Tweet
Hey SW, I posted in the intro thread section a while back about my Volvo and Subaru and I thought I'd make a build thread for the Volvo.
This story began when I was hungover checking Craigslist one Sunday morning in December. For the past year I've been looking through Craigslist every week or so just checking up on the Volvo's for sale. Back in September I finally had the money to buy one and had my eye on a manual wagon from Louisville. I was too late and someone else bought it before I had a chance to look. Same scenario happened again earlier on in December. So one morning I just woke up and checked while laying in bed and found a decent looking 242 in Fort Wayne, IN. I live in Indianapolis so it wasn't too far away to get up and go check it out.
This was my 07 Subaru Impreza 2.5i (now back to stock and for sale) a few months ago after I had finished all my plans for it. I wanted something else to work on and plan for, and I always had an old Volvo in mind.
My friends didn't quite feel the same about old Volvo's, but I loved them for some odd reason. I texted the owner immediately and after talking for a few hours and receiving a ton of pictures, I was on my way up with a buddy to check it out.
We got there around 7 pm so I only got to see it under the light of the owner's garage, but right away I fell in love.
After a quick little test drive, I decided I had to take it home with me. Started up fine right away, brakes were good but screechy, the transmission shifted smoothly, and even the fancy crank windows worked.
At the gas station I could see the roughness of the exterior start to come out. It sat around most of it's life until it was sold in an estate auction in early 2014. The clear coat on all horizontal surfaces except for most of the trunk was completely gone. The tint was all nasty purple and the dash was cracked to shit. (thanks for the dash cover, previous owner!) Rust holes were forming behind the rear wheels too.
I was super pumped about the blowout on the way home in 20 degree weather, so pumped that my friend and I took our time and got everything back together in 3 hours! It sure is fun being on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere, with the closest autozone 30 minutes away. Didn't have a jack, spare tire didn't have air, didn't have a lug wrench, and bought some of the wrong tools during one of our many trips to the store. Lesson learned: prepare a little bit better
Finally got the turd home at 1 am. That is my good friend Adrien_M5 who I cannot thank enough for helping me out so much that night.
The interior was in pretty decent shape aside from being filthy and disgusting. It took a few hours to shampoo the carpet and seats, vacuum the cigarette ash and dead bugs out, and wipe everything down but it made a huge difference.
Unfortunately the radio bezel was broken due to being brittle and old and because the previous owner's girlfriend dropped a car seat on it. The radio was taken out for a new one to be installed but as you can see that never happened. I do have the original radio laying around though and a new bezel to put in.
I got a better look at the rust, holes have formed on both sides of the bottom of the rear quarter panels. Luckily it's the only rust on the car. To temporarily fix it and stop water from getting into the trunk, I put some duct tape over the holes and sprayed down some flex-seal. It worked fine and is still holding, and eventually I'll fix it properly.
Over the next few days the car went through some intensive cleaning and polishing. Adrien_M5 did an awesome job cleaning up the engine bay while I was away at work. The roof looked a million times better after using polishing compound and a coat of wax.
The ugly purple tint took me hours and hours to peel off, it was horrible but it looks way better.
Yellow high beams and the ever so swaggy spare tire!!!
A couple days later I went out and bought all new tires so the car would be a little more safe to drive. Soon after Adrien_M5 and I cut the springs and that brings us to the current state:
I'll be slowly making progress turning this turd into less of a turd and learning a bunch along the way, stay tuned (it'll be cooler soon I promise)
Details:
1981 Volvo 242 DL
3 speed automatic
B21 engine
85,XXX original miles
I am the 3rd owner
TLDR VERSION:
I bought an old Volvo 242 off Craigslist and its not too bad.
This story began when I was hungover checking Craigslist one Sunday morning in December. For the past year I've been looking through Craigslist every week or so just checking up on the Volvo's for sale. Back in September I finally had the money to buy one and had my eye on a manual wagon from Louisville. I was too late and someone else bought it before I had a chance to look. Same scenario happened again earlier on in December. So one morning I just woke up and checked while laying in bed and found a decent looking 242 in Fort Wayne, IN. I live in Indianapolis so it wasn't too far away to get up and go check it out.
This was my 07 Subaru Impreza 2.5i (now back to stock and for sale) a few months ago after I had finished all my plans for it. I wanted something else to work on and plan for, and I always had an old Volvo in mind.
My friends didn't quite feel the same about old Volvo's, but I loved them for some odd reason. I texted the owner immediately and after talking for a few hours and receiving a ton of pictures, I was on my way up with a buddy to check it out.
We got there around 7 pm so I only got to see it under the light of the owner's garage, but right away I fell in love.
After a quick little test drive, I decided I had to take it home with me. Started up fine right away, brakes were good but screechy, the transmission shifted smoothly, and even the fancy crank windows worked.
At the gas station I could see the roughness of the exterior start to come out. It sat around most of it's life until it was sold in an estate auction in early 2014. The clear coat on all horizontal surfaces except for most of the trunk was completely gone. The tint was all nasty purple and the dash was cracked to shit. (thanks for the dash cover, previous owner!) Rust holes were forming behind the rear wheels too.
I was super pumped about the blowout on the way home in 20 degree weather, so pumped that my friend and I took our time and got everything back together in 3 hours! It sure is fun being on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere, with the closest autozone 30 minutes away. Didn't have a jack, spare tire didn't have air, didn't have a lug wrench, and bought some of the wrong tools during one of our many trips to the store. Lesson learned: prepare a little bit better
Finally got the turd home at 1 am. That is my good friend Adrien_M5 who I cannot thank enough for helping me out so much that night.
The interior was in pretty decent shape aside from being filthy and disgusting. It took a few hours to shampoo the carpet and seats, vacuum the cigarette ash and dead bugs out, and wipe everything down but it made a huge difference.
Unfortunately the radio bezel was broken due to being brittle and old and because the previous owner's girlfriend dropped a car seat on it. The radio was taken out for a new one to be installed but as you can see that never happened. I do have the original radio laying around though and a new bezel to put in.
I got a better look at the rust, holes have formed on both sides of the bottom of the rear quarter panels. Luckily it's the only rust on the car. To temporarily fix it and stop water from getting into the trunk, I put some duct tape over the holes and sprayed down some flex-seal. It worked fine and is still holding, and eventually I'll fix it properly.
Over the next few days the car went through some intensive cleaning and polishing. Adrien_M5 did an awesome job cleaning up the engine bay while I was away at work. The roof looked a million times better after using polishing compound and a coat of wax.
The ugly purple tint took me hours and hours to peel off, it was horrible but it looks way better.
Yellow high beams and the ever so swaggy spare tire!!!
A couple days later I went out and bought all new tires so the car would be a little more safe to drive. Soon after Adrien_M5 and I cut the springs and that brings us to the current state:
I'll be slowly making progress turning this turd into less of a turd and learning a bunch along the way, stay tuned (it'll be cooler soon I promise)
Details:
1981 Volvo 242 DL
3 speed automatic
B21 engine
85,XXX original miles
I am the 3rd owner
TLDR VERSION:
I bought an old Volvo 242 off Craigslist and its not too bad.
Comment