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1980 242 GT. A reasonable project.

Thanks everybody! I still have a long list with the car, but it has been really nice to be able to enjoy it a bit. I don't have any other photos of that little flag tag with the trunk closed, but yeah, it has 3m double-sided adhesive and it flaps over the top edge of the taillight when the trunk is closed.

I installed GAZ rear shocks last weekend before going to cars and coffee about an hour away. The GAZ shocks are a substantial improvement over the Koni Race shocks I had in there. I highly, highly recommend them to anyone with any form of 240 street car. Classicswede had them at my door within a week of ordering. Shipping isn't cheap, but it still ended up being cheaper and far faster than the US-based option for ordering GAZ.


Time to try that oil return without the scavenge pump and see if it was rings the entire time!

This has been on my mind... I would like to try this at some point.

would you sell it for cash?

Everything has a price, but what this car is worth to me is probably way more than most would be willing to pay.


While I'm thinking about it, might as well take note of a couple things I need to do:
- replace old, dead AEM UEGO wideband with new AEM x-series wideband
- 4 wheel alignment
- figure out why the wiper motor fuse keeps blowing (perhaps lube the end of the linkage that I removed when painting the bay)
- replace the adhesive on one of the autoplas louver anchor points
 
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Time to try that oil return without the scavenge pump and see if it was rings the entire time!

This has been on my mind... I would like to try this at some point.

I would give it a try. As long as you have a large unobstructed drain tube and you keep the same pre-turbo oil restrictor setup, it should work...based on our collective experience with similar turbos on several other whiteblock-swapped 240s.
 
I installed GAZ rear shocks last weekend before going to cars and coffee about an hour away. The GAZ shocks are a substantial improvement over the Koni Race shocks I had in there. I highly, highly recommend them to anyone with any form of 240 street car. Classicswede had them at my door within a week of ordering. Shipping isn't cheap, but it still ended up being cheaper and far faster than the US-based option for ordering GAZ.

I installed a set of these on all four corners of my Saab c900 and I'm loving them so far. Do you have them for lowered rideheight? Mine are for stock rideheight and I feel like some aspects of the shock could be a little better matched to my lowering springs.
 
Time to start posting things again so I can get motivated. My plan is to drive out to Davis in April, hitting a few national parks along the way. My wife will be joining, so there's a bit of pressure to make the car more pleasant (no A/C, before someone asks).

First on the list is exhaust. I've been wanting to rip out the old exhaust for quite a while, so this seemed like the time to do it. The old system was thrown together very quickly for the sake of getting the car together for the drive to the iPd Garage Sale 6 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long). It's 409SS mig welded together and doesn't contour to the body so it scrapes on occasion and just looks bad. Beyond that, it has a single muffler in the rear, so it's a bit loud for my (aging?) proclivities.

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

New exhaust is well underway now. I'm really taking my time with this because I want it to fit very tightly to the body, and have a good build quality. This is the second thing I've tig welded, so there's been a lot of learning along the way, but it's been fun.

Anyway, new exhaust.
  • 304 stainless for everything, tig welded using lots of mandrel bends, all 3"
  • 3 pieces connected by v-bands (downpipe, midpipe, axle back)
  • Cat and mufflers in the factory locations: Magnaflow catalytic converter tucked up front, small Vibrant muffler in front of axle, large Vibrant muffler behind the gas tank.

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

After prodding from several parties, I removed the scavenge pump setup. I have a couple thousand miles on the new engine, so I felt okay changing up variables in the engine setup. The oil return dumps into the pan wing, just like the first version did. I did open up the fitting to get every bit of flow possible from this.

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr

Untitled by Tom Elmendorf, on Flickr


Things to do before Davis:
  • Fabricate exhaust system
  • Install GAZ Gold front coilovers.
  • Perform 4-wheel alignment.
  • Change front brake pads.
  • Get cruise control working.
  • Drive the car 500+ miles (before the 4,500 mile drive cross country).
 
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a cat converter and TWO mufflers, that is downright responsible!

It feels so grown up. I?m pretty excited.

Just that oil return is nicer than anything on my car!

Thanks, but your car is pretty badass! It?s one of a handful of threads I always check for updates on. Would be fun to see if you managed to get the new setup dialed before Davis.

Tig is no joke to master. Clean work for sure.

Thanks, much appreciated. Certainly more and more tig projects to come.
 
Just that oil return is nicer than anything on my car!

Same story here

It feels so grown up. I?m pretty excited.



Thanks, but your car is pretty badass! It?s one of a handful of threads I always check for updates on. Would be fun to see if you managed to get the new setup dialed before Davis.



Thanks, much appreciated. Certainly more and more tig projects to come.

The quietness is neat. Going to miss seeing you guys at Davis :-(
 
I haven't been on this thread for a long time, but now this is my new favorite build. Amazing work and attention to detail


48431441107_2129bc8403_b.jpg
 
I haven't been on this thread for a long time, but now this is my new favorite build. Amazing work and attention to detail

Thank you!


Update: The exhaust is done, and now I'm full bore focused on getting ready for the 2-week trip to Davis and back.

Here's my route
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A few photos of the process for the back half of the exhaust and final product...

49636008067_1a494c60c5_b.jpg


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49636007562_956fdf2924_b.jpg


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Idle
https://flic.kr/p/2iC9EPC

A little revving
https://flic.kr/p/2iCb5EH



With that done, I directed my attention to the trunk.

The trunk has always been a mess in this car, so I took a little time to install some NOS trim panels, and then mount a low profile powered sub I've had kicking around for a while now.

Now with carpet, fuel pump wiring cover, fuel filler neck cover and passenger wall cover

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Then I cut a piece of haircell textured 1/4" HDPE to tidy up the seat back and mount the sub.

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Added 1/8" closed cell foam to isolate the HDPE from the sheet metal

49635735856_d0698c4fef_b.jpg



Mounted the sub to the panel, which just barely fit. It's quite thin, but a still 10" driver.

49635212333_4dfb8d5fd7_b.jpg



Then mounted it to the seat back frame with sheet metal screws. I'm not a fan of it aesthetically, but it works and is tucked away deep in the trunk. After testing it out, I noted that there are some vibrations I'd like to eliminate, so I'll probably secure it in a few more spots.

49635735466_3b5d4987fe_b.jpg
 
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