Ben's 240DL - Stage 0.5 SLOWAGN

[themagellan]

If you are looking to use this reliably I would seriously look into the ignition system. I am not too familiar with these motors... but replacing a cap/rotor/SparkPlug Wires can all be done in about an hour. If you are getting bad gas mileage it is not because there is a clog in your fuel filter (Think about it)

Haven't seen that mentioned in here.... just saying... go do it

Enjoying the 1st hand writing - keep us updated man!

[Justin517]

Throw an old 5.0 from a mustang in it! You can make 300 chp for pretty damn cheap with those things.

[anotherbrick]

I have Bosch plug wires and a rotor on the way, and the car mysteriously came with 3 new distributor caps in the trunk. Hoping that does 'er some good.

This happened. I love the way the snow collected at hilarious right-angles.





Also this happened



AND a couple days ago we got a ton of snow and I put her in a ditch when I got surprised by a snowplow on a county road. Now she won't start after getting yanked out by vt10vt...

[anotherbrick]

Gonna re-recondition the battery today and try to go through diagnosing the no-start.

Apparently the '87 240 was the last without OBD, blinks are cool I guess...except that half of the codes require running and driving the car...

OH and this came off, anyone know what it does?



Sounds like a WWII fighter plane.



Broke off just after the header, so we gon' go ahead and remove that there catalytic converter for now and patch in a couple 2" sections. This bend at the rear bumper before the rear muffler is just tape and baling wire, so that's getting replaced too.





Here's what the new-ish plugs looked like before and after cleaning.



Still awaiting plug wires and distributor rotor...looks like they won't be around for a bit though.

[gtn116]

That big part that came off is optional. Leave it off for headaches and funny looks. ;-)

[anotherbrick]

I didn't have nearly enough fun in the snow for this.

New cap/rotor, nope. New coil, nope. Everything checks out on the multimeter, but still no apparent spark. Fuel is present, and we even dumped some gas down the intake for shits, nope. Nada.

Shop time. I don't have time to really get into this right now because it's my transportation to work and I can't be staying on my girlfriend's couch and carpooling in her Aveo like this forever. Shawn is right in the middle of...well you'll see soon enough, so the last thing he wants to do is scratch his head over a slow-ass volvo. Apparently it's getting looked at today, no news yet though.

Fingers crossed I'll have it back tomorrow, but some other posts about 240 no-starts in the shop suggest it takes a couple days to figure the bitch out.

Oh and fingers crossed the issue with reverse is just the shift lock.

Sorry this project is super boring so far! Things should liven up a bit after the holidays. My girlfriend's grandfather has worked for GM and as a mechanic on American motors forever and he said he could probably hook me up with a decent SBC and maybe even a T5 tranny.

[anotherbrick]

So.

Firestone in Westminster gave up on this car after 2 days. The no-start diagnosis proved too much for the techs there, who were likely put off by the lack of any real OBD capabilities.

Chad at Moonlight automotive had much more success and figured out it was the spark module mounted inside the passenger side fender, and happened to have a new one on-hand. Apparently the most expensive part of the damn car and it's mounted where they get wet and damaged over time and cause ignition issues, then die.



He also replaced the ignition coil, claiming the Accel coil I picked up at Advance was no good for the 240 because of how sensitive the system is to specific resistances and such. Could have just put the old one back, but hey while the system is getting overhauled, might as well leave it.

I changed to NGK platinum plugs, Bosch platinum plug wires, new cap/rotor, and with the new coil she's rockin' some spark. There is little to no sputtering or misfiring anymore, although I didn't notice much of a power gain. Combustion is far more consistent, power is reasonable up to a certain rpm and then is just drops off. I would quote am RPM but I don't have a tach yet...around 4500/5k.



That big part that fell of a little while ago? Many thanks to vt10vt for the help getting it all back together. After fighting with the rusted out exhaust that had disconnected and been removed, it became clear that omitting the rear muffler and turning the exhaust out the side behind the rear mud flap was the most prudent option.

Prepare yourself for how unpleasant this system looks off of the car.





The 90* section at the rear muffler had been generously taped and wrapped with baling wire.







Yeah this is fargd'up. It eventually broke off at the muffler and there was no good metal to be found so...sidepipe it is!



Turn the new section 180* and it was almost perfectly aligned to go right out behind the mud flap. Cut cut tack tack weld weld tape tape...


This was my first real weld on a real thing, not to shabby I think? Nothing beautiful though for sure.

A few quick patches...




Sexy




Even sexier

Annnd pop those hubcaps off to match the grumbly new exhaust sound and we got a whole new animal:





P.S. This assortment of garters is for sale.

[anotherbrick]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WAYGxyGOg[/youtube]

[loxxrider]

haha this is great. Keep up the work.

[Justin517]

Lmao awesome, that thing needs a whistle tip!

[chaloux]

nice beard!

[anotherbrick]

nice beard!

Thanks haha I feel like it's obligatory if you're gonna drive this car anyway.

Today I was going to wash the car and try to get the exhaust hung a little higher to hide the grody frankensidepipe, woke up to this...



I'm wondering if I should worry about the decreased back-pressure in the exhaust after the removal of the cat and muffler, I've been told it can cause valve damage as well as bad O2 sensor readings. The car runs well once it gets going but after a cold start it seems to struggle to sort itself out, missing like a bitch, but it goes away pretty much as soon as you get rolling in gear.

Aaaaaand also Happy Holidays

[Justin517]

I doubt you decreased back pressure enough to hurt the engine, lose some low end grunt... maybe, but you shouldnt hurt a valve or related bits just by running a straight pipe, even just a header should be enough.

I once saw my dads moron friend start up a Mopar 360 6-pack without even headers or manifolds on, just open ports... and revv it relentlessly... it puked valve bits right out an exhaust port.

[anotherbrick]

Holy shit. Yeah it was running with just the header a brief couple trips, now there's just the resonator left. After driving a bit it seems pretty reasonable, somewhat loud when you're on it, not quite silent when cruising. Overall acceptable stage 0.5 quality!

I've embraced the earthworm speeds, and I've got a lot of time to think about the way I want the car set up.

I've read that some people swap the front/rear springs from some aftermarket kits. Apparently they are tuned for less oversteer, supposedly ass-happiness is a liability. The weight distribution in the 240 wagon after V8 installation is way better than the cars they're coming from...so I'm hoping whatever set I end up with will be pretty solid out of the box without such foolery.

[ChrisAudi80]

Hehe, here's some 240 station V8 T inspiration:
http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/07/int ... on-of-fun/

[anotherbrick]

Sick. Love the work with the body panels, this gave me a lot of visual ideas about the car too.

[anotherbrick]

So, high level brake light is the only one working. Bottom tail-lights on when running but don't respond to brake.

Got a new tire put on and the mechanic noticed. They were all working fine a few days earlier...

Pulled the bulbs out and they seem totally fine. I wish it were that simple since they're super easy to change in the later wagon models.

Next step for diagnosis? The reverse lights haven't worked since I got the car, I suspect a pair of wires hanging below the car now, but I can't find where they came off. The dash bulb warning indicator is flickering on and off while driving, and steady when the brake is on.

The old-fashioned fuses have been cleaned, and I don't see any clear damage.

[anotherbrick]

So, I got a side job this weekend that is gonna be pretty lucrative, so I'm looking to go ahead with a good bit of suspension work. Bilstein HD seems to be choice for the 240, but not the cheap route. As it stands the ride is nice and floaty, and the guy at Sears told me the struts and shocks are shot when I tried to get a quick alignment.

I may go ahead and cut my springs a bit and ride them for a bit instead of going all in for lowering springs.

Panhard and torque rods are recommended, but many other parts are dubbed unnecessary to upgrade...any tips/sources for RWD suspension considerations? Things to anticipate for the V8 swap..?

Hoping to get on a lift for a more thorough examination...

[vt10vt]

Also Shawn lets race the Audi and the Volvo right now. Put $50 on it?

I'm telling you, Boge turbo shocks, DIY coils and new bushings and harder motor mounts, and some remotely sticky tires and this thing would feel 1 million times better. It sucks the trans tunnel is sooo tiny or it would be a perfect candidate for a 5cyl, VR or 4.2.

Talk to AngryTaco, he just became a powerflex dealer and could probably set you up with bushings, word on the street is he's saving for VEMS so he's trying to move product
http://powerflexusa.com/2401975-1993.aspx

[DE80q]

So, any update on this? Or have you just been driving it? Would like to see it make it to Carlisle, so dont try anything strange until after that.

[anotherbrick]

It's been a champ getting me to and fro since my civic got sidelined. Overall, after a few months of driving it around I am really surprised by how well it continues to chug along.

I've been lurking around here and doing suspension research, helping Shawn get the Audi squared away when I can so he has more free time to help me pimp the 240. We've been trying to get it on a lift so we can really get at the suspension and pick out good parts as opposed to finding bad ones at this point.

There are a bunch of little interior/trim things that I have been tending to lazily. Looking around for a 5.0.

[anotherbrick]

All the salt here has been exacerbating the rust on the rear hatch...so a respray has been on the mind too. Hopefully I'll be able to time it so the engine is out of the car. Go with a stock white, or switch it up? Blue interior limits exterior choices, especially considering I won't pull the interior to paint and there is white panel exposed in a number of places inside.

I'm leaning white.

[anotherbrick]

Something of an improvement.

20140226_213310.jpg (109.1 KiB) Viewed 41639 times

So I decided to go for it and build a new rear exhaust section and get the car back down to more civilized tones. I am pretty happy with it considering I was kind of putting my rookie welding skills to the test. There are still some little leaks here and there, but it's a relief for sure.

Thanks to vt10vt for the Cherry Bomb turbo muffler.

[themagellan]

Exhaust looks really spectacular! your welds look fine for a gasless mig (doodle spackle always included!). If it's any consolation I am running twin 2.25" glasspacks so I feel your struggle.

A running driving project car is an awesome project car, take your time with the 5.0 if you do things right it will be easy over time. For now it sounds like you are happy having transportation