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Alrighty. Here goes. A which would you do, if you had to do all your work in the parking lot of your work because you are one of those folks who don't have their own garage yet?
I've got two volvos, each with their issues, and there are two craigslist prospects... how would you match all of em up?
My first car was an 88 760 turbo. While I did a lot of work on it, it never really ran great. It taught me how to wrench on volvos though and brought a lot of enjoyment. It is currently parked, waiting to be fixed and dd/ demoed/fixed and roll caged (the dream, right?)
Status: Engine timing issues, current theory is distributor is one tooth off, and perhaps weights frozen up inside (my dad's idea with description of symptoms) broken windshield, no radio, drivers seat doesn't move, headlights dont turn out, windshield washers, blower motor, turn signal lenses, needs rotors. The exhaust is a strait pipe side dump... not super legit. Good suspension, wheels and tires. Uninsured, unregistered and uninspected
I went into ford panther territory, with a mercury grand marquis, but then moved on to this 90 volvo 240 DL. The torque converter on the mercury was increasing the amount of metal in the tranny with every inch it moved, so I needed something quick. This ran, not quite right, but it did. I thought, perfect. I can work on it, it'll be a tank, this will solve my problem.
I replaced plugs, wires, cap and rotor, cleaned IAC, MAF and throttle body. Replaced 2 quarts of ATF and put a new radiator on it. It's got a full 2.5 inch exhaust, no cat, no o2 sensor (wtf?) and I was just discovering all of the goodness when undoubtedly all of the coolant ended up in the oil today with white smoke pouring out the exhaust and squealing coming from the engine. OOf. that'll be one headgasket right there folks. The temp guage never worked, the mechanical guage I installed in the radiator turned out to be cracked so who knows how much it overheated. I suspect not much at all as I've been paying pretty close attention, but who knows.
even if I fix the coolant going straight into the oil issue, and the head isn't warped, the blower motor is still out, the rear hatch handle is broken, and there is the whole deleted o2 sensor/no cat nonsense as well as whatever I haven't found yet. I think it might be fine here in VT because its 25 years old but Im not sure... my hunch is I still need the cat, but nothing else. Not too much but still, issues.
So those are the two volvos I own...
These are the two on craigslist:
A 93 240 wagon on craigslist that "probably needs front brakes, exhaust, lenses all around, drivers door handle mechanism, and starter. going to scrap this weekend" $400, 235K miles Seller has responded... Im sure there's more old volvo issues than that but that seems workable... except for my huge catless exhaust hah. I figure a magnaflow will weld on without too much more expense. My lenses aren't great, but we do have a pick and pull, I had to get there eventually.
An 88 740
ssues: Rear brake pads and rotors, tailgate lever does not work, bypassed with cable, front passenger door does not lock, rear seat fold down lever broken, sunroof does not open, both passenger side tires have slow leaks. Exhaust cracked but not very rusty. $600, 260K miles. seller hasn't responded yet.
Last summer I built a tiny house, this summer I build a garage *hopefully* and I keep wasting all my money messing around on volvos. Not that its not great, its just I need something reliable and legal for now and less project-y. I'm leaning towards getting the 88 740, pulling my good wheels, brakes, exhaust from my 760... and going with that. Selling the 240 for whatever I can get.
What would you do? Fix one of mine? I'm a little intimidated by a head gasket job... I'm also totally happy keeping one car around as a racecar future project but not two... cant redneck empire that much this early in life. Or buy the 740 or 240 and use my boned up cars as parts cars?
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