New to site, but not Volvo 240's

[ibcmoore]

First off,

Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to join the site. It's LOADED with great info for anyone wishing to DIY their Swede rig. My wife and I have (2) 245's, an '88 and '89, and (2) 244's, also '88 and '89. Both '89s have the "code breaker". She got me into these cars when we met about 15 years ago. She'd had at the time, a 1981 242 DL, tan, and I thought at the time...bleh. I had a 1991 Ford Ranger that I'd had since new that was not any better really.

That '81 242 had been run out of oil twice and never, ever, "grenaded" or seized. I was amazed at how robust it was. When I was 15 or 16, I had changed a starter for a neighbor in what I think was a '79 244. He'd seen me rebuild a '68 VW bug with an 1835cc mill with help from my Dad. Other than that, I had not touched a Volvo since.

After the '81 242 went away (sob...big mistake), we got an '86 245. That went and we got an '88 244 GL, then an '89 245, an '88 245 and finally another '89 244 for our son. It's like an addiction now. What I want more than ever is a Volvo C303 or C306 (4x4/6x6) with the inline-6 (164-series) engine for a cool camping/expo rig. My other favorites are the 242 GT and the Amazon series.

All of our 240's have broken odo's and trip's (common), but I'd say they all have between 200K to 300K miles on them. The best thing is being able to "jack" one part from one car, and jam it into another to T&E it, keep it on the road or just compare worn/broken parts.

I've collected about 3 sets of Virgo's and the nicest one's I've refinished are on my wife's '89 245. I blasted them and sprayed 6 coats of Dupli-color black wheel paint on them, 3 coats of red caliper paint for contrast, and they look great (2.5 years now).

I shot some Virgo's for my '88 245 in Silver, with a clear-coat, but they didn't hold up as well. The clear-coat "yellowed" the overall finish and cleaning too aggressively with wheel cleaner wiped them out. Those, and another set will be shot in black too. I just mounted a bra (front mask) on my wife's 245 and it looks cool against the charcoal-gray paint with the black Virgo's. Window tint is next for that one.

That's all for now and I appreciate the time,

Best regards,

Chris

[Ozark Lee]

Welcome aboard Chris.

It sounds like you have the Volvo bug just as bad as many of the rest of us around here. When they say "Volvo for Life" I guess they mean it.

...Lee