1979/89 Volvo 245 turbo project

X2

Sounds pretty good so far! I'm sure you'll be able to fix all the little issues over time. And yes, also looking forward to 164 updates. Seems like you've come so far I'd think you're past most of the expensive stuff...

YEAH right ... We know that you can do that with your foot on your back... Stop with the excuses and work on it...
Anyhow please don't rush it becaus it got to be prestime when done...

Just read this thread from start to finish. Fantastic work. Really enjoyable read and looking forward to seeing it in the flesh!

Many thanks for the comments.

And glad you noticed us Violet! What were you driving? I noticed a few nice retro cars going the other way.


Further updates:

The 245 did 750 miles at the weekend, mostly fairly fast motorway driving, and generally it behaved very well. We collected some parts and tyres from London on Saturday, and went to the Retro Rides Gathering at Prescott hill climb yesterday - which was excellent!

My air-fuel gauge is now fitted, and the car runs slightly lean at tick-over and when cruising, and slightly rich under hard acceleration. I suspect this is as Volvo intended, but if anybody can confirm that would be helpful.

It is averaging 26-28 mpg including a few fast performance test runs, a week of slow commuting (150 miles) and the motorway drives over the weekend. Yesterday it used slightly less fuel than Steve's k-jet non-turbo 240GLT travelling at the same speed in convoy.

I have an oil leak to fix. It is quite serious, but not bad enough to make the car unusable (about 500 miles per litre). The leak is either from the remote oil filter mount/cooler, or the turbo return pipe. It is rust-proofing under the car nicely! I have asked about that on the Volvo forum 940 section.
www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?p=1469555#post1469555

Ste tells me that there is occasionally some oil smoke from the exhaust on hard acceleration, so I may need to buy a new turbo soon. It would rude not to upgrade!

I think I have diagnosed the 'shunting' problem. When it's doing this, the air-fuel gauge flicks between normal running and 22.4 (over-run fuel cut-off). So I think the fault is a dirty and/or badly adjusted throttle position sensor, which thinks I have lifted off when actually I'm still pressing the accelerator slightly.

This will also have a connection to the slightly jerky take-off from rest, and possibly the fast idling speed.

I realised that I have not properly checked the timing yet, or checked valve clearances, so I will do those jobs and sort the TPS next.

So, some slightly annoying faults but overall it's doing OK at this early stage.

John


PS the Alfa seats are brilliant - very comfortable for 3+ hours continuous driving

Sounds great and it really does look excellent!

Thanks guys!

And mrnoris, you should get one while they're still cheap!

John

Many thanks





I think an update is overdue!


General news

The car is great to drive, and seems to get better and better with more use. 98% of the time it drives really well, just like a modern factory car. Occasionally, at high boost but lower revs, it stutters and Chesh has recommended that I reduce the spark plug gap or maybe try different plugs. I haven't tried that yet. I have tweaked the fuel pressure up a little more and that problem is reduced.

The axle is getting noisier. I have placed a wanted ad for a quiet axle, but haven't found one yet. If you know of one for sale, let me know please.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try some Lucas oil treatment, which effectively silenced a noisy axle in Nick's GLT, so worth a try. I recently checked the axle oil level, and whilst investigating a minor leak, I found that the axle drain plug was less than finger-tight! If that had vibrated out, my problems would have been much worse...

The fuel pump is also noisy. I plan to swap the one from the 940 donor car, but haven't got round to that yet.


Buying parts...

Steve and I went to Chesh's house to buy some parts from the late Pete Fluteman's 940. Sad circumstances, but it was good to see Chesh and Roger. We also met some other old-Volvo fans when we helped Chesh trailer a mostly-restored PV... which had no axles or suspension. Quite tricky loading and unloading!

I bought a 940 turbo cruise control and LPG installation, both for the 245. (This means that I don't need to take the LPG kit off the green 940 turbo, so that will be for sale as a dual-fuel 2.3 turbo with M90, if anyone is interested!)

Always some nice views at Chesh's house!





Suspension

My cheap new-old-stock Koni dampers died. (I guess the rubber seals had gone hard from long term storage). I bought and fitted some new Bilstein B4s. This is their entry-level model, not the B6 sport, but still quality items. I am extremely impressed with the ride and handling now, and at £55 each they are well priced for a gas monotube shock (the type that was OE fitment on the 240 turbo and GLT).


I forgot to photograph the new dampers before fitting, so I'll show you the empty boxes!



Security

I have upgraded the car's security a lot. I won't go into the detail on a public forum, just in case any low-lifes find the info, but in brief: the doors can't be unlocked even if a window is smashed, quality cat 1 alarm and immobiliser fitted, plus various other measures which protect the car.

I also fitted and wired a locking motor on the driver's door, so I now have the convenience of remote locking from the alarm fob.





Rustproofing

The car needs to cope with all weathers, so I repeated the full cavity and underbody rustproofing, before winter salt is on the roads.



Badge

I made a tailgate badge, using part of a 245 GLE badge and part from a 740 turbo intercooler



That's all for now.

Next weekend, we have a road trip to Herefordshire to collect a car.... one of Steve's college friends, Matthew, is a very sensible petrol-head who has been brainwashed by Steve to the extent that he's selling his Saxo and has bought a nice 240 Torslander!


Cheers

John