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My 240 Story

It's a real good thing it didn't have a factory roof rack :lol:

This thing is coming along beautifully. Top notch attention to detail!

240's can turn almost anyone into a mechanic.
I Drove a friend of mine 1700 miles (to Mount Vernon ironically) to pick up a group A 242. His other car is an e36 , (which he has never turned a wrench on btw) and it has stranded him by having a fuel pump go out ($400) and his shifter linkage spontaneously disentigrate in my drive way ($200 plus tow), all in the last couple months. He parked the bimmer for 4 months and just drove the volvo until, the kjet main pump finally crapped out, However , this time he went to the junk yard, pulled a replacement and changed it himself! He even grabbed a 90+ exhaust manifold to swap on. Of course while the volvo was down he drove the e36...for about a week....then the rear wheel bearings started "talking".......back to the shop ($???) At which point he will likely have about as much money into the BMW for repairs as it cost to buy the 242 :rofl:

It really takes owning (or working on) high maintenance marquee's to truly appreciate the robust simplicity of the 240, and you sir get it.
 
The detail work looks great. The black wheels get lost though.

740/949 15x6 steelies painted silver with spacers to push them out would look great on this.

Are there plans to lower it and + size the wheels or you just keeping it closer to stock?
 
Thank you for all the supportive comments!

No, I won't be slamming this wagon. I love its practicality. I'll be refreshing the suspension with new stock springs and shocks, new rear trailing arms and bushings, but i'll reinforce the hell outta it with Yoshifab lower braces, Kaplhenkele-whatever strut brace, and IPD sway bars. If I get wheels, they'll be gold RS replicas. But for now I really love these black virgos.

And thank you again for your work on this shifter, Homer. You've made the driving experience much much more enjoyable.
 
pino said:
Thank you for all the supportive comments!

No, I won't be slamming this wagon. I love its practicality. I'll be refreshing the suspension with new stock springs and shocks, new rear trailing arms and bushings, but i'll reinforce the hell outta it with Yoshifab lower braces, Kaplhenkele-whatever strut brace, and IPD sway bars. If I get wheels, they'll be gold RS replicas. But for now I really love these black virgos.

And thank you again for your work on this shifter, Homer. You've made the driving experience much much more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Sounds great, I like where you're going here.

Tell me more about the shifter, my M47 driving experience could stand to be improved. I hope it's not just shorter throws, because it's not the time spent traveling between stops that makes shifting this thing so agricultural, it's the feeling that asking it to leave the gear it's in requires so much force that I'm risking forcing it into the next gear more firmly than I'd like, and that it takes a trained eye to correctly guess, when untouched, if it's been left in 1st or 3rd. What came behind Datsun/Nissan/Toyota motors in 1970-1980 was better in feel than what came in the 1993 Volvo! My fluids and transmission mounting are fine, my reverse lockout has been dialed in, I rev match like a boss, yet still don't love this thing. Can it really get good?
 
New stock springs seems like a waste of money imo. Slightly lowered (cut 2 coils in front and 1.5 in back) with Bilstein HD's and they ride and handle better while still maintaining adequate clearance and usability. I consider that european oem. :-P
 
brian smith said:
Sounds great, I like where you're going here.

Tell me more about the shifter, my M47 driving experience could stand to be improved. I hope it's not just shorter throws, because it's not the time spent traveling between stops that makes shifting this thing so agricultural, it's the feeling that asking it to leave the gear it's in requires so much force that I'm risking forcing it into the next gear more firmly than I'd like, and that it takes a trained eye to correctly guess, when untouched, if it's been left in 1st or 3rd. What came behind Datsun/Nissan/Toyota motors in 1970-1980 was better in feel than what came in the 1993 Volvo! My fluids and transmission mounting are fine, my reverse lockout has been dialed in, I rev match like a boss, yet still don't love this thing. Can it really get good?
Click to expand...

I've never experienced a sticky shifter before in this. The homer shifter just makes shifts shorter. More notchy i suppose. My guess is that your bushings somewhere are bad. You can try cleaning the gunk off, or buying new ones? I'm terrible with mechanics but I managed that project just fine. Try taking everything apart, cleaning, greasing, and putting it back together.




Tuff240 said:
New stock springs seems like a waste of money imo. Slightly lowered (cut 2 coils in front and 1.5 in back) with Bilstein HD's and they ride and handle better while still maintaining adequate clearance and usability. I consider that european oem. :-P
Click to expand...

I'm just considering putting new stock springs in the rear. After 27yrs they're bound to be squishier than new. And for less than $100 I think it's worth it if I'm doing shocks, RTABs, sways, etc.

Does cutting a coil or two off springs negatively effect their durability or function? I'd consider chopping one or two off the front.
 
I've owned over 700 240's and cut the springs on more than 100 240's. Everything from pristine low milers to $40k full modified builds and everything inbetween. I've daily driven them, auto-X's and track day'ed them also. Just cut your current springs. 1 coil in front isn't going to do anything since they have a "dead" coil where you will cut. 2 coils and the spring will still stay in place when jacking the car up. 2.25 coils in front is about the same height as IPD's "sport lowering springs". 2.5 coils and the front springs will be loose at full droop.
I HIGHLY recommend Bilstein HD's all around and trim the internal bump stops (easy) on the fronts before you install them.

For what you are wanting, 2 coils in front sounds right.
 
Tuff240 said:
I've owned over 700 240's and cut the springs on more than 100 240's. Everything from pristine low milers to $40k full modified builds and everything inbetween. I've daily driven them, auto-X's and track day'ed them also. Just cut your current springs. 1 coil in front isn't going to do anything since they have a "dead" coil where you will cut. 2 coils and the spring will still stay in place when jacking the car up. 2.25 coils in front is about the same height as IPD's "sport lowering springs". 2.5 coils and the front springs will be loose at full droop.
I HIGHLY recommend Bilstein HD's all around and trim the internal bump stops (easy) on the fronts before you install them.

For what you are wanting, 2 coils in front sounds right.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but... what? You've owned 700 of these? Is that a joke?!

I'm leaning more towards Bilstein Touring shocks. I like to floaty relaxed feel of the car. I'm not sold on the idea of turning a massive volvo wagon into a race car feeling with HDs or Konis. I don't want harsh firm dampening. If I want that sensation, I'll drive my bmw or buy a miata or something ya know? And the HDs are 2x the price. On such a budget-sentric build, is it worth it do you think?
 
pino said:
I'm sorry but... what? You've owned 700 of these? Is that a joke?!

I'm leaning more towards Bilstein Touring shocks. I like to floaty relaxed feel of the car. I'm not sold on the idea of turning a massive volvo wagon into a race car feeling with HDs or Konis. I don't want harsh firm dampening. If I want that sensation, I'll drive my bmw or buy a miata or something ya know? And the HDs are 2x the price. On such a budget-sentric build, is it worth it do you think?
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No, it's not a joke. I quite counting around 650 and that was about 8 years ago. 700 is a very conservative number. I'm probably getting closer to 900.

Massive? They are hardly heavier than a stock 325is (2850lbs). 300lbs at most even for a fully optioned power everything turbo wagon (3150lbs). You wagon probably weighs 3000lbs ish.
They are surprisingly light for their size and build quality. All of our track cars are 2200-2500lbs with full race legal cages.

Bilstein Touring shocks are crap. I actually think they are rebranded Monroe's...lol. Improperly valved for 240's. My light 242 actually bounced off the ground in the rear with those because the dampening effect is so bad on them.
Bilstein HD's handle AND ride better because they are a high quality strut/shock with good dampening for an off the shelf oem+ replacement. It is not a sport or race valved strut/shock. They dampen well keeping the tires better planted (more grip) and soften bumps.

Bilstein HD's also have a lifetime warranty and I have a set that works as good at 100k miles as they were when new.

If you are looking for something cheaper, look at Boge and Sachs as oem replacements. KYB's are good cheap alternative for lowered and more sporty than what you are wanting, but I figured I'd mention them along with all the others.
 
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Hi Pino, thank you for posting this! I'm a few years late to the party but I got some great information from this thread. I bought a 1980 245 same color a few months ago. Got the major mechanical issues addressed, thanks to a great local SF mechanic and much advice from this forum. Now I and am preparing to work my way to the exterior. I will be implementing some of your excellent detailing tips for this next step.

BTW you still have this beauty?
 
This thread is a true inspiration. Forget those whose body, LS turbo swapped monsters. This is a great attention to detail and proves how a little elbow grease and love can bring some of these cars back to life.

Makes me want to find a fixer upper.
 
Definitely an inspiring detail job. I haven't done that for a while, but this thread reminded me of how therapeutic and calming it can be to get to do this process. It's good for the head for some unknown (to me) reason
 
Detailing a dirty car is really rewarding. I know it's not my thread but I'm gonna post pics of my first car anyway, cause it looks like OPs.

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