85 740 GLE winter beater

So it was Spetember last year and I'm browsing auction listings as usual. Winter was coming and I was bored with my 95 Caprice ex-police car. Sure it was fast but it was lacking that third pedal, and 3-4k to convert it was out of the question. I find a listing for the 1985 740 sedan and it's a manual. I'm like hot damn I gotta check this out.

We get down to the auction on the day, I look at it real quick and it's not too bad. Comes across the block and of course, I'm the only guy to show interest except for the junkyard guy. Snagged it for the minimum bid! All mine.



Looks good enough that I do and register it for daily drivin the following week. Runs great, but clutch is worn. Engages right off the floor. Body is mint, and then I see the reason why.



SCORE. I got a Mass title with the car, was issued in 2001. So it's been in the north for a bit but it's clean as hell underneath. Perfect beater. So I change the oil and start driving it. Getting 26 mpg and the clutch is useable. Actually I've put about 9k miles on it since without doing anything about it.

Seats are horrible tho. After day one of driving it I had to do something about the seat. So I wrapped it in some foam I had lying around. TB approved?





Then I ebayed some neato burrito seat covers.





Then well winter was coming so it was snow tire time. In a strange twist of fate, the guy I found on facebook selling new tires for cheap, also happened to be a Volvo specialist with a large stock of old stuff, and he wasn't really attached to the stuff either. So that's how I scored an eggcrate grill for $10..also check out my cool Hazard Fraught foggies that ran me a total of $11. Pimping is cheap.



Car did good all winter. Loving it in fact, got a consistent 25 MPG and was really maintenance free. Whoever owned it before really took good care of it. As spring got closer and closer I considering flipping it. But I really liked driving it. So the GF kinda talked me out of it. haha. So project things are happening now.

So started to gather things. It started with the slightly cracked 90+ manifold a local member gave me. Then I got a good 13C from an S70. Then I grabbed up a used Microsquirt from a TB member from up north. That was kinda my plan to upgrade to since the stock engine harness is toast. I don't have an issues aside from a stumble after a cold start, but I know the harness won't last and I got the microsquirt with 10' harness for cheaper than an aftermarket replacement LH2.2 harness. I just need the rest of the turbo stuff and I'm on my way.

Also, I scored a set of 04 S60R front seats to replace my hard and dried up stock seat last week. Those were actually quite easy to install. After staring and measuring both the 740 seats and S60R seats, I figured out it would be easy enough to attach the 740 seat rails to the S60R seats, making them bolt in to the car.

Measurement put the 740 rail at about 1" wider than the S60 base. So procured 1/2" spacers, 5/16 x1.5" grade 8 bolts and washers at the hardware store.

Attached as so:





I lined it up with the front holes, notice there's alot of holes so you can set pretty much any height you want. In the rear the holes in the 740 rail are 3/4" further back or so, Just drill holes, the steel is quite thick so really no risk of the bolts ripping out in an accident.

Nasty ass seats, but hey they were free!



Better than this tho.



In car



S60 trim fit over the 740 seat reel. Yea the 740 seat belts and buckle bolt to the rail, so all still stock.



I'm still working on wiring up the power for the recline. I got the stock switch to work on the passenger side. Still working on figuring out the drivers side. I also scavenged the thermostat and wiring from the 740 driver's seat so I wire up the seat heat. My car, being from North Carolina originally, is only wired up for the driver's side seat heater. Yea it's weird. Well stay tuned, I'll keep this updated as I do some needed maintenance and +T it.

Updates!

Got some wheels and put them on the car. Not too bad for free!



Story goes, I met a guy at the auction and he was asking me about my 740. Turns out he works at a machine shop and his boss is getting up there 80+. Wanted to sell off some of the volvos that have been parked there for a long time. I ended up buying a twin to my car, 89 turbo m46 744, and a 88 765. All just for parts, they've been sitting there since 1999. Chatting with him after picking up the 765, he says "I got a present for you" go over to this old van sitting there , and he pulls out......this set of Multi-Xs. I tried to offer him money since I know they are rare, he says "I already told you I'm giving them to you. One of them was even brand new never mounted. I bought these Nanking tires off amazon for a screaming deal, and only one wheel needed alot of weight to balance. Not bad for FREE.

I've been gathering parts for a refresh and turbo swap, bought everything to build the Microsquirt harness up and started mocking it up when I fell into a deal on a wrecked S90. Don't let the looks fool you she is hammered. Every panel dented.



Going to pull the B6304, clean it up and decide on a transmission solution. Can't make up my mind between T5 or the poppin' fresh 6 speed option. Got alot of bs to do before that. Engine runs great, only issue so far is the oil cooler was cracked in the accident so it leaks a fair bit of oil while running.

Suhweet ride. I grew up down the road from you in New Boston!

Thanks man, I am literately like a mile down the road from New Boston! Thats cool.

I did some shop re-organizing and worked on the summer toys. The big whale needed new front brakes, which turned out to be the greasest brake job ever. But first I had to tow it to the front of the garage to do said work. The volvo, at risk of clutch disintegration, did it with ease.



I have alot of crap.



Decided on a T5 for the B6304 swap. Too many unknowns with the CD009 swap at this time, I know parts are available for the T5, and I can get late 90's V6 T5's for cheap at the picknpull. Figure I'll pull a couple of T5's, and throw the best looking one in. Worst case it sucks, I refresh the other box and swap them.

Stripped the S90 and sent it off to my buddy's land of misfit junk. He's going to cut the back window and 1/4 panels out for his 745 truck conversion.

So what I have now is a B6304 needing a headgasket due to a big external oil leak, a boatload of wiring, the complete dash just to make sure I have everything I need. I scored an 850 flywheel from the local indie Volvo shop a couple of miles down the road from me, on a whim I stopped by and it was just sitting in his shop. ordered up the Centerforce 9" ford clutch disc, and found a NIB Sachs OE 850 pressure plate on ebay. So it's coming together. Should be able to start the swapping process soon. Likely after I refurb the gf's 92 740 turbo wagon with an M46 swap and reseal of the engine.