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Duder's Beige Brick - ARUNDL - 1981 242 DL +B230FT

Unplanned side project:

A few months ago I was scrounging the local junkyards when I happened upon a fairly nice '83 242 turbo. It was sad, because it was a cash-for-clunkers car with a sodium-silicate killed engine (green spraypaint gave it away). The interior was "meh," and I was too lazy to pull the side glass or doors off. It did however have a very nice black headliner and some sunroof parts I needed. So I ripped that stuff out and did some interior work on my 242.

You can see why I was tempted by the idea of a clean black headliner


OG_dirty_headliner by Chris Floren, on Flickr


And here she is.


From_'83_242_Turbo by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Best way to remove 240 (non-wagon) headliners is to remove the back window. Worked well for me. Remove outer trim, soap up the rubber seal, get inside and push with your feet.


Rear_window_out by Chris Floren, on Flickr


While I'm at it, might as well clean out the sunroof tray and repaint the steel where the original paint is peeling


Dirty_surface by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Some shop vac, wire-wheel and sandpaper action gave me this:


Clean_surface by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Painted with three coats of "Master Series" silver moisture-curing urethane. VW guys swear by this stuff for rust prevention. Supposed to be better than POR15.


Painted_surface by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Gluing the junkyard front seal into the body, with clear silicone RTV and some clamps:


Gluing_the_seal by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Scraping away at the sunroof mechanism front cover panel


Chipping_paint by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Front cover panel got 2 coats of Master Series and some "biscuit" colored appliance epoxy.

Everything back together


Volvo_sunroof_completed by Chris Floren, on Flickr


On the inside too.


Volvo_headliner_installed by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Installing the headliner itself was straightforward. The time-consuming part was gluing the vinyl edge around the sunroof opening. That was accomplished using Weldwood contact cement and a great deal of paper clips to hold everything until it cured. Didn't come out 100% perfect, but it all looks much better than before. As you can see I scored all the black hardware too: visors, sunroof crank bezel, mirror surround, and grab handles. Bye-bye, crappy yellowed and stained formerly-white stuff.
 
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Also recently I took the time to de-funkify the carpet, while it was out for the fuel pump rewire job. The Bissell "Little Green Machine" steam cleaner did wonders on the old brown fuzz. Just fill 'er up with hot water & solution, spray, scrub, and vacuum up the guk.

Cue the side-by-side comparison. On the right you have your "30 years of funk" look, and on the left, so fresh and so clean.


Clean_vs_dirty_carpet by Chris Floren, on Flickr
 
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I love beige 2 door bricks.

Me too! I plan to keep this one completely "under the radar." Something satisfying about the thought of hauling ass in a car that looks like a secretary or your grandfather would own it...

I approve of both reds, and the progress on the car. Making a really clean car even cleaner, I highly approve. Nicely done sir.

Thanks...the aim now is to make a slow car faster, and a wallowy car handle!
 
Gratuitous TDI pics, since Scotty seems to have a crush on it:


Jetta_&_bug by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Look at dat ass!


Jetta_front by Chris Floren, on Flickr

It feels quick, but 0-60 is only in the mid-8's. Getting the 242 to be faster than the gf's DD will be a nice step! I'll have to get her to stoplight drag me to prove it though.

All the torque sure makes it fun, and 50mpg on longer trips ain't bad either.
 
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So, this time last month I had my first autocrossing experience in the 242. I've done several track days at Willow Springs & Buttonwillow, and raced in LeMons at Thunderhill and Sears Point, but up until this point I'd never done autox before. It's something I'd always wanted to try and some guys at work were putting together a "challenge" (friendly competition) at a low-key SpeedVentures event at AutoClub / California Speedway in Fon-tucky. Turnout from my co-workers was really good; there were about a dozen of us there.

The 242 was not the oldest car competing. That honor went to a '69 Triumph GT6+, but the Volvo had a lot of admiring fans surprisingly! I think people had a good time watching me cope with the extreme body roll.

My notes from that day:

SpeedVentures Autocross 2/27/11, Auto Club Speedway infield parking lot, Fontana.
  • Did about 25-30 runs on the course
  • Fastest drivers were around 35-36 sec
  • I was able to go from ~48 sec initially down to 43.4 by the end of the day - about on par with Aguilar’s Triumph GT6+
  • Massive amounts of body roll but car handled fairly neutrally. Inside tire spin on moderate to heavy cornering with any throttle application.
  • Needs an LSD, even now with making only ~100hp at the crank!
  • De-powered steering was fine in terms of effort, probably due to large OE steering wheel.
  • Understeered into final 2 corners which required heavy braking.
  • Brakes felt adequate for these speeds but will need to be upgraded as the car gets faster. Going into final tightest turns, sequence was: hard braking, understeer, back on throttle, inside tire spin at corner exit, slight oversteer, wait for acceleration... hooks up, understeer again.
  • Tire pressures were around 38psi hot. These are not extremely grippy tires. Need more contact patch to use them to their fullest.
  • Tires: Hankook Ventus V4ES H105, 205/55R16 94V XL. Treadwear: 420, Traction: A, Temperature: A, "ultra high performance all season tire" (they were cheeeap)

The most fun aspects of driving the Volvo were the extreme body roll and the ability to steer with the throttle, since the inside wheelspin caused by the open diff led to slight and controllable oversteer.

On to the choice pics...


There was quite the variety of cars in our group of co-workers.


photo by Kyle Snyder


photo by Kyle Snyder


Some of our motley crew of engi-nerds. Those handsome devils.


photo by Kyle Snyder


On track, with my friend Kyle riding shotgun. He said he had more fun in my car than in either of the two S2000s, because of the hilariously excessive amounts of roll.


photo by CaliPhotography.com


photo by CaliPhotography.com


Closeups of the beast


photo by CaliPhotography.com


photo by CaliPhotography.com


End of the day.


242_with_S2000 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


242_with_RX7 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


My awesome t-bricks approved GoPro mount, featuring everyone's favorite adjustable fasteners:


Sweet_GoPro_mounting_system by Chris Floren, on Flickr

I might upload one of the vids, but for some reason the quality is super low. The GoPro is non-HD and it didn't like the extreme contrast of a dark interior and low sunlight angle.

And finally, drumroll please. The list of quickest times from our group:

36.197: Jim (early S2000 on wide "street" tires - Hankook RS3)
38.205: Vince (2004 STI)
38.2: Scott (Porsche Boxster S)
38.802: Khiem (late S2000)
39.327 Andrew (S195 Saleen Mustang)
39.4: Kyle (late S2000)
39.4: Willi (NA Miata)
40.1: Jon (?)
40.623: Damon (350Z)
43.241: Scott (Triumph GT6+)
43.49: Chris (Volvo 242)
45.0: Damon's wife (Smart car)

Fun was had by all. Hey, at least I wasn't slower than a girl in a Smart!!!
 
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Before Western Meet 2.0 I decided to get the 242 driving a bit more friendly on the highways by installing new ball joints and tie rod ends. Not a glamorous or particularly exciting job, but necessary to baseline the stock handling.

Definitely in need of attention:


OG_BJ by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Here too. Soaking with PB blaster loosened everything but the driver's side tie rod end


OG_tierodend by Chris Floren, on Flickr

For which I had to bust out the 4.5" angle grinder w/ a cutoff wheel, and go to town:


Cutting_tierodend by Chris Floren, on Flickr

I cut just deep enough to expose the root of the female threads but not so deep as to nick the male threads on the tie rod. The rod end was then "popped" open with the help of a hammer & chisel. This plus heating with a MAPP gas torch and soaking with penetrant was enough to loosen 'er up.

New parts went in easily:


New_BJ_&_tierodend by Chris Floren, on Flickr


And then I did a quick toe alignment with the help of a tool my Dad gave me, the "Ideal Wheel Aligning Gauge," made by Wheel - A - Matic of America, Inc!

It's deceptively simple but takes some skill to use. It's a big spring-loaded bar that you place between the front wheels at the same diameter on both sides. I chose the wheel lip where the tire bead tucks in since it was a nice groove to hold the tool in place [edit, years later: this tool is neat but doesn't produce repeatable results - I much prefer some simple toe plates and 2 tape measures now].


Alignment by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Park the car on level ground, roll forward a few feet to get the steering centered, insert the bar ahead of the axle and adjust the height until the two chains just touch the ground. Zero the adjustable gauge indicator, roll the car forward until the bar is behind the axle and the chains are just touching again. The indicator now reads toe difference in inches. I converted the stock spec to the measured wheel diameter and came up with ~ 1/16" toe-in for Hydras on a 240, with the bar at the OD of the wheel. I adjusted the rod ends until the lengths were equal as measured with calipers and the toe gauge read 1/16". Steering wheel is now centered and the car feels much more stable and predictable.

At WM 2.0, Ryan tried using my gauge on his 242 but it was too low and we couldn't get accurate readings. Also the gauge kept popping out of the groove. I wrote all the details above and showed the pic to prove that it works (on a stock-height car with 16" wheels, at least)! The pic shows my asphalt driveway but it was just for demonstrative purposes. I did the alignment on the nice flat smooth garage floor. Yay, now I can align front ends for 1 out of the 3 relevant settings!
 
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Autocrossing pics are great!!! Looks the old girl had a great time 'rolling' around out there. And you have plans that will make it only get better from there.

FWIW - if you're not fond of stock bumper set up (too big and sticking too far out for my liking) and don't want to pony up for the later model bumpers - I took the stock aluminum forgings off - and used them as a mold to lay up replacement fiberglass bumpers INSIDE the stockers. The finished product is slightly smaller than the stockers since they were laid up inside the stockers. We pushed the shock absorbing mounts all the way back -- and then mounted the fiberglass pieces to the stock mounts. Sit much tighter to the body and are a bit smaller to boot. Knocks about 45 lbs. off the car. My front replacement weighs about 5 lbs. and the rear weighs about 3.5 lbs. Of course - no protection at all - but, a risk I was willing to take.
 
Thanks for the kind words. The fiberglass bumper idea sounds interesting. Do you have any pictures of the process and/or the finished products? Feel free to post them or link to them here.

I'm having an internal battle about the Commando bumpers at the moment. The devil on the left shoulder says "throw them out and use later skinny bumpers or something even lighter," and the devil on the right shoulder says "but wait, this is still a street car and those Commandos will save the sheetmetal in a pretty serious hit." Still haven't decided which way to go yet. Maybe some quick release pins to switch back and forth depending on street and track use would be cool. Maybe not.

And yes, they are both devils.
 
Volvopic2.jpg


Volvopic1.jpg


This was the first time I ever worked with fiberglass. There's not much to it. Remove the bumpers from the car and take the rubber pads off. Experiment with the fiberglass, resin and hardener to get a sense for how much you can mix up at a time, how quickly it sets, etc. Temperature and humidity make a big difference. Hot/dry sets up MUCH quicker than cooler/humid. Once you have a sense for how it works, clean the inside of the bumpers well. I lightly wet sanded them with 600 grit to create a nice smooth surface. And I lightly coated the inside of the bumpers with Pam (not a typo) to be sure the fiberglass didn't adhere -- not necessary probably as it doesn't want to stick to aluminum anyway.

It's ok if the fiberglass protrudes a bit through the bumper pad mounting holes -- you can simply sand off those 'high' spots when you pull the bumpers out of the mold. I laid up about 4 plys -- and alternated glass weave layers with shredded glass weave for strength. You can buy the rollers you'll need at local hardware or tool store. Get lots of acetone for clean up and lots of rubber gloves (disposable) and LOTS of brushes/rollers - also disposable. So get the cheapest stuff you can. The front bumper has more curvature so it was tougher to get out of the mold -- actually had to fracture it a bit on the corners -- but once out you simply patch those places and it's good as new. I removed the mounting studs from the bumper, cut off the heads and tack welded them to a piece of sheet metal so they were the same distance apart as they were on the stock bumper. Then I embedded that piece of sheet metal under multiple layers of fiberglass in the right locations so the studs hit the mounting brackets. Piece of cake really -- and no experience at all before making these. They weigh about 8 lbs total and I like the clean way they look. They seem to enhance the 'brickness' of the car. ;)

Once you pull them out -- use filler and sand paper to achieve the finish you want. I also used some cardboard pieces dunked in resin/harder to build support bridges between the top/bottom of the bumper about every 10" going across - just fiberglass those into place with a bit of fiber weave and resin. I found that primed with red primer, painted them flat black with Krylon, and then lightly wet sanded with 600 grit - I could hit them with Eastwood Clear Satin -- and it produced a finish that's almost identical to the black plastic finish on the rear view mirrors. Looks like the factory did it. With aluminum heads on the 5.0L, a/c and power steering - the car weighs 2960 with about 1/8 tank of gas.

Cost maybe $30-40 in materials - also bought some 'used' pots/pans at garage sales that I could mix stuff in and then throw away. And keep the area WELL VENTILATED. The fumes are just plain not good for you - and neither are the glass fibers. Dust mask at least for the fibers - open windows and fans for the fumes.
 
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^^ Awesome, thanks for the very thorough write-up. That's a good "composites 101" course for anyone who's interested. The bumpers look great and they do lend a certain Bauhaus-ish simplicity to the look of the 240, which is appropriate given the Scandinavian design aesthetic of clean lines, radiused bends, flat surfaces, etc. It works well.

Your pictures got me thinking, maybe a similar technique would work to make glass or carbon "skinny" bumpers from '83 and later. I have a set to experiment with so I can leave the Commandos on the car if it fails. Hmm...another sub-project to add to the long list! The skinny bumpers may be small enough to warrant making female molds off of them, and then laying up a dimensionally-identical copy inside of that. I met a t-bricker at Western Meet (ilikepinkcrayons) who is making a 'glass coffin hood using this technique. Not sure if he has posted anything about that though.

For what it's worth I do have a few years experience with composites so I don't see why I shouldn't try making some Volvo parts. The pic below is a "super mileage vehicle" that I helped build in college. The complete monocoque chassis/fairing weighed about 12 lb without any running gear, IIRC. The one in the pic came out the nicest but I helped make 3 cars the same way...build a male mold, layup a fiberglass female mold off of that, then vacuum-bag wet layup a few layers of carbon fiber with nomex honeycomb for stiffness in the lower chassis portion. I can attest to the sensitivity of resin set-up time varying with temperature and also with mixture proportions. When vacuum bagging, it sucks to find the first half of your part curing before you're even done laying up the second half!


2003_Cal_SMV.jpg
 
Ha, thanks for the vote of confidence. But it was a "team effort" and I definitely didn't build those cars by myself. Plus it has been almost 6 years since I've done any sort of composites work at all, so I'm sure there will be a re-learning curve if I pick it up again. Should be fun though!
 
Time to catch up with recent progress...rust repair!

I knew there were a few "bubbles" around the windshield frame all along, which were getting more obvious with time and not fixing themselves unfortunately. I was prepared for the worst:


Rust_1 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Peel back the trim and seal. What do we find?


Rust_2 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


30 years of terrible crud.


Rust_3 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

This stuff was packed in all along the lower edge of the windshield seal. The aluminum trim and a large void under the rubber seal both helped to capture dirt and water. The crud sat in there like a wet sponge, slowly eating into the steel.

Once I had cleaned out the channel and started grinding lightly at the "bubbles," it became obvious that the metal was gone in a few spots, and getting pretty thin in others.


Rust_4 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Instead of trying to weld or fill in the holes and thin spots individually, I wanted an OE-quality patch panel to make the repair.

Junkyard time! I went to the local Pick-Your-Part during my lunch hour, after Ecology turned me away for trying to bring in an angle grinder. "We don't want no sparks" was their line of reasoning. Pick Your Part didn't check my bag, and lo and behold I found a beige '81 242 without any rust on the passenger's side windshield frame. Coincidence...???

The car had been sideswiped and was definitely on its deathbed so I didn't feel too bad about turning it into a tissue donor.


Rust_5 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

It was a bitch cutting that big of a piece out, but I wanted to take way more metal than I knew I'd need to be sure I had enough to work with.
 
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A small cut-off wheel on my Black & Decker "dremel" tool and a steady hand gave me a nice hole in my car. What a reward for 5 minutes of work.

I spent at least an hour cutting and then grinding down the patch panel with a bench grinder, until it fit the hole perfectly with about 1/16" gap all the way around.


Rust_6 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


It fits! Measure 500 times, cut 499 times.


Rust_8 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

I intentionally left the spot-welded flange intact to preserve dimensional integrity of the frame and also since it was not rusted through yet - only pitted.


A little bit of "cold" zinc galvanizer was applied to the back side of the patch panel to act as a weld through primer.


Rust_7 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


I broke out the MIG and started tacking it in slowly, moving around a lot and making sure not to warp the steel. This stuff is 18 gauge and is not super sensitive; lucky me. Yay for thick Volvo steel.


Rust_9 by Chris Floren, on Flickr


Keep moving around, tacking between the existing tacks, and you end up with something like this:


Rust_10 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Which was not its final fully welded state, but it illustrates the point.


Magical results from some careful grinding using the edge of a cut-off wheel in my "dremel," plus cartridge rolls and some good old hand sanding with 80-grit:


Rust_11 by Chris Floren, on Flickr

Not perfect but pretty smooth to the touch and shouldn't require any filler.
 
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