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The Beige Bounce Back - Vol242vo's 242

Vol242vo

Keep it clean...
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Location
Spokane, WA
It's been over 7 years since I sold my last 242 to Cameron at iPd, which he did some amazing work to, sounds like the car now resides in Texas. Over the past few years I've been wanting to get another 242 but wasn't ever in the right place or time to pull the trigger. Now that my kids are in middle school and approaching high school, I figured it would be a great family project to find the right 242...

About 2 weeks ago I came across this Beige 242 that looked like a decent start. I ended up trading a couple of guns for it, brought it home and started to dive right in. It's runs and drives great, the body is in excellent shape, it has a little rust on the drivers side floor board and both butt cheeks under the trunk. Both areas are very common in 240s, so I'm not surprised, I'm confident I can get everything under control.

The good:

-Came with a decent set of 15" ARE 398 Wheels that will be refurbished and powder coated.
-Newer Bilstein HDs in the back with TME springs
-25/25 iPd Sway Bars
-No sunroof!
-129k miles and strong running B21 and M45 Transmission
-Straight body and decent paint - Beige!

The bad:

-Welded diff, not a huge fan...
-front suspension needs full rebuild
-interior is missing a lot of parts and mismatched seats, carpet, panels, etc.
-some oil leaks that will be repaired
-Filthy inside and out, nothing time and elbow grease can't handle
-tires are shot, water pump is going out, easy stuff.


This is going to be a summer daily, plans are to make it extremely clean looking and running like a champ. Tight suspension so I don't have to slow down taking corners...

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Removed the heater core as this won't be needed and plans to shave this one like my last one...

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Parts need:

Interior:
-Black rear half of carpet
-Dark Grey rear seat
-Rear dash
-Dynomat/sound deadener
-GT Door Panels
-Black Headliner

Exterior:
-New windshield
-New rear windshield gasket
-New trim clips

Suspension:
-New tie rod ends
-Poly Bushings up front
-Coilovers
-Kaplhenke Panhard
-25mm Spacers for the rear
 
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yeah I didn't really want to sell mine either but I want to do some other things to finish my personal build (wheels to my spec) and throw it in for paint.
 
I like this already. I like it a lot. I would have liked it even better if it was a '79 but this is only a year off. Good buy.
 
Welcome back! Your old car was really nice and I enjoyed following its thread. If this is anything like that, this will be. Agreat one also!

Jordan
 
I like this already. I like it a lot. I would have liked it even better if it was a '79 but this is only a year off. Good buy.

Haha! I get it, your '79 is in amazing condition! I like the direction you went with yours. A little old but it's still a good looking 242.

Welcome back! Your old car was really nice and I enjoyed following its thread. If this is anything like that, this will be. Agreat one also!

Jordan

Thanks Jordan! Looks like some of you veterans are still hanging around huh? It feels good to have a Volvo again, this one won't get away!
 
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Looks like a good start to a project, and reminds me of mine when I first got it, but one year older I guess.
Is it Artesia Beige, paint code 137?
 
Suspension tear down

I started to dive into the front suspension today, even had a little help from my wife. Time to start ordering parts, new tie rod ends, ball joints, brake lines, new poly, rear diff seal, coil overs and short struts, Kaplhenke offset strut mounts and strut brace. The list will continue to grow as I keep digging...


Installation of the sway bar, someone ignored the brake line...
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Trash

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Was that the one posted on Craigslist a few weeks back? Funny thing was I saw it and actually though it was your previous car (I lost track of the build thread on the last one). Nice to see you're back. Maybe see you around town!
 
Was that the one posted on Craigslist a few weeks back? Funny thing was I saw it and actually though it was your previous car (I lost track of the build thread on the last one). Nice to see you're back. Maybe see you around town!

Sure was! Cameron from iPd bought my '78 and built a beautiful B234 for it. I'll put the link here soon...This one needs some attention.

That car is great!
Sent you a PM.

Thanks again Thomas. Thoughtful dude!


*thumbs up*
 
Previous 242s

Photobucket killed most of my old project threads on TBs but I was able to get a few to my phone. Figured I'd throw them in this one to give others my vision/expectations/love for 242s!

'78 bought in January of 2005:

Missing all of the pictures from the day and first few months after I bought it. It was yellow and too much rust to make it worthy of keeping.

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Fast forward through body work, paint, new bushings and mounts, new brakes, interior work, attention to the b21, suspension and wheels (that I hated, 17x8 Voxx MGs) and later style windshield.

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In August of 2007 I bought another '78 with little to zero rust. Again, no before pictures unfortunately...

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Cleaning...stage 1

Nothing too exciting today, spent a better part of the morning going to town with my neighbors pressure washer. Long way to go still...

Before:

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After:

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It's been slow going but I had a chance to run out to a local junkyard today and pulled a nearly crack free dash from a 1980 264. Cleaned it all up and tossed it in the 242. Also found a slim front bumper and airdam from an '85 244, the bumper cover was in great shape. The rear bumper was too damaged for what I'm looking for.

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Great thread.

Reminds me so much of the old black widow infested '80 242 DL I bought many years ago in non-running condition. Spent a lot of time and many junkyard runs bringing it back to a great daily driver.
Dave B.
 
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