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"Boat", the 1992 240 Wagon

IansPlatinum

Active member
Joined
Jul 23, 2018
Location
Texas
Starting this thread primarily to organize my plans and goals, and document progress along the way.

I use this car mostly as a utility vehicle, like I would an enclosed (90s & early 2000s) Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma. It also gets used for any major travel outing or camping trip.
Therefore, my goals are primarily related to achieving durability, reliability, utility, gas mileage, & comfort.

Goals:
-maximize MPG while simultaneously maintaining utility and soft-road ability
-improve reliability and durability
-mild lift (1"-2" Front & Rear)
-improve traction
-add ancillary components to improve camping & travelling
-explore the US!

I have no desire to increase power or acceleration if it means a sacrifice in fuel economy (begin the boos and jeers of TB).

I acquired the vehicle July of 2018. I drove it around and instantly fell in love. I was hesitant to even try a 240 at first, because my first and only brick prior to this one was a 92 940T, which I didn't like very much (and soon after sold).


How it looked when I bought it... It had FWD wheels on that rubbed and were mounted with non-hub centric spacers in the rear (wobble wobble) and HOME MADE CUT DIAMOND PLATE spacers in the front... needless to say the highway wobble and vibration was real. I pulled the wheels after getting it to find that the rear OEM studs had been hammered out and replaced with longer ones that weren't a press fit into the hub... they just wobbled around loosely in the stud holes. Friction was the only thing allowing the lug to be tightened...
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After putting the correct OE wheels back on (after sourcing good used rear hub studs and installing them)
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And how it appears now, with powder coated wheels, some small spring spacers of front, overloads in rear, and goodyear tires.
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Here's the work that's been done so far (pics to be uploaded soon):

Installed new Taxi control arms, superpro poly FCA bushings with zerks, and new ball joints (driver side is greasable moog unit, passenger side lemforder)
(checking for colinearity)
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rear FCA bushing has 2 zerks, one that goes thru a hole on the bushing to the sleeve, another to fill the outer voids.
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front FCA bushings have 1 zerk, required some clearance cutting on bushing.
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IPD panhard rod drilled & tapped for zerks
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New lemforder inner tie rods and moog greasable outer tie rods, new bellows

New Gates blue timing belt, tensioner, round tooth gear set, water pump, solid cam pin, new temp sender for ECU

New plugs, wires, dist, rotor. New coil (not installed, keep it in the trunk as a back up)

Refurbished injectors from GB reman (keep old injectors in trunk as spares)

Denso from Philski
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Aluminum Yoshifab accessory bushings (beware, must add washers for late style PS pump- already pointed it out to yoshifab, they said they'd make me some proper length ones but then went silent... oh well, washers work too), new tensioner screws on all accessories, new Volvo brand drive belts
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Intake manifold removed and power washed, then sand blasted on inside/outside

New carpet (aftermarket) - not a perfect color match but close enough
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Adhesive anti-fungal closed cell foam added behind spare tire - idea from RWC's lumber wagon build. This wheel is now powdercoated silver with a new tire.
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New driver's seat vinyl (swedish car parts)

5 New 195/75R14 Goodyear Wrangler AT tires, powdercoated OE 14" steelies
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IPD front SS brake hoses (good thing I did!) & EBC redstuff pads, brembo rotors, typ200 brake flush
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Helle supertones (want to repaint guards black... hate the red)

Bilstein touring shocks in rear, IPD overload springs

BAFTRs (adjustable torque rods assembled from greasable Johnny Joints & swedged tubes)
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Radio replacement & relocation (took out crappy 2007 alpine radio, put in VDO unit)

Installed Gauges, VDO 360-028 pressure sender (M14x1.5, no adapter needed), vacuum tee
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Inner window scrapers replaced

Front windows tinted with Suntek Ceramic tint, 25%, rears done under previous ownership, 10-15%
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Changed instrument panel back face and gauge faces to older 80s style satin- the matte '92 gauge faces develop this weird residue and look like crap. The satin looks niiiiiice.... but my odometer is a little misaligned with the odo window now, cuts off the tops of the numbers and last decimal. Also installed Large Tach & small clock. Temp faker bypass
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Custom over-axle exhaust. Mine would rattle on axle during high articulation.

Side-facing tailpipe (hopefully cuts down on hatch dirt a little...)

Installed rear muffler (car came with it removed & straight piped, highway drone SUCKED)

Headrest inserts (will reupholster in blue eventually but black is pretty inconspicuous for now)

Relocated O2 sensor and added bung for wideband

Updated computer to 9XX series ECU

Mann air filter, replaced airbox (old one had crack AFTER filter), PCV system, vacuum lines

Silicone radiator hoses & coolant flush

12L ATF flush - volvo dex III fluid
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New volvo motor mounts (old ones weren't that bad... oh well)
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New OD relay & fuel relay

New fuel pumps (both) and filter, good thing too... in-tank pump had a ripped sock, didn't work, and wasn't even plugged in.
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AC recharged with redtek 12a (hydrocarbon), high pressure switch bypassed (to enable constant pusher fan use while snowflake switch is on)

Acoustic foam on exposed sheet steel to reduce cabin noise

Optima yellow top - for when I install cabin evac fan
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And work to be done in the near future:

install Ben's spherical TABs
rear pads & rotors (currently warped)
Hatch hinge re-alignment (maybe replacement too...) & wire harness replacement
preemptively replace CPS, keep old one in trunk
have rear axle rebuilt & install Trutrac LSD, driveshaft U joints
Install rear lift springs & vanagon shocks
Ben's extended coilovers & strut mounts
redesign trailing arms & spring perch
install STS hd center support bearing
New battery cables
Install inverter
install cabin evac fan setup
sand down rust near hood hinges and below battery tray, respray with color matched white
replace rattly knock off front muffler with either straight pipe or glasspack or other
roof racks / roof basket
LH 3.1 conversion
T-cam & reshim, rear cam plug & retainer
taxi ball joint plate
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spare gas tank sealed & repainted
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Glam shots from march:

Some glamping in Austin

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Only one to attend volvo meetup that got cancelled due to rain :(

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Not much today, just an oil change and engine bay scrub & shine.
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T-cam procured, up next is a cam swap, shim job, new rear plug & retainer, etc... maybe even an adjustable cam gear :)
 
Not much today, just an oil change and engine bay scrub & shine.
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T-cam procured, up next is a cam swap, shim job, new rear plug & retainer, etc... maybe even an adjustable cam gear :)

Wow... that engine bay looks incredible. You're gonna have to teach me how to do that! Why did you choose a T cam for this one? I've got an A cam and adjustable timing gear sitting in the garage waiting to go in myself.
 
Wow... that engine bay looks incredible. You're gonna have to teach me how to do that! Why did you choose a T cam for this one? I've got an A cam and adjustable timing gear sitting in the garage waiting to go in myself.

T cam for low end torque. Y'all can tease all y'all want, but this engine rarely gets revved over 3K. It's a utility car / highway cruiser / camping car, not a racer. The T cam is supposed to result in larger dynamic compression & expansion ratios and shift power band a little lower, sacrificing high end revvability.

Will also probably install phenolic intake manifold spacers to reduce charge heating, which also helps with low end torque, but I'll have to delete my EGR system when I do that because the pipe won't line up any more.

What'd you use to do the engine bay cleaning?

Just CRC degreaser, rinse with water (pressure washer is the best option), dry, and gunk engine shine. Be sure to remove battery first. Wipe off engine shine from painted surfaces with a dry cloth. It helps that I also sand blasted the inside and outside of the intake manifold when I took it off to service the PCV system, and have cleaned it before several times. That's the biggest one. Just repeat and regular cleanings, maybe once every 3 months. IPD belly pan helps keep the dirt out too.

If you use the pressure washer, be sure to follow up with a leaf blower on all electronic connectors to make sure there's no standing water. Also best to do it on a sunny day and let it sit for a bit to dry.
 
Just CRC degreaser, rinse with water (pressure washer is the best option), dry, and gunk engine shine. Be sure to remove battery first. Wipe off engine shine from painted surfaces with a dry cloth. It helps that I also sand blasted the inside and outside of the intake manifold when I took it off to service the PCV system, and have cleaned it before several times. That's the biggest one. Just repeat and regular cleanings, maybe once every 3 months. IPD belly pan helps keep the dirt out too.

If you use the pressure washer, be sure to follow up with a leaf blower on all electronic connectors to make sure there's no standing water. Also best to do it on a sunny day and let it sit for a bit to dry.

Good stuff, thanks! I'm pretty fearful of turning the pressure washer on towards the engine bay of a car from the 90's (let alone my 04). I have considered using the foam cannon, though. :oogle:
 
Today Boat received a T cam and STS adjustable gear.

Also, a new rear cam seal, cam seal retainer, and front crank seal.

A subtle increase in low end torque. Next up is a LH3.1 conversion and phenolic intake manifold spacer.

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Today boat received an air evacuation system to control in-car humidity while camping... last time we stayed in the car it was practically raining inside with two people and one dog sleeping. This should help. I ran 16 ga duplex wire along the oem tail light harness path (from fuse box, under driver's cable cover, under seat rail, over rear wheel arch, over spare tire, across the lower storage area), hooked it up to a 15a PWM controller, and hooked that up to a 130 CFM bilge air fan. The fan is mounted beneath the right buttcheek cover, with rubber sandwiched between the feet to damp vibration. I used aluminum 3" ducting to mate to the existing air vent on the car. The deep cycle battery should be able to sustain the system running through the night.

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