Mtd240's '78 242

Bought a 1978 242 from someone on TB (see here)

After a wash:



It's a nice burnt sienna in the sun, but looks a lot more red in dim lighting. Awesome color. The interior is in great shape, excluding the dash. Both dark brown MAP pockets are in pristine condition. Didn't take many interior pictures (one ). Almost looks like the seats were reupholstered when the car was repainted (will take pics after more cleaning).


Came with a TON of parts - most of them are for sale here.

Goals for the car:

1. Drop in a B230 from my brother's wrecked '90 245, and run LH2.4.
2. Install an M46, to keep the cable driven speedo and old dash setup.
3. Swap in the front spindles/brakes from the '90, along with the 3.73 1031 for a few more MPGs.
4. Drive it to a friend's shop in WV to be stripped down, rust fixed, and repainted.

I want this to be a mint daily driver. Might throw in some suspension goodies, but will probably leave it all stock for now. Relatively boring I suppose

I will be saving the B230FT, 90+ manifold, and a couple other things in case I find some spare time

Picked up the trans last week from a friend, and cleaned it today while waiting for my wife to help her parents with something.

Before:



After:

I'm glad you got this. I have the louvres from it. It looked super nice when I saw it.

That's a beauty Mike!

Insured, Registered, Tagged

Wish MD had cooler looking tags

Z00 plates ehhh? I got them on my 245 too

blkaplan said:

Z00 plates ehhh? I got them on my 245 too

Click to expand...

Yep! Fancy fancy.

Mind dump below.

Trying to get all of the parts in order, and decide what I need/don't need to purchase, while I wait for the parts car. I need to figure out how to start the parts car so I can move it over to my place and tear it apart. I initially thought the bent fender pinched the ignition power stage, so I rewired it. Still doesn't start. Cranks well, and smell a lot of fuel, but doesn't catch. Will be testing for spark next - hard to find time to go over there and diagnose. I am wondering if a short b/w a few of the power stage wires blew something (ECU?). Also, the upper edge of the driver side wheel is closer to the spindle than the the passenger side. Hopefully the spindle isn't damaged, since I plan to swap those in. Here it is:






Back to the 242 -

I got under the car on Tuesday to check everything out, and spray Kroil on every bolt I could see, to start the loosening. All of the bushings are dead, for sure. Will be reusing the trailing arms and TA bushings (new) from the parts car, and replacing the FCA/swaybar link bushings with new. Also need to replace tie rods/ball joints. I'll be pulling most (if not all) of the fuel system (lines/pumps/brackets) from the parts car. Representative image of the 242's existing system:


Due to funds, I will need to keep the stock springs, torque rods (parts car), and panhard (parts car). The parts car has Bilstein HDs in the rear that I can use, so my sole "splurge" will probably be HDs for the front. I believe they are valved for a stock height/springed car anyway, so that will have to do for now.

Current suspension/steering parts list:

Front CA Bushings (SuperPro)
15A Strut Mount Plates
Inner/Outer Tie Rods (Moog PS)
Ball Joints (OEM, straight "manual rack" style)
Swaybar links/bushings (OEM)
Front Struts (Bilstein HD)
Strut spacers (needed?, OEM)

I'd love to go ahead and re-seal the engine while it's out, but funds have cut that too. I'll replace the oil pan gasket and pump o-rings while the engine is out, since it's easy without the crossmember in the way.

The majority of the cost here is transmission parts, but an M46 is better than an M45
Any idea if this M45 crossmember will work with the M46? There are two additional holes in the frame behind it - perhaps it could be moved back to make space for the OD? Dat mount..



Hopefully the headlights will come in today (Hellas with H4 bulbs), so I can clean/install all of this. At least the car will look like it's running


And what we are all most excited about... Car came with ~40 awesome 8-tracks.

A few things came in, nothing exciting yet... just accumulating


Installed the headlights, of course. The passenger side headlight outer bezel has two little notches in it (look closely) - is that normal? The driver side piece doesn't.


This pic makes it look like it doesn't even need paint..


Resident toad stopped by to see. Sits at our doorstep every night, and is close to the size of a baseball.

Wow, great to see that you saved the 242, it has so much potential! Now let me save that 245, haha!

Great work! Beautiful '78!

How are you going about your conversion? Since you've got a late model parts car, it'd be in your best interest to drop the motor out, with the front subframe, brakes, suspension & all....Swap that entire unit into your 242....larger hub bearings, "Turbo" brakes....

Make Sure You At-Least, Swap in a NEW REAR MAIN SEAL

Don't forget to swap the fuel feed & return likes and harvest the Fuel Tank Roll-Over valve, and swap that into your '78

Man, I'm envious...I like projects like this!

^

Lol, edit...I see you had already planned on upgrading brakes and spindles.

Nice Work!

IIRC the notches in the headlight door are there to reach the adjusters. Some of them have them, some don't.

Looking great so far!

Questions in bold if you don't like reading.

Mylesofsmyles said:

Great work! Beautiful '78!

How are you going about your conversion? Since you've got a late model parts car, it'd be in your best interest to drop the motor out, with the front subframe, brakes, suspension & all....Swap that entire unit into your 242....larger hub bearings, "Turbo" brakes....

Make Sure You At-Least, Swap in a NEW REAR MAIN SEAL

Don't forget to swap the fuel feed & return likes and harvest the Fuel Tank Roll-Over valve, and swap that into your '78

Man, I'm envious...I like projects like this!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips - yeah I do plan on doing the later-type spindles. I took a peek at the driver side spindle on the parts car, and noticed that the top of the wheel is much closer to the spindle than the setup on the passenger side, confirming my previous suspicion that something may be damaged. I went to the PNP yesterday, found ONE 240 ('88 244, already jacked up with the wheels off ) among the waves and waves of early 2000s 'Murican cars, and pulled both strut housings. Backups

Myles - any other tips on the conversion to LH2.4?

I've got a Volvo OEM rear main in my "pile", and plan to swap over all the fuel goodies (any drilling needed for that?)

I may need to trash the gas tank on the car now, since the gas has been sitting for 9 years. Have a friend who might be willing to part with his..(cough his car is parked at ben's shop cough).

Discovered some additional rust, which isn't "disgusting" per say, but it will definitely need to be repaired. I might chop this section out of the car in the PNP, and save it for when I find someone to cut/weld it in for me.

Been doing some thinking. If there is already a B230FT in the engine bay, and I've already got a 90+ exhaust manifold..and all the intercooler piping..what else do I need to button up the turbo motor?

Computers
Intercooler (want a stock one, not the mega-piece in my for sale thread )
Downpipe/rest of exhaust
Turbo (just a stock 13c is fine, found one with 80k miles on it for $80 - says it's a conical flange - any advantage/disadvantage to that?)

If that is all I need...then I think I ought to just put it together and run it. Any thoughts?

Do it^

PM me and we can discuss details on the conversion. You've got a lot you can take advantage of.

For your fuel tank swap, if you need to drill any hole, it's the smaller of the two in this pic...




That's for the Tank Vent Tube....easy!

Also, your Roll Over Valve...




On that one, I think there was one mount hole already there....there is a larger hole behind the Roll Over Valve that you'll need to drill, and at least one of the two mount holes...

Again, very easy!

mtd240 said:

Resident toad stopped by to see. Sits at our doorstep every night, and is close to the size of a baseball.

Click to expand...

Cane toad? Great project by the way. I saw that ad and was wondering why no one jumped in. Purchased a '76 242 myself recently which will go the b230ft route as well.

Made a few checks on the B230FT while waiting for all these parts to ship (and waiting for the engine hoist..).

Under the valve cover looks nice..


Checked to see if the engine turned - all is well! Took off the timing belt cover and found this - couldn't tell ya how they got inside and built a nest!


Also checked for a gear on the intermediate shaft - nope! Need to swap the one out of the parts car B230, along with it's distributor.



After doing those quick checks, I started disassembling the M46 to "Stage 0" it, in an effort to keep that OD happy. See this thread for more information on that. Here are a few pictures, for your 'enjoyment".

Lots and lots of parts coming in. Gathering all of the parts for the 'FT is getting difficult, and time/money-consuming, so the parts car B230 will be going in the 242 first. At least until I finish acquiring all the bits and pieces for the turbo. So indecisive

Had the parts car towed to my place this weekend (finally).


Started pulling it apart. Exhaust and rear end come out first. Both will be going in the 242.



Then on to the interior. Old Iron came by and picked it all up on Saturday.



Shift Knob Removal 101.


DanMartino also came by to buy (and help pull) the trans. There is a nice aftermarket passenger side headlight assembly and turn signal that will be for sale in a few days, and a few other bits and pieces.

Master's Degree work is really cutting into any time I would have to make progress on the car. Hopefully this weekend I can pull the 242's rear suspension/diff, and finish swapping the two. Hopefully finish rebuilding the M46 OD as well. Wife's '98 XC siezed a front caliper, so that has moved to the front of the list.