I am absolutely in love with my 1980 242GT which is completely stock, however as it is now getting older I was wondering what kind of (minor) upgrades I can make to it to make it feel like a new. I've been looking around on IPD and there are lot of things on there that I would like to use, but I'm not sure what upgrades would make the largest difference. So far my ideas are:

- replace front and rear bushings
- new front and rear anti sway bars
- sport springs (worried about the change in ride height, need adjustable torque arms?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

*** I picked up the GT in August '12, when it had only 81,000km on it, to the extent of my knowledge nothing has been done to it other than changing the battery and replacing the distributor cap.

Ps. as a side note, I saw a picture of a Volvo on IPD with some wicked wheels (more like centre caps) and I was wondering if anyone can identify them, see attached photo.

 

Those "wicked" wheels look like stock early/mid eighties 240 steel wheels painted black with stock chrome caps.

 

My first few repairs were as follows: red indicates repairs that made a big difference in quality of operation and areas definitely worn out or due for a change 79 242 DL

1) Trans mount..made it shift smoother easy repair
2) Motor mounts...nice and stiff and less wobble easy to moderate repair

3) fuel filter
4) plugs & wires
5) Injector system cleaner
6) Alternator brushes
7) Alternator belts
8) "Timing Belt" cheap and for the age of the car...a must. piece of cake...
9) Coil along with a Turbo model resistor...
10) Manual Transmission Type F fluid change...M45 & M46 1Quart sounds so much quieter
11) Trans fork return spring...your clutch will love it, clutch pedal felt right on...hooks onto fork and onto a hole or gap in the transmission not the body of car.

Springs and strut/shocks will be nice...have not done so yet.

 

if you don't want a harsh ride, don't use poly suspension bushings. stick with the Volvo stock bushings, they last for years and years and 100s of 1000s of miles.

if your steering is vague and/or sloppy, check the inner tie rods.. people replace the outers but not the inners, Volvo never sold them as a separate part but you can get them aftermarket. note there's a couple different steering rack designs that require different inner tie rods.

use boge/sachs automatic shocks/struts for that stock like-new ride quality. most anything else will give you a harsher ride. use volvo OE strut tower mounts.

aftermarket upgraded sway bars will harsh your ride, too. unless you're building a track car for vintage stock rally racing, leave it be. replace the bushings on your stock sway bar. a little lean is GOOD for handling. same goes double for sports springs.

 

Thanks for all the advice!

Anolgies, I'm definitely going to look into doing all those small changes, they never crossed my mind and all the parts for those are really inexpensive!

Pierce, I was actually looking at getting the poly carbonate bushings because they are suppose to last longer, but if they are going to harshen the ride I will definitely get the OE parts instead!

Right now I'm sourcing all my parts over at IPD, is there any where else I should be looking for better deals?

Thanks again!

Justin

 

polycarbonate is lexan, not exactly bushing material, heh.

the poly bushings are a polyurethane elastomer, and actually, they typically don't last as long as the stock rubber bushings, which are usually good for 15-20 years and a quarter million miles.

for stock Volvo parts, I generally go to TascaParts.com but its a really good idea to already know the part numbers. If I need something tomorrow, I go to the dealer.

 

I was looking over my old shopping cart and noticed that the bushings I had been looking at were Polyurethane not Polycarbonate. All though I am an Engineer my expertise lies outside the realm of Chemistry, are these essentially the same material or will polyurethane give me a similar ride experience to the OEM parts?

 

After listening to the polyurethane vs rubber video here:

Polyurethane vs Rubber: No Contest! - YouTube

it sounds as if it is suited for heavier duty performance...scratch and chemical resistant and elasticity that outperforms OE rubber bushings on your Volvo...

but I do feel it will be a stiffer feeling not damping vibration as good as OE stuff...they would last longer according to the report. But since you have a turbo model this would be better...NA...would use OE type.

 

If you do get polyurethane bushings, get SuperPro ones, they are an Australian company, and their bushings are much better quality than the noname 'Uro' stuff that most of the webstores sell.

But what I said above, they WILL give you a harsher ride, transmit more road noise into the car, and not last as long as the OE black rubber. If you're building a race track style car, where handling performance is of the utmost performance, then by all means, go for it. for a street car, even one you want to drive briskly, I'd stick with OE black rubber, real Volvo branded bushings. I live in a rather mountainous area of the California Central Coast, where the roads are narrow, bumpy, and full of tight hairpins, and I drive like a loon much of the time (my 18 yr old daughter says I drive like a teenage boy, hah!).

I put bilstein TC shocks, IPD sway bars, and part poly part rubber bushings under my car (a 1992 740 Turbo wagon), and wish I'd stuck with Boge Automatics, and stock bushings, and maybe even skipped the swaybars, as the ride is medium harsh on bad roads. yes, my car tracks great, and when I put a heavy load in it, it rides really smoothly.

 

I feel the same towards the OE, the video conveyed the feeling of poly = wood bushings...really hard and noisy...I got a 79 and, probably the bushings have been changed once and they look fine, no cracks or bulging out...rides fine...OE BUSHINGS..

 

our 87 240, by the time it got to 250000 miles, the rear end was getting kinda sloppy, had some clunks and side to side wobbles, so the whole car's handling was sloppy. also the steering inner tie rods wore out and had play. I did the rear bushings about 5 years ago, and the steering tie rods last year. It drives great now... that car's shocks are old, too.

 

You guys have been extremely helpful! Thank you so much for all your input. I think I am going to end up sticking to OE parts, I am definitely not building a track car, just something fun and easy to drive

 

For what it's worth, you might want to re-think what shocks and struts you use. The GT had a slightly upgraded suspension in 1980. O.E. struts and shocks were DeCarbon gas units...much firmer than the boge/sachs automatic shocks/struts available today. If you are looking to approximate the original feel, Bilstein HD's are closer. Do use genuine Volvo strut mounts; there re no aftermarket ones from any company worth a darn. Ditto with the bushings. The only place I use polyurethane bushings is on the accessory mounts; alternator, p/s and a/c. They are far superior, IMO, at surviving the oil and heat of underhood.
So...is your GT silver or the black variety?

 

I was looking at the Bilstein HD shocks/struts which what I am planning on getting if I decide to replace them, but my concern is whether or not to pair them with OE springs or a sport upgrade. Most of the "sport" model springs lower the car by an inch or so and I don't want to have to upgrade my torque arms to adjustable ones if I can avoid it.

My GT is a silver one, I have never seen a black one in real life, even though Canada is one of the only places that they were available.

I added a picture of my GT below...

 

Nice! Whenever I finish mine (2015?) I hope it looks as nice. As for the springs....most all springs available in North America are lowering springs as opposed to sport springs. The former are strictly for aesthetics whereas the latter appreciably stiffen the ride. I've used lowering springs on my 144, 245 and 740 and never needed to mess with the torque rods or panhard rods. An adjustable panhard rod is needed when you truly dump 'em as the rear end will track off to one side otherwise. You can run HD's on stock springs (I did it for a while on the 245) w/o issue BUT GT's already have stiffer springs than stock. The 78 and 80 models run the same stiffer springs as found on the 81-85 GLT turbo 240's. For 79, Volvo used even stiffer springs. So, my advice is go with shocks/struts similar to what came on it new and go from there. Here's a pic of my 245 and 144...both with IPD lowering springs...not exactly low riders...
A closer look at the 245...