FreeEMS Fred's UnFreeEMSed 1991 240 Wagon

FreeEMSFred · Apr 17, 2015

Well, a turbobricker wandered into #freeems on IRC today and with a little help from a certain someone I stalked him down. Which reminded me that it's about time I posted a thread on my most recent acquisition to the fleet (now 7 vehicles, 5 in one piece, 4 running/drivable, 2 legal, 2 FreeEMSed) over here on turbo bricks. Sadly this particular vehicle won't quite be at home on this particular forum until I bolt my in-waiting TD05HR-16G into it, however aside from that, you'll probably love it almost as much as I do.

Before I bought it I was dead sure that if I won the auction I'd swap in a 1UZ-FE and some turbos and make a sleeper out of it with 500+hp. Then I drove it. Even NA with the Aisin slush box in between, it's perfectly acceptable most of the time. I mean, if I want to go fast, I have a truck for that. The only times it's lacking are at 110kph+ up hill either towing or overtaking. Then it struggles. The other thing I had to do before bidding was win myself over to the facelifted look from Simis' 79 245 that I drove and fell in love with. This thread helped me do that. Some might also remember that I had a 740 wagon for my 20,000km US road trip in 2009; this car is vastly superior IMO. I did love that car while I had it, though. RIP blue wagon! It was pretty fun riding around in Yoshifab's 242, too. Old Volvos are sweet.

Aside from the power, it's rolling on near-new china 14" tyres, and despite this has lovely steering feel and is totally nimble beyond what you'd expect through tight twisty NZ roads.

So, you've waited long enough, here she is:

) https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/552003480378830849

So, clearly, if you use twitter, the best way to see this stuff in real time is to follow me (@FredCookeNZ) and/or the @FreeEMS handle. If not, I'll do my best.

Various things are wrong and I could do with a few parts for her. And maybe some advice.

I got a bunch of parts off of a 740 turbo that showed up in a yard here. Among them was the steering wheel which isn't really close to fitting the 240. The 240 wheel is pretty rooted in the top part, though. It'd be nice to lower the diameter and keep the same OEM style at the same time as replacing ruined with reasonable. Has anyone ever modded one of these things in that way?

Aforementioned wheel offset question, repeated here, how thick of a spacer do I want for these: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/569393728940482561

Aforementioned trim availability question, repeated here, got one for me? https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/569539676635205633

Tacho does not function. Advice welcome. Not yet tried to fix that.

Indicator return is loose. Advice welcome. Not yet tried to fix that.

Boot switch is knackered. Same as the door ones? Got one in good condition to send me?

I managed to damage it the other day, too :-(

fell off a curb and scraped various things on it. Lost the bung from the spare tyre well. Anyone got one of those?

Various bits of interior plastic have seen better days.

Aside from general tidy up the plans are pretty basic:

Get those 17s on her with stickier rubber.
Get an LSD into it.
Get a shift kit and new filter into the slush box and/or upgrade that box with better parts if possible. Love manuals, but auto suits this car, so nice to cruise in.
Maybe lower/stiffen it, and associated shocks/springs/swaybars/correctors/etc. Not too low, though.
FreeEMS the sucker fully with wasted spark and sequential injection (my 740 was fuel only and batch)
Turbo the sucker using stock intercooler, TD05HR-16G, stock manifold (maybe)

Love driving it exactly as it is, though. <3

Comments welcome, go nuts.

Fred.

MikeSr. · Apr 17, 2015

Very nice- love the cat-looks like my Siamese.

Mark G · Apr 17, 2015

DIYEFI.org said:
FreeEMS the sucker fully with wasted spark and sequential injection

Hi Fred! Glad to see your thread. I plan on letting you and sim do all of the heavy lifting and I'll just copy your successes (BOMs, etc)

crazy240 · Apr 17, 2015

Sweet wagon!
Looks like it has the same mother as my 93.
You need to tint them windows. Limo out back helps tons with the display case or fish bowl effect.
Wagons are the best tho. You can run and get everything you need most of the time. They even fit a washer or dryer!

FreeEMSFred · Apr 17, 2015

Thanks guys

Mark, for sure, watch this space. Not coming super soon, but definitely coming. Perhaps with a drive-by-wire conversion for cruise and traction control.

Another thing I could do with some advice on is the headlight reflectors, which are surface rusted in the lower section. What's the best approach here short of having them fully re-chromed?

And the tacho isn't working, haven't looked into that just yet, either.

Advice welcome! Being told to search because I'm a n00b also welcome ;-)

Fred.

FreeEMSFred · Jul 26, 2015

Did a small road trip in her yesterday to pick up some new 16" wheels. This was the view from the guy's place:

De-tagged because too high res: http://stuff.fredcooke.com/VolvoWithWhangareiHeads.P1350912.redacted.jpg

And these are the wheels:

They're cast and made in Japan. They have screw on valve stems unlike most wheels. The rims have been home-job sanded to a brushed look (not bad) with a few imperfections. I need to give them a *good* clean and scrub and get some appropriate tyres for them and try them out.

FreeEMSFred · Aug 22, 2015

Uh oh! What have I done here....

Yep, I bought a whole 940 wagon with broken indicator lenses, and left wing mirror... drove it earlier and it drives nice and smooth, except a loud tick from one of the lifters, I guess. I'll flush the oil out and get some fresh stuff in and see if we can get it quieted down a bit. If not, I'll pull the top off and try to find the issue(s). The idea is to drive it for 6 months (and let my wife learn in it for 6 months) improving the condition of the engine and testing in-chassis before removing the transmission and engine for use as donor parts for this car.

This car also needs a bit of MIG attention in the driver's door. Which is a shame, as I've paid up the road tax for it for a year, and it'll be only half legal until I can fix that and get it another WOF.

Wheel spacers arrived from China, but I was misled by the interwebs and a thread on here somewhere and got the wrong m12x1.5 studded ones. At least I'll get to use those on the 940 for a while, I guess

New 1/2" style spacers ordered and on their way soon. Oh yes, and I bought another set of wheels for it... that makes 5 sets of wheels, and only 2 Volvos to bolt them all to. The latest are these BBS ones:

Yes, I have a problem. No, I will not be seeking help.

Instead I'll be trying to make use of some of the stuff that I've accumulated by fitting it to the cars I've also accumulated. Today's 940 purchase means that I now own 8, 1/4 Volvo, 1/4 VW, 1/4 Mazda, 1/8 Suzuki, 1/8 Hyundai. All special and unique in various ways, and all a pleasure to drive in various ways.

I also drove my friend's FreeEMS powered whiteblock 960 today, which was smooth and pleasant, but quite boring and soggy. Cool rear suspension, though.

Fred.

FreeEMSFred · Aug 22, 2015

And here's the car it'll eventually come out of: http://stuff.fredcooke.com/Volvo940Wagon-20150822_145242.jpg

FreeEMSFred · Aug 28, 2015

A few snaps including this car on the right, two B234F donors, and two whiteblock cars, the left one even runs FreeEMS:

Undoctored:

Doctored:

Doctored with flash:

FreeEMSFred · Aug 30, 2015

The B234F 940 wagon met its untimely demise today, probably from a cambelt issue, less than 48 hours after taking the key and possession of it. Oops. I think I'll do some checks on the B234F in the 740 sedan before I drive it again, just in case. Hopefully not too much damage done. I had it road legal for 6 months for my wife to learn in, so wouldn't want to waste that, would be nice to revive it in the existing chassis ASAP. But, sh|t happens. Gutted. Will take the half-legal 240 for a spin shortly to restore my faith in the Volvo marque. Que sera sera. First ride in a tow truck, ever. I'll be driving a Jap car to work tomorrow out of fear of a second B234F failure.

sim · Sep 1, 2015

Hmm, I can think of three tow-truck rides involving 240s.

The first was in the nineties, and was for something dumb that I
fixed the next day.

The second was a 244 turbo I got for free because the owner
needed it gone and the car was pretty rough. I got a permit and
drove it home later from the place I towed it to. It barely had a
wiring harness anymore:

Fifty bucks cash for the tow.

The third was with Dina, from Vermillion Bay to Kenora Ontario.
It was twenty-five below zero. It was Superbowl Sunday. The
driver didn't mind. The bill for that tow was >$300. I got the
car running the next day, in my parka. The culprit was dodgy
wires, a plague that follows ninteen-eighties Volvos. We didn't
shut it off until we needed fuel, in warmer Manitoba.

My plan for massive failure on my recent trip to Alberta was, tow
to a town large enough to have a U-haul. Rent a truck and a tow
dolly then tow home from there myself. That would have been about
a $1k recovery. An alternative is to buy a cheap pick-up and sell
it once home. Depends on the town. The biggest problem I
actually encountered was a lack of octane in Alberta.

Fortunately, the Snot Rocket is pretty reliable. Except this
recent time, but I didn't make it out of my street.

FreeEMSFred · Sep 3, 2015

That wiring is horrendous! :-D

I hope my 240 never sees the back of a flatbed!

I pulled the cam cover off the 740 and it looked pretty fresh, so I'm not too worried about that. Got me to work yesterday and today, and back. I'm still nervous about the oil pump pulley and balance shaft belt, though. Will have to inspect those next week one evening as they could have simply ignored those aspects, and either could be iffy.

Thanks for sharing those stories!

Fred.

propav8r · Sep 3, 2015

DIYEFI.org said:
And these are the wheels:

They're cast and made in Japan. They have screw on valve stems unlike most wheels. The rims have been home-job sanded to a brushed look (not bad) with a few imperfections. I need to give them a *good* clean and scrub and get some appropriate tyres for them and try them out.

I LOVE those wheels. Any more details (manufacturer, etc?)

FreeEMSFred · Dec 21, 2015

Sorry, didn't see your post, I can take a look sometime soon for you, though. Nag via PM if I don't do it in a timely fashion!

Done a few things to the 240 since this last update. But not a lot. Made some progress on changing the title of this thread, though. Now own 4 EZK boxes and 4 LH2.4 boxes. That way I can keep some stockers on the shelf, just in case, and gut the others for FreeEMS service on this and the 740 I'm about to make a thread for (it's a keeper). Already gutted one of each, hoping to have a DIY PNP setup going in the coming weeks, probably by end of January. Not sure which car will suffer my code first, but it probably won't make much difference, both 60-2 both single injector channel (need to upgrade to 2, at least), both dizzy (gotta go wasted spark ASAP), both belt driven fans (both need to be e-fan ASAP), etc. Going to take a look at the article from your sig now and see how much of it is applicable to an ECU developed by a professional engineer

Full listings of sh1t done and twitter pic uploads (sorry, lazy) are in the DIYEFI.org thread here: http://forum.diyefi.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2546

Fred.

FreeEMSFred · May 31, 2016

Re the wheels, let me go down and do that RIGHT NOW. OK, got a photo of the back of each spoke, and the info presented is:

MADE IN JAPAN
TECNOCAST
16X7JJ
96
+20
PCD 108

Tweet of the centre cap with the logo and name more readable: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/737575302998560773

A quick search reveals they make all sorts of wheels for all sorts of cars, and most of them look a lot like these. Some are apparently forged (though I don't think these are).

And a glamour shot with 80% of her inferior cousin, fully road legal and ready for phase 2 (flat floor) and 3 (kitchen install):

FreeEMSFred · Jun 20, 2016

So the other night the 240 made me sad. It started missing badly. I took it for a spin and it seemed to behave under higher loads leaving me to think plugs. But today I took it for another spin, and decided to open the bonnet, and this is what I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym8G3-X6C74

Root cause, coil to dizzy lead too short, which caused this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/744712805215961088

Took the lead out when I parked it, and will get a fresher and slightly longer one before I next drive it. Happy again. Even my wife was upset; from 10 cars, this is her favourite!

FreeEMSFred · Jul 14, 2016

Update on the above: I got a new lead, and fitted it up, and it seemed better, but was still arcing a little, so I put dielectric grease under the boot on the coil and smothered the posts and all in between too, again, seemed better, but still tiny arcs flowing, and still some bad missing. Grrr. Then the below happened and while I was in there I noticed number 2 lead rubbing gently on the oil filler raised section, so I reorganised the leads to get it up in the air and clear of everything. Missing completely gone! Hooray!

New issues:

Found it flooded with water after some serious rain, passenger side only, may have found the leak, and it hadn't started to rot or anything, so I've got it all open and propped up to dry etc. While I had it in, it was overdue for an oil change, so I did that. But I did it a bit too well, and the rear main seal leak that was dripping a little before is now dripping a LOT. Bugger.

I just read the tail end of this, in which 'kjets on a plane' said he can do the job in 2 to 3 hours: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=175061

Realistically, how long is a n00b like me going to take to do the job? I should probably convince one of my friends with a hoist to assist!

A sad sight to see:

Sorted out a few other things while I had it in the driveway, 3 rusty bolts holding the battery tray down, and a battery tray that collects water and holds it, only to spill out on a left hander and wet the poor chassis a second time. So I drilled a couple of extra holes, wire brushed the bolts clean, zinc primed them, amsoil waterproof greased them, reinstalled, and greased over the tops too. Much better!

FreeEMSFred · Jul 15, 2016

FreeEMSFred said:
I just read the tail end of this, in which 'kjets on a plane' said he can do the job in 2 to 3 hours: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=175061

Realistically, how long is a n00b like me going to take to do the job? I should probably convince one of my friends with a hoist to assist!

After posting this, I read about the cam cap in the back of the head, and was hopeful as I slept. But this morning I went out and looked over the car and checked that, and it's in fine. IE, definitely rear main. Can anyone chime in on how realistic the 2 or 20 hour time frames are?

Read bits of a haynes manual last night, pathetic, really.

sim · Jul 22, 2016

FreeEMSFred said:
After posting this, I read about the cam cap in the back of the head, and was hopeful as I slept. But this morning I went out and looked over the car and checked that, and it's in fine. IE, definitely rear main. Can anyone chime in on how realistic the 2 or 20 hour time frames are? Read bits of a haynes manual last night, pathetic, really.

It's going to take more than 2, and less than 20.

I've done a clutch in about 5, on jackstands, but it wasn't the first one.

Get a genuine Volvo seal for the rear main.

FreeEMSFred · Jul 22, 2016

I can do a Nissan RWD clutch in about 2 hours alone :-D

But I struggled with the torque converter bolts at the junk yard with the engine on the ground. I guess I'll bank on a full day with some prep the night before, and attempt to get the assistance of a hoist owner. I might wait till I have the other trans to swap in, too. Thanks for the tip on seal sourcing. I'll have to dig up the number of the Volvo mechanic I met at Wendy's one day and see if he can hook me up.

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