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1989 240 Stance and Turbo Project

C

cast94

New member
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
Hey guys this will be my first post sorry if its in the wrong section. I just picked up a 1989 Volvo 240 Dl wagon. This car is about as mint as it gets for an '89. Owned by an older couple since it was brand new and everything works it was garaged its whole life and only has 108k miles on it. I picked her up for $2500 which I feel like was a good deal considering how clean the car is.

My ultimate plans for a 240 is to lower it with springs (does anyone have a used set?) put some nice bbs wheels and maybe swap in a B230FT turbo engine.

I found a mechanic near me who has the turbo B230FT engine that has less than 2000 miles on it after he rebuilt the whole thing to include new pistons gaskets and seals. He said he would sell me his engine and swap it into my car for $3500. Does that seem like a good deal and as far as the turbo swap is everyone who's done it happy with their decision? My new 240 still has the stock auto tranny in it and the mechanic is telling me I do not need the heavy duty tranny for the turbo one and my stock one will work fine, is that true?

I am pretty excited for this project but feel bad moding this gem of a 240

Ultimate question, would I being paying too much if I gave the guy 3500 for the engine and swap?
 
cast94 said:
Hey guys this will be my first post sorry if its in the wrong section.
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Yes you missed showroom pal.

cast94 said:
I just picked up a 1989 Volvo 240 Dl wagon. This car is about as mint as it gets for an '89. Owned by an older couple since it was brand new and everything works it was garaged its whole life and only has 108k miles on it. I picked her up for $2500 which I feel like was a good deal considering how clean the car is.
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Not a bad price nowadays for a nice surviving 240.

cast94 said:
My ultimate plans for a 240 is to lower it with springs (does anyone have a used set?) put some nice bbs wheels and maybe swap in a B230FT turbo engine.
Click to expand...

Post in wanted and see what people have laying around just taking up space on the shelf?

cast94 said:
I found a mechanic near me who has the turbo B230FT engine that has less than 2000 miles on it after he rebuilt the whole thing to include new pistons gaskets and seals. He said he would sell me his engine and swap it into my car for $3500. Does that seem like a good deal and as far as the turbo swap is everyone who's done it happy with their decision? My new 240 still has the stock auto tranny in it and the mechanic is telling me I do not need the heavy duty tranny for the turbo one and my stock one will work fine, is that true?
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No it'll blow out pretty fast behind a B230FT.

cast94 said:
I am pretty excited for this project but feel bad moding this gem of a 240
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It's just an old Volvo...

cast94 said:
Ultimate question, would I being paying too much if I gave the guy 3500 for the engine and swap?
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Figure at least 20-25 hours for a bare bones conversion in an independent shop if you can find one that will take on such a job, so he's in the ballpark for a sorted swap including a good low mile engine.
 
I think you got the right section, not a showroom post if there's no pics. If I were you id spend that money on some coilovers, youre going to be disappointed with just springs, especially if you want any kind of 'stance'. Then down the road you could piece together a +t
 
cast94 said:
This car is about as mint as it gets for an '89. Owned by an older couple since it was brand new and everything works it was garaged its whole life and only has 108k miles on it.

My ultimate plans for a 240 is to lower it with springs (does anyone have a used set?) put some nice bbs wheels and maybe swap in a B230FT turbo engine.
Click to expand...


haddock3.jpg
 
Yeah I thought about coilovers its not totally out of my mind. But as for the turbo engine. This guys engine is kind of time sensitive, not really something I can take a few months to think about. I don't know how much a turbo swapped 240 is worth but I imagine its significantly less than what ill be into the car for. I think the Turbo would be fun but I don't know how much better it is than the N/A version I already have and is it really worth 3500 to say its a turbo? If it adds a good amount of performance and will definitely boost the value of the car I'm all for it
 
It will have some passing and hill climbing power it presently doesn't have but nothing earth shaking.

As far as value, not much added value at all to the general car buying public.
 
Unless it is just a minty gem of a car, the value won't be bothered- as long as it is not some hack job. Getting it put together and running can have different meanings to different people. Is the exhaust going to be integrated well, or just a flex hose and some clamps. Harness and ecu...crimped butt connectors or solder. You need to ask those questions before committing large sums of money. Long term reliability is affected by how well it is put together. Does the guy have other stuff to look at that he has done? How mechanically inclined are you to inspect the work he has done? OK. Done. Two cents provided. Have fun with it what ever you choose.
 
I am somewhat mechanically inclined, most likely not enough to give a good enough inspection of the guys work. And to be honest some of those questions you asked, I don't know the answer too but Im glad you asked them because now I know some more info to get on the swap if I decide to do it. I do trust him though he runs one of the best Volvo shops here in Hawaii and he has done this swap at least 4 times that he can remember. I want to turbo swap the car because I think itll be fun unfortunately the only thing holding me back is the idea of putting a bunch of money into a car that wont hold its investment. But I guess that's how "racecars" work, you never get the money you put into it. As far as lowering it and getting a set of BBS or other mesh wheels I will commit to doing that.
 
Red is not being sarcastic, he is just "tellin it like it is". Modifying a car (almost) never increases it's value, but (almost) always will lower it.
 
Just to put another 2c in here-these cars aren't worth much money because there are so many around, but there are parts of the country where they are definitely going up in value, just not on the west coast where they're a dime a dozen.

If you've got a VERY mint car-its going to be worth the most as a very mint car. There are people out there (like my mother) who want to have both a "very nice" car and a 240. Minty 240s are selling for more then a couple thou on ebay now. But the cars have to be very nice to start being "collectory", if you can call them that.

People on this forum like to be brutally honest because it is hard to sell 240s to Volvo people, because Volvo people can find them cheap, but these are great cars, and we love them for a reason, and there are people who will pay money for a nice one, its just not a super common situation. Most 240s have 200k+ miles and look like it, so they're 1k cars.
 
If I had one as nice as you do, I'd probably keep it stock (ish) as a time capsule, and years down the road, maybe itll be worth more, and its a nice car to cruise in. Find a cheaper "beater" to modify to your liking. But again, that's just my opinion, and I know there are alot of very knowledgeable people on this board who may disagree.
 
Redwood Chair said:
:lol:

Reminds me of when I mentioned to my hunting buddy and Ferrari car guy that people fix up and tune old Volvos, He got a funny look on his face, and said "Why would they do that:"?
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AHEM!

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UvCJzoOhhSw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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