So i just recently joined up, made my happy post in the newbies section and headed straight over here. I am buying a volvo in the next 48 hours or so, once i narrow down from about 8 or so choices. only thing i have really settled on is a late 80s/ super early 90s 240/740 sedan/wagon. Because i think there is something wrong in my head when it comes to cars and their use, I give it less than a month before i begin to tinker around with the volvo i buy and find ways to make it go faster. My previous experience on self teaching car repairs and tinkering is solely with my previous car, a rust bucket 73 nova named the harlot that i mention in my newbie post here: https://volvoforums.com/forum/new-me...o-owner-84908/

So with that level of basic repairs, how hard will it be to learn how to tinker on a volvo. And am i correct in guessing that with default engine i will primarily be looking at cam/exhaust/intake changes for the first few months?

 

the best of that lot are the 92-95 940's, they were discontinued after that.

cam/exhaust/intake changes? only reason to tinker with exhaust is if its rusted off, and I'd replace it with OEM equivalent. if you're talking about performance enhancement, you probably want to head over to turbobricks.com, and I'd suggest starting with a 94/95 turbo 940 as its the most robust engine, find one in as good shape as you can before starting to 'enhance' it. warning, most performance 'enhancements' are at the expense of every day 'drivability'.

but then you talk about basic repairs. thats a matter of diagnosing whats wrong, and fixing it.

there's 3 variants of the engine on the 740/940 US models, the base B230F, the B230FT Turbo, and the fairly rare B234F 16-valve. The 16 valve can be a nice engine when its running right, but its got enough weirdness about it, that I wouldn't recommend it, especially for a novice mechanic.

I would avoid any and all 82-87 Volvos as they likely have eco-junk wiring, which will cause no end of grief.

bunch of good tips here. https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/faq/BuyingUsed7xx.html don't let the UK site fool you, at least half that content was contributed by US owners.

 

Alrighties, in that case it narrows it down to the 94 940 sedan with 44k miles on it about 40 minutes away from me

 

All cars are easy to mess with, not so easy to get them done right...

The Volvos of the '80's and 90's are as good to DIY as any other relatively modern car, YET make no mistake, they are not for the totally uninitiated! Many of the comments here are a proof of how owners just start, yes, "messing" around and end up screwing things up to the point where the car probably never will recover without some professional help. Forum help may be useful in some cases but you know, "garbage in, garbage out"... Hard to help fix a car without laying of hands!
DO LESS, is the advice I'd give to all the newly hatched "enthusiasts": take it easy, diagnose, and when in doubt don't just tear in and improvise, better do nothing--it may save you and your Volvo's life!

 

so dont expect flame decals to make an extra 20hp then.. and the rear spoiler was on back order anyways. so ill take it easy on anything i do for now with the car i pick up

 

After seeing a Paul Newman owned 740 with a 5.0 Ford V8 a few years back (smoking its rear tires exiting Volvo of Westport BTW with all the techs agog), there's kits and guides online on how to drop a small block Chevy or Ford V8 into a 740 or 940.. so room to dream big if you are up for it.

 

or read this sticky here,
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...er-mods-40947/

 

You should check out the "Volvette" on youtube.... or...maybe you shouldn't...
Then there'll be a link to a 1K horse power 240, but these are just bodies of volvos with new frames/motors/warp drives....

I've had 6 of the 9 series wagons...I have a fanatic love of them, many 940s, and one 960. The 960 was similar in design, but six cylinders.

I'd love to have a sweet tricked out 940 turbo, but as it's been said I like these cars for their drive-ability... And the rear wheel drive, their turning radius is just crazy, and they can do anything a 15mpg soccer mom SUV on most days. I had a non turbo with blizzaks on it that was one of the best cars I've ever driven in snow. Go figure the Swedes would get that one right.

The only reason I've had so many is that they were totaled out from under me. My 960 survived one of the impacts.

I just picked up a 2001 XC70 and while I like the amenitites there's so much about the 940s I like SO much more... Once the brick love bug bites, it bites hard. Good luck. Don't go to IPD.com if you want to keep your bank account in check.