Jeno's 1983 242 Turbo Build-ish-Maybe Thread.

Jeno's 1983 242 Turbo +IC Build-ish-Maybe Thread.

About 2 months ago, I laid the Landshark to rest and bought a 1983 242 Turbo with an M46 from an "old friend." Son of our old Volvo mechanic, supposedly maintained the car with his dad. Shame on me for trusting even old friends. First drivable 240, first turbo car, first RWD, first manual trans.

Engine, or so I'm told, was 'rebuilt' 30k ago. At the least, I know it has a new head gasket. Other than that, who knows. Lowered a bit, but I'm not sure how yet. IPD sways all around. Aftermarket intercooler setup, supposedly kind of a messed up setup going on. External CBV blows oil all over the strut tower. Exhaust is 2 3/4", but not braced properly and rattles. Also leaks. Fuel pump relay was a 760? Some very bizarre electrical symptoms going on, which I'll detail later when I'm on a computer. But I did see that the kjet wires over the turbo are fubar, so I'm hoping that will be that. I'm not sure if the main harness was replaced or not, but the exposed bits look good, it doesn't feel crispy or stiff, and I have a spare. Strut mounts are shot, no reverse lights, one finicky tail, needs a trans mount, and one front brake hose is bubbled. Fuel pump bitches and moans around half a tank. There is some rust and the butt cheeks are all pop-rivet work. Black leather interior is thrashed. Yep, she's a project alright.














Done so far:
?Cap & rotor
?Oil
?New fuses
?Gas cap
?New K-jet fuel pump relay
?Blacked out headlight reflectors
?Fixed non-working wiper nozzle
?New wipers
?NGK Iridium plugs
?Purple 8mm Taylor wires from CHRIS
?Replacement wire spliced in where the wire over the turbo to the kjet box was Kentucky Fried Sucking
?Traded Timpanama some 850 stuff for wheels
?BA front speakers in addition to the already existing BA rear decks
?Fuel filter
?PCV cleaned thoroughly
?100 amp alternator from Philski
?Walbro 255 in-tank
?Flathood
?Homo grille
?Trans mount
?Front struts (Koni Yellows) & Mounts
?ATE Premium Rotors w/atom relief, PBR front pads, Akebono rear pads.
?New exhaust from turbo back w/glasspack
?Reverse light switch
?Front brake hose
?Aftermarket stereo
?Dual-Channel 600 watt amp, 4g wiring
?2 10" Subwoofers
?Starter
?IPD Aluminum skid pan
?Positive battery cable
?Red & clear aftermarket tails
?A/C bypass
?Replaced coolant
?New waterpump
?New Power Steering Pump
?New Thermostat
?Anti-kludged some coolant hoses.
?Cleaned IAC
?Cleaned k-jet lift plate
?One engine mount...promptly re-shot by p/s fluid leak













Donor car!





I'll have to add some pictures of the wiring as it is now and when it's finished. It's raining now and I've got some heatshrinking to do. But it runs and drives a bit smoother, hopefully with no more stalling/no-starting issues!


To Do:

?Negative battery cable
?Fix buttcheeks the right way...Scratch that. (Why don't we have strikethrough?!) Embrace the rust, because the buttcheeks/rear fender areas are too far gone.
?Put nicer seat skins from NewVlvTnr on front seats (half done)
?Find non-trashed rear seat (Acquired. Making house furniture out of the old one!)
?15g (Acquired, w/block plate!)
?Clean intercooler and see how much oil is really in there
?E-Fan (Fan & shroud acquired)
?Fix rear defroster
?LH swap at a later date
?120mph speedo
?Fix sunroof
?Rust work
?Check for leaky injectors (stinky oil)
?Check/replace gear oil in diff
?Check/replace trans fluid
?Short-throw shifter
?Rear shocks
?LOWER!!! (Maybe? Mandatory speedbumps where I park the car.)
?Paint some stuff
?Relay headlights
?New IC Piping
?New IAC
?Poly accessory bushings
?Find & fix short that is blowing the fuses in my amp immediately after I replace them
?Kaplhenke camber plates
?Diesel engine mounts
?Wideband
?Sort out k-jet voodoo anger
?Catch can
?Maybe a better cam
?If head gasket issues are apparent, maybe a head improvement.
?Fab mounting for and install the fogs that I've had kicking around forever
?Timing belt and tensioner
?Engine seals

If anyone has any of the above stuff to make **** happen, let me know! Some of this stuff needs to be taken care of pretty soon.

I would hook a vac line up to that CBV on the turbo. I bet the boost pressure helps keep it closed. Ditch that external blow off.

leave the 1g. ditch the internal CBV.

lol at your strut tower. it would seem your turbo is trashed.

Thats anti-rust protection for 240's

I remember driving this car through some semi-spirited stop and go, going "hmmm, I smell fuel" and then finding the ball of blue shop towel stuffed in the filler neck in lieu of a gas cap when we stopped for gas . Also, it has a hellafresh battery terminal roofing screw mod courtesy of the philly crew. It also has a 90+ and a 13c off of a later redblock. We thought that "upgraded turbo" meant something exciting, but apparently not. It's the quietest redblock I've ver heard, as far as top-end noise, no piston slap, no funny running noises etc so I"m tempted to believe the rebuild 30K ago story, though how extensive a rebuild it was has yet to be discovered.

DNAsEqUeNcE said:

leave the 1g. ditch the internal CBV.

lol at your strut tower. it would seem your turbo is trashed.

Click to expand...

Or it's blow by

DNAsEqUeNcE said:

leave the 1g. ditch the internal CBV.

lol at your strut tower. it would seem your turbo is trashed.

Click to expand...

Actually, it's not as much as I thought. That picture was taken before I cleaned the tower off post-purchase and it's not built up even a fraction of that since. So that's a plus. Spools and holds boost nicely, so I'm thinking turbo seals, perhaps? I think that they've been leaking for some time and the PO just never cleaned that off.

WindowsBreakerG4 said:

Or it's blow by

Click to expand...

I would imagine that the oily blowby on this car is going to smell different than the 850's, but I really don't think it is. Doesn't smell like blowby compared to what I'm used to at all.


Either way, I'd like to tear the 13c out of the wagon I'm parting, rebuild and swap for now since I can't afford to upgrade yet, and then upgrade when I can afford it and have the other issues sorted out.

Updating original post shortly.

clean out the pcv box and that should minimize the amount of blow by you get. hey i forgot to even ask you wen i was there last week but would you mind parting with those strut/firewall braces from your mothers wagon?

Maybe? I think Jay may already have dibs on them. I'll check.

So the Konis got here today, completele with broken adjuster knob. Packaging intact, so I'm shaking my fist at the packers at Koni. See?! *shakesfist*





I also bought a 100 amp alternator from Phil and ordered a Walbro in-tank today. I'm tired of only running the tank down to half.

So far, I've had no more stalling issues (knock on wood) but only time will tell if the k-jet wiring was really the problem there. I'm really hoping that was it, and that my main harness is a replacement. I think it seems to be. The exposed parts near the plugs are beautiful and things don't feel stiff through the sheath.

So this upcoming weekend will be the Konis, mounts, trans mount, brake hose, reverse light switch, hopefully the alt, and maybe we'll even be able to do something about the cracked cat. If not, I'm stuck paying to have someone weld that **** for now.
Damn PA inspections.

Also, the wheels may end up being this colour:




She needs a name, though! I have pictures for a new sig, but the car has no name. I'm just no good at that.

gear whine said:

clean out the pcv box and that should minimize the amount of blow by you get. hey i forgot to even ask you wen i was there last week but would you mind parting with those strut/firewall braces from your mothers wagon?

Click to expand...

I've got a set already, consider 'em yours.

amerbritcan said:

I've got a set already, consider 'em yours.

Click to expand...

Actually, consider 'em my mom's. I knew somebody had called them, I just couldn't remember who! But she wants them.

damn

XxJenoxX said:

Actually, consider 'em my mom's. I knew somebody had called them, I just couldn't remember who! But she wants them.

Click to expand...

damit MOM!

Why would you paint those sweet ass wheels that godawful color.

Well something is definitely happening with them, as they've got some serious rash on a few of them. What, exactly, isn't set in stone yet.

After my drive home this morning, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that things have improved since I fixed that wiring issue. A whole lot less stuttering on takeoff!

Well, I still maintain that splicing in some new wiring helped things out...But the car wouldn't start again the other day. It's been kind of a tossup between the battery cables or the starter, both of which I have replacements for.

Went to autozone to grab some spring compressors for the konis this weekend, and it wouldn't start when I came out. No cranking, just the clunking from the starter solenoid. Waited a while and it finally did start, although reluctantly. But it got me home. Fast forward to today...I went outside to start the walbro install. Pulled the pump fuse, attempted to start the car...nothing. I figured that maybe I had drained it yesterday with the no-start issue, or maybe the starter was being finicky. So I put the fuse back in and jump pack on it and it started. Again, reluctantly. Let it sit and charge for a minute, then shut it off. Pulled the fuse and jump pack, no start. Awesome.

I got fed up and decided to do the battery cables. I can't see where the negative cable is going to and I can't jack the car up on the street, so I just did the positive. Took a look at the negative, which has a loose clamp, and decided that I'd take the bolt out, spread it with pliers, and rough out some of the material on the inside of the clamps to see if I could close it tighter until I have the car on jackstands tomorrow. Go to spread the clamps and one arm breaks clean off. After a minute of 'oh ****,' I decided to remove the clamp (one that fits, too!) from the old positive cable, clean everything up, and put it on the negative cable. Threw that in a cup of water, baking soda, and PB to clean the rust and corrosion off and then brushed the exposed wire down as well. Clamp on, tightened to the negative, and the car started right up. Go figure.

I also found a small red wire coming up from my starter to nothing. It's ziptied along some hoses just for routing purposes, and then is just tossed in near the battery and coil with an electrical cap on the end of it. No idea what that's about, but I'll be posting some pictures and WTFery in maintenance.

I did notice that half an hour to 45 minutes after my last attempt to start the car, while I was messing about with the battery cables, the little black bosch ignition box in front of the coil felt hot. Not sure if this could be because I was messing with the cables? It didn't get hot again once I got the car to start. So I'm really not sure what to make of that.

Oh, and my alternator came from Phil today, in the best box ever.

Double-posting in my own thread! Wooo!

looks fun! kjets a pita, but if you keep it running its relitively easy to figure out what failed afterwards
good luck, and keep this one going.

hows rust on it? i know you're in PA, but maybe this one made it???

The rust is pretty damn good, actually, The butt cheeks are gone and now pop-riveted, but the trunk is intact. Floors are intact. I plan on fiberglassing the buttcheeks and making them not look so stupid with the rivets sticking out at some point.

Also, stupid car doesn't even want to start now. The k-jet is behaving, but the electrical gremlins have me by the balls. I believe the negative battery cable is the culprit, but it will have to wait until tomorrow when I can get it on stands to deal with that. Can't see where the other end of the damn thing goes! Problem is, I have to drive 45 minutes to my dad's house to do that, and I'm scared about whether or not she'll make it.

Maybe I'll just drive it to work tonight. That way, if it fails and won't start, I can make AAA tow it to dad's house and I'll meet it there in the morning.