• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Saving A 245 Turbo, or How Not To Do This Sort of Thing

Just my luck: One of the water pump studs backed out just enough that I couldn't squeeze a 6-point or 12-point wrench or even a rotary cut-off wheel onto the nut. All attempts to use a open-end or locking pliers succeeded in deforming the nut further.

I took a little 6" hacksaw and began hacking off enough of the stud so I could squeeze a wrench over it. It took two days (I found out I bought the wrong blade size after Home Depot closed for the day) and two blades, but I successfully hacked off about 1/8" off the end of the stud, which was enough clearance that I could fit a 6-point wrench onto the deformed mess of the hex nut.

Mp4ABAh.png



Seriously, having a 6-point wrench made removing the nuts so stupidly easy. Worth the $7 I paid. I wouldn't bother with anything else.


Boy, I sure made a mess of this one. Will be ordering new ones this weekend when I go down to LA for a trip to McMaster-Carr and a date.

biphDk5.png


I also repurposed a bit of old radiator hose to make this neat little blade guard based on something I read in Popular Mechanics. I'll probably regret hacking up this one since none of the local shops stocked it and I had to order the new one off Amazon.

ilMy2Ad.png


In other news I've slathered enough Naval Jelly on the battery tray area to clean up just a bit of the corrosion. I'll keep working at it, but I'll definitely have whoever handles the body work replace that when they repaint the engine bay.

08nZs3A.png


Next step: figuring out how to release tension on the drive belts.
 
No major updates. Went on a date & picked up the locking M6 nuts for the water pump studs @ McMaster-Carr, slept, woke up early for F1, and spent most of the day scrubbing the oily buildup off my timing belt cover. I will need to get a few extra fan studs since these are in pretty gross shape. Put it back on the car while I did some cleaning in & around the garage. Timing belt looks much better than I thought for 53k miles, but maybe someone changed it and never put the sticker on? Oh well, I might as well change it now...

lbp6AsM.jpg


Did some snooping and found out how I could slacken the drive belts. That was easy.

Will be referring to http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=204038 and the Bentley manual.
 
Water pump came off with a bit of prying to reveal a real mess underneath. I'll not make any statements about the previous mechanic's work and let the pictures do the talking. Seems I made the right call to swap this out.

CfEbka4.jpg



sdpbIn3.jpg



Tdh7XIV.jpg


I'm still short two fan clutch studs because I figured I'd reuse them. I think I'll not.
 
No major updates. Poked a boroscope into the cylinders to check for debris (thought part of the spark plug wire holder fell in). No plastic, just lots of build up.
 
Finally, some time to get caught up. I wasn't strong enough to break the crank pulley bolt loose, but my Milwaukee impact did a nice job of it. Very much a splurge, but it was worth it. Timing belt had seen better days.



Of course, the requisite cleaning pics.

6XNmv3X.png


ZY4MqhK.png



Some of the seals had seen better days and I think that camshaft seal should be further back. It was also rock hard.

g173F2q.png


m6Aolw3.png


Look, you can see the distributor timing mark on the rear timing belt cover.

QeFcjJM.png


jUSKiP9.png


3tNbYjn.png


iO0v2bM.png
 
Turns out I was dumb and you can indeed hammer in the crankshaft seal with a 2" PVC coupler, ideally with a matching cap, and a rubber mallet. Total cost: About $7 ($4 PVC + $2.50 hammer).

It's a little deeper on one side but well within the 0.25" margin called out in the Bentley - it just drives my inner perfectionist mad seeing it. Still need to get under and tap in the bottom side of the seal just a tad more.
 
Turns out I was dumb and you can indeed hammer in the crankshaft seal with a 2" PVC coupler, ideally with a matching cap, and a rubber mallet. Total cost: About $7 ($4 PVC + $2.50 hammer).

It's a little deeper on one side but well within the 0.25" margin called out in the Bentley - it just drives my inner perfectionist mad seeing it. Still need to get under and tap in the bottom side of the seal just a tad more.

You can still order some of the seal drivers for these for relatively cheap if you can find em. If not you can always PM me and I can rent one out to you. I?ve got the installer for every oil seal on the B21/23/230 engines.
 
Looking good bro! I logged in just to see how you were doing :) I have always been gentle on ring seals, don't want to damage them... A giant socket works as well as abs coupler but the ABS has more face contact and is waaay cheaper. Good call!
 
Looking good bro! I logged in just to see how you were doing :) I have always been gentle on ring seals, don't want to damage them... A giant socket works as well as abs coupler but the ABS has more face contact and is waaay cheaper. Good call!

Thanks for the words of encouragement! :D

In other news:

Started laying out the Dave Barton harness. It's not pictured in this photo, but I used green tape to tag the different 2 & 3 pole connectors while it was laid out in the exact orientation in the photos. Much easier than scrambling to identify and plug stuff in.

eKbr1rC.jpeg


I also cleaned up the alternator and part of the block. I'm using Walmart's Engine Degreaser, which smells suspiciously like the shower cleaner I've been using for the other engine parts. Hard to believe this car was once something I planned to scrap if it failed smog, but that was before BringATrailer started auctioning these off for silly money...


My new job just informed me that I am to start in three months, so now I have a target to aim for.
 
Finally got my Dave Barton/Elbert Bos harness installed on the engine-side. Still need to order the passenger-side barrel connectors.


nyQLn75.jpeg


oKflJxg.jpeg


It helped to lay it out on the floor as in the picture and mark off the 2/3-wire connectors with tape, which took out all the guesswork and having to orient/re-orient the guide while putting it on. I also had a copy of the greenbook page identifying the block connections (Hiperfauto has one on the forum) marked up with what was what for my B21FT. Prep matters! Made the job so easy that I only broke the junction block cover because I suddenly wanted to re-route the positive battery cable.

2RPkQfM.jpg


My order of operations: Alternator spade (D+), Alternator B, Oil Pressure Senders, harness clamps (took forever getting these on...), CPR, block-mounted connectors, starter connections, and then the ignition coil/relay. Worked pretty well, though snaking my hand under the exhaust manifold heat shield was harder than it should. It helped that the engine had most of its ancillaries peeled back until it was near-longblock state, which made accessing stuff very easy.


As someone who used to design wiring harnesses for a living, I was very impressed with the build quality and engineering that went into this harness. Lengths are just about perfect (would have appreciated an inch less of the alternator D+ cable) and the connectors are nice & solid stuff. Time will tell if it lasts longer than the original one did anyway.


sMo0Afq.jpg


IHYizCN.jpg


Some gorilla glue and Tamiya putty made the junction block cover look presentable again. I'll give it a coat of black to finish it off.


dhO6oDm.jpg


CVgzw2p.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Got a second chance to make some progress on the car this weekend. Spent Monday cleaning up some of the 15W-40 I spilled on the garage and I spent most of the week trimming two of the vacuum lines because the clamps were too close to the new harness than I would have preferred. My date this weekend got cancelled due to work - a disappointment, but this gives me time to get caught up.

A cup brush and brake cleaner did great work breaking up the dirt on the crankshaft pulley hub and locating plates. Simple Green and 1500-grit paper did the rest.

I exercised great caution when cleaning the crankshaft gear to avoid marring any of the mating surfaces. For those I only used a rag with copious spurts of Simple Green with the aim of cleaning between the teeth.

RXUUAso.jpg


Also planning to cross the water pump job off the list this weekend using this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS67kZYpksI


SkoqJOU.jpg


Please excuse the mess, I assure you it was all cleaned to a satisfactory standard. Nothing scares me more than FOD going in the engine...
 
Well, I was all set to install my shiny new HEPU water pump, but then I found out I was short one M6x1.0-30mm long bolt, so FYI: they send out B230 hardware kits with all the pumps. A little disappointing, but I then remembered I never cleaned out the gunk on the top mating surface so I could at least get that done.
 
Wow! You’re really bringing a ton of life back to this one! I love all that you’ve done, it’s very satisfying and cheap to simply clean all these small parts you have done and the outcome is worth it tenfold.
 
AgJQiB9.jpg


It took a lot of straining and pulling, but I got that water pump on there.

While the videos helped, many of them are for B230 cars, which have an extra stud by the water pipe. I found it was easiest to align the water pipe, loosely thread the nuts, and install the bolts from the left starting with the bottom, lifting appropriately to get the holes aligned. I accidentally got a bit of PB blaster on the Hepu gasket, so I'll be considering adding a genuine Volvo gasket to my next trip to the dealer if it leaks.

You could also rent a boroscope like I did. Point camera at hole and wiggle pump to line up holes. Insert bolt.


lvtb4V5.jpg



Also took the driver's side female housing off. The bullets look fine, though this hard bend being as inflexible as it is has me concerned. I'll probably add some fresh wires since I suspect it's also petrified.


En route from FCP is a big box of stuff including a radiator, because the one in the car is in much worse shape than I'd like.


I really ought to hurry since I'll need to get this car up & running to take it to my new place that's an hour away.
 
Last edited:
YJtYFeM.jpg


Timing belt is now on the car and the gears remain aligned after two revolutions. There was a bit of a heart-stopping moment when I realized the intake cam gear bolt wasn't fully tightened, but that was quickly fixed.


pgJtoob.jpg


TK4B7yB.jpg


FYI: The $3.99 Harbor Freight picks are perfect for checking gear alignment. Might as well get some use out of them now that I have a seal tool.


kGjlZ7U.jpg


GivYLVY.jpg


The tensioner had seen better days. That has been thoroughly cleaned and the spring given a light coating of white lithium grease.


7WoNwHW.jpg


For fun, I read through the packet of receipts that came with the car and it would suggest that the previous timing belt replacement took place over a decade ago...


JdniiMx.jpeg


You've come a long way, baby. Timing belt cover is also back on the car, though the long 10mm/M6 bolt has some chewed up threads that require me to source a replacement.


FCP Euro just delivered my new parts in three large shipments, but I keep forgetting to order those wires from Dave Barton...
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately this project may be taking a bit of a break in the near future . My new apartment won’t allow me to do work on-site in my garage so I’ll need to evaluate my options, none of which involve selling it.
 
Update from last week: Tightened the last of the drive belts with my handy pry bar and electric socket! The new radiator went in but one of the fins was every so slightly bent. :(

hUjipf5.png


pDoVhCd.png


Also changed out the little plastic pins that hold the headlights in. Front end pieces feel much more solid now. Grill pins are a little different. Not sure if I should hold out for a turbo grill but I'm too impatient for that!

FA6GtAS.png


The coolant bottle is putting up a bit of a fight and I still need to tighten the fat red cable to the alternator. Still, it's progress! For fun, I dabbed a little rubber restorer on the bumper. Looks better.
 
Great to see this. Nice work.

I just skipped through the whole thread - but I didn't see how you tackled the floor rust. Did I miss it?

I just found some rust in the pass. side floor of my 84 244.
 
Back
Top