Hello,

I currently drive a 94 Benz e320 and I love the car it is just a little rough around the sheet metal for me (rust). I am going to sell it and am looking to get a 240 in good shape. i would prefer a Turbo version but would be OK with just getting the best looking 240 stick that I can find for the money and doing a swap down the road. My background is I am good at engine rebuilds and have done a dozen of them including my 3.2 variable timed 24 valve Merc. If I do a swap I will look for a donor car and pull the engine trans and anything else that should go over and do a complete overhaul with forged pistons, polished and planned head, header, under pulley, high flow exhaust (but balanced) inner cooled and a bit more boost than normal but nothing too crazy, clutch plate and throwout bearings. I will start overhauling the car almost immediately to improve body stiffness and handling. Stiffer sway bars tighter and a bit lower springs (again nothing too crazy) slotted/drilled rotors hefty calipers, Strut towers and such. I would prefer to have the handling and braking to handle 225HP before I put that much power into the car.

So here is my question. I know my E320 in and out but I know virtually nothing about the Volvo 240's. So what do I need to know.

What do I stay away from.

What were the best years for the 240 with Turbo.

Are there any major road blocks to swapping a turbo setup to a normally aspirated 240.

What do I need to know that I don't even know to ask about.

Any and all help will be welcome. I am about 2 months away from seriously searching for the right car, and it has to be the right one. So I am just getting info and trying to get as much knowledge as possible.

Thanks for any input,

Gary

 

Welcome Gary.

sedan? wagon? coupe?
What 240s do you like? There is the 70's which look almost like a 140 in the rear, a middle era in the 80s (my favorite), and the ending 90s. all have some different styling.
post a pic of your insperation....a 240 you see online and want your to be like.

the newer 240s have the more desirable B230F motors. and they have LH-jetronic instead of K-jet.

I can't tell you much, but I love my 82 244T. stock k-jet car for now. soon to have a suspension overhaul, and new brakes.

if your going to jump into the car as soon as you get it, then just find a spotless one and rip it apart. replace what is bad. the engine harness can degrade over time.

wait for the experts to get on......

 

I like the late 80's to 90's cars. I would like to get the engine that can handle the punch I would like to put into it. I am cool with all the styles of the 240's that I have seen. Do you know if the b230f can be turbo'd?

 

All of them can be turbo'd.
Just requires some time and money. the hardest part is drilling the block for the oil return line and finding the ecu/ icu from a turbo'd car and maybe some chips for the ECU/ICU. the late 80's-90's should be LH2.2-LH2.4, There are tuning chips available for them.

Or you can just go down the route of a Programmable EFI and tune it yourself to get full potential. That is what I will be doing down the road. Drop the K-jet, and get Megasquirt. to power a B230FT. I have never tuned a car before, luckly I have a friend who lives really close, who knows how to tune a car right.

simple supsension upgrades can make the car feel really good in the corners, and the 240's have 4 piston calipers, they just have a small rotor. Slot rotors and some nice pads would make it fun. Also, if you do some simple upgrades to the engine, you should be able to see 225hp. Camshaft, Intercooler/pipe upgrades, 3"exhaust, MBC, chips...etc

wait for others to comment.

 

http://www.stiligececilie.net/bilder/rimses.jpg


This is about what I have in mind. I want it to be a bit of a sleeper. I am not into flashy rims and extra stuff to show I have modded a car or that I am trying to be some street racer. I want a well balanced and good performing car that is refined. Something I can go out on a Saturday night with the Wife park it next to anything and it not look 2nd class or like a wanna-be Asian sport compact.

 

It's true you can turbo anything you want to turbo but, I'll start and end my rant with, I'd rather start with a turboed car already than build one.

The from the factory Turbo 240's were introduced in 1981 and ended production in 1985. 1986 marks the arrival of the B234 and that was a good motor til 1989, then in 89 they went to a low friction motor design internally. the motor wasn't weak by any means but it will come apart a lot quicker than any other years. 1990.5 ish they switched back to a motor that was a mix of the original 2.3 liter and the low friction one. It's considered the one to have. Some even have piston squirters. But you can make any motor including the B21 inside the pre 86 cars, a squirter block.

Back to the Turbo years. 1981 through 84 the cars were non intercooled unless someone installed it after the fact, or if y ou bought one of 500 or so 242's built in 83 that had it from the factory with extra goodies. I personally think the 83 242's are the 240's to have. But i'm Biased. *4.5 there were no more 242's you could get one more year of turboed 244/245 until they stopped. They had the B21t motor which I understand could handle the most boost stock of any Volvo motor. Suspension wise they were also stouter. I hear the brakes were better due to larger pistons in the 4 pot calipers, but, I have not been able to see whether or not this is true. Downside, you'll probably have to redo the underhood wiring at some point unless someone did it for you.

1986 was a slight makeover, I don't really personally care for the 86 to early 90's model but everybody has different taste. They're basically all the same car. If you decide to get one of these, get the newest one you can get, more likely to get the better motor.

Your 225 hp ideals are not unrealistic in any way unless you are talking 225 to the wheels. Then you're in for a challenge, despite what someone might tell you.

I have the 1983 242 Group A car that people seem to want. I looked for it for about 2 years before finding this one in the back of a Volvo Shop under a tarp. the car had been sitting for about 14 years when i looked at it. But its nice I like it. I've completed a double sway bar in the rear and a 25mm bar up front, bilstein touring front and rear with cut diesel springs in front and cut wagon springs in rear, Thats to suffice while I build my coilover kit. Brakes, didn't need much work, new pad, new rotors. I've taken the car on a 9 mile very curvy road and worked it pretty hard, had no issues with brake fade. Motor I did some work on but now I have the car up getting it redone under the hood. I'll be happy with 200 whp. So far I've ported and polished the head, including combustion chambers and putting in a singh groove, well I only polished the exhaust side, and chamber, no point in doing the intake. I picked upa 91+ exhaust manifold, have built a T3/4 hybrid turbo .63/.60 original was a .63/.42 (hotside/coldside). I also ported the turbo so it will hopefully flow better. Ported out the intake, redid the throttle body except for removing poppet valve. NPR large intercooler piping and stuff. Building a 3" side out exhaust. Mercedes V8 fuel distributor to get rid of the ghetto cold start injector wiring situation I previously did and also picked up a set of gold injectors. Should be no fuel issues. Man there is a bunch of little things I'm doing to the motor, when i'm done I'll just update my project thread on turbobricks.

Anyways. Yeah you can dump a turboed motor along with all its stuff into a non turbo car. Or start off with a 1985 244/245 and i just make that better. I would look on IPD's calassified or over on Turbobricks classified and find a car someone allready did.

Ramble Ramble.

 

Great info, This is exactly the type of info I am looking for.
My thinking with dumping a turbo engine and trans into a nonturbo car is I am not limited to getting a 244/245 and do a bunch of body work. I can get a pristine 240 body with who cares how many miles and then take my time getting the replacement engine and components when I can. I will do all the suspension stuff first. I have a "you don't have to be fast to be quick" mentality and that is why I am OK with a 240 in the first place. Plus it stands out.

Thanks for the info

 

Well you are limited to getting a 244 (4 door) or 245 (wagon) if you get a car newer than 84.5.

Here's mine, not trying to ***** it out or anything.

 

Yes, your whoring it out.....

loves your adub: clean/ stock looking, with a secret side. arent you redoing the car right now?


Here is mine: stock, but very clean. got parts in the closet waiting for it.

 

I like both cars. I will most likely be going with the sedan.

 

Cool!

I was torn between the two.

I could easily rock a coupe, just got a decent deal on this one.

Good luck in your search.

 

Yeah I'm redoing it right now. I have a bunch of parts for the motor and transmission that have been sitting around. I kept putting off doing the work, but the car was running funny and I know it was because of a crappy fuel pressure regulator. And since you have to remove half the motor to get to it I figured i might as well throw all my parts in. Here i come 250+whp.

 

man if we were closer, I would so help get that rolling.