Yes A fellow Aussie. That's a beautiful 142 you've got. Are you an OzhotVolvos member? Whereabouts are you from? What star sign are you and do you like long walks on the beach? (sorry, this is brickboard, not Lavalife)

Quite a few 245 Vans did get shipped, they were part of a tax dodge by Volvo Australia to get around the import duty on passenger vehicles. The dealers would simply import X number of 245 Vans, and X number of back seats. Once you'd bought your 245, you'd be directed to a workshop who'd fit a back seat for you. The taxation office wized up by the end of the 70's and that was the end of that.

If you see an old round headlighted 245 on the road, check out the badging. If it says 245L, it quite probably started life as a van, and was converted on delivery. You see quite a few of them around if you know how to spot them, although mine is one of only two I know of in original condition.

It hasn't been poorly maintained, so much as abandoned. My mother was hit by a Peugeot running a red light back while driving it in Jan of'96, and the car was left in our garage until I started restoring it in Dec '02. The mileage is pretty low, as it was the second car, which my dad used as his camera van. The mileage currently stuck on 89,857kms, and I think it's around 100K. Not much for a Volvo. Those are Inner Sydney miles though, so it could do with some gearbox work.

We put it back together using scrapyard panels, and fixed the rust in it so it looks more or less straight. Paintwork is good enough, but my best mate is a panelbeater and wants to spray it up better than good enough, He says if I pay for the paint, he can do what would normally be an $8000 spray job on it. Maybe one day I'll straighten the slight kink in the chassis rails (we re-aligned the guards and bonnet to compensate, but it's not quite perfect) but the damage doesn't affect the suspension alignment, so it's not really nessesary.

The only major trauma it's had apart from being hit side on at 80kmh (it was a bit of a mess when I got it), is the fact that I rebuilt the top end of the motor, then blew the head gasket on it's first road trip. It copped a major overheating when the over-pressurised cooling system blew out a core plug and dumped all the coolant in a matter of seconds. It could probably use a bottom end rebuild after that little adventure, but that would be a fun project for a summer.

I think you are probably right, the car should stay in it's original configuration. It might rev a bit hard on the freeway, but I can live with that. It doesn't use too much fuel doing it (about 10L/100kms on the new England). And it is, as you say, a car that Volvo enthusiasts will be interested to see. The original B21 should get a proper overhaul, along with the M45. Once I finish the car

I don't think I'll drive it into the ground, there's plenty of life left in it, there are just a few expensive components that need replacing kinda soon. The motor and gearbox will survive another few years if required, they just won't go as well as they might. It's pretty hard to actually kill a 240. The treatment I'm giving at the moment is alerting me to what needs fixing, as much as it is running the car down. It's only the fuel system issues that I really can't deal with now.

Fact is, I can't afford more than one car (when the brick won't go, I get around on two wheels), and it's not a museum piece yet. It belongs on the road, not in my garage. I can keep it running without damaging it too much (I do have the tools and skills for day to day maintainance, with much help from the brickboard.) I want to have it in good condition for club days and such, but I also want to take it around Australia. I've never wanted to put months of my life into a car I don't get to drive all the time. If I can get it back to '77 specs, it should last another 20 years, or until the spare parts run out.


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Drive it like you hate it