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Gilda, the 92 240 GL

RAPTOR479

Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2022
Location
Revere, MA
Lurker for some time, relatively active on the Discord, finally decided to make a proper thread on my girl Gilda.

UN4OEmQ_d.webp

This was the first time I saw this gold 1992 240 in person, on a warm September day down a side street in Medford Massachusetts, I didn't know what to make of it, by this point I'd spent the last 6 months scouring the depths of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for a 240 to buy checking an obscene amount of times a day for new listings, having generally resolved by now that I wanted to buy one as a first car. Said six months consisted of a lot of staring at listings of cars too far away for me to get to, and one encounter with an absolutely beat blue automatic 240 in Hyannis.
This particular car had been an insane stroke of luck, appearing one morning in September 2021 on Craigslist listed in Medford MA, a mere half-hour from where I live, this was the listing as it was the first time I saw it.
OpfhWem_d.webp

Despite the listing price of $8000, I jumped on it immediately, figuring it was worth a shot to at least find out why the price was so high, as it turned out, through emails with the seller, the $8000 number wasn't the asking price, and was, by his own admission, to deter lowballers, he never stated an actual price to me through said emails, however.

And so it began, after convincing dad to drive out to Medford one weekend to go see the car, which was in of itself an ordeal, and his generally not-so optimistic attitude about the validity of a 30-year old Swedish car as a first car, we arrived, and I took the picture at the top of this thread. That mightve been the best angle to photograph from, as the clear on the hood was gone, and you cant see it from there. Eventually the seller came out and we got to talking about the car, as stated in the listing it had front and rear IPD sway bars, an IPD adjustible panhard rod, IPD lowering springs and bilstein B6 shocks, an IPD sport catback, as well as GT braces and a (now NLA) IPD front strut tower brace. The car had no visible body rust, the rockers and pinch welds were great and the spare tire wells (buttcheeks) were spotless. At the time my knowledge of 240s was generally okay, and me and the seller had a long conversations about old Volvos and this 240, which the owner before him had named "Gilda" after Gilda Radner of SNL.
lomhwHN_d.webp
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0E7KGSZ_d.webp

The car took two tries to start, which was odd, but the seller chalked that up to possible grit in the fuel lines as he'd recently replaced the in-tank fuel pump (this was not the issue, more on that later)

The seller himself was great, a Volvo enthusiast and absolutely meticulous with maintenance, the CL listing itself essentially being a giant list of parts replaced and work done from 2019 when he'd purchased the car to 2021. With him only selling the car because of a move to London, here's part of that list.
b2RStCS_d.webp

The test drive itself was also great, the car ran great, the handling was great, the M47 Manual transmission worked, the car handled residential and highway driving without breaking a sweat and dad, a (ford) mechanic of 35 years, couldn't find any substantial problems with it. It was during this test drive that me and the previous owner actually started talking about price, I had an alright amount of money saved, enough for a good 240. The first number he threw at me was $5500, which was over my budget, so I followed up with essentially asking the lowest he'd be willing to go, he answered $4000, and I answered "sold". We took the car back to his house, we shook hands, I agreed to buy it, and he said he'd drive it to my house the next day along with a trunk full of parts I was getting and a set of scorpius wheels.

From here, I was very excited, everything seemed to have gone to plan, but if anything is typical with 240 ownership, there is no such thing as "going to plan"

The next day, after school, I arrived home at the same time that a certain metallic Gold 240 pulled onto my street, we unloaded parts from the car and the owner asked me if I wanted to go for one more test drive to get more acquainted with driving the car, since to that point I'd never driven another manual transmission car, not a single family member or friend had one to learn on. So we took the car to an empty lot off the lynnway to practice.

At first everything went okay, until, expectably, I stalled it. Usually this wouldn't be an issue, I've stalled the car plenty of times to date, but this time there was a problem, it wouldn't start again.

To Be Continued
 
Lurker for some time, relatively active on the Discord, finally decided to make a proper thread on my girl Gilda.

UN4OEmQ_d.webp

This was the first time I saw this gold 1992 240 in person, on a warm September day down a side street in Medford Massachusetts, I didn't know what to make of it, by this point I'd spent the last 6 months scouring the depths of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for a 240 to buy checking an obscene amount of times a day for new listings, having generally resolved by now that I wanted to buy one as a first car. Said six months consisted of a lot of staring at listings of cars too far away for me to get to, and one encounter with an absolutely beat blue automatic 240 in Hyannis.
This particular car had been an insane stroke of luck, appearing one morning in September 2021 on Craigslist listed in Medford MA, a mere half-hour from where I live, this was the listing as it was the first time I saw it.
OpfhWem_d.webp

Despite the listing price of $8000, I jumped on it immediately, figuring it was worth a shot to at least find out why the price was so high, as it turned out, through emails with the seller, the $8000 number wasn't the asking price, and was, by his own admission, to deter lowballers, he never stated an actual price to me through said emails, however.

And so it began, after convincing dad to drive out to Medford one weekend to go see the car, which was in of itself an ordeal, and his generally not-so optimistic attitude about the validity of a 30-year old Swedish car as a first car, we arrived, and I took the picture at the top of this thread. That mightve been the best angle to photograph from, as the clear on the hood was gone, and you cant see it from there. Eventually the seller came out and we got to talking about the car, as stated in the listing it had front and rear IPD sway bars, an IPD adjustible panhard rod, IPD lowering springs and bilstein B6 shocks, an IPD sport catback, as well as GT braces and a (now NLA) IPD front strut tower brace. The car had no visible body rust, the rockers and pinch welds were great and the spare tire wells (buttcheeks) were spotless. At the time my knowledge of 240s was generally okay, and me and the seller had a long conversations about old Volvos and this 240, which the owner before him had named "Gilda" after Gilda Radner of SNL.
lomhwHN_d.webp
PtX6fJP_d.webp

0E7KGSZ_d.webp

The car took two tries to start, which was odd, but the seller chalked that up to possible grit in the fuel lines as he'd recently replaced the in-tank fuel pump (this was not the issue, more on that later)

The seller himself was great, a Volvo enthusiast and absolutely meticulous with maintenance, the CL listing itself essentially being a giant list of parts replaced and work done from 2019 when he'd purchased the car to 2021. With him only selling the car because of a move to London, here's part of that list.
b2RStCS_d.webp

The test drive itself was also great, the car ran great, the handling was great, the M47 Manual transmission worked, the car handled residential and highway driving without breaking a sweat and dad, a (ford) mechanic of 35 years, couldn't find any substantial problems with it. It was during this test drive that me and the previous owner actually started talking about price, I had an alright amount of money saved, enough for a good 240. The first number he threw at me was $5500, which was over my budget, so I followed up with essentially asking the lowest he'd be willing to go, he answered $4000, and I answered "sold". We took the car back to his house, we shook hands, I agreed to buy it, and he said he'd drive it to my house the next day along with a trunk full of parts I was getting and a set of scorpius wheels.

From here, I was very excited, everything seemed to have gone to plan, but if anything is typical with 240 ownership, there is no such thing as "going to plan"

The next day, after school, I arrived home at the same time that a certain metallic Gold 240 pulled onto my street, we unloaded parts from the car and the owner asked me if I wanted to go for one more test drive to get more acquainted with driving the car, since to that point I'd never driven another manual transmission car, not a single family member or friend had one to learn on. So we took the car to an empty lot off the lynnway to practice.

At first everything went okay, until, expectably, I stalled it. Usually this wouldn't be an issue, I've stalled the car plenty of times to date, but this time there was a problem, it wouldn't start again.

To Be Continued
Part ll

BH4aHYD_d.webp

I took this picture while waiting for the owner to go get more fuel, as he expected the issue to be something with the in tank fuel pump, I asked around to some volvo-owner online friends and once or twice the fuel pump relay came up as a potential concern, which I suggested to the owner, but with him not suspecting it, and I not even knowing where the pump relay was at the time, we continued with a bunch of fruitless attempted fixes. None of which worked, and eventually, after three hours of "roadside volvo-ing" as he joked, time was up. As we'd been trying to get the car started he'd expressed to me that he understood if the no-start was a deal breaker to me, which it wasn't, I was at least generally confident in my ability to get it started if I knew what the problem was. However, I was still 17 at the time, and it most certainly was a deal breaker to my parents. So I got a rather sad ride home, and, at least briefly, it felt like I'd end up with some Grey 2000s econobox as a first car, or at very least I'd spend more months searching.

However, nothing worth having has ever come easy, so me and the owner kept on contact, the car went to a Volvo shop, who found the problem to be, of course, the fuel pump relay, in addition to a worn out crank sensor. After a few weeks waiting for that to be fixed, a copy of the shop invoice for those two parts (obtained by calling the shop the car was at) was enough to re-convince dad, and it was time for round 2. And so on a weekend morning in October the car returned to my house, dad drove it, this time the car didn't miss a beat, and the deal was finalized (the only difference being the four scorpius wheels were sold off to someone else to cover the repairs) And finally, after way, way too much trouble, the car was mine.

UQP8Hsh_d.webp


This was the largest hurdle, and the car was generally a very good example of a 240, but there was still work to be done. The drivers seat didn't match, some interior trim was mismatched, and there was one small spot of floor rust listed in the ad with pictures. (Turned out to not be so small and accompanied by a second, actually small rust spot) I also wanted to add fog lamps and some other things. In the meantime I scored on a set of OEM tan rubber floormats and a correct chrome grill.
01cmR5X_d.webp

IOqOmEw_d.webp
qMZazKe_d.webp

(Note the black mismatched seat)
yueVyh0_d.webp

I will forever cherish this little headrest sticker one of the previous owners made
fx6McJM_d.webp

In the meantime, I went about sourcing some power mirror switches, I'd got a center console with the car as the original one was long gone, sadly along with the (very hard to find) oem power mirror switches (Yes I know these are wrong for a 92, they don't move the mirrors the right ways, I have the proper red-backed ones in it now)
 
Part ll

BH4aHYD_d.webp

I took this picture while waiting for the owner to go get more fuel, as he expected the issue to be something with the in tank fuel pump, I asked around to some volvo-owner online friends and once or twice the fuel pump relay came up as a potential concern, which I suggested to the owner, but with him not suspecting it, and I not even knowing where the pump relay was at the time, we continued with a bunch of fruitless attempted fixes. None of which worked, and eventually, after three hours of "roadside volvo-ing" as he joked, time was up. As we'd been trying to get the car started he'd expressed to me that he understood if the no-start was a deal breaker to me, which it wasn't, I was at least generally confident in my ability to get it started if I knew what the problem was. However, I was still 17 at the time, and it most certainly was a deal breaker to my parents. So I got a rather sad ride home, and, at least briefly, it felt like I'd end up with some Grey 2000s econobox as a first car, or at very least I'd spend more months searching.

However, nothing worth having has ever come easy, so me and the owner kept on contact, the car went to a Volvo shop, who found the problem to be, of course, the fuel pump relay, in addition to a worn out crank sensor. After a few weeks waiting for that to be fixed, a copy of the shop invoice for those two parts (obtained by calling the shop the car was at) was enough to re-convince dad, and it was time for round 2. And so on a weekend morning in October the car returned to my house, dad drove it, this time the car didn't miss a beat, and the deal was finalized (the only difference being the four scorpius wheels were sold off to someone else to cover the repairs) And finally, after way, way too much trouble, the car was mine.

UQP8Hsh_d.webp


This was the largest hurdle, and the car was generally a very good example of a 240, but there was still work to be done. The drivers seat didn't match, some interior trim was mismatched, and there was one small spot of floor rust listed in the ad with pictures. (Turned out to not be so small and accompanied by a second, actually small rust spot) I also wanted to add fog lamps and some other things. In the meantime I scored on a set of OEM tan rubber floormats and a correct chrome grill.
01cmR5X_d.webp

IOqOmEw_d.webp
qMZazKe_d.webp

(Note the black mismatched seat)
yueVyh0_d.webp

I will forever cherish this little headrest sticker one of the previous owners made
fx6McJM_d.webp

In the meantime, I went about sourcing some power mirror switches, I'd got a center console with the car as the original one was long gone, sadly along with the (very hard to find) oem power mirror switches (Yes I know these are wrong for a 92, they don't move the mirrors the right ways, I have the proper red-backed ones in it now)
Part lll

8OX88vV_d.webp

It was once i was able to bring the car into my trade school that work truly began. First having to get it registered, which wasn't an issue. The car passed inspection with no troubles. Now that I had the proper space, many little things were fixed, then onto big things. I rebuilt the drivers seat entirely (as it had been swapped with a black, non heated seat by the previous owner) I acquired the correct tan cloth, all new back and bottom foam and a wagonmeister heater and seat grid, and also changed some of the broken plastic door pull surrounds on the inside to black ones i also got from the previous owner.
DicdS6r_d.webp

(Cool volvo sticker on the quarter window came with the car and I thought that'd be the best spot)
c0LG2iE_d.webp
vZhc9wF_d.webp

Both of these are the same black seat from earlier, also don't mind the wrinkles in the finished photo, those were sorted out before installation.
XUDdpHp_d.webp

(The tan handle surround on the passenger door has also been replaced by a non-broken black one now)

After the seat was finished, I dove into the rust the seller had described on the car, finding a second (small) spot in the process
nz4OPjg_d.webp
VdDFavd_d.webp

dc6wh0h_d.webp

With those found, I got to cutting and welding, a lot of dialing in the welder and making patch panels was required here, my first big foray into welding thin sheet metal.
OzGAXs0_d.webp

I didnt end up taking pictures of the patch on the long seam, but it too was ground down and sealed, and I was able to put the interior back together.
DGw0DgE_d.webp

Next up was foglights, $100 on Amazon got me a pair of hella 550s plus wiring and instructions, and the aluminum bar below the bumper cover made an ideal spot, and they were tied into an original fog lamp switch.
9OplHb9_d.webp
jppqIFn_d.webp

I also fixed the broken air dam mounting points with some screws and plastic bits I made, but this work concluded the 2022 school year, and
the summer allowed me to put a couple miles on the car, and make an important discovery about it.
 
Part lll

8OX88vV_d.webp

It was once i was able to bring the car into my trade school that work truly began. First having to get it registered, which wasn't an issue. The car passed inspection with no troubles. Now that I had the proper space, many little things were fixed, then onto big things. I rebuilt the drivers seat entirely (as it had been swapped with a black, non heated seat by the previous owner) I acquired the correct tan cloth, all new back and bottom foam and a wagonmeister heater and seat grid, and also changed some of the broken plastic door pull surrounds on the inside to black ones i also got from the previous owner.
DicdS6r_d.webp

(Cool volvo sticker on the quarter window came with the car and I thought that'd be the best spot)
c0LG2iE_d.webp
vZhc9wF_d.webp

Both of these are the same black seat from earlier, also don't mind the wrinkles in the finished photo, those were sorted out before installation.
XUDdpHp_d.webp

(The tan handle surround on the passenger door has also been replaced by a non-broken black one now)

After the seat was finished, I dove into the rust the seller had described on the car, finding a second (small) spot in the process
nz4OPjg_d.webp
VdDFavd_d.webp

dc6wh0h_d.webp

With those found, I got to cutting and welding, a lot of dialing in the welder and making patch panels was required here, my first big foray into welding thin sheet metal.
OzGAXs0_d.webp

I didnt end up taking pictures of the patch on the long seam, but it too was ground down and sealed, and I was able to put the interior back together.
DGw0DgE_d.webp

Next up was foglights, $100 on Amazon got me a pair of hella 550s plus wiring and instructions, and the aluminum bar below the bumper cover made an ideal spot, and they were tied into an original fog lamp switch.
9OplHb9_d.webp
jppqIFn_d.webp

I also fixed the broken air dam mounting points with some screws and plastic bits I made, but this work concluded the 2022 school year, and
the summer allowed me to put a couple miles on the car, and make an important discovery about it.
Part IV

9PsBD3z_d.webp
(note the rust under the passenger headlight)

When I bought the car, it was mentioned in the listing that it might have an IPD cam, this seemed plausible considering the red adjustible cam gear it had. Until this point I didn't have much knowledge of volvo camshafts, but after being told to essentially prove that the car had what I thought it had I went out to the driveway, pulled the valve cover, rear cam cap, oil plug and stuck a dental mirror back there to see what I had
hKIKadf_d.webp

Wumbo performance.
With that I went to work looking for a new cam, settling on either an A or B profile, and after some ebay searching I bought this "AQ120B" cam, which an extra photo from the seller confirmed was indeed an A cam.
gMCDm1X_d.webp
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An ebay delivery wait and short day of work later in the driveway, and the new cam was in, the car fired right up on first start and the difference in idle was noticeable enough, the real difference would be felt next time I drove the car and the engine didn't refuse to pull past 3500 like the previous cam had.
Nu0W05P_d.webp

Another fun tidbit from summer of 22 was that dad, often the critic to this point of the car, with more than a couple screeds about it being unreliable and the like, found himself behind the wheel when his own car (the town car in the back) was down with a failed rear airbag compressor. This made for a fitting, and funny end to the events of summer 2022.


5M8yIr7_d.webp

Now, ever since I'd bought the car, the Clearcoat on the hood had been gone, with a spot on the trunk and parts of the drivers fender also failing, owing to its previous life lived mostly in Virginia, per the original documents. The benefit to going to a trade school once again showed itself when I asked the adjacent in-house auto body shop (myself being part of the auto technology shop) how much it'd be to have the hood, fender and trunk painted, $600.
Dz3HP84_d.webp

So the car went in for paint...
yOCKhjR_d.webp

The body shop hadn't bothered to put the trim that had been off back on, so this picture is after I'd done that, unbolted and-readusted the (usually riveted) part below the headlights as they'd installed it wrong, and owing to the immense skill of the HS sophomores that the auto body department had do the paintwork, they'd only managed to put some handprints on the top left of the hood, bend the front trim (zoom in under the grill) paint a few trim pieces partially (undermasking) and break the plastic caps on the wiper arms, and get an only slightly concerning amount of orange peel. But whatever, it definitely came out how you'd expect a $600 paintjob, but it's better than failing clear and looks good as long as you don't look too close, and it took care of the under-headlight rust, so a win in my book.

Shortly after that I finally got my license, having had been stuck with a permit for almost two years as the driving school trudged through everything as slowly as possible, and I was able to take the car for the first drive where I didn't have someone else with me.
 
Part IV

9PsBD3z_d.webp
(note the rust under the passenger headlight)

When I bought the car, it was mentioned in the listing that it might have an IPD cam, this seemed plausible considering the red adjustible cam gear it had. Until this point I didn't have much knowledge of volvo camshafts, but after being told to essentially prove that the car had what I thought it had I went out to the driveway, pulled the valve cover, rear cam cap, oil plug and stuck a dental mirror back there to see what I had
hKIKadf_d.webp

Wumbo performance.
With that I went to work looking for a new cam, settling on either an A or B profile, and after some ebay searching I bought this "AQ120B" cam, which an extra photo from the seller confirmed was indeed an A cam.
gMCDm1X_d.webp
plkBzBf_d.webp

An ebay delivery wait and short day of work later in the driveway, and the new cam was in, the car fired right up on first start and the difference in idle was noticeable enough, the real difference would be felt next time I drove the car and the engine didn't refuse to pull past 3500 like the previous cam had.
Nu0W05P_d.webp

Another fun tidbit from summer of 22 was that dad, often the critic to this point of the car, with more than a couple screeds about it being unreliable and the like, found himself behind the wheel when his own car (the town car in the back) was down with a failed rear airbag compressor. This made for a fitting, and funny end to the events of summer 2022.


5M8yIr7_d.webp

Now, ever since I'd bought the car, the Clearcoat on the hood had been gone, with a spot on the trunk and parts of the drivers fender also failing, owing to its previous life lived mostly in Virginia, per the original documents. The benefit to going to a trade school once again showed itself when I asked the adjacent in-house auto body shop (myself being part of the auto technology shop) how much it'd be to have the hood, fender and trunk painted, $600.
Dz3HP84_d.webp

So the car went in for paint...
yOCKhjR_d.webp

The body shop hadn't bothered to put the trim that had been off back on, so this picture is after I'd done that, unbolted and-readusted the (usually riveted) part below the headlights as they'd installed it wrong, and owing to the immense skill of the HS sophomores that the auto body department had do the paintwork, they'd only managed to put some handprints on the top left of the hood, bend the front trim (zoom in under the grill) paint a few trim pieces partially (undermasking) and break the plastic caps on the wiper arms, and get an only slightly concerning amount of orange peel. But whatever, it definitely came out how you'd expect a $600 paintjob, but it's better than failing clear and looks good as long as you don't look too close, and it took care of the under-headlight rust, so a win in my book.

Shortly after that I finally got my license, having had been stuck with a permit for almost two years as the driving school trudged through everything as slowly as possible, and I was able to take the car for the first drive where I didn't have someone else with me.
Part V

ua4TxsJ_d.webp

Then, a couple days after that there was a giant snow storm and a very sketchy drive home from school on unplowed roads which prompted me to install dersus with some hankook ipikes which had been sitting in my basement waiting for the New England winter to come out and play.
p5DC1GU_d.webp

(I'm not an evil person who doesn't clean the snow off their roof, all of that was accumulated on the drive home)
G2EnZNn_d.webp

The next day...

I also bought some nice repro tan map pockets to replace the missing ones I didn't have (likely turned to shards at some point.) And continued to daily drive the car.

During this i had been noticing an odd electrical occurrence, when driven on bumpy roads (see: every road in Massachusetts) the cluster would flicker and the needles would bounce, the lights were also usually dim. This was solved by putting some tape on the edge connector that connects to the back of the speedometer, appears it's just lost tension over the years.
AMXMc9B_d.webp

Picture here from before the problem was solved, both Arrows flashing regardless of if the indicators were flicked left or right, the proper side being only a little brighter than the other.
jq7S3iR_d.webp

I put on an IPD skid plate I'd got secondhand (also note the lower chassis braces I installed) this picture is from when I was adjusting the clutch cable, As the bite was higher than I'd like.

I also did a compression test out of curiosity, 160psi on all four with an A cam, 300K mile B230F.


HtXBzot_d.webp

I also just recently I installed a two brand new Skandix Ecodes to replace the repaired, modified and soldered up old plastic composites. Yes I know one is crooked, I need to find out why.

There's still more to come for this car, including such exciting things as a blower motor replacement!
 
And so on a weekend morning in October the car returned to my house, dad drove it, this time the car didn't miss a beat, and the deal was finalized (the only difference being the four scorpius wheels were sold off to someone else to cover the repairs).

wonder where those ended up.....

:^)
 
That's a lovely little project!

I had an A cam in my 1998 b230fk and it made such a massive difference in how the car drove and reacted to the imputs!

Great work and keep on chugging!

ADam
 
So the weather finally stopped being terrible and that was a great excuse to put the Virgos back on as well as take a look at the general shape of the suspension
p4YLFja_d.webp

One of the first things i looked at were the front B6s, being a 92 GL this is an ABS car and ive heard a lot about potential fitment issues with B6 HDs
M5b1mv0_d.webp

these shocks have been on the car since before the previous owner had it, so I'm gonna assume however much thread engagement this is is good
Qzr9xia_d.webp

Being a Virginia car originally, I really do enjoy how un-rusty the suspension hardware on this car is, and yes I did use an original Volvo scissor jack for all this, yes there is also a jackstand under there because I like safety
loIz8vq_d.webp

Bonus rear B6s and old black IPD springs
Z0GN3Uq_d.webp

Dersus, REMOVED
wbrSngl_d.webp

And the Virgos back on the car today, they really are just the perfect wheels for a 240
 
Little side project today, replacing the absolute hack repair the car has had on the fuel return line since I bought it

diP8ydy_d.webp

Before, held together with worm clamps and electrical tape
pvDQoed_d.webp

After
 
If you don't know about it yet BelMetric in Tyngsborough is an incredible help for hardware, hoses and clamps. You can pick up at the warehouse too which is handy if you're in a bind.
 
Got something of a lesser known part to put on, an air guide, I've never seen another 240 with one before but it's just a little plastic sheet with four bolt holes that goes behind the air dam and makes the three vents on it functional, and they're still available new from Volvo.
YfJwD1g_d.webp

mbpIqTf_d.webp
 
Another update with this car...

Fixed switch lighting!
MoXvuFY_d.webp


Now that that's out of the way, since the weather is getting warmer (variably since new england can't make up its mind) I decided to see if I could get the AC to operate, first was to replace the main hose that runs across the top of the engine since it was wrapped in tape in one spot and had old UV dye underneath, that went well according to plan with a new "genuine classic" hose from Sweden, after that was to replace the AC pusher one with one I'd salvaged from the junkyard because the one on the car wouldn't spin and looked like this
Ep8dcNg_d.webp


With that all done and conversion fittings installed, I attempted to put a vaccum on the system, which it did take, but didn't hold for more than maybe 30 seconds. A pound of freon revealed the leak to be a hole in the AC condenser at the front of the car, illiciting this image
vsooboo_d.webp

Soon I'll get a shiny new condenser and hopefully have a 240 with working AC (then sell it on BaT for 40k mwahahahaha)

With my AC exploits on pause I had to find something else to occupy myself, and the horribly innacurate odometer reading was the first to peak my interest. The odometer in this car was reported to me by the previous owner to have broken at about 276,000 miles. It remained as such for awhile, he estimated about 290,000 when it was sent to the world renowned Sudbury Volvo Service of Sudbury MA (Massachusettians will be familiar with their reputation) who did indeed replace the broken odometer gear, and promptly reset the odometer to 000000 for some unknown reason, I bought the car with a four-digit mileage reading that looked like this
uUiIL2n_d.webp

Now, I don't know about anyone else but I quite enjoy the reaction people give to a nearly 300,000 mile automobile so I decided to take the cluster out for the five billionth time and set the reading straight, which surprisingly was much easier than I thought it would be, leaving me with this glorious sight
yq2fy78_d.webp

That concludes my exploits for now, and I'll leave you with this glorious picture I took while riding with friends up to New Hampshire where I totally didn't crack the cat pipe and jb weld patch it back together in a tractor supply parking lot
3cyhLWx_d.webp

Expect some shiny stainless exhaust parts soon
And a rear main seal
And a tailshaft seal
And probably a clutch
Wouldn't trade it for the world
 
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