Homer's 1990 240 redblock exorcism

OEM++ you say? More like Aftermarket--

Nice sub. I've been driving around with only one working speaker for a loooong time now. I need to make one too and fix the other door speaker!

I have 7 and it's barely acceptable to me

thats one clean subwoofer install tho.. i just have mine sitting in the middle taking up all the space

Finally got that exhaust cam seal swapped out. Sure glad I made a press tool. There's 1" of clearance between the head and firewall.

Homer said:

Finally got that exhaust cam seal swapped out. Sure glad I made a press tool. There's 1" of clearance between the head and firewall.

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how did you get it out? I have the same clearance problem
The leak is minor, so I jsut gave up after a while...

Well luckily the seals were loose. I got a few metal picks that would have done the trick though. Had to make a press tool to install them. It's super fiddly but it works.

A few updates.
The Full Banana (Tom) and I went to the VCOA Midsommar meet in Hannibal, MO. Met up with JohnMC and SquareD.
Some fun, really damn humid and it rained.



Got a few kinks worked out on the boost control as well. It wasn't making the boost I requested so i went back and noticed the RefDC table wasn't aggressive at all. The PID control couldn't make up for it. After it was all said and done I think I the spooling is a few hundred RPM sooner. The VE map above 1 bar needs some leaning out.
Also got the VEMS to do config switching with the AC compressor cycling. Much smoother instead of letting the idle PID loop try and compensate. It adds 100prm in idle speed, higher IAC DC and a little more fuel. Really happy with it.

Gonna swap in some stiffer front springs. 275 lb --> 336lb and see how I like it.

The tender springs/ coupler were too small of a diameter so they were bottoming out on the strut tube and not allowing the bumpstops to function. Got a set of hyperco helper springs and couplers to alleviate that problem.

Replaced the Hankook Ventus Evos with Conti DWs. They're fantastic.

New trunk lid with nice clearcoat is on the way, as well as unbent hood hinges. Hooray!

When is the last time you had back seat passengers in that thing (for actual driving as opposed to demoing purposes)?

A few weeks back. Trunk full of luggage and three people in the car including myself, it rubs on bridge transitions and things like that. The actual rubbing is on the outside fender, the above the fender lip. Super annoying. The contis are a bit wider than the hankooks. If I were to take a trip in it, I'd raise it a bit I think.

If I were to get different wheels, they'd be 8.5" wide. Same tires though.

I get the same type of rub in the rears with the corner of the tire sticking out roughly the same distance. Happy to know it's still useable as that's half the fun of the whole project car experience.

Also I figured everything else had been asked already.

Homer said:

A few updates.
The Full Banana (Tom) and I went to the VCOA Midsommar meet in Hannibal, MO. Met up with JohnMC and SquareD.
Some fun, really damn humid and it rained.

Click to expand...

Aww yeah.

Homer said:

Replaced the Hankook Ventus Evos with Conti DWs. They're fantastic.

Click to expand...

Homer said:

New trunk lid with nice clearcoat is on the way, as well as unbent hood hinges. Hooray!

Click to expand...

Nice!

Scancrap engine mounts bit the dust after 30k. Even in the less stressed orientation.
Replaced them with genuine diesel mounts. Looks like volvo is clearing out their stock. $17 each.

Found the source of my increasingly severe charging issue. Pos battery cable terminal was hot. Voltage at the batt was 13.2, at the alt, 13.95. Corrosion in the terminal/wire I'm sure.
The alt to starter cable is a 2 ga I made a few years back.
Bought new pos and neg battery cables.

Any time I get bummed about owning a 244 instead of a 242, I just look at this thread as a little pick-me-up.

Homer said:

A few weeks back. Trunk full of luggage and three people in the car including myself, it rubs on bridge transitions and things like that. The actual rubbing is on the outside fender, the above the fender lip. Super annoying. The contis are a bit wider than the hankooks. If I were to take a trip in it, I'd raise it a bit I think.

If I were to get different wheels, they'd be 8.5" wide. Same tires though.

Click to expand...

I setup my wheels and custom adapters to go out out pretty close to the fenders and I sliced out a good portion of my inner fender to make it fit. Sawzall worked fast and smooth. Then I formed sheet aluminum to cover the opening. Illustration below. My result allowed me to hit dips at max speed with no rubbing all the way to bumpstops. Tires are 235/40-17.
Dave B

Homer said:

Scancrap engine mounts bit the dust after 30k. Even in the less stressed orientation.
Replaced them with genuine diesel mounts. Looks like volvo is clearing out their stock. $17 each.

Found the source of my increasingly severe charging issue. Pos battery cable terminal was hot. Voltage at the batt was 13.2, at the alt, 13.95. Corrosion in the terminal/wire I'm sure.
The alt to starter cable is a 2 ga I made a few years back.
Bought new pos and neg battery cables.

Click to expand...

Who did you buy the diesel mounts from?

dbarton said:

I setup my wheels and custom adapters to go out out pretty close to the fenders and I sliced out a good portion of my inner fender to make it fit. Sawzall worked fast and smooth. Then I formed sheet aluminum to cover the opening. Illustration below. My result allowed me to hit dips at max speed with no rubbing all the way to bumpstops. Tires are 235/40-17.
Dave B

Click to expand...

That's pretty slick

mafoose said:

Who did you buy the diesel mounts from?

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Tasca. The pass side ones are only available.
My car uses two pass side mounts. The driver's side is NLA.

Found the source of the steering wheel shimmy. The rack was trashed. Pinion had axial and radial play, rack had radial play. It's the second one from oreillys in the past 3 years. Lifetime warranty. What a waste.
Contacted Jorgen Automotive about a rack. Talked to Roger, very knowledgeable guy. Mentioned they supply Volvo now for their older rack rebuilds. He was willing to sell me a "short rack" since I had inner and outer tie rods on the way from FCP.
Shipped same day, got the rack yesterday. Very thorough instructions, prepaid label for the core return.
$250 + $35 shipping.

Installed the rack last night. Holy ****, like night and day.
Hopefully this lasts longer than a year. I have a feeling it might.

I love this car homer, glad to see your getting the kinks worked out, some day I will havea t5 powered 240 wagon hopefully following a similar setup.

Homer said:

Found the source of the steering wheel shimmy. The rack was trashed. Pinion had axial and radial play, rack had radial play. It's the second one from oreillys in the past 3 years. Lifetime warranty. What a waste.
Contacted Jorgen Automotive about a rack. Talked to Roger, very knowledgeable guy. Mentioned they supply Volvo now for their older rack rebuilds. He was willing to sell me a "short rack" since I had inner and outer tie rods on the way from FCP.
Shipped same day, got the rack yesterday. Very thorough instructions, prepaid label for the core return.
$250 + $35 shipping.

Installed the rack last night. Holy ****, like night and day.
Hopefully this lasts longer than a year. I have a feeling it might.

Click to expand...

Was talking about this with my Dad recently and he said he always used Jorgen when he did SAAB/Volvo repair, and they've been the go-to place for decades.