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The Euromurican; a 242 with an M60B40

I never fail to disappoint =]

Wheel bearings can be changed to something more beefy/modern and probably metric. Saw it in Sweden where some guys with BMW swapped 240's are reaching unhealthy speeds for the stock bearings.

Might be worth it for more metric.

Bla whatever. I just live with it and pretend I don't know. Proven strategy.
 
Nice battery bracket btw, gonna copy it.

Thx! It's finished and placed. There is a 275x175x175mm battery in there, which also is some size in imperial (based on arbitrary sizes of body parts).

I used self-tapping screws for mock up but it's fastened to the body with M8 bolts. I put some foam tape on the brackets tabs.






 
Interesting to see that Varta still makes batteries. I remember seeing them in early 70s. Also Tuder,which seemed to last forever.
 
I'm going to revive this thread for now. I'm actually the guy that sold this car to you back in 2014 - oh the nostalgia of my first ever car. Since then I occasionally check the registers to see if it's still around, and stumbled upon this thread. It's great to see the whip's still going strong (probably going stronger than ever).

I bought the car (after many rounds around the mall parking lot in my dad's mustard yellow 244) from a lady in Velsen-Noord when I was 17. I registered it in my dad's name (cheap insurance + I don't think I could legally own the car due to the fact I hadn't passed my driver's license yet). Anyway, I bought this on a rainy Saturday morning for the grand total of €2000 of my hard-earned money, hoping to turn it into a sleeper one day (I aimed at a blue/white type of thing with gold coronas, similar to Bamse's). As Arno points out: for its age the car was in great shape. It had some minor rust, but other than that I don't recall any serious issues. Ah, I remember one day before Arno came to pick it up, the idle sensor thingie (?) broke, resulting in the car doing high revs even when idling. I was told it's a €5 part.

The car definitely needed some maintenance when I got it, so I had the oil pump, head gasket, and some other things replaced. I vividly remember the time I was driving with my friends (of course after I obtained my license), pressed the brakes but nothing happened (the lady had never checked the brake fluid). I yanked the handbrake to come to a full standstill only 5 centimeters from a concrete wall. Other than that I didn't drive much, maybe 20km a week. The ride was quite smooth IIRC and loved the squeaky seat springs. The sound the doors make when they close is almost vault-like. So heavy and solid, love it.

After owning it for about 7-8 months, Dutch law was changed by the eco lobby. The idea was to bully all Mercedes 190D drivers into oblivion, and for some reason LPG (this car) + Diesel cars were put in the same (high) tax bracket. Also, the threshold for old-timers was raised from 35 years to 40 years. This meant that the monthly costs for this car rose from €17 (insurance) + €0 road tax (>35 years old, and thus exempted) to approx €120. At the time I was still a student living at home and there was no way I could afford this in the long term, especially given the fact I hardly drove it.
Unfortunately I didn't have a barn or garage to store it for another few years, so I ended up selling it (I still have a picture of you and your girlfriend sitting in the car after we handled the paperwork). I absolutely hated selling this car, especially given the (mainly political) reason for it, but it's great to see it's still alive and kicking. You turned it into the Frankenstein that I would've built too, frankly. And by the looks of it, you did a much better job than I ever would've done, so thank you for that.
If you ever want to get rid of it, please let me know and I'll buy it back in an instant. I'll keep following this page and I'd love to see it one day (IIRC your in-laws live in G-town too, right?).

Enjoy the weekend!
 
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Excellent thread!
Such a cool build, can't wait to see it all done.

Also, noticed this when I first clicked the thead:
420d.png
 
I'm going to revive this thread for now. I'm actually the guy that sold this car to you back in 2014 - oh the nostalgia of my first ever car. Since then I occasionally check the registers to see if it's still around, and stumbled upon this thread. It's great to see the whip's still going strong (probably going stronger than ever).

I bought the car (after many rounds around the mall parking lot in my dad's mustard yellow 244) from a lady in Velsen-Noord when I was 17. I registered it in my dad's name (cheap insurance + I don't think I could legally own the car due to the fact I hadn't passed my driver's license yet). Anyway, I bought this on a rainy Saturday morning for the grand total of ?2000 of my hard-earned money, hoping to turn it into a sleeper one day (I aimed at a blue/white type of thing with gold coronas, similar to Bamse's). As Arno points out: for its age the car was in great shape. It had some minor rust, but other than that I don't recall any serious issues. Ah, I remember one day before Arno came to pick it up, the idle sensor thingie (?) broke, resulting in the car doing high revs even when idling. I was told it's a ?5 part.

The car definitely needed some maintenance when I got it, so I had the oil pump, head gasket, and some other things replaced. I vividly remember the time I was driving with my friends (of course after I obtained my license), pressed the brakes but nothing happened (the lady had never checked the brake fluid). I yanked the handbrake to come to a full standstill only 5 centimeters from a concrete wall. Other than that I didn't drive much, maybe 20km a week. The ride was quite smooth IIRC and loved the squeaky seat springs. The sound the doors make when they close is almost vault-like. So heavy and solid, love it.

After owning it for about 7-8 months, Dutch law was changed by the eco lobby. The idea was to bully all Mercedes 190D drivers into oblivion, and for some reason LPG (this car) + Diesel cars were put in the same (high) tax bracket. Also, the threshold for old-timers was raised from 35 years to 40 years. This meant that the monthly costs for this car rose from ?17 (insurance) + ?0 road tax (>35 years old, and thus exempted) to approx ?120. At the time I was still a student living at home and there was no way I could afford this in the long term, especially given the fact I hardly drove it.
Unfortunately I didn't have a barn or garage to store it for another few years, so I ended up selling it (I still have a picture of you and your girlfriend sitting in the car after we handled the paperwork). I absolutely hated selling this car, especially given the (mainly political) reason for it, but it's great to see it's still alive and kicking. You turned it into the Frankenstein that I would've built too, frankly. And by the looks of it, you did a much better job than I ever would've done, so thank you for that.
If you ever want to get rid of it, please let me know and I'll buy it back in an instant. I'll keep following this page and I'd love to see it one day (IIRC your in-laws live in G-town too, right?).

Enjoy the weekend!


Hi man, that's cool you found this. Thread has been dormant for a while and I didn't check TB, or at least not my blog here. Yes, I'm still with the girl from Geleen, nine years already. When it's done and I'm in South Limburg I'll take you for a spin.
 
Excellent thread!
Such a cool build, can't wait to see it all done.

Thx man. I can't either. :omg:

So I haven't been doing too much with this project. I spent time working on my BMW 2000 tilux and Honda GL1000. But whenever I had some spare time I work(ed) on the massive task that is wiring. I got about 90% done now.

51643831041_fd08ec2840_b.jpg



A guy called Airco Leo helped me connect the BMW AC parts to the Volvo AC parts. Made all new lines.

51644046698_7f81939681_b.jpg


And they hold pressure.

51643830991_83d8f715c5_b.jpg



Now I can put the later type dashboard in and finish the wiring. Basically some things need connecting to the center console, I need to make the plug to connect to the M60 harness, and I need to sort out the wiring for the control of the automatic.

51644683985_16f6fb8139_b.jpg


Later more.
 
Small, unspectacular update. Another hurdle though.

The 5HP30 automatic has its own DME, which is great, but it needs wiring. I took some of the harness from the donor when I bought the gear box.

51662499022_01e1c3cb3f_b.jpg



And then I turned it into a simplified loom.

51662387741_ed51f43fae_b.jpg



In theory the DME should now get all the input signals it needs. I probably build the mode selector (visible on upper pic) some where in the center console. We'll see.
 
Remember these?

These are Fiat Coupe seats in a Volvo 242.




Well, away with this sith already! I scored an e63 M6 interior and the front seats fit the 242 well.

51690127521_3a4f9b17fb_b.jpg


They need a paint job but Angelus leather paint works perfect.


Nearly all the interior wiring is done as well. Mammoth task. Soon the dashboard can go back in.

51691017190_99987bdd90_b.jpg



Also pretty happy with how the hybrid shifter turned out.

51690803529_bd2c1f0dc9_b.jpg



I may or may not change the fake wooden lever. Who knows?
 
So last days I've been fixing some small coolant leaks of the engine and other issues (alternator appears to be broken, hurray!) and getting everyting tidied up. Also finalizing all the wiring now and putting things in their final place. Including the setting button for the automatic and seat heating.

52320462082_bb1a89bef8_b.jpg



52320462067_4441b3fef9_b.jpg


That's about how picturesque it gets without spamming with shady pics of uninteresting things.
More later.
 
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