'92 740 Project Turbo Wagen

First, thanks to this forum for helping me get started, and motivating me to get this 25 year old Volvo back on the road! Considered "Beulah" but my girlfriend suggested "Lagatha" (shield-maiden from Vikings)... so, we're going with Wagatha. Life is about compromises





This thread will be a journal for bringing Wagatha back to life. She's a '92 745 Turbo, and was my dad's 4th 7/9 wagon. My first car was our '87 740 GLE, so I'm a Volvo guy at heart, too, but I went the tuner route early on (my daily driver Subaru is parked next to the Vo').

Dad is a cabinet-maker, so there is a good layer of sawdust, but the bones are pretty stout! Should clean up nicely. In the meantime, it smells like old car mixed with wood shop... I'd buy the cologne.





So, Wagatha is in my hands now because her stalwart reliability finally began to waver this winter, when the transmission began to slip. After being relegated from daily driver to occasionally-moved driveway ornament, the starter finally gave up, as well... but Lucas fixed the trans, and a hammer brought the starter on-line again.









Immediate plans are a full interior vacuum and wipe down, replace/flush all fluids, find front windshield passenger-side trim, and remove muffler-shop euro-tip. Will probably replace it with a simple turndown. New tires (with DIY wheel refurb), hoses, rubber bits, and headlights soon after. Suspension, brakes, and motor after the car is sorted and up-to-date on maintenance. Excited to see it progress! I expect to be driving a whole new Wagatha come Summertime

Looks good man. You should manual swap it!

Cool man, same as mine only grey exterior instead of red. I always liked the grey 7s. Yes you should manual swap it.

My Subaru is a six speed, my GF's Saabaru is a five speed, so we're not wanting for 3rd pedals. For now, it's staying auto. The main priority right now is stage zero, with all maintenance up-to-date and running reliably. However... the trans was slipping before, so if the opportunity were to present itself, I suppose I'd have no other choice

Would fap to Lagatha

gashog said:

Would fap to Lagatha

Click to expand...

Careful, did you see what she did to that poor guy on the last episode?!?!

LatentWagen said:

Careful, did you see what she did to that poor guy on the last episode?!?!

Click to expand...

He did not worship her correctly

Nor did her beau. Ouch. She is super hot, but not worth the trouble!

Meantime, I picked up a pair of Argos off an old 850 for next to nothing. Plan on throwing some snows on them, or something.

Offset is 43mm, and the 745's stock wheels are 20mm, IIRC. Any fitment issues with the front struts on a 40+mm offset, or is there some room to play with? Not going too wide on the tires, stock 185/65s or at max 205/60s.

Here's what they look like. Not too bad with a little scrub-a-dub. I only got two, but they were too cheap to turn down. If they fit, great. If not, someone else can use 'em. Tires are beyond rotted.

You'd need spacer/adapters, 20mm at least, more in the 25-32mm range. FWD Volvo wheels don't fit on RWD Volvos without spacers.

I've got a set of 5mm spacers, and a set of half inch spacers... I'm not crazy about the idea, but I could put them together. Will I need to run extended lugs at that point?

What if I just put the Argos on the rear? Is there more room in the back on the inboard side?

Trying to get away with using the 5mm spacers, or no spacer at all... I went ahead and purchased a set of Sumitomo HTR's in 205/60/15, because they'll work with whatever wheels I decide to keep.

Where NY?
You in the money belt too?

I have a set of 15" Borbets....before you go and wreck/die cobbling FWD wheels on.

Yea I'm about an hour from you, over in Westchester. The Borbets might work, too, thanks! PMing you.

Here's the dilemma: the car needs 2 tires to be able to be driven from the Cape, MA, home to NY. I can only go out there on weekends. Easiest thing for me would be to bring 2 premounted wheels/tires up there, slap them on, and drive home (rather than bringing just the tires, and having to find a shop to mount them on a Sunday afternoon).

I've already got the two complete sets of wheels and tires with the Volvo, but between them only two wheels have passable rubber on them.

LatentWagen said:

Yea I'm about an hour from you, over in Westchester. The Borbets might work, too, thanks! PMing you.

Here's the dilemma: the car needs 2 tires to be able to be driven from the Cape, MA, home to NY. I can only go out there on weekends. Easiest thing for me would be to bring 2 premounted wheels/tires up there, slap them on, and drive home (rather than bringing just the tires, and having to find a shop to mount them on a Sunday afternoon).

I've already got the two complete sets of wheels and tires with the Volvo, but between them only two wheels have passable rubber on them.

Click to expand...

You can borrow my snow tires if you want.

gashog said:

You can borrow my snow tires if you want.

Click to expand...

Let me know about those Borbets if you find 'em.

Got an Amazon shipment today. Fuel filter, plugs, wires, distributor rotor & cap will be for the next round...

Since weather is finally a little nicer, I was able to make a little progress. Got a new battery, coil, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, and confirmed that she's got good spark. Also a pair of new tires for the back wheels; will get two more and then set about refinishing the older wheels with the shot tires.

For now, my issue is getting her fired up... confirmed spark at the plug, and that the camshaft is rotating, so maybe it's fuel-related. Already replaced the fuel relay in the dash, and the RSR by the fender (was hoping it'd be easy!). Need to figure out if it's making it to the injectors. I hear the pump, but that leaves few other options.

Finally took her to the shop. Confirmed that she was out of time. I ought to have done a compression test from the start.

The car is on the road now, but still having trouble starting, especially after sitting for a few minutes. After a few tries, the motor fires but will stall immediately if I don't give it gas. Runs like a top once there's some heat in the coolant.

Ordered a new coolant temp sensor (searching yielded similar symptoms), and will also install the fuel filter.

Updates coming fast and furious now...

After putting some miles on the car this afternoon, I filled up the tank and had to top off the coolant from min to max. Checked after another 50 miles, and coolant was again low, took nearly half a gallon, yikes! No white smoke out of the exhaust. Coolant smell inside, however. Of course, massive heater core leak. Going to bypass the heater core for now, while I gather the parts and find a 7mm ratcheting wrench.

Also noticed a fine mist of what appears to be ATF on the rear window. Lucky me, more love from the car gods! Suspect tailshaft bushings/seal, because it doesn't leak when parked, only at speed. Reading a few threads about the symptoms of bushing wear, it sounds related to another quirk I had noticed: a quiet but noticeable low vibration/hum when off the throttle at highway speed. Need to get her up in the air to confirm, maybe tomorrow.

Took apart the turbo intake/inlet area, wiped it down, and cleaned up as best I could. Lots of old grime and vintage blow-by!

Before:



After:



Dirty snail:



Clean-ish:



Turbo glory shot:



Engine bay before:



Engine bay after:



Since the heater core leak has been bypassed, I've noticed the water pump go from "seeping" from the top nut, to properly "leaking"... so I've got a new water pump on order. Yay for more parts!

Here are a few interior before & afters, Wagatha cleaned up alright. Will scrub those dirty/coolant soaked carpets when I do the heater core.