240 General: Running only old volvos

[BrianH]

I bought my 245 GL new in July 1989.

Cardiff240 convert your 240 to LPG, the conversion will pay for itself in less than 2 years. As it costs 66.9p p ltr this gives me the equivalent of 40mpg.

Converted in 2001 at 125k the No. two exhaust valve burnt out at 405k.

Converted to a 2.3 engine at 495k, a 127k engine as stand in, while original gets bored out and rebuilt. Volvo now 525k doing 28k a year.

Things don't break they just finally wear out after a long, long time.

This Volvo will outlast me. I am lining up a Grandson to get to 1.000,000 miles if I can't manage it.

BrianH

[Cardiff240]

The real headache was when I bought the Toyota as I traded my 2000 S80 2.9 SE against it as the cost of commuting (and the severn bridge at £6 a day) was too much. You are right about depreciation though, a 5 year old 100,000 mile Toyota is not worth anywhere near what I paid for it however the 240 is pretty much depreciation free.

Another angle is insurance - I'm 28 and the Toyota is £700 p/a fully comp with the mileage (clean license) while the Volvo on classic insurance is £120. A headache indeed...

I do like the sound of the Farina though!

[classicswede]

Coming from a family that have run 240's since the mid 80's doing anywhere from 20 - 50,000 miles in each one per year.

Reliability is very good and running cost a much lower than any modern car. Running on LPG keeps fuel cost down, most service parts are genuine Volvo, often cheaper than aftermarket but outlast cheap aftermarket spares.

We are in a better position than most with a massive collection of spares and knowing 240's inside out. I'd not be so keen if I was depending on a garage to do all the work for me, but saying that it would be the same with any car.

Why do we still run 240's?
Not many other cars will rack up the miles so well
Parts are cheap
Will tow a lot of weight without struggling
loading capacity
head room (7/900's are not as good)
Good comfortable seats
Mechanically simple
Minimal electronics even on late model EFI cars

There just is no other car like a 240, other than a 140 or even the Amazon!

[DW42]

Thank you for your replies -- really good to read about others using 240s as their main car.

Where I am, Australia, New South Wales-Queensland border, rust is uncommon on old volvos. Estates in good nick are thin on the ground. K-jet equipped cars are much cheaper than the later cars. I think what I'll do is buy and fix up the Toyota's replacement before selling the Toyota. There's nothing that looks good nearby advertised at the moment -- but they do come up for sale fairly regularly.

[heckflosse]

Originally Posted by classicswede

Coming from a family that have run 240's since the mid 80's doing anywhere from 20 - 50,000 miles in each one per year.

Reliability is very good and running cost a much lower than any modern car. Running on LPG keeps fuel cost down, most service parts are genuine Volvo, often cheaper than aftermarket but outlast cheap aftermarket spares.

We are in a better position than most with a massive collection of spares and knowing 240's inside out. I'd not be so keen if I was depending on a garage to do all the work for me, but saying that it would be the same with any car.

Why do we still run 240's?
Not many other cars will rack up the miles so well
Parts are cheap
Will tow a lot of weight without struggling
loading capacity
head room (7/900's are not as good)
Good comfortable seats
Mechanically simple
Minimal electronics even on late model EFI cars

There just is no other car like a 240, other than a 140 or even the Amazon!

How many people carriers or modern estate cars can carry a whole bathroom suite inside?
Most modern estates seem designed to actually prevent you carrying a load - I know it is for safety reasons too, but I don't want to fit a roof box or tow a mini trailer just to go to B&Q.
I did struggle to fit an 8x4 sheet of plaster board in , though..

[Stephen Edwin]

Yes re load carrying. I reckon in essence Volvo chose a load space and designed the estate around it.

I cannot be the only one to have carried either a single bed or a full commercial size chest freezer inside an estate, the 245 as it happens.

And without even folding down the rear seat carried: a set of full height dining chairs and on another occasion several full height multi-drawer cabinets.

And with the tailgate open, sitting in the load area with one's backs to the back of the rear seat, two people (or two and a gooseberry I suppose ... ) can have a right good picnic looking out over a marsh or whatever, not cooped behind glass but dry and happy despite the rain ....

[stephend]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

And with the tailgate open, sitting in the load area with one's backs to the back of the rear seat, two people (or two and a gooseberry I suppose ... ) can have a right good picnic looking out over a marsh or whatever, not cooped behind glass but dry and happy despite the rain ....

Except on mine, where one of the gas struts has a habit of detaching itself from its mounting ball, whereupon said tailgate descends majestically and with force onto your head. Which can put a real damper on those picnic moments... I've found...

Otherwise yes, it's almost like IKEA took a generous load of flatpack, and designed the most practical estate car imaginable around it.

[Stephen Edwin]

Oh dear, your poor head. Actually sat up leaning against back of the rear seats, with legs outstretched or mutually entwined, the tailgate would descend in its majesty but, only to reduce your view out ..... the picnic never ends.

(Apologies to CSL and: That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again. AEH)

Anyway why does the strut come adrift? Have you tried swapping the two struts around? That would help to identify where the problem is, in the strut end or in the mounting ball.

Do you have a spare tent pole or similar to support the tailgate?

[stephend]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Anyway why does the strut come adrift? Have you tried swapping the two struts around? That would help to identify where the problem is, in the strut end or in the mounting ball.

The pivot ball screws into a captive nut in the D-pillar. Unfortunately, on mine, the captive nut is no longer captive. The D-pillar does have a hole behind the trim, but it's some way from the location of the nut, so it's hard enough to get in with a hand-tool, let alone a welder. I bodge it back together every so often (then retreat to let the cuts to my hands heal!) but it always comes loose again - sigh!

In principle, I could make an access hole in the right position, but I'm concerned that that would weaken the pillar, so then I'd have to weld in a patch: one of those jobs that's always one for another day!

[Stephen Edwin]

Can you find a long flat piece of metal, suitable to make a correctly tapped hole in, and then poke that along the inside of the pillar from the existing nearby hole? Then screw the pivot ball through the failed nut hole and in to that piece of metal?

Or can you use a Rivnut .... basically a pop rivet with a thread in it to be screwed in to.