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Project Drifturd

YourWifesBox

New member
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Location
Belmont, NH
Hello TurboBricks Members. This is my first thread, and my first build.

First off id like to say that I am only 16 (17 in 7 days), and my experience and terminology is very slim. So please excuse my lack of proper wording. But that also doesnt mean my ideas are impossible.

Alright so about the car, Its an 83' Volvo 245 that had a broken odometer stuck at 289k but drove from Washington to Philadelphia where I picked it up in ?Octoberish? for $650 and the only problem was the brakes were none existence.



So I trailered it back to Baltimore and had it sitting in my driveway over the winter where i did minor things, mainly on the interior. Like removed seats, carpets, spare tire, center console, etc... Then in late december I finally decided to take care of the brakes to move it to a buddy's barn/garage a few blocks down.




Found rust, so it will be dealt with


Didn't actually move it until later February...
Well this is where all the fun started... Moved it in the garage, where I then started to really go at it. got the dash out, hood, Doors, trunk door. Then was waiting on an engine hoist, and finally picked one up from my brother-in-law for $75,. and it did all I needed it to. Not sure what I wanna do with it, thinking of turning the block into a coffee table. Anyway, got the harness out cut off the light plugs and tossed the rest. After it was already gone I felt it might have been a bad idea but ill deal with it. Took the whole front end off including the suspension and the brakes I put on 3 or so months earlier.








With the Engine, im falling towards is a 302 out of an explorer. But haven't bought anything yet so my options are still up in the open. I plan on using a s-chassis crossmember, from what I heard stock explorer motor mounts are basically direct bolt on to those. Tranny I want to get is a t5, I just know theyre durable and strong enough for about 400 horses plus it bolts easily to the H.O. . With Suspension, haven't really thought to hard about it. Been doing more research lately but still looking. I am going to fab some towers in the rear to allow coilovers. This will be a longer thread than normal, since money is a bit tight.

When it comes to the cutting and whatnot, since im only 16 im not to experience but so far ive been catching on more and more and the more I do the more my plans change and ideas come about. With welding, I have zero knowledge of. but I did buy a 90amp flux core welder from harbor freight. so I will be practicing. But anyways, ive cut the front fender area and will be cutting the frame back about a foot and a half? And will replace it with bash bars. same with the rear, which ive already cut. The whole trunk is pretty much done, with cutting and all. I wanna set up a 4 link with panhard bar in the rear with the stock dana 30, which has a 3.73 ratio and is open.








Probably just gonna weld the diff and call it a day and not put a lsd for >$300 which is gonna be destroyed anyway. Since ill have the 4 link setup with coilovers its gonna be a lot lower than stock so im gonna cut the tunnel and raise it about 4,5 inches. I think thatll be enough. Ill measure up when I get the rear end on so im not doing pointless work. Well, that's my car for now. I will be posting pictures of it before and after I started the tear down. But since im new I need to figure out how lol. If any of you have experience with builds please pitch in. im always down to learn new ways of going about things. So please no lampooning.
 
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Two builds I could think of off the top of my head:

Adam is a cool dude and doesn't live too far from you. Seen the car in action, and it's awesome.
http://turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306926

This one was cool too.
http://turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252767

If you're on a budget, I'm not really sure why you'd want to do an engine swap and buy huge wheels. Here's a recipe for sliding:
Weight reduction
B230F+T
Manual boost controller
T5 swap (This will be your most expensive piece of the puzzle)
Welded diff
Cut springs

With limited welding skills and a limited budget, follow that recipe and you'll be drifting much sooner than you would with a pie-in-the-sky crazy money build that you'll never finish and end up parting out.

Factor in the cost of tires and events.

When you're ready to move up to big boy suspension check this guy out. Much easier than your S13 conversion silliness.
http://www.kaplhenke.com/

I foresee this thread getting a lot of positive comments and advice /s
 
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Well walter, my main argument for an engine swap is that I found a 302 for like $250 and I believe stock power of one out an explorer is like 215hp, 290ish torque lb-ft. which I don't think would be bad and eventually I can add a turbo so I think for what it is itll be enough plus itll be ALOT cheaper then turboing my b230f which im pretty sure is ****ed, same with the tranny. Because me being a 16 yo. I had a bit fun in the cemetery near me. so I think those are pretty useless now. and I wanted to use the stock crossmember but I figure since it was a 25+ year old car that options for angle are scarce. so I looked up H.O. swaps in 240sx and on a zilvia forum one guy mentioned that with the explorer motor mounts will bolt straight onto the s13 k member and since id have that id be able to place s chassis suspension on the front. See my original plan was to get a b230ft from a junkyard. but couldn't find one cheaper then $400 and like I mentioned early for the same amount of power a 302 can push would cost double to get a b230ft running it. plus id have to get an adapter plate for the t5, oh please if you think im speaking out my @ss let me know. but these are things ive thought of.
 
"options for angle are scarce" lolololol

The 302 puts out more power than the b230ft, yes, but is a s*** ton more complicated to put in there.

Seriously, pulling your engine was a bad move. I'm all about maximum smiles per dollar, because I'm a cheap f***, and drifting can be fun as hell at stock power levels. Everyone wants V8's in their drift beaters but almost no one needs one.

I would love it if you proved all the haters wrong and knocked this out in record time, but I don't see it happening. Good luck with it, regardless.
 
This is the rust cut out, found some more rust when i cut/ground down the seat floor on both sides





The rear end of the frame cut for bars to be replaced, might cut further back of frame.


This is pretty much it, i believe, for now until i start to practice the welding. just been ****ty weather and havent wanted to travel over to it.
 
"options for angle are scarce" lolololol

I know that 240s come with a decent amount of angle (not sure how much exactly) from the factory but i'd like a tad bit more. Not crazy much more, just a little bit.


And like i said i plan on this lasting atleast a year or so, so im not tripping about getting it done ASAP.
 
You got gusto kid, I'll give you that. Just remember, you cut up a pretty clean 245, so finish it. And stick to the K.I.S.S. method. Keep It Simple Stupid. Have fun.

p.s. You may or may not have realized it yet but if you threw that interior away, you threw away potential money....
 
p.s. You may or may not have realized it yet but if you threw that interior away, you threw away potential money....

Oh i still have the carpet and seats and molding to everything if anyone is willing to buy them. just havent had the time to throw the stuff on ebay/craigslist. ive been wanting to tho. Only thing i did throw away was the dash aint thats because it was badly cracked. Thought about trying to save it but figured it be easier to just buy one. Or make one out of aluminum.
 
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You'll end up doing it in aluminum once you see how much $ a clean dash is.

Someone can use that interior stuff if it's clean and priced right so good move.
 
You'll end up doing it in aluminum once you see how much $ a clean dash is.

Someone can use that interior stuff if it's clean and priced right so good move.

Yeah its pretty clean, maybe a few stains here and there. Nothing to crazy.... But the dash ive seen how expensive they can be. but I would like a "new" black dash, the ugly brown, all cracked up wasn't hitting me right. So I wont mind pitching in $150 or so depending if I get it on ebay or the junkyard. But im not quiet at that point yet so im not to worried about it yet.

EDIT: Actually do you know if a 740 dash could fit, with mods im sure of. Im wondering b/c I have a buddy parting one out and dash is one that's going. or would it be better (cost wise, and looks) for just an aluminum one?
 
I dont believe that, there is necessarily a lack of parts, but i do know there is a lot more options out there for s-chassis or even bimmer (which ive considered also) steering/suspension/parts in general and if im not mistaken. Theyre cheaper to. So please... inform me of these sites/links or shops that you know of, and not just act with derision. I would like advice and ideas, not criticism.
 
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http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Volvo+240+steering+angle

Do I have to do everything for you? Literally the first result.

I'm all for being helpful and supportive, but being a millennial you should be all-too-familiar with google.

At the same time as helping your steering angle, it'll quicken your steering a bit (same number of wheel rotations to go lock-to-lock, just lock-to-lock being a lot more angle) and correct tierod angle if you're planning to lower it, to help prevent bumpsteer.

16, using bigger words then you and telling you where to go

I don't see you helping either.
 
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What's the budget?
I dont really have an exact budget. Just whatever i have to spend from each paycheck. Im going to say somewhere between $3,000-$5,000. But dont quote me, just taking a guesstimate.

You're not even drifting yet. Worrying about angle should be far down the road.
Im not necessarily to worried about the angle. Volvo has a nice amount stock. But when it comes to the crossmember swap, i mainly wanted to do it for suspension purposes. if im not wrong theyre is alot more choices for things like nissan and bmw parts, compared to volvo. Not saying there isnt but there is more, so i can change up things if i didnt feel comfortable with it or if it broke itd be quicker to replace parts. This is my thinking anyway.
 
The entire point of the above posts is to make you realize that the parts and availability is out there to use the Volvo design rather than spend a ton of time and money to swap to something else. Kaplhenke racing has some really nice parts that are right on with S-Chassis stuff. In all honesty some of his stuff should work better.
 
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