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Mr.Borrie?s 780 1986 Diesel

Mr.Borrie

The Sneaky F*ing Ukrainian
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Location
Netherlands
I have had many Volvo's over the years. Many of the cars have been on my 'want to own at one point' list. The Volvo 360, Volvo 242, Volvo 760 Turbo, Volvo 142.

There where just 2 Volvo's left, the Volvo P1800 and the Volvo 780.
A few weeks back i saw a 780 popping up at a guy who does demolition racing. Usually a sign that the car was bought cheap and ready to be destroyed.

It looked terrible in the photo's so i made him a partial trade plus cash offer for it. Weeks later he send me a message i could pick it up.

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When i got there i was in for a surprise, this must have been one of the first car that looked worse in real life then the photo's. However the offer i made him was very low and i already had the trade in 740 on the trailer so what the heck, i got the 780.

This 'gem' has been build in Italy and lived its whole life in France, been imported around 2008 to the Netherlands where back then cars up till 1986 where tax free. Around 2011 the rules changed and this model with a Diesel engine went from taxfree to 140 euro per month in tax alone.

I assume it has been parked under a tree with the sunroof open because the interior is shot. strangely the underside of the car has zero rust, curtsy of its life in salt free and sun drained France.

The good thing is car runs, steers and brakes fine, engine (diesel) runs good no smoke.
Most of the electric work, even this crazy radio frame
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I could go on about this car but i guess pictures work "best" ..

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That radio cover is amazing, sounds like it needs some lube though. :)

Good luck with the project, kinda wild to see a diesel since we never got them in the US.
 
That radio cover is amazing, sounds like it needs some lube though. :)

Good luck with the project, kinda wild to see a diesel since we never got them in the US.

The radio cover was amazing to find out for sure, i never saw one before. I will lube that thing up as it will go out and be replaced with a 7" radio/dvd thing if i proceed with the project. To be honest I'm a bit held back as parts are wildly expensive and the monthly tax costs.

Since this wont ever be a mint condition restore i might consider trowing in a B234 (and maybe even the turbo manifold of a B204GT i have on the shelf) With the diesel out it will only cost 120 euro a year.. ill have to see whats involved with a swap like that.
 
NA D24 grrrrr,

Probably haveafreshly rebuild D24Tic for sell not so far from you :)

Have a nice time working on that Bertone

Not looking for more Diesel stuff, from what i feel now i will swap it out for the B234 at one point. This 780 is a mess but when i walk out of the garage and see the lines of the car i'm in awe.. The 780 is such a great looking car..
 
good score! i have seen it for sale, but because it was a Diesel i did not wan't to buy it.
 
good score! i have seen it for sale, but because it was a Diesel i did not wan't to buy it.

Yeah that Diesel is a pain tax wise

Is it a factory Diesel or swapped?

Trying to figure this out with the VIN, the papers say " 780 TURB.IN " but it has a D24 (non turbo) and the strange thing about that is that the 780 never had a D24, only D24T engines.

The A/C lines are disconnected too and no A/C compressor so my guess is that it had its engine replaced at least once.

It can also be that it used to have a B230ET or a B204GT and somebody cannibalized it for the engine and somebody threw in a Diesel.. I will get more info on the 780 forums

780 factory diesel with a manual transmission. Bizzarro world for the US.

This thing is bizzarroo for sure
 
hey Boris, my brother told me that you found a 780! What kind of rear axel does it have? solid or IRS? what axel ratio? Should be long if it was for a D24T.
I like that color (or what is left of it...)

It seems to me that this car screams for an engine swap like Leon suggested. That smooth 6cil will suit the car perfectly.
 
hey Boris, my brother told me that you found a 780! What kind of rear axel does it have? solid or IRS? what axel ratio? Should be long if it was for a D24T.
I like that color (or what is left of it...)

It seems to me that this car screams for an engine swap like Leon suggested. That smooth 6cil will suit the car perfectly.

Solid axle

Nice find even if it is a little rough. I would go B234 if you can find one or B230FT

I have two spare b234 engines here. Somebody tips me that a 16v shares the subframe of the diesel.
 
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The moonroof would not close completely anymore. It did before with a little push. My guess the motor was fried.
I changed it for one out of a Volvo 760 from 86 and was happy to see they swap over.
Not so happy to see that its still not resolved.. what would be the first thing to look for ?

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