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Volvo pickup, but which one?

ghost civic

ghost civic

New member
Joined
May 7, 2007
Ok guys, sadly I have been Volvo-less for a couple of years now :(
My vehicle is the family's secondary...and it has to be a pickup. I don't like driving trucks. My S10 4cyl isn't a bad little truck...just doesn't have the heart or durability of a Volvo. But I require a 6' bed to haul trash, lawnmowers ect. The biggest thing Id have to haul is my rider mower.

So...the plan is with next years tax returns to buy a Volvo wagon and chop the back off.

I prefer the 740 over the 240. But, when I look at pics, most 740's turned into pickups have a small bed...more like a inset box. Some 240 pics look to have a nearly full 6' bed.

Is there a reason why most 740 trucks have a narrowed and shortened bed?

Oh, ill be hoping to get a turbo version and aim to make it 10-12psi :)

Ive done a google search or 2 hoping to find some build threads. Only ones I stumbled on were not in English. I know if I can see what others have done, I will be able to replicate it and modify it for my purposes.

I wish Volvo had made 740 pickups. I mean...tough and good torque 4cyl, check. Tough frame and body, check. Strong trans, check. RWD, check. It only needs a bed and a small lift/bigger tires to qualify as a pickup imo.
 
guys, don't be such downers.
the plan is to buy the car early next year. My S10 should pass 1 more inspection without a ton of work before it is ready to be retired. So I will have months to work on the car...and Im a stay at home dad.

I just wish I could find some build threads. I would like to see what these cars look like once torn down to the bare bones. Then I could think up where I would need to reinforce, how to make the bed ect.

Trucks up here are expensive. even a high millage rwd 4 banger costs $1000-$1500 if it has a sticker. Unstickered 4wd trucks can go for that...if not more. I see 240s and 740s in decent condition for $1000-$1500 often...and in the past had bought a wonderful 740 turbo wagon for $450! That car ran very well. I put very little money into it...and when I sold it I got $500 for it :)

What it really comes down to is this....I want a Volvo...I have to have a pickup. I cant make a pickup into a Volvo...so making a Volvo into a pickup is the only option.

Id certainly consider buying one already converted if I could afford it and it wasn't very far away. I see lots of Volvos up here in maine, but nothing converted into a truck. Plus, I cant imagine anyone selling one for $1500.

I do have a garage, and everything but a welder. But I can borrow that and have some friends who know basic welding. Im not looking to make a show car. I envision the whole back end looking kinda rough. All that will matter is that Ill be driving a Volvo that can haul around anything that I could in my S10. The S10 just isn't fun. Try to do a burnout, the rear end hops violently. It isn't a dog, but a turbo wagon would have more power. And winter handling sucks! Volvos handle far better in the snow.

There is an older saab in town that was converted to a pickup. back was chopped off...rear of the cab is actually wood with lexan window. It isn't pretty, but it works.

Don't get me wrong, I realize this will be a huge challenge for me. But then, if the work isn't hard, the end result isn't as rewarding.
 
ghost civic said:
Trucks up here are expensive. even a high millage rwd 4 banger costs $1000-$1500 if it has a sticker. Unstickered 4wd trucks can go for that...if not more. I see 240s and 740s in decent condition for $1000-$1500 often...and in the past had bought a wonderful 740 turbo wagon for $450! That car ran very well. I put very little money into it...and when I sold it I got $500 for it :)
Click to expand...



You think $1,500 is expensive, wait until you have to customize EVERY PART you'll need for your Volvo pick, ie make the part yourself. Fabrication is not cheap.
 
Wren said:
This is one of the worst ideas ever. 99% of these look like half-assed hack jobs.
Click to expand...

Also, if you don't know what you're doing it's likely to come apart and kill someone in an accident. "Some friends who know basic welding" does not a fabrication expert make.

Fortunately, Maine is an inspection state... And you thought it was hard to make your S10 pass.
 
For the size of 'bed' you end up with, a complete 240 wagon is about a hundred times more useful, and will actually be able to haul longer items, with the rear seats folded flat. With the 'cab' boxed in behind the rear seats to make a pickup, you'll actually lose a foot or so of useable space.

Worried about tall objects? Just buy a trailer. Or another actual truck.

There's no way this will possibly end up being cheaper than buying a pickup, and will come nowhere close to replacing one.
 
I saw a ton of them in Sweden, like LOTS once you're out of the cities. I'd go looking there. More experience then there would be here. I dunno what forum I'd ask on though...
 
I really want to do this with a 240...mostly because then I could put a crane on the back if I wanted. But also because my granddad is/was really into El Caminos but also had a few 240's. I kinda gotta get moving on that too because he's 91.
 
intalekshul said:
It's been my daily driver since 2012 until recently, but that's another story.http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=203912
Click to expand...

Thank you so much. that is exactly the kind of thing I needed to see! Pictures speak a thousand words. Now I have a good idea exactly what Im in for. There is certainly more welding that I would have thought.
But hey, I have nearly a year to practice welding :)

To those who say "trailer", you are missing the point. First, I hate towing a trailer...and certainly don't want to just to haul trash to the dump. If a trailer were an option, id just slap one on the scion and have what I really want...a turbo 740 sedan.
I know it will be an insane amount of work. But in the end, id have something very few (and no one around here) has. I want the joy of driving a Volvo...and the usefulness of a pickup. Ive tried in the past just having a wagon. You can haul a fair bit with them...either in the back or on the roof. But its not the same as having a bed, and you certainly cant fit a rider mower in them.

I realize getting a 6' bed might not be possible. But with my S10, I can't get my rider all the way in due to the wheel wells. The rear tires sit on the tailgate. The same would likely be true for a Volvo wagon converted to a pickup. Even if the bed was only 5', it would do the jobs I need it to do.

The more pics I see...the more I am thinking a 240 is better. I certainly am seeing more 240 trucks with a decent size bed than 740's.

That ebay ad...I like the conversion...not so much the paint job. I realize a lot of work went into it, but $5k?
 
Dude. Buy a trailer. For real.



If you get a lightweight trailer you can just push it around by hand. It's really easy to hook up this way. Takes a minute tops. Then you can have the car you want, and way more hauling ability than you will ever need.
 
Yall I don't think the point is utility. I think the point is that it's fun to do ridiculous things, and it's interesting to have something that nobody else really has unless they too built one themselves (or found somebody who did)

As long as he's aware of the time, skill, and resources required...and the tendency for these projects to end up half finished...then I don't understand why we're trying to talk him out of doing something that I think is really damn cool.
 
Some of the folks on this thread seem to hate this idea as much as my neighbors hate mine ; )
Keep in mind you only have 42" between the wheel wells.
The one thing I wish the builder had done was to make the hatch be able to open. It probably wouldn't be all that useful and it would be tough to engineer it but it would be way cooler.
The thing I like the most about it is the way he reused the back door hardware for the tailgate. Bed is only 60" long but the tailgate comes off super easy for extra large loads btw.
When I get it running again I need to get a license plate holder for the rear bumper so I can run it with just one of those cargo nets in the back to save even more gas.
The thing about it is that it's the exact opposite of a chick magnet. No matter where I go guys with grease under their fingernails want to talk to me.
 
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