A few weeks ago I noticed a blue 245 sitting off to one side in a local trailer park. It looked like it had been there for a while. Finally, last Friday, I caught up with the owner of the trailer park, an 80-some year old Korean war veteran. The story was that one of his tenants had given him the car (which he kept referring to as an "English Volkswagen") in exchange for two months rent when he moved out, which supposedly took place six months ago. It turned out that the county was giving him a hard time about all the junk vehicles on his property, so he was eager to get rid of it. He wanted $200 for the car. I told him I would think about it, and he said not to take too long, because it would be getting towed away some time the following week. I went back on Saturday and he wasn't there, so I headed over to a nearby flea market and spent a couple of hours looking at a large quantity of worthless junk, and a few overpriced antiques. On the way back, he still wasn't there, so I decided to try again on Sunday. (I had given him my number, but neglected to obtain his)

When I showed up on Sunday, he was home, and after a bit of hemming and hawing (as I didn't really have a place to put the car, or any way of getting it there, short of an expensive tow truck, and he wanted it gone ASAP) we agreed on a deal---I gave him $100 for everything I could take off of the car that afternoon, and he would have it hauled for scrap. It was then 2:30 PM, and I was determined to get my money's worth, so I had come prepared with a good selection of tools, and tore right into it.

Upon closer examination, the car turned out to be a Canadian-assembled 86 245 DL, Wedgwood blue with blue vinyl interior, AW70 automatic transmission. It had apparently come from New York (as evidenced by an old inspection sticker, and some moderately serious rust) and it had been sitting for more like 3 years than 6 months. Sadly, it appeared that the worst thing wrong with it when it was parked was a broken windshield, and, worse yet, someone had had the bright idea of filling the car up with bags of trash the previous owner had left in the trailer he was renting. This consisted almost entirely of beer bottles, pizza boxes and chewing tobacco containers, so apart from a funky smell, it wasn't as awful as it sounds.

I set to work, starting at the front of the car. The left headlight came out easily, but two of the bolts on the right side started spinning in the plastic frame. Luckily I had brought along a small, almost toylike Skil 7.2V cordless drill I had picked up last week at Home Depot, on closeout at $15 (marked down from $59.95) This was to be its first real workout. It turned out to have been well worth the price I paid for it, as it had no trouble drilling off the two rusted nuts, and several other similar tasks. While it felt cheap and flimsy, and doesn't even have a real chuck (just a quick-release 1/4" hex drive) the lithium ion battery had plenty of power and an impressive run time. I must have drilled for at least 10 minutes, and it showed no signs of slowing down.

Pulled all the easy stuff under the hood, then turned my attention to the interior. Got the front seats, (with intact frames and foam padding) which I needed to rebuild the ones in my 89 244, stripped the dash, door panels, side mirrors, four almost perfect outside door handles, found that the car had once had a big high powered stereo, and two nice monster cables remained inside the dash.

Next step, remove all the trash from the car for better access. Underneath it, in the back, I found a Haynes 240 manual, in good condition, a Stanley utility knife and a Craftsman 6" adjustable wrench. I stripped the tailgate, and then happened to look up and notice that the headliner was just about perfect---a bit dirty, but no rips or tears anywhere on it, so I saved that too. A quick tour around the exterior of the car, removing all the moldings with a putty knife, and then it was back to the greasy work. A look underneath revealed two nearly new-looking mufflers, so I cut the pipe from the cat, and in 5 minutes it was on the ground and out the back of the car (those late-type under-the-axle pipes are SO much more conventient than the early over-the-axle type) Alternator off. ttrying to figure out what to take next, when I had a sudden insight---it would be quicker to pull the whole head than take things off one by one. The three nuts at the manifold flange simply would not budge, no matter what I tried on them (Yes, I had brought the PB Blaster along) but the ones holding the manifold to the head all came off easily. I was worried about the exhaust-transmission bracket, but when the time came, it simply fell apart, due to rust. Cut the cam belt, off with the valve cover, out with the head bolts, (oops, forgot to drain the radiator) then start unplugging all the wires on the intake side. It looked like a good engine harness, and I was hoping to save it, but couldn't get a couple of the connectors apart and had to yank the (intact) wires out, as it was getting dark by this time. Finally got the head off, but somehow managed to put a scratch in the surface, right at the edge of one of the cylinders, so it will have to be machined (I was hoping to be able to use it as-is on my 780 Turbo if it turns out to need one---it looks to be in very good shape otherwise) Pulled the radiator---a like new 3-row Nissens, and added it to the huge pile of stuff I was going to have to cram into my 244 (which is why I really wanted another wagon)

It was well and truly dark by now, so loading up was done by flashlight and dome light. The seats, with headrests removed, went in the back seat, upside down. Lightweight stuff (headlights, taillights, moldings and trim) went on top of them. Heavier mechanical parts went into the trunk. The exhaust wouldn't come apart, so it had to hang out the back, with the lid bungeed down on top of it. My car was well and truly stuffed, I took a last quick look at the faded blue hulk, now devoid of all brightwork, crouching low in the darkness, awaiting its fate, snagged the accelerator cable, idle stabilizer, and a couple of other small bits and pieces, threw them in the trunk, did a quick tool census to make sure no Snap-ons got left behind (not that worried about the other stuff) and headed home.

Left behind were a lot of good parts, that I had neither time to remove nor room to haul. Two near perfect bumpers. A full set of body panels, dull and faded, minor rust in the bottoms of a couple of the doors, a small dent in the tailgate, right below the window, but other than that, all perfectly straight. Didn't take any of the glass, all of which was good except the windshield. The exhaust manifold, with the downpipe and cat still attatched (couldn't get it out, due to its length and the angle required, and couldn't get a good angle on it with the hacksaw) Steering rack, which appeared to be free of leaks. Starter, fuel pump, power steering pump, all of which I already have 3 or 4 good ones of. I didn't touch the brakes or the A/C, figuring that there wouldn't have been much worth having of those systems after they had sat for so long. Same with suspension (front struts were completely blown anyway) I did remember to check for IPD sways---no such luck.

I hate to have left all that good stuff behind, but I have no doubt that I got my money's worth, though I feel kind of bad about having stripped a car that could possibly have been saved (and a wagon, in one of my favorite colors, without a roof rack, no less---in another 10 years, we'll all wish we could get our hands on a car like this to restore) but I figure it's better to have salvaged what I did than to have had the whole thing crushed for scrap metal. It makes me sad every time there is one less Volvo in the world.

The final irony came this morning, as I was preparing to install the glove box in my 244. I discovered the original window sticker for the car, with an MSRP of $16,085.00, and EPA ratings of 21 city, 24 highway, folded up in the pouch with the owners manual. How often does the window sticker outlast the car??