I had started a full resto on the '83 Turbo 242, but once it was apart; interior gone, glass out, engine/trans/ out, etc, and it was being prepped for soda blast to uncover filler and repairs from 1st restoration about 15 years ago, it just became clear that it would be better to use the car I had bought as a donor. It was solid, virtually rust free and so on but the idea was to re-do the car I had owned when my wife and I were dating. I have owned this car for 27 years and it has enormous sentimental value. I hope that by switching to "Plan B" and using as many parts as possible to build the other car that it's spirit will live on. Kind of like that Neil Young song "Long May You Run"
The suspension is Bilstein/IPD and hopefully is still usable. I do know from when I replaced this stuff that the Turbo stuff is shorter and stiffer than a DL sedan or wagon. I'll use what is still good.
My concern was whether mounting points, gussets, brackets, geometry, etc, of the body were the same and whether things like the steering rack was the same. The DL feels slower steering.
I realize that installing all of the wiring, A/C, (DL is a non A/C car), power windows, mirrors, etc, etc, will be lot of work, but most of this stuff will be removed for soda blast/body work/paint, anyway.
As for the sunroof, plan is to cut applicable panel(s) out of one car and swap into other car.
As for V8 swap; I live in Dearborn, Mich. ground zero for the Ford empire. Crashed and broken Mustangs are plentiful and cheap. Besides, as a Ford retiree, I get a pretty good discount on Ford parts, including Ford Racing and other performance stuff, not to mention that a lot of the engineers, dyno operators, Product Development mechanics and so on, live right in the neighborhood. I would gladly stay with a mofified Volvo engine, but have absolutely no idea where to buy Volvo hot rod parts or find build info. There is NO "tuner car" scene here; no euro car, no asian car, no Subaru AWD, no hot rod BMW, nothing around here. My priority is the body work first on this project, driveline parts second, but before I get involved with the V8 aspects, I would love to do research on Volvo engine performance mods, but have no idea where to look. Can someone steer me to books, articles, etc? I see postings about 250hp red blocks, but if all the parts are in Sweden and it costs me $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 or more to get a high strung, fragile red block boosted to the ragged edge of it's life with 225-250hp with not a lot of torque, and I have to go 80 miles round trip to get a part from the snotty, sniffing bad attitude Volvo dealer who smirked and said, "We don't really carry parts for such OLD cars, our customers drive NEW cars". All of this while I can WALK to the Ford dealer for parts and get a discount, too, on my driveline from a $1,000 wrecked Mustang. So, I'm looking at the Ford swap, but still curious about hot rodding the red block.
What I could really use at this point is a parts list of Turbo only items to compare with the DL. That would be a big help. Where to source parts lists for a 242?