So I was cruising the yards with some friends today in search of an air-cooled VW Vanagon (but that's a whole nother story), and I wandered off into the Volvo areas.

I saw:

A 265DL, 262GL (both with manual transmissions.. hmm).

A silver 78 242GT. Had some interior pieces, different front seats, most of the orange had turned to red. Had springs and sways.

A re-painted blue 80? 81? 242GT. Presumably had springs and sways, had GT front seats in okay shape as well as intact rear light assemblies (the 5 panel ones).

A 262C with most of the glass and all of the wood trim intact.

I seem to remember that the 242GTs had hotter cams, stiffer springs, and beefier sway bars, right? But what GTs got what combo? What kinda cam did US spec GTs get?

One of the GTs had a decent steering wheel cover, so I grabbed that and the horn pad. Anyone looking for a horn pad with the bright orange GT logo?

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo

Having a '78 242GT sitting in my backyard now, I can say that the '78 was unique to all the 242GT's, except the engine. The B21F engine was the only 242 offering in the US that came with Lambda sound, O2 sensor. The others had egr. The weak 8.7:1 compression ratio made it one of the slowest Volvos ever built, but perfectly suited for a turbo conversion. Handles great though!
Only the '78 had the strut braces upper and lower, R-sport springs and gas struts, heavier sways and power steering w/ bigger rack ends. There is also re-inforcement in the rear seat support connecting the two rear upper shock mounts.
I've since replaced the engine with a re-built '79 B21F bored to 2.3L and have a R grind cam, ported head, pushing 180 hp. Needs paint now.
--
'89 245 Sportwagon, VX cam,K&N, Bil's, IPD susp & exhaust

Thanks for the replies Rob and Steve. Now I'll know what to look for in the future.

If anyone's looking for a nice beige interior, the 265GL (which I think was in the Milpitas yard) has a set of front+rear seats. Vinyl or leather, I'm not sure.

Rob.. um... international shipping? From California?

That said, none had the wheels, neither appeared to have the upper strut braces, but I didn't look for the lower ones. The cars at these yards (Hayward, Milpitas, San Jose) were way more picked over than at the other yards (Richmond, Oakland, and Fairfield) I've been to. Maybe it had something to do with Memorial Day.. I dunno. But I probably won't make a trek all the way back there unless I'm desperate (especially considering how many useless things I end up returning with).

- alex

'85 244 Turbo
'84 245 Turbo

Hmmm they say the mind is the first thing to go. Thought you were in Canada for some reason. Perhaps next time I'll read more betterer.

And the GL should have leather seats, which would be a good replacement for a beige interior in a turbo.... usually the seats on anything that old are just trashed.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M46- 220K, 87 244DL- 230K, 88 744GLE- 198K, 91 244 180K, 88 244GL 145K

I actually am looking for one of those GT wheel centers, but I wouldn't ask you to ship internationally for that kind of a thing. Now, if you're sending me the upper strut braces, well, maybe we can make a deal here! :)

A GT is a 242DL with different springs, grille, seat upholstery, alloy wheels, a stripe kit, and flat spare tire wells with a space-saver tire. And of course the good stuff: big sway bars, gas struts, and the strut braces.

Canadian cars may have the hot cam in them- US models got the exact same boring B21F that all the others had.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M46- 220K, 87 244DL- 230K, 88 744GLE- 198K, 91 244 180K, 88 244GL 145K

78 may or may not have the lower strut braces and perhaps a few had the upper braces and R sport springs. Few 78's though have suspensions to get excited about.
79s (best year by far) have the upper braces, R sport springs, heavy (23 mm) rear swaybar and no rear wheel wells (like the 78 but with updated rear lights) that gave the car great handling and spiffy looks.
80s have turbo bars, regular springs and rear wheel wells, bah, boring.
US GTs had the B cam as I recall, nothing special. Canadian GTs might have a K, A or H cam I believe.