Ok well I’m trying to decide if it is time to replace my brick with a newer brick.

I am going to list a brief history of my beloved 1985 240DL Volvo, including a description of major repairs and a listing of needed repairs.

I got the Volvo in 1997, when I turned 16. It had 117k miles and was purchased for $2500. The car was in near perfect shape.

125k. Apparently not perfect enough. One of the pistons hit a little high, causing the head to lift from the block, combined with a small water leak this turned deadly in 1998. My wicked awesome Vietnamese Volvo mechanic said the engine probably came that way from the factory. So we replaced the entire engine from a rear end wreck (56k).

135k Spring break senior year. I came over the top of a hill on a major interstate to find a truck stopped in the left lane, planning on taking a left turn onto a driveway. I steered to miss the truck and ended up clipping the passenger front corner of the Volvo on his large bumper (no fault accident). This was a Texas truck, so it was really high off the ground and I slide under most of it. No frame damage, only the front crumple plate, fender, hood, radiator, and bumper got hurt. Replaced all parts at the junk yard. Painted and beautiful again.

140k. Summer before college. I was t-boned (not my fault). Body shop reported no major frame damage, but had to pull the driver side door column out a half inch, as the new doors would not line up. They reinforced the beam incase I ever get hit like that again.

At this point the Volvo does not have any major problems, both aesthetically and mechanically.

The Volvo lived in the garage my first two years of college. It came out only during the summer and had no problems during the next two years.

2001. 145k. Driving my car up to school (University of Missouri-Rolla) from Houston turned out real bad. The Radiator basically stopped working and the head melted. Some how I managed to get back up to Rolla, where it spent the next month in the shop while they tried to find the right head and get everything fixed. Turns out the radiator was full of ‘gunk’ and was replaced at the same time.

2003 160k the clutch finally went out, new clutch was put in, no problems.

188k. Fast forward to the past year. Well the car had been going strong the last year. Only a few small problems. Most of which are age and mileage related. Below is a list of the major repairs of the past year. Below that is a list of needed repairs.


2004 Major repairs:

New Starter
New Alternator
Used Harmonic Dist. Pulley
New Battery
New Front Struts
New Muffler and pipe portion (not installed by a Volvo guy, so the pipe is not dented in the right place, touches rear end)
Full 134a charge.
New brake pads, rotors spun.
New Tie rods
Two new front tires.
New CD player

Problems to fix:
Clutch mount or U joints are shot (rattles on acceleration)
IPD overload springs
Could need all new bushings.
Tune up (plugs, wires, filters, flame trap)
Rear tires.

The only two body panels that are not dinted in some way are the two rear fenders. Every other body panel is dented or scraped. If I can find a good paint shop to spray it I would replace everything with either junk yard parts or bondo. Problem is all the shops I have called want to do the body work themselves

I love this car. It still starts every time and drives, though it makes a bunch of noise (as it flexes going over bumps, turns, and such). All the little run-ins over the years have left everything just a tad off, so you get a fair amount of road noise at 70 mph. But she will go all day and not complain, which is more than I can say for passengers.

I found a 1992 240 with 104k in town for only 2500$. From the pictures it looks to be in great shape. The owner says it has no major problems and the AC runs great (A must in TX) The only problem is it is an Automatic. I love my manual.

I will head back to school to get my Masters in Engineering in the fall of ’06, so I need a car to get me there and through 2 years of school. I would like a car that I can ‘improve’. I would love to put a handful of IPD toys on and have a fun little brick.

SO what do I do? Do I fix it or forget it? If I buy the 92, can I add a few options and actually make it a little faster? Or do I need to drop the V8 for that? Do I just keep driving it and replace it when a good manual comes on the market?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks Guys.

--
1985 240DL 188k

Nice story. Thanks for sharing.

You want stuff your 240 can't do. Get another one. Drive the car you want to drive.

There are many good 240s around. Get a manual. The Volvo 240 is such a pleasure to drive with a standard gearbox.

I have a 240 because I wanted a more interesting vehicle, and I grew tired of driving what I had to drive instead of something I wanted to drive.


--
Stef -- 1981 wagon B21A SU M46 317000km

While I can certainly understand the affection one builds up for an old friend I'd like to point out that you are going to be one busy student going for your Masters. A well maintanied lower mileage '92 would IMHO be a better bet than an older much crunched brick. If I was in your position and I could afford it I'd go for a later year. I know from experience that even with an auto box when you add a VX cam and 2 1/2" exhaust there is a nice little performance boost.
--
Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'65 1800S ????K
'67 1800s 79K
'73 1800ES 117K
'88-240 190K+
'92 745Ti 160K
my pages

This is your first car, it's been in a lot of accidents. Now you're a better smarter driver and anything you buy now would have a good chance of surviving undented for a number of years. I'd say fix it if it hadn't been wrecked so many times. Dents are one thing, reinforced pillars are another.

Keep the '85 though. When you get to ten or twenty Volvos, you can sell a few off.

--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

So if I do fix it, how do I:

Get rid of the creaking and groaning body.
Cut down on the road noise.

Add some performance/speed/power.
--
1985 240DL 188k

"Get rid of the creaking and groaning body."

Replace front end parts and suspension bushings as needed.



"Cut down on the road noise."

Quieter tires. More aerodynamic windshield from later cars ie. 91? 92-93. Additional front door sound deadening - can find this in later cars, maybe 88 up???



"Add some performance/speed/power."

See Daveshan's post above....


One last thought, drive the 92 first, then decide. I've driven many 240 model years. IMO - the later cars drive the best, if that is important to you.

--
90 244DL about 1/4 million miles - original engine/drivetrain :)

Thanks for the input. I do need to go drive the car.

I replaced most of the front end this past year, but the noise sounds to be in the rear. The bushing in the back that requires the special tool kinda scares me. The IPD catalog makes it sound like a bear of a job. I'll need to post a message on here if that is the route I go.

Daveshans website has some good stuff on cutting back on the road noise. Stuff I will do, no mater what car I end up in.

I can easily afford the new car, but buy buying it, I will have 2k less to spend on upgrades.
--
1985 240DL 188k

I'd be tempted to pick up the 92, keep the 85 as a parts car (its value must be pretty low if you were to try to sell it) and swap the transmissions. If you really like the standard, you are probably not ever going to be happy with the autobox (I wouldn't be) and a late model 240 with standard is fairly hard to find. But that's just me.
--
67 144, 86 244, 86 740T, BMW R69S, R60/2

How much work is that?
--
1985 240DL 188k

If you've got the cars side by side, it could probably be done in a full weekend. Be advised that you'll need an LH 2.4 flywheel for that '92 and the bellhousing will have to be swapped or modified to fit the crank sensor.

--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

But is this an intelligent swap? Additionally, some times in first gear if I do not start/up clutch slow enough the car flips out and gets real jumpy. Is this a bad trans, bad clutch, or bad me?
--
1985 240DL 188k

Intelligent? I've got some manual 240s. I've got some auto 240's. In my opinion, leave the '92 alone, and live with the diminished performance. It won't be as fun, but will get you around with the same bulletproof drivetrain. "Flips out and gets real jumpy" sounds like my old college roomate. The best thing I ever did was to get out of the same room with that guy. I think it was "bad him" too. His transmission and clutch were fine, as far as I could tell.
--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

I replaced only the large bushing you talked about in an earlier post, the one you supposedly need a special tool for. You don't need the tool if you get poly bushings. See here:

http://brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=888832

I believe all the other bushings are in suspension parts that can be removed from the vehicle and taken to a machine shop to have new bushings pressed in. My Volvo also has a little bucking problem if I don't engage the clutch smoothly, and I think it's just some other worn bushings in the rear suspension. Right now it's not enough of a problem for me to take the time to replace them.

Good luck!

So maybe I should go check out the 92 and get a real feel for it. If it's as good a deal as it looks like it could be, or if i can get him even lower on the price I will jump on it. If not, I think I will go ahead and replace the trailing arm bushing and see how the volvo runs. This will buy me a lot more time to watch the local Volvo market.
--
1985 240DL 188k

Check your clutch adjustment first, but it could also be a clutch going out or a bad motor mount.

--
90 244DL about 1/4 million miles - original engine/drivetrain :)

Does logic have anything to do with it?

If I were going to modify, I'd look for a solid body and go from there.

If I needed solid transportation, I'd snap up the '92.

If I were you (sucker that I am) I'd keep the old one and give it love.

Looks to me that you need to decide between known and unknown, manual and auto, familiar and new.

G'luck,

--
Mike!

Myself, I'd fix. You don't have that much to do. Then you can improve.

'92 is probably heavily computerised. And you may have noticed that computers go obsolete pretty quickly, so finding parts for (and fixing) an '85 may be easier to do than for a '92.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

wicked awsome.. you from new england orignally? everyone makes fun of me for saying things are wicked *something* and thats where i picked it up.

personally i'm in the same situation and i'm going keep mine against everybodies reccomendations. i've got a certian affection for my 325 dollar volvo and will never give her up as she's the first car i've ever outright owned and in the past 6 months i've put close to 30,000 miles on her and taken her through about 8 states and 3 countries...

..morgan.