The '82 GL I have was GOING to be a girlfriend-mobile, but she's considering buying something a little more refined now - i.e. without rust holes and a crumbling wiring harness.

Not sure what to do with it now. I doubt I can recover the money I put into it to make it legal/safe again, I certainly can't recover the massive amount of time and sweat I put into it.

I'd like to steal some parts off of it for my car and part it out, but...but...but it still runs! I'm havng a hard time breaking the emotional connection to the car, since the previous (and original) owner was so fond of it, and took excellent care of it. I mean, 24 years of love went into that car. Then three of his children learned to drive in it. If I'm having a hard time rending the car to pieces, I can only imagine how the previous owner felt selling it. Not to mention how disappointed he'll be if he ever finds out I parted it out. I swore I'd keep it running, but when I said that I had no idea what needed fixed.

301k miles, rust holes, crumbling wiring harness, mysterious fuel pump noise, sloppy speedometer, broken temp gauge - and it still runs beautifully. If I leave it in the driveway, I just KNOW it'll suck every last dime I have out of me. Those GL's with the chrome trim, burgandy paint, coronas - you can envision the majesty of the car new, even if it's crusty now.

Sure, I could drive it for a while, maybe even for another year or two before anything serious needed fixed again. But the "smart" thing to do would be to part it out - because a LOT of things on the car are still in great shape, and a lot of parts new - take the money and use it to maintain my Black Beauty.

What really makes me weep is that this is a classic Volvo case of the car falling apart around that perfect engine - 300k mile B21F, oil chaged every 4,000 mi. (sometimes he only waited 3,000 miles!) runs as smooth as my 100k mile B230F.

I just don't know. Is it more important to "The Cause" to keep it running or to make the parts available for those who have old 240's in better shape?

What to do, what to do...
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- Sean: Black '93 244, 115k miles