. Not leaving home empty handed, I thought I'd take a lap in the yard and see what I missed since Thursday. To my surprise, there was actually a Volvo with a complete set of four wheels...sweet BBS wheels! The tires aren't bald and the rims are straight. It was the most 80's out 760 sedan I'd ever seen; maroon with a lot of chrome around the windows and trim and a matching set of maroon BBS 16x7.5" et18 wheels, with all four center caps. Couldn't say no to these... 
So, I'm sittin, sorta, kinda, almost, not quite flush. Oh, and during the half-off sale, last weekend, I managed to find a pair of IPD sway bars, 25mm and 22mm! Got the front on... 
Feels way better... 
Cleaned the rear, but haven't put it in yet... 
Between the wheels and sway bars, not a bad $200 spent! |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
I made time for more Volvo luv time, which is always a good time, cuz it's trickin out my volvo time.
I'm just ballin' on a budget, so all that I've really got are some more JY parts; oh, and those adjustable torque rods and panhard from CMonkey...just gotta put em in and get bushings for the panhard. I do still have an IPD 22mm rear and Manual CAM steering rack. FYI...until this point, I've been driving the past few thousand miles with a ghetto depowered steering rack...dropped the pump and lines. steering was ridiculously heavy and next to impossible to bear under 5mph; I have the biceps and forearms to prove it.
after a little cleaning, cuz I don't tolerate dirt... 
rust-free, california bolts
out with the old, and way, way, WAY HEAVY!!! 
gross... 
problem solved, but gotta clean that subframe better... 
oh yeah, i forgot to mention I did a e-fan conversion. i pulled an electric fan off a Volvo 850, along with the fan relay and associated wiring. it looks ghetto now, because I'm dumb with wiring and it took me like 6 tries to get it to work right. i plugged the fan to the relay, grounded the lead from the fan, ran the lead for low speed from the relay to a fan switch on the radiator...had to get a radiator from a later model 240, and grounded the other prong on the fan switch. the relay gets power from a lead to the battery, with a fusiable link on the end, to protect the fan from a power spike. it works better than the clutch fan, and way quieter and a marginal increase in throttle response...a geeky cool mod!
and my cone filter...matched it with higher flowing exhaust by removing the resonator, so just a cat and muffler now. 
my washer stack to take the place of the clutch fan. 
more junk to get rid of.... 
junk extracted, meeting its replacement; IPD 22mm... 
tucked away, neatly...next to an oily diff... 
sittin' pretty... 
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:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
I found some time, after my road bike ride this morning, to catch up on my Volvo projects. I'm waiting on my suspension parts to arrive, hence the reason why I haven't yet installed my adjustable panhard bar and torque rods; I assume just wait until I've got all my rear end suspension bushings and shocks and blast through it all at once, then bust out the front end shocks, bushings and ball joints and hit the alignment rack, before my Colorado trip.
Along with the below parts I pulled off the Moss Landing car, I managed to score the trunk key with both the trunk and glove box core. Now I have a core's matching pair, with key.
I got the door; that's a lot better... landing 
I also got a new right side tail light, because I was missing a lens... 
These were my old door cards... 
So I grabbed the set from the Moss Landing car... 
Gave her a bath to get the JY dirt off the door and light; she looks good! That's the room mate's '75 280z, running project. 
Oh, and I got the floor mats and a fuse panel cover too... 
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:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
Tis a bit ghetto, but I managed to put together a budget audio system to get me through the monotony of silent driving. I put up with driving this car for almost 8k miles with no audio system...haven't really minded so much, actually thought it was quite peaceful, but on longer drives or sitting in traffic, it really wears on me. played pandora through the phone and rocked ear buds, or plugged it into small battery powered speakers....even drove from my place in SF to Tucson and back...
enough is enough...time for some audio! so, i scored some speakers from a miata i bought...the last owner cut holes in the rear shelf and put in some 6.5" speakers from a Mercedes-Benz. I assume he just yanked them outta the JY...dunno much about them other than they are stamped with the MBZ logo. I bust out my hand-me-down amplifier, my dad gave me; an Alpine 2-channel 30-watt RMS x 2 amp, circa 1985, lol. Wired that into the Pioneer double-din navi unit i bought last winter.... 
i had to do some custom work to get that head unit in there...shaved down the dash bezel, and had to cut the support behind it...before it was more like din.5...now i've got almost 2-dins, haha. 
kinda funny to me that i've got a 31-year old car with GPS, and streaming Pandora radio, haha gucci speakers and amps and subs and sound deadening and all that jazz to come, after i handle much more interesting projects, but i'z got some ghetto blasters!!! |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
Some goodies arrived this week, though I'm still waiting on my bushings and Billy's. In my down time, I managed to get the distributor set back to 10* btdc; I've been stuck at 6* retarded. What a nice difference, proper engine timing makes! I've got a few little more maintence things to tackle before I hit the road...wanna bust out some fresh belts and hoses, and fix the vacuum lines for the climate control vents.
I've always loved a lil junk in the trunk...22mm worth 
just a little something to hold onto... 
but sometimes rubbers get in the way...205's just not cuttin it; i mean cuttin it too much. 
hella flush 
i gotta idea... 
in the form of Bippy! 
Don't ever go in dry; always lube it up! 
the new tredzzzzz 
after some fender luv, they finally fit without a rub... 
verrry nice! 
my homie gave me a gift to play with tomorrow... 
maybe I'll get my bushings and shocks to play with for this weekend! |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
It was blisteringly hot today! After work, I decided that if I'm going to spend the day sweating, I'd give myself a good reason. I took the dog and we did hill climbs, running up and down the trails here in San Rafael. We ran till my lil bud couldn't hang any more; he was just too hot, dehydrated and exhausted, so we walked the short way home and I hosed him off in the driveway to cool down. Well, hosing him turned into hosing me, and bathing him, which got me stoked to detail the car and clean out the garage.
In any case, the quick wash and detail gave me an excuse to take pics of my freshly washed Honey-D and show off the new buckets. As always, enjoy... 
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:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
Had a 'lil more fun with fit today.
After a brutal day at the shoppe, and in the heat, I was pleasantly surprised by two deliveries... 
"Tested on the Nurburing Nordschleife" so you know there good... 
Didn't get to the shocks but dove right in and mounted those spacers. All it took was 15 minutes and a rubber mallet to roll the front fender lips; why couldn't the rears have been this easy... 
850 bumper angle... 
I even figured out how to mount the BBS centers, three of them, at least... 
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:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
The Midnight Wrench... Got to borrow my neighbor's Airplane Hanger, where he hides from his wife, his large tools, project Jeep XJ, our SPEC Miata project, and where I got to do a little suspension tuning on Honey-D. I just finished dropping her down after installing the Bilstein HD shocks! So the shocks came yesterday, you saw that...
Thanks again to "Mr_Brick_Driver" for hooking me up on these. I just thought they should be properly cleaned before being installed in MY car... 
One of the front boots isn't an original blue one. Oh well. 
Before... 
After... 
Old garbage... 
When I relieved the top nut on the old front shocks, the strut shaft just fell into the tube and had a lot of oil all over it. I compressed it by hand, which wasn't too difficult and it wouldn't rebound. I can only assume they were blown. Wow, what a difference these new shocks make! The difference feels like having gone from no suspension to Uber Sweet Master Tuned German & Swedish Engineered Suspension! The old rear shocks say BOGE...what is that? |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
Shot Down, Before my Safari :lol:
Why the laugh...well, I'm just glad it happened now than on Hwy 80, somewhere between Reno and Who Knows Where. The other day, I noticed a small coolant puddle underneath my car, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where it was leaking from. I assumed it was my heater core. Today I noticed a little more, and a drop coming from my sway bar...followed it up and still couldn't find it. Coolant level was a little low, so I topped it off. I started the engine and immediately noticed coolant slowly seeping from the water pump upper seal. I took it down and had it pressure tested and it held beautifully...Carlo said it would only leak when the car's cold, but since I drove it 10 minutes it was warm enough (to expand the gasket I assume) to stop the leak. What to do, what to do? Handle my **** so there are no surprises for the next 3,000 miles. I scored a brand new GMB water pump with fresh a fresh gasket and seals for $65 at RPR in Albany...made it there just 10 minutes before closing; what kinda shop closes at 3?????? :e-shrug: Luckily, I got my order of goodies from FCP today, too... 
Among fresh ball joints, tie rod ends, inner tie rods & boots, SuperPro front control arm bushings, and a Bosch fuel filter I got my order of matched Continental fan belts and all new radiator hoses. I bit the bullet, and dove right in to get the new pump installed and install my new hoses and belts... 
Must take care of the Carlsbad Yellow paint... 
gross... 
Carlo said there were a few stains on the pump and there was some shaft play...again, better safe than sorry. I'm a little bummed I won't have time to handle the bushings, but that'll be a project for when I return. I still need to get poly trailing arm and panhard bar bushings. Overall, the water pump swap was really easy; I've only changed a water pump once before, on my Heep and it was no more difficult. I guess I got some water in in the alternator, because when I fired it up after the install, the gauge cluster looked like this with all the lights flickering on and off... 
It was kind of a bitch figuring out why there was a loud knocking sound accompanied by the gauge cluster problem. For the hell of it, I tried putting the timing belt cover back on and tightened the fan belts better and that seemed to solve the clicking and most of the flickering. It still flickered a bit, until then on my return home from my test drive, I rallied with a MKII Jetta, HellaFlush on same type BBS and my flicker went away. It was cool to see it cruise next to me...similar lines to the vehicle, sorta, especially with my 850 bumper...but the front ends look just as ostier with the smooth bumpers and single 7" round headlamps on black grilles. |
:) Junior Moderator Location: :) Join Date: 03/21/2011 Posts: 224 Rally Car: :) |
you know, just straight Pimpin in my VOLVO!
As for the trip...she didn't die but altitude deffinetly took it's toll on the fuel injection system...glad to be at sea level! Sorry I haven't checked in so long, this trip has kept me busy with a lot and haven't really made time for the forum life. The loose ball joint was driving me nuts, but now that I'm back, got the tie rods, tie rod ends and ball joints replaced...gotta get it in for a toe adjust now, but feels a lot better already! When I've got some time, I'm going to get a set of control arms and trailing arms, so I can box them and insert the poly bushings and just swap them over to Honey-D! now, for some CO pics! 
As for my love of the car...couldn't be any better! Not really interested in selling it, but someone came into my shoppe this past weekend and asked if I was interested in selling it, so I figured I'd see if someone wants to give a ridiculious sum...figure the suspension, wheels and tyres are worth about $3,000, so what's another $2,000-$3,000 for a clean, well maintained 242? Again, don't really want to sell it but I'd be a fool not to take $5,000-$6,000 for it. Hands down, the best handling car I've driven! Feels good to be back, but Colorado was a BLAST! |
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