My beloved DD '88 244GL 188K was totaled in April and I was on the hunt for a new DD to replace her. I always wanted a pre '90 740TI M46. I searched Fleabay and CL high and low and found the Volvo I always wanted but....

I was fighting with her insurance co. on the culpability and payout (thanks to the BB, I knew how to hammer them.)

I'm currently under-employed working only two nights a week and trying to keep and finish my first house, so I don't have much money.

I couldn't wait for her ins. co. to finally pay me so I scraped what money I could together and found a 2 owner '89 745TI M46 120K verified. ABS,SRS,pwrsnrf,CC,black hounds-tooth int near mint. Paint still shines. No rust! Dealer maintained until 90K. The caveat...

She had a blown headgasket and oil was everywhere in the engine compartment.
The seller tried to BS me with a vacuum leak. I tore him apart and picked the car apart. Pointing out all of the defects and work that needed to be done.

She had a blown headgasket and the front suspension was completely screwed up from a curb encounter.

He was asking $750 and I told him I would give him $250. The car had been for sale for a couple of months and he just wanted to get rid of it.

Drove her home and proceeded to tear her down. I fiqured out how she blew her head gasket by deductive reasons.

The heater valve was bypassed. It must've broke allowing the system to lose coolant. The engine overheated and was driven, warping the head. Cylinder 2 and 3 were cross-firing. Allowing coolant and carbon build up on the valves.

I tore the head apart to be machined and found #1 intake valve spring broken. The valves were nasty but no scoring or signs of burning.

In a classic case of "while I'm at it" I rebuilt the head with new valve springs and seats. New engine seals through-out minus rear seal. New cap/rotor/plugs. new belts/hoses/water pump. cleaned the whole engine compartment with de-greaser and a tooth brush. Cleaned all of the grounds.

I found a good donor car in the PNP that had nearly new front poly bushings and strut towers for $30. Swapped them over. Had a high flow 2.5" exh. put in. Swapped the tires over from the wreck.

The car had a vibration when braking from warped rotors. Replace front and rear with all new pads and bleed the system. Flushed and replaced all fluids including M46 and rear diff.

Once said and done the total cost of the rebuild including buying the car was $1200. Total time was about 30 hrs for everything.

She runs like a Singer! Only boo-boo was the turbo man. to header is leaking and I will have to re-adjust when cool.

I have to say that when I work on these 20 yr old cars usually it's the nuts/bolts that give me trouble. Not this car. It was the parts and local suppliers(isn't it always something!) All of the bolts came loose very easily. I used PB Blaster anyway. Why take the chance of breaking one.

I saved this car from the wrecker and I couldn't have done it w/out this board and its members. AND... I have a new daily driver that shouldn't need anything major for at least 50K mi.

I received notice that the ins. co. is paying me $1400 for my old car.
I sold the car with the accessories and expensive parts stripped for $500. sold the parts for a total of $1400. Total sum: $3300. I'll take it as payment for my pain and suffering plus all of the time I spent on making her better than new. I still miss her though!

I will be submitting payment to the tip-jar for all of the money this board has saved me not to mention my hair-line! Is there any other way than Paypal?