Chuck W
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2008
- Location
- Indpls, IN
I figured it was time I introduced myself. This is my first Volvo in at least 20 years, and decided that I wanted one for a driver/project.
Well I started poking around about a month or so ago and then a couple weeks ago I picked up this car from mbaker.
It's a '85 244TIC with an M46 conversion.
Evidently the engine/trans are from an '83, but that's kind of irrelevant to me really.
I drove the car home from Chicago with a couple issues, one of which was that I could not accelerate, or really load the engine any more that 10 in of vacuum without the engine laying over on me. The source of this I found the following day was improperly gapped (or I guess the better descriptor would be NOT gapped) spark plugs (.046" vs .026" was causing the spark to blow out).
Anyway, the list of things I've done in the past couple weeks is:
- plugs, cap, rotor, wires and oil change.
- replaced injector o-rings
- tightened 2 loose exhaust flanges
- replaced pads front and rear and bled brakes
- replaced ball joints (driver side was loose)
- "fixed" support under drivers seat cushion
- fixed ground on aftermarket H2O temp gauge so it will work
At this point I have a car that starts w/o issue each time and runs pretty well. I was having a serious stumble on take off in 1st & 2nd gear that would cause the car to buck violently, but today that magically went away. I'll be replacing one of the IC couplers/hoses in the next few days, which is what I thought the issues might have been, but it might have been a fuel issue. I have yet to see a puff of smoke and it doesn't appear to use much oil.
The next couple maintenance projects include replacing a weird inner tie rod on the pass side and a broken speedo cable and perhaps rear shocks as they seem to be shot.
"Fun" projects include replacing/upgrading the exhaust manifold, turbo and installing/building a 3" exhaust for it. I also want to replace the front seats. They are both kind of broken down on the lower cushions, and I have another set of seats that should work out well.
I also want to sort out wheels/tires for this thing. The 195's mounted on the tiny wheels just is not going to cut it. I have a plan...just need to implement it. I also want to address the motor mounts. Seeing as I design/build mounts for a dozen other applications, I should be able to sort out an acceptable solution. The stock-type replacement poly mounts do not do it for me.
One not so fun project is going to be patching the holes in the floor boards. Really not that difficult and shouldn't take more than a day with me, some sheetmetal and the welder.
The other cars I own are shown in my sig as well as another Cougar of similar vintage to the Tbird. I just finished up a project last weekend on the Scorpio that included a complete refresh/upgrade of the rear suspension and finish the install of the 12" C4 Corvette brakes (has them on all 4 corners now). I like to tinker with old ****
Anyway, I think that is enough rambling for now. I'll post up new pics as I take them, and progress of the many projects planned as I get to them.
Glad to be on the forum.
Chuck
Well I started poking around about a month or so ago and then a couple weeks ago I picked up this car from mbaker.
It's a '85 244TIC with an M46 conversion.
Evidently the engine/trans are from an '83, but that's kind of irrelevant to me really.
I drove the car home from Chicago with a couple issues, one of which was that I could not accelerate, or really load the engine any more that 10 in of vacuum without the engine laying over on me. The source of this I found the following day was improperly gapped (or I guess the better descriptor would be NOT gapped) spark plugs (.046" vs .026" was causing the spark to blow out).
Anyway, the list of things I've done in the past couple weeks is:
- plugs, cap, rotor, wires and oil change.
- replaced injector o-rings
- tightened 2 loose exhaust flanges
- replaced pads front and rear and bled brakes
- replaced ball joints (driver side was loose)
- "fixed" support under drivers seat cushion
- fixed ground on aftermarket H2O temp gauge so it will work
At this point I have a car that starts w/o issue each time and runs pretty well. I was having a serious stumble on take off in 1st & 2nd gear that would cause the car to buck violently, but today that magically went away. I'll be replacing one of the IC couplers/hoses in the next few days, which is what I thought the issues might have been, but it might have been a fuel issue. I have yet to see a puff of smoke and it doesn't appear to use much oil.
The next couple maintenance projects include replacing a weird inner tie rod on the pass side and a broken speedo cable and perhaps rear shocks as they seem to be shot.
"Fun" projects include replacing/upgrading the exhaust manifold, turbo and installing/building a 3" exhaust for it. I also want to replace the front seats. They are both kind of broken down on the lower cushions, and I have another set of seats that should work out well.
I also want to sort out wheels/tires for this thing. The 195's mounted on the tiny wheels just is not going to cut it. I have a plan...just need to implement it. I also want to address the motor mounts. Seeing as I design/build mounts for a dozen other applications, I should be able to sort out an acceptable solution. The stock-type replacement poly mounts do not do it for me.
One not so fun project is going to be patching the holes in the floor boards. Really not that difficult and shouldn't take more than a day with me, some sheetmetal and the welder.
The other cars I own are shown in my sig as well as another Cougar of similar vintage to the Tbird. I just finished up a project last weekend on the Scorpio that included a complete refresh/upgrade of the rear suspension and finish the install of the 12" C4 Corvette brakes (has them on all 4 corners now). I like to tinker with old ****
Anyway, I think that is enough rambling for now. I'll post up new pics as I take them, and progress of the many projects planned as I get to them.
Glad to be on the forum.
Chuck
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