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Resurrection/Learning Experience

OnlyWagons

OnlyWagons

dum dee dum
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Location
Boston/Montreal
I moved this into projects because, well, I'm going to be updating it like a project thread. I haven't done anything that hasn't been done here many times before. This project does, however, represent the first time I have done anything like this, so it's my (major) learning experience.

Here's the abridged version:

Bought a car as my daily drvier from a tbricker back in December '06 - my first volvo in 11 years...since my first car (an 84 244 DL). It was a rusty but trusty 245Ti with a rebuilt b21FT, a fresh M46 and lots of IPD-labelled things. I was happy with the purchase

0.jpg


Hand an unfortuante run-in with another car:

0_5.jpg


and thinking that I would not be up to learning how to do body work on short notice (including a butt-load of rust repair), I decided to find a decent shell to transfer everything I could from the first car. So I picked up a local, tired 83 245T with very little rust:

1.jpg


So my project began. I swapped all the suspension parts from white to grey, pulled both b21FT/M46 combos and swapped them, and swapped over a lot of interior/experior parts that were shot on the grey car

2.jpg


Since this car was my daily driver, I did everything in little steps each weekend, studying the turbobricks archives during the week. I spent probably three months gathering advice and information before doing the engine swap in one weekend with the help of three very good friends at some key moments in my narrow driveway. I'll spare you the pictures from that. Maybe in another thread.

b21ftpull.jpg


Here's how the grey car looked with it's new found reason to live:

3.jpg



After driving it like that for about 5 months, I decided it was time to do something about the way it looked. So, I started prepping the car to get painted. Fixed what little rust it had, did my best getting rid of all the old crappy paint that was on there, and drove it to work every day looking like this:

4.jpg



Anyway, I got it back from the paint shop this week, and am very happy with the results. I think it does the original car justice:

5.jpg


6.jpg


Tell me what you think.

There's still plenty left to do, but I've got a reliable, decent-looking daily driver again, and have the satisfaction of doing the work myself. Big thanks to this website for the inspiration to tackle this project.

7.jpg




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Wow! Looks really sharp dude. You gonna make it to Mike Moniz's place in October? It would be sweet to see this thing in person.
 
Alex Buchka said:
Wow! Looks really sharp dude. You gonna make it to Mike Moniz's place in October? It would be sweet to see this thing in person.
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Thanks, Alex.

I didn't know about the meetup, but I checked out the thread. I have guests in town that weekend, so it might be hard to get away. I guess it depends which day it ends up happening. i'd love to make it there...might be tough.
 
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Is that BC in the background of that first pic? Where in the Boston area are you located?
Oh, the car is looking very good btw.
 
Awesome! That's what I'm talking about! The car looks great. It's cool to see that you stuck with Volvos. It's even cooler to see that you not only dove in and learned how to work on cars, but you did it all the while driving the car. Congrats to you, that's awesome.

I do most of my own work and people always act like I have some advantage over them when it comes to working on cars. I do think some people are at bit more mechanically inclined, but the main reason I know about working on cars is because crap broke and I was too cheap and didn't trust anyone to fix it right, so I learned to do it myself. People just act like there's some mystical magic that enables people like us to work on cars. It's called persistence and patience. Most people are just too lazy to work on cars, or they just cop out and don't want to try and learn. If you mastered putting the square peg in the square hole, you've got a good basis for learning to do the basic stuff. From there you just build knowledge (and attention to detail).
 
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Looking good! :cool: I think it looks even better than the original car! What are some of your future plans with the car?
 
Looks great,you did such a great job you even sold me on body paint color for the front air dam, think I may have to try it on mine :) . :rockon:
 
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! It feels really good after all the work I've put into this car so far.

mike114 said:
Is that BC in the background of that first pic? Where in the Boston area are you located?
Oh, the car is looking very good btw.
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I live in Dorchester, but I work in Woburn. That first shot was taken in my work parking lot up in Woburn.

D Hulting said:
Awesome! That's what I'm talking about! The car looks great. It's cool to see that you stuck with Volvos. It's even cooler to see that you not only dove in and learned how to work on cars, but you did it all the while driving the car. Congrats to you, that's awesome.
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Wow, thanks a lot!

D Hulting said:
I do most of my own work and people always act like I have some advantage over them when it comes to working on cars. I do think some people are at bit more mechanically inclined, but the main reason I know about working on cars is because crap broke and I was too cheap and didn't trust anyone to fix it right, so I learned to do it myself. People just act like there's some mystical magic that enables people like us to work on cars. It's called persistence and patience. Most people are just too lazy to work on cars, or they just cop out and don't want to try and learn. If you mastered putting the square peg in the square hole, you've got a good basis for learning to do the basic stuff. From there you just build knowledge (and attention to detail).
Click to expand...

Right ON!

skld said:
Looking good! :cool: I think it looks even better than the original car! What are some of your future plans with the car?
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I'm taking it in baby steps. I'm wary of doing too much in the way of power gains because I rely on this car for the 40-mile round trip to work every day. It's not even making stock boost yet - I left it at 4psi. I would like to turn it up to stock levels, or maybe a little higher if I get motivated to install a Saab APC kit I have. Also, a ported 90+ upgrade is in order as well as a freer-flowing exhaust. Other than that, take care of some cosmetic stuff that's left (black bumper trim, black painted trim, etc).


don hodgdon said:
Very nice! Love the color.
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wisturbo said:
Very good job!
What is the name of that paint called?
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It's a Maaco color, right from their list of non-metallic shades of grey. I think it was the second darkest one (they call it Grey #6334). I had my doubts about bringing it there for the paintjob, but they really did a great job. I did all the prep, so that wasn't left to chance, and I removed everything that wasn't getting painted before I brought it in. I think that this prep, and the fact that I left the foreman a tip before work began, led to an above-average job on their part. It's not perfect, but it does look really good in person.
 
mike114... long time!!
its on the road, albeit a little prematurely.
but, now all my gremlins are working themselves to the surface (like the cat.convrtr breaking off at the flange... ohh what a rumble!!!). d'oh.
i'll have to go on a ride with you in it soon.... maybe you'll know where those sounds are coming from.... i think they are suspension/steering related. idk
 
lane stradler said:
mike114... long time!!
its on the road, albeit a little prematurely.
but, now all my gremlins are working themselves to the surface (like the cat.convrtr breaking off at the flange... ohh what a rumble!!!). d'oh.
i'll have to go on a ride with you in it soon.... maybe you'll know where those sounds are coming from.... i think they are suspension/steering related. idk
Click to expand...

Absolutely man... anything I can do to help.
Hit me up on my cell.
 
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