Andy's 1988 745 GLE

[aStrauss]

Hokay, so, basically...


When I was 14, my dad bought this car for $1400 from a friend, who had bought it from a friend who was a Volvo mechanic. He told me that he got it to save it from being scrapped, and so that I would have something to drive when I was old enough. I was so stoked! This is the third Volvo 745 that we have owned, and I have always had a soft spot for these cars. We had a baby blue '87, and a forest green '92, both used, and my dad recently picked up a silver '91 for my brother, who is a year younger than me.

Since we have had it, some random jobs have been done (all by me/my dad except the tranny) including replacing a PS belt that popped on the highway, we had a rebuilt transmission put in in March(?) of 2007, and I have replaced the water pump and the alternator, donut gasket between the y-pipe and the cat, and muffler(OE) myself. The car has 203,XXX miles on it right now, and I'm going to be doing some more work n it in the near future. I figure it's about time to start a project thread.

Here are some pictures of the car through its stages:

This spring of '08:

(bone stock)

I got a Thule/RockyMounts rack system for christmas '08:

(Those are my snows on the car in this pic)

Then in February '09, I got an all black eggcrate, and pulled the surrounds off of both grills, and switched them, and slapped on my new, custom, grill:

(tried tricking the car into thinking it was a turbo, so it would go a little faster, and the eggcrate is lighter weight, I don't think it helped much, but it looks badass )

The tailpipe broke off of the muffler in the winter of '07/'08, and sometime in winter '08/'09 It developed a leak between the y-pipe and the cat, which got worse after bottoming out on a speedbump when the car was loaded down with me, my two brothers, and all our ski gear. It was starting to sound pretty loud and ratty, so finally, in February '09, I got fed up with the noise, and had to go in for emissions, so I replaced the muffler with another OE one (dad bought it, so I wasn't going to push for an aftermarket one), and I got under the car to put in a new donut gasket, and found that not only had the joint separated, and the flanges and bolts bent(what i expected), but a pretty bad crack had been put in the y-pipe's flare. With the added compression from the new muffler, the car was even louder than before, but still passed emissions. I am assuming this because they take the reading from the tailpipe, which wasn't necissarily where all my exhaust was being expelled. I finally got tired of it one day in April, bought some hoseclamps at the hardware store and cut up a soup can, and ghetto-rigged my exhaust to quiet it down a bit:

(just temporary!)


March '09 saw a set of Nova's on Toyo Spectrum 195/65/R15's replace the 14" Dersus' wrapped in Michelin all-season tires:



April '09, I added a third-row seat just for kicks:


That brings us to today.

New suspension:

(Thanks to MattW for the vid and NWS narration)















just kidding! That's just how blown out my struts are. Today, May 20th, MattW and I took a 20 minute drive over to FCP Groton and picked up all this good stuff:


(Bilstein HD rear shocks and Touring front struts, and Kilen Red Sport Springs)

Hopefully going in sometime next week! I'm wicked excited!


Future plans include:

Giving the engine a decent once-over, maybe some N/A enhancements

Possibly replacing the resonator with a glasspack

Fixing the paint on the roof

Fixing the front right fender(thanks jeep)

Maybe ecodes

Maybe, but probably not for a long time (if at all) a +T



If anyone wants to see more pictures, here's my picture thread:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=165178



that's all for now, I'll be updating this as I accomplish more.

[Matt]

Bro, that was a lot longer than 20min, lol.

GET THAT SHYT LOWER.

[aStrauss]

goin down TODAY.

update later!

[aStrauss]

IT'S IN.

Big thanks to Dawson for helping me with the wrenching, and showing me the ropes, and to MattW for cleaning my front wheels, and I think waxing my hood, and all the comedic relief.

[aStrauss]

****, pictures won't upload, grr

[aStrauss]

front driver's side:













Front passenger side:

[aStrauss]

Rear passenger side:













Rear driver's side:





and I tb'd the e-brake cable bracket back onj to the axle, doesn't have to be strong, as the cable is snapped. This is just meant to keep it out of my spring, which is where it liked to hang out before.



AANNDD, the results:

[aStrauss]

thoughts, comments?

[VQ]

Nice, but fail on using tourings in the front, you will regret it.

Otherwise awesome car!

[DNAsEqUeNcE]

Phat dude! Get that front lower. I do indeed recommended a stiffer damper up front.

[WindowsBreakerG4]

I have a very similar suspension setup on my 744, so far I am happy with it. Nice car

[aStrauss]

thanks for the comments guys! I am liking the softer ride up front, and I may end up cutting a coil off of the front springs once they are broken in a little bit. I was running with some dude in a muffstain gt the other day on the highway, flirting with triple digits, and there were no shimmies or bumps or anything. I am so happy with this set up.

[Matt]

but does it still gangsta lean like a cholo?

[WindowsBreakerG4]

Mine does sorta, I am thinking it's rear bushings.

[aStrauss]

yeah, my rear left tire tucks, and my rear right sits right about flush with the top of the fender. I don't know how to change it.

[VQ]

panhard rod.
Posted via Mobile Device

[aStrauss]

orly?

[BoostedSwede]

So I thought the Kilen springs were supposed to be red? Looks good though! Love the new stance!

[aStrauss]

apparently they start off black, and once they are broken in, they turn red.

[BoostedSwede]

Huh? Weird. Howz it do dat?

[Matt]

I'm gonna guess that the black paint is very thin, and it chips off, revealing red paint underneath.

[doucheNozzle]

Wow that paint looks really good for an '88. Should be a fun car!

[BoostedSwede]

Originally Posted by MattW

I'm gonna guess that the black paint is very thin, and it chips off, revealing red paint underneath.

Insteresting. I've been looking at getting a set of these springs, and I liked the fact that they're red. Was gonna paint my calipers to match too. Yes, I think about that. I iz a loser, haha!

[Matt]

Originally Posted by BoostedSwede

Insteresting. I've been looking at getting a set of these springs, and I liked the fact that they're red. Was gonna paint my calipers to match too. Yes, I think about that. I iz a loser, haha!

With your car, I'd do everything white. White bumpers, wheels, trim, grille, calipers, springs, and the red/clear/clear/red tails.

[aStrauss]

Originally Posted by scottyd

Wow that paint looks really good for an '88. Should be a fun car!

paint is absolutely immaculate except for sunburned roof
and a little on the hood

I hadn't even washed it in the results pics

my gf's dad, who isnt hugely impressed with the car, but respects it and likes it all the same, once asked me if I had waxed it recently, the day that I washed it. I said, "nope, just washed it" he was amazed. It is a lot of fun now that I dont feel like i am goin to die from wheelhop.

MattW and I caught air on the highway, doing ~70 around a turn on our way back from FCP ( wee could feel the tires hit the fenderwells, and could smell tire smoke) . I nearly **** my pants. I was on the same highway this past weekend, and hit the same bump, at around the same speed, and no lift at all.