Karl's 1979 242-T5

[Karl Buchka]

The car is a 1979 242DL. I bought it in December of 2007 from the original owner. The car had been sitting in his Connecticut garage for the last 10 years, so it was purchased as non-running for $500. For a lifetime New England car it had a surprisingly small amount of rust (along with 120'000 miles). After a nightmarish day of trailering it home I put fresh gas in it, cranked it for about 60 seconds, and it fired up. Granted, it ran like **** on three cylinders, but it ran. Here's what it looked like the day I got it home:



And here's how it sounded:



When I initially checked out the car it seemed like it was decent mechanical condition for what it was, but as I started tearing in to it I realized the previous owner was a lying moron with no regard for workmanship or safety. Both buttcheeks were 100% fiberglass; all the factory bullet fuses had been replaced with Radioshack 30A glass fuses; the sheetmetal in the trunk around the sender unit had been sliced to **** with a pair of tin snips; the stereo wiring was an electrical fire waiting to happen; and the advertised "brand new fuel system" consisted of a dead in-tank pump, dead sender, swiss cheese fuel tank, and rusted out hard lines.

After a quick interior swap/refresh I put the car aside and started working on the engine.



Take a megasquirt,


a T5 World Class,


shortened 960 pan,


transmission adapter plate,


and some other fun parts, along with 30 straight 12 hour days (for both my brother and I), and you end up with something like this:





This is obviously a somewhat abridged history, but I'm sure you get the idea.

While chasing an elusive electrical gremlin I decided the old harness needed to go. After $160 on an eBay universal harness and four solid days of work, my brother and I had a brand new electrical system, complete with all 850 solid state relays for headlights and flashers.





In the beginning of May '08 I brought it to a little car show held annually at my college, The University of Massachusetts Amherst. I won first place in the Volvo class and narrowly missed out on first place in the Exhaust Sound Off. The two-step set at 2900rpm was good enough to net 186.2dB at the tailpipe, along with 12" flames.



Following the show I did very little major work on the car, mostly fixing some odds and ends.

Having some fun:



Mockup for the new wheels:



Came back from the Motherland with some Euro spec 5-panels:



I was having vicious boost creep issues, so I pulled the turbo and ported the wastegate:



The Walbro 255lph pump I had bought turned out to be a cheap knock-off when it outright failed one day. I was forced to buy a new one, but at least I knew this one was real. Can you spot the fake?



Made a new dashplate using 240 gauges, Porsche 924 gauges, and a glycerin filled industrial compound pressure gauge (for boost):







So here's how it stands today:



And a detailed spec list because I happened to have one typed up already:

The mechanicals:
x B5234T (gasoline, 5 cylinders, 2.3 liters, 4 valves per cylinder, turbo) engine
x Intake manifold from a 2003 Volvo S60T5
x Modified oil pan (cut and shortened), upper engine mounts, dip-stick
tube, and water transfer tube from a Volvo 960
x Mitsubishi TD04L-15G turbo with a ported turbine housing (running 20psi)
x 3" downpipe to 2.5" catback
x ClutchNet sprung-hub 6-puck clutch disk
x Borg-Warner T5 World Class transmission
x Custom one-piece driveshaft from The Driveshaft Shop

Electronics:
x Megasquirt V3 PCB running the latest Megasquirt'n'Spark-Extra firmware
x Sequential coil-on-plug with a 60-2 crank wheel and cam sync
x Boost control, fan control, and two-step launch control
x JAW wideband controller.
x From-scratch engine harness
x 21-Circuit universal chassis harness
x Walbro 255LPH in-tank fuel pump

Other stuff:
x Volvo branded Momo Alpine steering wheel
x 250km/h speedo and 8k rpm tach from a European spec. Porsche 924
x Industrial glycerin filled compound pressure gauge (accurate to within 1%)
x VDO oil pressure, fuel pressure, oil temp, coolant temp, fuel level,
battery voltage, exhaust backpressure, and exterior temp gauges

Right now the car is parked for a complete overhaul, including rods, turbo, header, cams, injectors, EMS, and suspension.

[Redwood Chair]

I'm digging the sleeper look in the last pix.

[Poik]

186.2dB huh? Doesn't the human head explode at 160dB?

How come you need such an accurate boost gauge?

Oh, and nice car I guess.

[Hodginsa]

Originally Posted by Poik

186.2dB huh? Doesn't the human head explode at 160dB?

Lesson being, don't put your head near his exhaust?


Awesome build, would love to do a project like that...

[Lord_Athlon]

How do you have the tach working with the 5pot.

[Ruckus]

Awesome right up Karl.

[Karl Buchka]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by Lord_Athlon

How do you have the tach working with the 5pot.

I'm using the tach output function of MSnS-E along with this circuit:



I had to remove the 1k resistor from that circuit, and crack open the tach to add some other resistors, but now it's balls on accurate. Never shows more than 50rpm off.

Here's a little lame video showing it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQxmmje5sCU

[The Aspirator]

I had to use that same tach circuit with my sequential setup, works awesome.

EBR gauge??? HOW? Where'd you put it? What's it read at full boost? I've been dying to do that for years, I'll probably just use a regular pressure gauge and a looooong hose.

[The Aspirator]

And heck, if the car is parked right now I guess that means you won't be driving it up here anytime soon, so maybe I'll just have to scoot down there and help you guys work on it...

[lane stradler]

at first i was totally jealous of condition/price.... then i read further down... sounds like similar problems to my 242t project.

[flyingbrick242]

Karl,

Awesome project!
Love to see the younger generation keeping the older Volvo's going strong!
It will suprise many Honda, Mitsu owners!
Keep us posted on your progress!
K//

I love this car.

[maxman142001]

hands down the coolest car on the board right now, in my opinion!

-hand built,
-crazzzzy motor swap
-in the states
-sleeeper statis

My vote for next feature car....once its done and waxed

[igor]

Originally Posted by Redwood Chair

I'm digging the sleeper look in the last pix.

Me too. No new rims - widen the steelies!

[Karl Buchka]

Originally Posted by igor

Me too. No new rims - widen the steelies!

That's definitely the plan, but the wheels were free, so they'll have to suffice until I can find four S60R spares and widen them.

[RvolvoR]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

That's definitely the plan, but the wheels were free, so they'll have to suffice until I can find four S60R spares and widen them.

the metal is to thin to be used on a regular basis w the S60R spares....just get the peugeot steelies

[2fast4u]

bump. Just poked into the Mass thread and saw the link. Can I come up and poke around and talk to you guys? You give me hella **** all the time but I would love to talk to you guys in person and learn a thing or two

[AHox244+T]

This car makes me smile just a big goofy smile when I get around it , and then a stain in my pants when I got to drive it.

[Karl Buchka]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

bump. Just poked into the Mass thread and saw the link. Can I come up and poke around and talk to you guys? You give me hella **** all the time but I would love to talk to you guys in person and learn a thing or two

Yeah man, you're welcome to come by some time. It might be hard right now as we're in California. We'll be back in a couple of weeks though.

Originally Posted by AHox244+T

This car makes me smile just a big goofy smile when I get around it , and then a stain in my pants when I got to drive it.

I tried for about 15 minutes to come up with a witty response to that but I honestly couldn't.

[2fast4u]

No problem man. I have been none stop working and trying to get the Porsche finished. But I am dieing to see this car in person.

[ELM]

Very nice. I am anxious to see some 1/4 mile times when you get the car all sorted out after the overhaul. This will be an awesome sleeper. Please keep us updated.

[kildea]

Originally Posted by Karl Buchka

I tried for about 15 minutes to come up with a witty response to that but I honestly couldn't.

was that how long it took you to get the stain out?

i assume it occured while he was driving the car, no?

[linuxman51]

i think he burned the seat. I believe I would. fortunately for me, pleather hoses off really well ;)

Car is lookin great dude, you definitely need to bring it down to SE

[240MAN]

Coolest project on TB! How much $$$ do you think you have invested in this project? How many hours of work? How much was that adapter plate and where did you get it done? This would be my dream swap.

[lclark96]

Karl's 242 is soooooooo pimp! Can't imagine how many hours he has in it...