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Lord Volvomort

yugo4life

New member
Joined
Apr 29, 2009
Location
Peoria, IL
I picked up this 84 244 late last year for $300 to serve as my DD for a while. I was looking for a dirt cheap car to get me by, but really didn't want a soul sucking civic or escort. I have always loved the 240's so, when I found one for sale, I jumped on it!

I swear my intentions were pure and I only planned on getting it to Stage 0 for DD duties, but then I began to really think "What would be the BEST DD for me?" The rust will surely have to go, it sits way too high and floats down the road way too much. It really needs more power to safely get on the interstate and the interior absolutely sucks, so naturally, my original plans have expanded a bit!

My kids have a love/hate relationship with it, some of them love it and some hate it. Since our family only has the volvo and a minivan, the kids get plenty of seat time in it. My oldest son (he's 10) does not care for cars yet, but is a big Harry Potter fan. Earlier this year, we were all in the car and, for whatever reason, the kids were talking about what kind of car Voldemort would drive. One said our van (a blacked out Chrysler Pacifica), but I naturally chimed in with a dad joke, "I bet he would drive a Volvo, in fact, I bet he would call it Volvomort," to which my oldest son couldn't help but roll his eyes and try not to smile. He is at that wonderful age where I am still actually funny, but he is also embarrassed by me. I eat it up. Lord Volvomort was born! I figured if we had a running joke about it, I could get him to show a bit of interest in it. We shall see.

Current plans are to still get it to a Stage 0 that does not look like a complete turd. Fix rust, wash it from time to time, swap in a better interior, keep it driving down the road. Stage 1 will be chassis/suspension/wheels and Stage 2 will be some added oomph in the drivetrain department. I should warn everyone, this will not be a fast build thread, but I am looking forward to seeing my plan come to life!

Current status:
Stage 0
- Make it a dependable DD. (Finally think this is done)
- Fix rust
- Swap interior from parts car
- Fix blower motor so it stops squeaking

Stage 1
- Refinish/install ARE 398's
- Aftermarket steering wheel
- Larger front sway bar
- DIY Coilovers
- Flock dash
- New speakers
- All new bushings

Stage 2
- Mild headwork with B cam
- LH 2.2 swap
- Manual swap
- 3.73 g80
- IPD sport exhaust

Stage 3
- TBD engine swap

<a href="https://imgur.com/2zJeonP"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2zJeonPh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="https://imgur.com/gqQYNB6"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/gqQYNB6h.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="https://imgur.com/yXHqroA"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/yXHqroAh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

Thanks for watching!
Tim
 
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There are two parts of my car brain that are constantly battling. One side says to make a nice daily driver that is comfortable, reliable and looks just like a plain ol' nice car. The other side says go extreme with 1000hp, steamrollers and the suspension to handle it all. The extreme side won tonight. My original plan for rolling stock was crown vic mesh or gta wheels. I still am leaning that way, but I found this set of ARE 2 piece wheels local and couldn't resist getting them. They measure 16x9.5 and are 5x120 bolt pattern. I know I have seen a few guys on here with 9.5's all around, so I will have to look at what has been done to make them fit. The rear seems to fit ok (although, with no tires, I may be more confident than I should be), but the front seems to REALLY stick out. I do not care for the poked/stretched look and would probably run a minimum of a 245/50 on them. I love the look of them, but I really can't go cutting it up too much to make them fit as I just don't want the car down for any extended period of time. I am sure the saner part of my brain will chime in tomorrow...

This fitup was simulating a 1" adapter on all 4 corners.
<a href="https://imgur.com/igPSN90"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/igPSN90h.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="https://imgur.com/ZwzrUYD"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ZwzrUYDh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

View from rear
<a href="https://imgur.com/QJsRQpS"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/QJsRQpSh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

Don't care for the poke but this is already touching the strut so I would still need to move it out some
<a href="https://imgur.com/CxrCTXD"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/CxrCTXDh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="https://imgur.com/x1A4lLt"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/x1A4lLth.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

Here is Volvomort keeping a close eye on the poor soul donating its parts to keep him alive.
<a href="https://imgur.com/GZq1h8I"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/GZq1h8Ih.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
 
Don't care for the poke but this is already touching the strut so I would still need to move it out some

CxrCTXDh.jpg


It'll never spewl.
 
I see cussing in your future. Maybe you can overcome that front fit by stretching a smaller tire on there (if that's your thing), but I think 9.5 inch wide fronts will not end well.
Dave
 
I see cussing in your future. Maybe you can overcome that front fit by stretching a smaller tire on there (if that's your thing), but I think 9.5 inch wide fronts will not end well.
Dave

I?m almost positive Towery has run 9.5s on all 4 corners, with modifications of course.
 
I?m almost positive Towery has run 9.5s on all 4 corners, with modifications of course.

Some people have a hard life due to just plain bad luck. Then there are others who choose the path to the hard life because racecar.
Dave
 
I?m almost positive Towery has run 9.5s on all 4 corners, with modifications of course.

Yeah, he was one I was thinking of. I know he pulled the rear quarter by drilling out the spot welds and pushing it out, but I don't remember what he did to the front. I will have to check his build thread. The saner part of my brain is still losing though and I really want to run these wheels. I don't want to stretch a tire too much, so if I can't make them fit with the tire I want, I will just get rid of them and get the ones I know will work.
 
I ran 245s on 9.5” wheels. The front is easy the back takes a little time but isn’t horrible, nothing major.
 

Dang, that's a lot of beef under those wheel wells! Now I REALLY want to make these work! I am not sure if I want to keep the black centers though or go with a dark gray. The paint isn't in the best shape anyway, so either way I will strip them down.
 
Yah dude, go for it. There are a few threads on here that detail how to “roll” trim the rear fenders. The front once the liners and braces are removed are very straight forward. Looking forward to seeing how yours turn out!

EDIT: those are 245-40-17s watch that fit around the front lower spring seat too.
 
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Yah dude, go for it. There are a few threads on here that detail how to “roll” trim the rear fenders. The front once the liners and braces are removed are very straight forward. Looking forward to seeing how yours turn out!

EDIT: those are 245-40-17s watch that fit around the front lower spring seat too.

Awesome, thanks for the info! I would like to run a 245/45, but I will have to see when I get back around to these. I have stripped out most of the interior I plan to use, but have been sidetracked with the honey-do list....parts cars make good shelf/workspaces though!

<a href="https://imgur.com/AeTEuRP"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/AeTEuRPh.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
 
Not much has gone on the last couple of months with Volvomort as I have been distracted with finishing up some house projects this summer. I took a few more parts off the parts car and diagnosed a miss to find a bad spark plug.

As I am finishing up the house projects, my mind has been drifting back towards Volvomort. I have a few spare heads, one of which I will save for a mild N/A build, but one of them has quite a bit of detonation damage. As best I can, I have measured the deepest spot to be .060". It is a 398 head with what looks to be small coolant passages (correct me if I'm wrong). I searched and found other heads shaved .060" or more with no issues (besides the increase in compression), but not the 398 head. Is this something that can be done? I know the head height should be near 146.1mm, but I was not able to accurately measure what the current dimension is. I will have to borrow a better scale from work.
<a href="https://imgur.com/miFdu0y"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/miFdu0yl.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="https://imgur.com/RiYYjvC"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RiYYjvCl.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

Also, my wife truly loves me. She doesn't get why I love weird cars like the Volvo or the Yugo I used to have, but she supports me anyway. This was one of the gifts she got me for my birthday. Small and simple, but I love it!
M95EDZWl.jpg
 
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