Well, I finally have one; a manual Wagon!! Been keeping my eyes peeled for one, shrugging off nice 2/7 automatic sedans in the process...

Came into work Monday and saw this sitting in the parking lot. A workmate that did a bit of a tune-up on my 242 found out about this one and salvaged it. Apparently it runs good... ! It needs a little tune up, possibly a bit of bodywork patching for insurance inspection. It was free, for good reason to; a fire extinguisher has gone off in the interior.



The plan is to get it running nice and clean it up for inspection, then I'll drive it for a while and see what happens. Other than the drivers seat, the brown interior is in pretty nice shape so I'd like to try and save it. I don't know much about the car other than prior to the skater kid that owned it (how can you tell!?) it was a one owner car.

Engine is the B21A and transmission is another M46 with a currently not-working overdrive.

Watch this space...

DROOOL....
Love the '70's wagons (how can you tell...) Nice score there! Looking forward to seeing this progress.
If you're looking for a replacement driver's seat, I've got a spare in my basement out of my '79 in what should be the same colour. I also have the passengers and rear seats should you want them. All of them are in nice shape AFAIK.

I also have some ignition points sitting around I'll never use again if you want them. My best advice to you for this car would be to find a b21f at the JY, and pull the distributor, ignition computer and harness, and swap them onto the b21a. The points were a never-ending source of grief for me.

What's the mileage like?

I love the old Wagons too... Plus the post '90 stuff with flush rear window!

If you have a good drivers seat, I'll take it. I don't know if there's any point splitting just for one seat though? I'll see how/if this interior cleans up, then we can talk. I noticed the board that covers the gap between the cargo area and rear seat (once folded down) doesn't operate correctly, but I haven't looked into it - probably just needs re-attached. Once upon-a-time a genuine Volvo dog guard was fitted (original brackets still in place, but look broken), I'd love to find another dog-guard for it if you ever come across one. I will definitely want a matching brown vinyl center armrest at some point, to.

I love the beige / brown combo actually. The paint on this is faded and dull, plus all four rusty arches have been rubbed down and primed poorly. There's a couple of holes in the wheel wells on either side, and a couple of patches at the bottom of the rear windows. Door bottoms on the inside are rusty. It's seems like a relatively solid car, none-the-less. I'm just wondering how picky the insurance inspection is with regards to rust holes?

Mileage is around 250-275k I think, I only just glanced at the clocks...

I was thinking about an electronic ignition conversion kit to get rid of the points and condenser; did you ever look into that? I don't think I've ever seen a B21F here, other than in a GT recently, which is now gone!

You're welcome to the driver's seat anytime. I don't care if the interior gets split up or not really, as its all just sitting in my basement. I also have the board in the tailgate area you speak of in brown. I may have some other tailgate panels as well. I'll have to double check the seat to ensure its in good shape, but I'm pretty sure its not ripped. I'm just hoping the brown is the same...mine looks lighter than yours. I don't have a spare dog gate unfortunately.

The mileage isn't too bad then. When I bought my '79, it had over 400,000 k on the clock and the b21a was just fine. For insurance inspection, as long as it isn't an out of province inspection, they don't really care about the rust. I've never had an issue.

As for an electronic ignition kit, IPD offers this:
http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-122/Electri ... -446-1927/
I remember phoning a long time ago to ask if it might work with the b21a, and the guy on the other end didn't know what a b21a was. The conversation didn't last long.
For the money, the b21f system will be way cheaper, easier to install, and fairly easy to find. Any k-jet OHC redblock should work, although I would imagine the b23e distributor might have a different curve? Not sure. With that installed, and the carb in good tune, I like the b21a...with the A-cam and a good exhaust, it makes a nice bark.

What year of Wagon did the interior come out off? The brown interior got lighter with the introduction of the later style dash which was also color-coded, as well as all the interior trim to boot! The dash in this 245 is black, as is the generic interior trim, door handles, pulls etc. You don't have the matching door cards for your interior by any chance?

I cleaned up one of the door cards using some Armor All interior wipes and it cleaned up nicely. It was just a tester though, I'll need to use an alcohol of some sort on it too. The carpet is going to be the worst, probably. I'll need to strip the whole interior as the white dust has got into everywhere, even around the door rubbers. The debris isn't poisonous but according to the closest fire extinguisher it's not very good for your skin!

Mileage on the clock is actually 215k, but the odometer doesn't work. I've got a working spare ready to go in though. I got the original owners manual and some other handbook docs. The only work recorded in the maintenance schedule are the 10k and 20k intervals. The original purchase invoice is complete, although badly faded, but on July 19th 1979 the price of the 245 new was $9,016, which included an AM/FM cassette, block heater, mats and a tachometer! That's really nice to have.



I just like that sort of thing. I'm into my old Volvo literature.

I'll have to look into the electronic ignition kit more. The guy I sold my old 245 to went down this route, so I'll see what worked out for him.

Here's pictures of my old '79 245 DL by the way... you might understand the attachment to this one!!
http://s41.photobucket.com/albums/e279/ ... l/forsale/

Looks like fun Darren, good luck.

So I started cleaning the interior today - Armor All with a lot of scrubbing seems to be working on the vinyl trim and dash (to get rid of the debris stains), but it still needs soaking down in alcohol and another blast with the Armor All.

I just used a Turtle Wax carpet cleaner on the carpet after vacuuming, but it's going to need another few cleans. I thought the carpet would be a pain. Any suggestions for removing years old dog hairs?



Complete with rubber gloves, dust mask and safety goggles. I can't wait to get to bed in literately 5 minutes!

I'm hoping to finish to a reasonable standard tomorrow; it would be nice to get the interior back together. I need various pieces of new trim but I'll worry about that later.

volvoshredder, we'll need to see how the brown color compares. In the mean time there's a couple of (lighter) brown fabric seats from a 2-door at the local wreckers which I'm considering fitting as I think the reclining front seats would be handy in a Wagon.

More to come...

I would almost be tempted to take the carpet set right out and blast them at the car wash. You have the interior pulled apart to this point. Getting the carpets out isn't very difficult...

+1

Not too sure about using the Armorall for cleaning the vinyl, I think an all purpose cleaner diluted in warm water would get it cleaner without any of the slimy residue from AA. Then treat the vinyl with Meguiars or 303, not a big fan of AA it's too greasy and attracts dust.

Edit: For dog hair try using duct tape wrapped around you hand (sticky side out of course ) and dab away. I would definitely do this before trying the pressure washer as the hair will just ingrain itself in the carpet.

Great project

I have to agree though, use mild detergent in warm water to clean the vinyl, for tougher dirt and marks a spot cleaner can be used like Simple Green. When all is clean protect with Meguiar's Natural Shine. It will look amazing and stay clean.

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to respond to your other post...the interior is out of my '79, so I'm guessing it should be the same colour brown. I'll try to get into the basement this week and get a photo for you. Looks like fun!

Thanks for the cleaning tips; I am definitely going to try the detergent in warm water on the seats sometime. The reason I went for Armor All was mainly because it was the best thing I had to hand when 'testing' last week. It cleans the vinyl up real good and I wiped the slimy stuff off afterwards, but I can see where the white debris settles in the texture of the seats when I take a picture with the flash on. It must be because the seats are soft, as the door cards clean up lovely!

Good point about taking the carpet out; somebody also pointed out how I took the seats out with the runners. I couldn't work out the right bolts to undo with the seats in place, but with the seats out I understand now... ! It would have been easier to power wash the carpet but I don't have keys for the shop so it's difficult for me to come and go as I please, but I needed everything back in the car and out of the way again for the morning.

I'll keep the duct tape in mind for the dog hairs...

Anyway, this morning I got the interior cleaned some more and the carpets vacuumed again and cleaned. It looks much better. I cleaned up all the black trim and put everything back together inside. You'd never know a fire extinguisher went off unless you yanked out the dash vents...





After all that I have a list of missing interior bits and bobs I need to pick up at PnP sometime. It's coming together... Anybody know were one could get a carburetor rebuild kit?

Also, today I discovered the Wagon has a reversing buzzer fitted, up behind the trim behind the rear passenger side lights. Wow! That's pretty awesome, because I fitted a reversing buzzer to my old '79 too...

volvoshredder, no worries / rush, I just can't debate what to do about the interior at current, that's all!! The interior does look a little dark in the original topic pictures.

Excuse the lack of updates, but there hasn't... hadn't, been very much happening. That was, until my 242 took another hissy fit the other night so I've decided to screw that and just get the Wagon streetwise!

So, basically, it's been a case of replacing everything that was currently suspect in the car. We've fitted a lot of new parts (new, as in, junk yard new); carburettor, starter, alternator, battery, ignition switch, relays, speedometer, overdrive shifter assembly, rear wiper motor, black leather front seats... ah there's plenty of other smaller things I won't even bother getting into. Upon further investigation the previous owner had fitted a load of spanking new parts; radiator, water pump (possibly timing belt too?), plugs, wires, air filter... it's had some money spent on it.



None the less, it's running pretty nice, with a fully functional overdrive and working odometer so I'm hoping to save a bit of money at the pump... I've been putting a tank of gas in the 242 every four working days and I'm feeling the effects now.

Anyway, it's insured, registered and ready to go. Left to do is the tailgate locking mechanism which will involve a bit of retrofitting. There will be a few other odd jobs for the safety inspection which I'll have to sort out within the next few weeks. I was going to drive it home tonight but we've left it outside the workshop overnight to see how it fires up in the cold with the new carburettor!

I hope to be driving it over the long weekend!

Nice work! Those seats look like they're in nice shape. So I take it you won't be needing my brown front seats? (sorry I forgot to take photos)
Its funny as the hole in your front carpet is in exactly the same place as the hole in my brown carpet on my '79 when I first bought it. The interior is so similar.

Nice score on the seats, they look to be in pretty decent shape. I like the custom tailgate prop stick as well.