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$650 1993 940 Turbo Wagon

PNW760

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Location
St. Louis, MO
A little backstory. Last year I got a job about 30 miles away from where I live in downtown Portland so I ended up selling my black 760 turbo for much too little (practically gave it away) to buy a TDI so that I could commute there and back every single day. Well since then I regretted my choice and was on the search for a clean 2/7/9 series wagon that I could call my own.

EDIT: I found an old photo of my old 760 TIC

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/32955075398/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_9806"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7814/32955075398_882d47f68f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_9806"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Last week I found a 1993 940 Turbo wagon for sale for $650. I quickly contacted the owner and told him I was interested in looking at the car. After meeting up with him to look it over, I quickly saw that even with 314k miles, the car was very well cared for in most regards. I didn't negotiate on price as the car was already priced extremely low.

The main point of concern with the car (and probably why the wagon was priced so low) was the rear suspension. Accelerate too fast or go over a speed bump too quickly and suddenly the car acquired hydraulic suspension bouncing you the the moon and back.

Driving the car home I could easily see that the car received the appropriate care a Volvo normally needs at this age. The 940 accelerated and downshifted extremely well leading me to believe the kick down cable had been adjusted and by the condition of the spark plug wires, I believe those were replaced rather recently as well. The car starts, idles, runs and drives with no issues outside of suspension.

Stage 0 will take place regardless of how new everything is so I can insure everything is where it needs to be. Then I have some plans for it.

Future Plans:
-531 with port work and bigger valves and stronger valve springs
-vx/iPD cam
-Performance iPD wires
-Yoshifab H-beam connecting rods
-iPD/STS Machining adjustable cam gear
-Nathan intake manifold (if I can find one, if not I might have to talk to a fabricator.
-TLAO chips
- 3 inch exhaust with free flowing resonator
-iPD lowering springs with Koni Shocks (or Bilstien HD's) OR
-Kaplhenke coilovers (I'm not too crazy about going low, but I want adjustability for the summer time)
-16 or 17 inch wheels, Borbet Type E's 17x8 or some other similar 5 spoke wheels
-Accumulator mod in an AW72 if I can find one if not, in my AW71.
-E-code headlights
-V90 mirrors and door handles

That's all I can think of for now. I will be posting here to update, every time I do something new to the car.

Below is a link with all the photos and *hopefully* images below that I took of the car to show it off before I go off and start modifying it. (If anything shows up incorrectly, this is my second post and only my first time posting photos)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/67074946@N07/albums/72157689283531591



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Can't have all the nice things, good thing I'm switching over to Euro headlights

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Surprisingly the electrics all work except for the heated portion of the seats. But then again when was the last time you saw working heated seats in a 7/9?

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Yup, and the odo keeps chugging away, no broken gears here

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I don't think this tool kit has ever been opened... the gloves looked brand new. In fact I didn't even know gloves were an actual option with these because I've never seen a complete tool kit

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Although dirty, headliner is all intact

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This looks similar to most 940 rack's I've seen but no bars in the middle, is this normal?

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Sunroof works and doesn't get stuck or leak!!!! It's a miracle

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Anyone know why the images I've attached below the URL aren't showing up? I clicked attach image and then attached the Flickr URL..
 
try using the 'share photo' button in the lower right corner, select BBCode and than medium 800x600 or something. Just copy paste that code, should work
 
try using the 'share photo' button in the lower right corner, select BBCode and than medium 800x600 or something. Just copy paste that code, should work

I could for the life of me not find the "share photo" button until I realized it was on Flickr and not on the forums... guess I get that for being a newbie
 
Re: heated seats... Last time was the last time I drove the 764Ti. So, Monday night. Same with the 745Ti... ;-)

Not a bad looking wagon. I'd pull the rack and, for now, grab 8 5/8" rubber grommets and 8 3/8" black nylon hole plugs. Goop'em up and install them in the holes after removing the wellnuts. Eventually, either use Fiberall or structural urethane with some strips of sheetmetal cut to fit where the holes are. You'll want to drop the headliner to do this, so maybe do it when/if you install a glass 960 moonroof. The reason there are no slats is because the person who installed the rack didn't add them. A bit better, in that when you do remove it, there will only be four slightly darker spots on the roof.

If I remember correctly, there is a 740 Turbo wagon at one of the PnP yards down there that is the same color as yours. It may have a fuel filler door with hinge. If not, Lynnwood PnP has an '86 wagon that's the slightly lighter blue shown on my 245 in the signature below. It still had one on it the last time I looked (last weekend).

-J
 
Re: heated seats... Last time was the last time I drove the 764Ti. So, Monday night. Same with the 745Ti... ;-)

Not a bad looking wagon. I'd pull the rack and, for now, grab 8 5/8" rubber grommets and 8 3/8" black nylon hole plugs. Goop'em up and install them in the holes after removing the wellnuts. Eventually, either use Fiberall or structural urethane with some strips of sheetmetal cut to fit where the holes are. You'll want to drop the headliner to do this, so maybe do it when/if you install a glass 960 moonroof. The reason there are no slats is because the person who installed the rack didn't add them. A bit better, in that when you do remove it, there will only be four slightly darker spots on the roof.

If I remember correctly, there is a 740 Turbo wagon at one of the PnP yards down there that is the same color as yours. It may have a fuel filler door with hinge. If not, Lynnwood PnP has an '86 wagon that's the slightly lighter blue shown on my 245 in the signature below. It still had one on it the last time I looked (last weekend).

-J

I?ll have to check all my connections starting with the the switches going all the way to the relays and maybe even the wiring in the seats to make sure everything is one complete circuit. I?ve just never seen the seats work in anyone?s Volvo?s that I?ve known so it?s slightly discouraging.

On my 765Ti I used iPD?s plug kit and while that worked, it definitely wasn?t the cleanest option. Maybe if I build up the courage to take out my headliner, I can then fill the holes. As for the 960 glass moonroof, this is definitely something I want to do in the very near future, it?s easy to source parts and not too difficult to change either.

As for the gas door, I still have the door but the hinge inside where the door normally mounts is broken. But again I think this is normal and I might have to just get the iPD replacement as I remember they make something like this if I?m not mistaken.
 
Yeah, great color combo. Hope to see all those mods happen. What turbo?

While I should have checked to be 100% positive, I’m pretty sure it’s a 13c but for the future I want to go to something bigger like a 16t,18t or 20t. Depends what I can get my hands on. If not maybe a Holset with the proper supporting mods

EDIT: I just clicked on your link with the 945 and I realized your car was the one that gave me the inspiration to do a 940. Before that I only wanted a 1989 740 but after seeing your car and my buddies white 944Ti, I knew I needed a 940 in my life.
 
A minor update but I had a little time today to do a little interior detail.

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I've never seen such a gross car, so much hair and lint and dust and dirt. EVERY. SINGLE. CRACK had dust, dirt and hair. 50 or so Q-Tips and a whole bunch of rubbing alcohol later and the front dash is nearly clean.

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I took on cleaning the windows inside and out with some Armor All window cleaner only to find out that the windows had some really pesky water spots that wouldn't come off.
Does anyone have any technique they can suggest for hard water spots? I've heard EXTREMELY fine steel wool as well as maybe gasoline? I'm not sure how safe either are for your windows...

I want to take care of the paint when the weather starts to warm up a little more, or at least when I have more light.

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In the end, the leather/vinyl material didn't look any better from what I used (or any worse) but with the cracks and splits they have, I'm just going to track down a set of clean Grey electric seats for the front and back to swap in. The end goal would be some nice Recaro's that hug the body well but that won't be until much later down the road where $1000 seats are more justified because other important things have been taken care of.
 
A little update, I bought IPD lowering springs, went to XXX Meet and bought some new wheels for the old girl as well as slowly beginning to start a sloooow Stage 0.


This was at XXX Rootbeer and Burgers
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[/url]XXX Rootbeer meet

New Wheels, a set of 17x8 SSR Alcyber's. Apparently really rare as there is not much information is even out there on the webs on them.

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[/url]SSR Alcyber

and this was some door panels I was swapping out, from old and cracked and broken to less cracked and broken.

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[/url]Old Door pocket
 
Next up, I acquired the head off a 94 940 turbo, which my IPD turbo cam will go in. I will be porting the head to increase flow. I have 960 tail lights also going on and I'm trying to track down some E-Codes for a reasonable price.

I've sourced an M90 in Romania but I need help finding someone willing to pull it and bring it to my contact so I can ship it to the states.

I also need adapters for the new wheels because they're 5x114.3, but I haven't measured center bore on the new wheels so I don't know exactly what size adapter to purchase.

From their sizing and backspacing, (+36) I can assume if I've calculated correctly, that 25mm adapters will be perfect in bringing out the wheels a little further than stock wheels sit.

Tire size has been the big debate, whether I should run 225/45/17 and risk rubbing but have a meatier tire or 215/45/17 and run more skinny tires. With the car lowered, I risk rubbing on the inside tire on one side because of the shifting that occurs when the car is lowered, requiring me to purchase an adjustable Rear Panhard bar to shift the car back to stock location but if I run 215's, I can get away with not getting the panhard but uneven tire wear over time.

Just some thoughts and questions I guess
 
It's been a long time but this is the wagon more recently..

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/45915683945/in/dateposted-public/" title="Volvo 940 Turbo"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7873/45915683945_d210eec3e7_c.jpg" width="800" height="534" alt="Volvo 940 Turbo"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Wheels are a set of vintage SSR Alcyber 17x8 all around with 225/45/17 Hankook Ventus V12 EVO 2 tires

E-codes have been installed as well and they make a BIG difference. I'm still struggling to adjust them properly to aim in the right direction (they point too low and highbeams go much too high and fog lights seem to point nearly straight up)

I've also thrown on a Yakima roof rack and Rocket Box although I don't think I have any photos of it with the rack and box. I haven't done much as I've been busy with school.

Been fighting fuel sender issues where fuel gauge reads full ALL the time. Lately i've also been running out of gas much sooner than expected (measuring milage) as I ran out at around 225 miles compared to a full tank usually getting me 300 miles.

I'm stumped but i'm going to have to open up the tank again and see if theres any issues with the sender or anything weird..

I also have a 531 with an IPD turbo cam and STS machining cam gear that I've been delaying to get put on. Not sure if it's worth the effort to get work done on the 531 if i'm only aiming for 250hp with a 16t or a 19t if I can get my hands on one.
 
I looked around and found a couple other photos of my 940 I forgot I had.

I took these with my buddies MK1 Volkswagen Rabbit that was 1.8T swapped. I swear I will purchase that exact car one day.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/46830743431/in/dateposted-public/" title="2A89450B-329F-4C71-AFF2-3BFCBC679950"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4827/46830743431_e72efba551_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="2A89450B-329F-4C71-AFF2-3BFCBC679950"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And a couple other photos of the VW Rabbit.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/32955075888/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_1169"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4903/32955075888_467c666f2b_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_1169"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And an engine shot

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/45915900165/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_1174"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4880/45915900165_4a00f31e28_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="IMG_1174"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And one last photo of the 940

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/46830744291/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_1175"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4865/46830744291_821fab54ea_c.jpg" width="800" height="534" alt="IMG_1175"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'll have to take some photos again soon with the skybox and rack, and figure out what I'm going to do with the 531.
 
Haven't been on the forums in a while but she is gone :( Had her up for sale on FB marketplace for a while and someone came and drove 5 hours for full asking price... Was in shock when it happened and kinda amazed. If anyone sees her around the Tri-Cities area or Walla- Walla, that is her new home!
 
A little update.

Since I sold it to the new owner, I searched and searched and could not find another 940 that fit into the spot this one left in my heart. So nearly 3 year on the dot after selling this one, the new owner sold it back to me (for about half of what I sold it for :lol: and with only about 1000 more miles)

Since I got it back, I?ve been putting work into it to get it back to Stage 0 as a couple things stopped working on it.

Currently it has a new cap, rotor, plugs and wires, thermostat and radiator (coolant temp sensor on the way, it smells like it runs really rich but it runs fine?), IPD sway bars front and rear, new throttle spool (due to the cruise control part of the spool not working properly) and a few other odds and ends that I?ve tied up.

What it still needs:

-black interior/grey carpet has seen better days. When I bought it originally the drivers seat had 1 tear in the booster and the rear single bench was torched. Now the whole interior needs to be replaced. I?d like to start with 2 black front seats out of a low mile car but I wouldn?t mind sourcing some new skins if any company out there makes new skins? Then finding a back bench would be nice.

-in tank sender/pump looked at and fixed. Car will read empty but I can only get 12 gallons in it. Had issues with the sender before selling it so I need to go back in there.

-previously, under my old ownership I installed a Mitsubishi Evo 8 intercooler but when I was buttoning back up, the metal bracket that goes on the core support under the fiberglass cover that is above the grill, punctured my AC condenser. However, the current intercooler is too thick to allow all 3 components to coexist so I am looking at installing a KL racing intercooler which I believe allows you to run a stock AC Condenser to keep the AC. I?ll have to recharge it which is fine since it was R134a but a shop quoted me at $250 starting price. (Not expensive in the grand scheme of things but I?m sure it can be done cheaper at home?)

-after I identify which EZK & ECU I have, I?m going to buy a set of redblockpowered chips for the car.

-in the process of rebuilding at 16t, after that, I will install it side by side with:

-IPD turbo cam with the help of some friends since I don?t understand clearances/shims too well yet

-at some point in the future I?ll install the 3inch MAF I have as well. Not sure how necessary it?ll be with my current plan in mind but I have peace of mind knowing if I need it, I have it.

-a 3? exhaust from Sweden with downpipe for the straight flange on the 16t. KL racing sells one which all bolts together with exhaust clamps. I don?t fab and my brother who did all my welding moved away to the Midwest so I?m going to stick to the easier route.

-Currently the car is on 225/45/17 Hankook Ventus Evo 2 tires on a set of 17x8 SSR Alcyber wheels. As much as I like the meaty stance on the car, it just looks really stock still. I want to either go coilovers, or cut the 1-2 dead coils from the IPD lowering springs it?s on and switch to a 215/40/17 for a slimmer tire and lower look.

-at some point I?d like to paint match my bumpers and mirrors and get a wagon wing installed. Maybe if I can find a painter cheap enough I might just do the whole car. Paint only looks good from ~20ft considering it has 334k miles and full of door dings and rock chips

That?s all for now. Car runs and drives great aside from the fact that it has no AC and the Pacific Northwest is in the middle of a heatwave. I daily drive a Honda Fit so working on this when I?m not working or on the weekends makes the most sense as of now.

I?ll try and post more photos as time goes on. I?m terrible about documenting this kind of stuff since I just work on it and forget to take photos either before or after or both :oops:

Also if any PDX 7/9 series owners ever want to meet up, shoot me a PM, always interested in learning more about these cars and seeing what everyone is up to in person.
 
Let me just say, after daily driving a second generation Honda Fit, that has been lowered on Koni SRT?s and H&R lowering springs, that drives like a go-cart, I really got used to good handling on a car.

Going back into the Volvo, even with IPD lowering springs, the car felt like a boat. Until I installed the IPD away bars. I will never underestimate the power in what sway bars can do on a car. It feels like a new car, it can corner and so much of the slop is gone. The rear end feels so much tighter too! Bumps on the road seem to be distributed through the whole car now(?) Not sure how I would describe it but the bumps seem like they are much less severe now.

The 940 could probably still use a new set of struts so I?m trying to contemplate on what to get. Get a set of new struts or cough up the money for coil overs which will probably require fab work..
 
From a few weekends ago when I took it on its maiden voyage to the beach (about 150 miles one way) to test the new radiator and general reliability. It may be a high mile car but man she looks pretty.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/163538670@N04/52245429966/in/dateposted-public/" title="8C33C0E2-D1B1-4B02-AB48-8AEC379FFB66"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52245429966_c62be0bfe3_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="8C33C0E2-D1B1-4B02-AB48-8AEC379FFB66"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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I love the color. Are you still looking for an M90?
Thank you, it?s a slightly unique color since it shines almost a light purple in certain lights. I want to buy a matching early model 740 turbo wagon in the same color.

I?d love to source an M90 for it. As nice as the AW71 is when it works right, I?ve gotten used to having a 5-speed in my 2012 Honda Fit and it feels like naturally the Volvo should too. Do you have any leads on a unit in the US?
 
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