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It's red, it's turbo, it's a wagon.

JCol91

Macaracachimba
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Location
Puerto Rico
Hey all, I've been mostly lurking the forums since I joined about 8 years ago. Few volvos later here I am. This wagon was my dad's project (vcolper in the forums), at some point it was a pretty reliable daily driver, it was originally auto with an AW71 and had the turbo removed :e-shrug: . He pulled the engine out, swapped an m47, and got the turbo goodies back. Long story short, he moved out of the country and the wagon has been sitting for the most part for the last 2.5 years. My plans in the upcoming months is having it back on the road reliably come winter time.

It is a RED TURBO WAGON so it has potential by nature. Please do comment any suggestions and tips as to where to begin, things to look out for, etc. I've had my set of volvos but mainly just applied basic maintenance and a transmission on swap on my 944. That been said, here is how it looks as of August 16th, 2018.

IMG_6029 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6046 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6048 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6049 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6053 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6057 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6065 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6067 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6071 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6072 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6075 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6076 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6077 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6078 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6083 by Javier Colon, on Flickr

IMG_6084 by Javier Colon, on Flickr
 
Yeah, we drove to Ga. from NYC to pick up that 81 coupe with 26k original miles. We left on a Friday night about midnight and were back NY on Sunday about 4 pm.
 
A tiny bit of progress

So progress on this has been super slow, but at least it runs.

To add a little to the story, as I said on the first post, this wagon was at some point a pretty good daily driver. My dad had moved out of the country and left me to take care of her. At that moment I had my 944(in sig) running strong and didn't care much for the wagon because it wasn't really mine and he was a bit jealous with it(He thought I would be driving it like a madman). As time passed I only put the key on the wagon to warm it up every now and then. And slowly I lost interest in both mainly because I live about 2 hours away from my hometown where we had a trailer home and the garage with tools and comfortable working space. I didn't really look up to working on any of them on the gravel parking in my apartment complex.

The 944 broke down which led me to use the wagon on the daily but by then it had started to deteriorate. The starter was giving problems A/C was out along with a few more bugs. I then bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee to use as a daily driver which made me forget about the Volvos even more. About a year after that, hurricane Maria ripped the island and flipped the trailer home sideways. Basically this has made it very difficult for me to get anything done in the last year since I don't have a place to crash and get at least two full days of work on weekends for the shop and vehicles.

Excuses aside, I'm feeling motivated to bring the wagon back to its glory little by little. To do so my plan is to drive it to my current house and continue debugging it. First up I replaced the e-fan relay which had burnt out somehow. Replaced it to make sure it stays at operating temperature when I decide to make the drive.
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A little bit of soldering and the new relay is in.
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Question: Is this the factory e-fan relay location? I feel it interferes a bit with the IC exit hose
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Put a new battery and I replaced a rubber fuel line that was all cracked and leaky and turned the key to warm her up and test the e-fan relay. Relay is working good, turning the fan when A/C switch is activated. A/C seems to need a recharge.

I cleaned the engine bay grease a bit and replaced the alternator belt that was also cracked and missing a few teeth. Water pump and AC belts looked good, I bought spares to change them in the future.
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Next up I?ll replace fuel filter, flush coolant and swap lower chassis brace from the 944. Brakes need to be tested thoroughly to make sure I can stop when driving recklessly.
 
I like it! All I can say from owning a similar car is: maintenance, maintenance, maintenance! :cool:

Thanks man! I've been following your thread for a while now looking for inspo and details to keep in mind. I have no doubt about the required maintenance.:spin:
 
Christmas updates

Did a few small things. I’ve started parting out my 944 to swap some goodies; a radiator with less than 5k miles, interior door cards, lighted window switches, starter switch.

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46452570182_c9833174f0.jpg


Next up will be the lower brace and rear billy hd’s.
 
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If the rear window switches are illuminated as well you could tsk them from your 944 and relocate them to the master switch housing in the driver's door.Also, if you can locate a 1995 940 they came with an improved brake pedal/ bracket and booster for increased efficiency, it does make a difference beyond increasing rotor size.You can upgrade to the 850 302mm rotors, just need the caliper bracket and callipers, they should clear the 16" hydras.


We have been slowly updating a '94 945T, I assume your wagon is a 1993? The IPD camshaft and sway bars are a good starting point if you do not already have them. Hope you do not mind some images, certainly do not want to take away from your 940! Was installing a 16T turbo so had to remove the upper. brace.

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https://i.imgur.com/8ASIKox.jpg[/img ]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/BkprtbT.jpg

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ipiB1X3.jpg


8ASIKox.jpg
 
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If the rear window switches are illuminated as well you could tsk them from your 944 and relocate them to the master switch housing in the driver's door.Also, if you can locate a 1995 940 they came with an improved brake pedal/ bracket and booster for increased efficiency, it does make a difference beyond increasing rotor size.You can upgrade to the 850 302mm rotors, just need the caliper bracket and callipers, they should clear the 16" hydras.


We have been slowly updating a '94 945T, I assume your wagon is a 1993? The IPD camshaft and sway bars are a good starting point if you do not already have them. Hope you do not mind some images, certainly do not want to take away from your 940! Was installing a 16T turbo so had to remove the upper. brace.

I can use those pictures as inspiration! Very nice and clean wagon you got there, thanks for sharing!

I got a total of seven lighted switches from the 944, literally all doors had them and all 4 switches on the main panel. I only used two for the driver door and one on the front passenger for the 945, since the switches only have the image that represents a front door window I kind of think it is the most appropriate. Also I can just keep the other as spares or maybe even sell them.

She is a '93 and IPD sways and lowering springs are future goals. For now I'm just working with all the goodies from the 944 until I start driving the thing and debugging the issues that pop up. I'm hoping to work on her this Saturday to swap the lower brace and at least get the billy's out of the 944.
 
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