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After nine years of service, I am giving up on this car. The car has not been driven in over two years, but runs and is still drivable. It’s been stored indoors since. It's my 1981 Volvo 245 – 240,000 miles. B21F with 3 speed Auto
Here’s the good:
*Motor rebuilt in 1993 with a NEW cylinder head.
*New wiring harness in 2001 (this cost me big bucks!)
*Complete tune-up and new Bosch wires cap & rotor
*New U-Joints and Center Carrier Bearing in 1999, also had shafts balanced.
*4 rust-free doors and tailgate in red (drivers side rear door has one big scratch)
*excellent tail lamps and turn signals
*Perfect grill and trim
*Tan interior is very nice. Front seats are cloth and are in very good shape. Rear seat is tan vinyl and is good too.
*power steering rack replaced in 1998 with a TRW unit. It also got new tie rod ends too.
*New fuel pump in 1997
Complete new exhaust system in 1998 with a $100 head pipe from Midas
New rear brake calipers and new pads and rotors all around.
New heater/blower motor in 1996 or 97 I can’t remember.
Here’s the Bad:
*Rust
*The rear lower control arm rubber bushings are dry-rotted. They cost under $20 but I don’t feel like replacing them.
*There’s a leak from the power steering somewhere (can’t be from the rack because it was new)
*The “new” exhaust us starting to rust out from sitting.
*The transmission has a slight leak, 1 quart per year (but it hasn’t been driven since July 2002)
*the tires are not the best (I put the new ones on my 87 240)
*Rusty rockers, quarter panels and I patched up the floor a few years back, but there’s more rust. Also a little along the lip of the hood and the edge of the fenders.
The speedo cable broke and I have another new one in a box
The car is Brown with red doors and tailgate and that’s pretty bad in itself.
The Ugly:
**The wiring harness that goes to the engine harness is getting brittle, this can be fixed, but I’m not motivated to do it now.
And rust...
It would hurt to sell this car, I no longer have the time or money to restore it. I already have another 240, which requires my attention now.
This is would be a perfect parts car, especially if you needed body panels and an interior. I have put literally thousands into this car over the last decade. When I bought it, it was originally from out west and was cleaner than any late model 240 wagons here in Toledo. The motor has about 50 to 70,000 on the rebuild and the transmission shifts fine too. I have accumulated a lot of 240 spare parts over the years and will include some extra stuff with the car.
What's it worth? Should I just part it out?
I've also been thinking about swapping the drivetrain into a kit car if I find an unfinished one cheap. This dork I used to work with just gave an unfinished Sebring Healy Style kit body and frame to the junkyard and never told me until a few months later. I would have paid him for it.
Ben