240(245) Minor restoration
 

Hi folks,

Last week I purchased a 240 that's in brilliant mechanical condition. It's rot free (mostly) and extremely solid, but just needs some minor sprucing up, mainly to the interior. The car was purchased as something retro to pull my caravan with and I'd no intentions of doing any restoration work, but now that I have her, she seems to have wormed her way into my affections in just a week and now I'm going to do some work to bring her back to her best!

I'll put up some 'before' pictures at the weekend, and post weekly updates on the work I'm doing. I'm sure you've all got better things to do than read my ramblings about some minor work I'm doing to my old motor, but I'm putting this up mainly as a motivational tool to keep myself going to finish the jobs and in the hope that some kind and wise Volvo guru out there would be willing to give some advice and tips for me!

I've purchased a couple of interior bits and pieces which I need, but I need some other bits and pieces - so if anyone has any interior bits that they'd be willing to sell (especially plastics - A pillar covers, Handbrake surrounds, door pockets and a good condition tan leather drivers seat) please let me know.

On a starter point, I've a bit of a problem with my door speakers - they've been replaced by a previous owner and the replacements must be too deep as they prevent the windows going down. Can anyone recommend a good modern replacement speaker which wouldn't have this problem?

Things I've managed to source and order so far include door handle surrounds, speaker grills, clear indicator lens covers and the vital SEM colourcoat tan/camel interior paint.

So there we go - a little intro from me and hopefully someone out there will be able/willing to give a little advice and maybe find a bit of interest in my ramblings!

Michael

Looking forward to seeing your progress

Good luck

Mart

So do I. :thumbs_up:

They have character, these old Volvos, don't they? :)

They seem to have a habit of doing that!

Im using a small pair of Pioneer speakers in my 240. Cant remember the model number of them but they are roughly the same size as Peugeot 106 rear speakers.

I cut the original speakers out of the square plate they are part of, bolted the new speakers to the plate and this enabled me to keep the original speaker covers too.

Thanks for the support folks, another quick question.

I've been doing some window-shopping of similair cars and I've seen a few nice touchs added that I liked and would like to replicate. I've been able to source most bits I need but one thing I seen that I couldnt find was an alternative grille for the front of the car which, rather than having just vertical 'fins', had both horizontal and vertical.

Anyone any ideas on where I'd go to get one of these?

That's called the egg box grille. Not sure you can buy them new but I have seen them occasionally on the sales section on here.

I've been doing a lot of searching this week for options to do with my front seats.

I've been quoted £300 to repair the front seats and £500 to replace the covers and foam with matching material. Neither of these seem like good value for money to me. I've also been unable to find a second hand tan leather seats.

I have however found an early Volvo v70 with mint interior nearby for for £400. I know that front seats swaps can be done, but I just don't know how hard it is - has anyone done this before and can you offer any advice?

Thanks,
Michael

I`ve looked into fitting 850 seat into my 240 and I`ve found a few things.

1. the seat runnings on the 850 are wider than the 240
2. Brackets would have to be made to fit the front & rear mounting piont.

Hi guys!
As promised, a wee update!

I've been thinking about the 240 all week, trying to think about exactly what to do with her. I want to give a new lease of life, but despite her great all round condition, she's never going to be concourse. I've therefore decided to go down the mild resto-mod route. I know this may be slightly controversial with the purists, but it's what I think is right for the car in this instance and what will mean she'll get used most and draw the most attention.

So I managed to get a couple of hours on the car today (though with the kids helping that means about 20 minutes work!). Here's a couple of the pics of the car at the start of today......

http://i.imgur.com/djENlNy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZGFRR3K.jpg

First thing to note, is that she is remarkably clean. no visible rot whatsoever and (touch wood, mechanically very good).

Here's a few issues that I plan to work on in the next couple of weeks.....

Mismatched door pockets - previous owner seems to have been unable to get hold of tan door pockets so has purchased black ones, missing door handle surround trims, missing speaker grills etc.
http://i.imgur.com/Bq8z0K3.jpg

Front seats - passenger seat is in salvageable condition, but as you'll see the drivers seat is shot - foam is completely gone and the leather is dry, cracked and torn. Also note the missing door handle surround
http://i.imgur.com/PjCQBII.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZqDQh9j.jpg

Front indicator lens' - original orange colour lens'
http://i.imgur.com/ilf3mnL.jpg

Driver's side tail light lens cracked and damaged and missing trim (1xhockey stick and 1xstraight)
http://i.imgur.com/2HLxpsy.jpg

Other issues I want to look at the take her down the resto-mod route are the orange repeater lights and the all important ride height (i'll come back to that in a moment!)

So, as I said, I had a bit of time today and addressed a few issues, firstly the door pockets - I used the correct SEM Colorcoat paint (eventually sourced online for a very reasonable £10 + VAT per tin). I also tracked down door handle surrounds (black) and speaker grills (though these havent arrived just yet).
http://i.imgur.com/UlwKEBt.jpg

after a few coats, these came up well - here's a wee pic of the pieces back in situ..

http://i.imgur.com/qjKWU1j.jpg

next my boys and I tackled the lens'. Here's a pic of the almost finished product. (amber bulbs not yet installed at this point). I got these from parts for volvos online for a very reasonable £10 per corner
http://i.imgur.com/6mu8N7H.jpg

I've been doing a bit of research regarding the seats. Good condition, tan leather 2nd hand ones just dont exist (or so it would seem) so I got some quotes to repair or get new seat covers and with prices ranging from £350 - £800 it just seems too expensive for me. I done some (read as several nights up to the wee hours) reading around online as to solutions and 1 alternative which was raised on another forum was Alfa Romeo 156 seats. I've owned 5 Alfa 156s over the years and my favourite aspect of them is the interior. The article I read said theyre a great colour match and very easily adapted, so an hour after reading this, I'd found a pair 60 miles away for £60 in the right colour so I jumped in the Volvo and went purchasing! Here's a pic of the seats I got. theyre not perfect - very very dirty, but I gave them a quick clean and as you'll see in the pic theyre already starting to come up nice and the colour match is unbelievable, they look like they were made for the car. Next weekend I'll tackle the rail mods to make them fit!
http://i.imgur.com/RS0as9D.jpg

That brings me to the ride height! Again, I've been doing my research and it would seem most people seem to agree that a 40mm drop on the front is as low as you can go without messing with the steering geometry, so that's the front taking car of itself. So it's just the rear end to sort. My 240 is going to be used for towing my caravan in the summer so I cant do anything too crazy. I spoke to the folks over at classicswede and they've given me 2 options which may suit -

40mm front drop, 20mm at rear. This would give a nice 'nose down' stance and with only a 20mm drop at the rear, it'd still be fine for towing, or......

40mm front drop, 60mm rear drop but with the addition of adjustable perches. This would have her sitting nice and low and even out the arch gap out, whilst the adjustable perches would allow me to raise the suspension back up to tow the caravan. I can see the advantage of both and the price difference is only £75 so I'm really not sure which way to go - has anyone got any advice or experience in this area?

So that's it for now! Apologies for the ramblings and the typos, but hopefully someone found it interesting and, as always, any suggestions or input is always very welcome!

Thanks.....
Michael