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I wish that I could be like the cool kids

Update: I'll pick up the car from paint tomorrow! I'll get it all back together as soon as I can, hopefully will be drivable by this weekend...
 
The car is home and put back together, for the most part. I'm still working on acquiring a better/full set of turn signals, and I'm trying to sort out a fix for the headlight buckets and grill, because they're all held on by zipties. There's only one tab intact out of the 3 pieces. I took the 242 and my girlfriend for a drive to the coast and there were no excessive problems; there were just things coming to my attention that I would like to get done... eventually. I will go into detail about those things when the time comes to actually do them. It's mostly to do with firming up the handling/steering, and some cosmetic things...

On to pictures...

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And while we were at the coast, I simply HAD to recreate a photo-op from about a year and a half ago when I had the 244 at the same overlook...
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(Sorry for the poor quality)
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That's all for now!

Edit: I also washed the white car;
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THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.

I got engaged over the Christmas break, so that's exciting.

An electrical issue surfaced that left the car sitting for the entire Fall season. Turned out to be an extremely corroded wire clamp on the negative wire going from the battery. I was very relieved that it was a simple fix. In my excitement I forgot to fuel up before making a 30 minute drive into town. Ran out of gas as I pulled into our destination. After I acquired enough gas to limp to a station, it became evident that my battery was not being charged. Over a series of push-starts in an attempt to make the drive our lunch spot, we ended up needing to walk about a mile to wait for a ride. I had to pull the battery to charge it overnight to be able to get the car home.

Here some cool shots my friend Dillon snapped back in September;

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Here is the nasty battery clamp

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There was a lot of ice on the ground on the day of the running out of gas and alternator debacles.

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Here's my dreams for 2016:
-I like for this car to be the get-away car for my wedding in June, so it needs to be AT LEAST running and driving at that point
-The alternator needs to be replaced before I do any more extended drives
-There's a couple more electrical things that need to be ironed out
-I have a simple stereo setup I would like to install if it's going to be taken on any trips

Extended goals for 2016:
-It would be really cool if I could do a +t before the end of this year
-I would love to build some coilovers (already have adjusters sitting in storage)
-Return power steering to working order
 
-The alternator needs to be replaced before I do any more extended drives

You probably need to just replace the alternator brushes. I experienced that issue on my 940 where the car would die out. It'd last long enough on a good charge but die out. Went to one of the Indy Volvo guys and he told me to replace the bushes. He was 1000% certain it was the problem. It took two minutes all together to do and my car works and charges.
 
Progress is slow. I haven't replaced many parts, but I've repaired a fair amount of non-functioning parts. Mostly electrical-related. To start off, the turn signals were non-functional so I simply replaced the relay and they worked, although they flash at double speed suggesting a bulb somewhere is burnt out. Which brings us to the next repair. There were tail lights and brake lights not working as well as one of the rear turn signals. I took a file and shined up all the connections for all the bulbs that were not burned out. Then I did the same with the license plate lights. PRESTO! they all work now! My reverse bulbs were both non functioning so after I filed them I replaced the bulbs and I'm pretty sure they were still in-op. But today when I was backing up, I saw at least one of the lights on in the reflection of someone else's bumper. I'm not too worried about it at this point.

I've been forced to DD the 242 lately because the transmission on my fianc?'s car seems to have crapped out and she's driving my Jetta now. It's getting more enjoyable the more I drive it, but it also brings more things to my attention that need to be fixed.

Enough reading, here's some pic(s)

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Yay lights! It's so nice knowing they can be fixed as opposed to the six panel tail lights that were on the 244 (which I sold to a friend who is loving it and hoping to +T it soon).

During the brief break in between school terms I got a nice package from the guys up North...
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I got new poly bushings for the control arms and new sway bar end links. The passenger side end-link was broken when I got the car so cornering was very sketchy. I was not educated on removing old bushings, and even with help from knowledgeable guys it took way too long to replace them. We didn't realize that the bushings from the factory were in a sheath sort of thing inside the cylinder. So we only got the rubber out and could not figure out why the new bushings did not want to fit. Once we FINALLY figured out what the issue was, we quickly shoved the polys in and I was on my way...

The original end-link. Ew.

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I had to cut the broken one off.
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I didn't get before and after pictures of the sway bar end-links so you'll have to use your imaginations. Here's the old control arm bushings (notice how we realized our oversight and got the second one out in a much more civilized manner).
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This was before we cut the sheath out and were puzzled by the bushing not fitting.
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And new bushings in.
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I have quite the library now...
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I realized that I never showed a picture of how disgusting the air filter was when I bought the car.
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The car drives much nicer now that I can relatively trust it in the corners. it brakes more evenly now too. Still many things on the to-do list. As far as the box from IPD goes, I still have a new OEM shifter cap to replace the broken one;
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One of the low beams for the headlights doesn't work so I drive around with my highs on all the time. There is a bad U-joint in the driveline that needs to be replaced, as well as the carrier bearing. My power steering reservoir/pump has a leak so I need to muscle through parking lots. I'd like to get that fixed ASAP. The other sort of big thing is the driver's seat. There is not really any lumber support, and the bottom is collapsed. Makes for an unforgettable drive. ;-)
I'm thinking about seeing if I can trade my GT seats for some decent black leather 242 seats. It's not an actual GT anyways, so I'd be okay with it... With that being said PM me if you're in the PNW and want a GT interior including seats (all in good condition besides driver's) and door panels.

Sorry for the long post, but I got a chance to take a trip over to Texas with my dad to see the DFW auto show. At the show we got to check out the new S90 and the S60 Polestar (both were reealllly nice :nod:)
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And here's a final shot to finish up this crap shoot, until next time...........
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One more thing, I'm not sure how I feel about the front end. I don't like how the headlight bezels don't match the GT grill. I've thought about painting it all black, but the outline doesn't align very well regardless. Input is welcome.

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Busy Summer....
I've been using the green machine as my daily since the spring, commuting about 30 miles one way. No real significant problems at this point, only little things needing to be ironed out. I purchased some factory length springs because I am not a fan of daily driving a car that's so low. I haven't gotten around to swapping them in yet because it looks so good as it sits now...


I got married in June and had the 242 as the get away vehicle as well as the gift collector!
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I replaced the U-joints in the driveline prior to the wedding, power transfer from the crank to the wheels is so much better. wow.
I took the car to IPD and had a good time.

The most exciting that's happened is that the plug for the headlight switch melted off. I knew something like this was bound to happen because the heater control valve is not working for some reason. I know the cable is not stuck, but that's about as far as I've gotten.

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Here is the new plug I pulled at the JY for $1

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I found out that my R-sport cluster was restored by RSI in 2010. > Does anyone know if the odometer gear in these gauge clusters match the normal Volvo gear? I have yet taken the time to dig into the speedometer and find out.

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One thing that has bothered me about is that the temp gauge always reads the same as the fuel gauge (which is usually not consistent). I would assume that the problem would be with the voltage regulator, but I was not able to find any. Does anyone know where it is, or what's going on?
 
Busy Summer....
I've been using the green machine as my daily since the spring, commuting about 30 miles one way. No real significant problems at this point, only little things needing to be ironed out. I purchased some factory length springs because I am not a fan of daily driving a car that's so low. I haven't gotten around to swapping them in yet because it looks so good as it sits now...


I got married in June and had the 242 as the get away vehicle as well as the gift collector!

I found out that my R-sport cluster was restored by RSI in 2010. > Does anyone know if the odometer gear in these gauge clusters match the normal Volvo gear? I have yet taken the time to dig into the speedometer and find out.

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One thing that has bothered me about is that the temp gauge always reads the same as the fuel gauge (which is usually not consistent). I would assume that the problem would be with the voltage regulator, but I was not able to find any. Does anyone know where it is, or what's going on?
Congrats on the marriage and the great looking 242.

Regarding the cluster. It was restored by roger Patricio in Florida. He is the resident expert on them!
 
My Oh My....

Things have happened. But, on the other hand, they also haven't really happened. It's been almost 3 years since my last update.

IPD 2018 was cool...
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...until right after I left:
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Traffic sucks. All involved were fine. I had just enough of a delayed reaction and my brakes locked up. Slid 6-10 feet into a clean '90s impala SS.



Soon after I lucked out and acquired another 1979 242 (what are the odds?!).
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I graduated from university in June 2018 which feels good. I am officially an engineer. :cool: :-D
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During the summer my daily crapped out ('01 S10) and I found a 1-owner 1988 245DL with 350,000 miles and an m47 for $900. It's been a reliable daily. I'll start a project thread at some point; Stay tuned.
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It wasn't up until this last month that I've been able to start digging into the depth of the damage from my accident. The pics below give an up-close view of what up against. What follows is just a "mental purge" of what's been on my mind regarding this project, so please forgive me for being long-winded.

So I'm honestly pretty intimidated with what repairing this entails and here's what I've come up with for possible routes:

- Pull the damaged areas straight and do nothing about the rust
- Cut out the damaged area and weld in the corresponding body panel from the parts car
- Pull the damaged areas straight and cut out rusted areas then patch

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I have limited welding experience, no easy access to a welder, and my garage doesn't have space for welding. Also, my parts car has considerable rust. It's been a while since I've taken a good look into it, but I know it's not in the greatest shape. As far as a 'direction' I want to take for this car, I think I want to do an engine swap and have it as a "fun car". Then the wagon I'm using as a daily will remain a daily, but it would become a comfortable daily. Alternatively, if this 242 doesn't pan out and the body repairs are too far beyond my abilities and experience, would it make more sense for me to cut my losses on it and on the parts car (maybe a Gambler car), then dump that money into the wagon? It's a hard call to make because this car is special to me, and as a bonus my wife is quite fond of it (I can't say the same for the wagon). I would prefer to not dump many thousands of dollar$$ to just make it roadworthy again.

Please share your thoughts on this, I'd appreciate it.
 
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First, you have a beautiful 242. With the attachment you and your wife (super mega bonus) both have with it, you’ve got to fix it. Even if it sits until you’re making dumb money as an engineer where you can throw meaningless money at it, do it.
 
Pay the best welder you will find in your area and be happy. Don't do it the typical tb-style (bondo and ziptie)
With the help of your wife both of you will have fun with this car again.
Simple job to fix this car proper, my 5 cents.
Good luck, Kay
 
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