1986 Volvo 244 Rallycross Beater aka #uglyvolvo

Quick update on what went on this weekend: Saturday I replaced my tail lights, glued my headlight lens back on, put my driver's window back on track, and I did end up building plates for dual rear sways. They didn't end up ideal, but I was short on time and it actually worked really well.

To reiterate, the only real changes to the car between this race and the last were motor mounts, 23mm front sway, a 19mm and 21mm dual rear sway, and Lassa Rally 3 tires. Holy crap did it make a huge difference. The car felt so much better. Not only did the rear tires not light up as soon as I got on the throttle, but it actually went where I pointed it when I pointed it there. I put in some pretty good times, but they weren't all clean. There was a corner in particular I struggled with, it was a tight, nearly 180 left that had cones both inside and outside. If the car was sideways, I was up against the inside and outside cones (at least it felt that way). I think I was sitting somewhere around 3rd in MR class at the end of the morning runs. Sadly, the last morning run was the last run for the Volvo for the day. I heard a loud pop when I took off for my last run, and a lot of popping when I pulled into the pits. The turns out the spiders in my diff broke. Luckily, it didn't tear the ring and pinion up, so I just pulled the diff in the pits, will weld and take it back out to the car this week. The good news is, the same guy that let me borrow his car when it broke at the last event insisted that I drive his car again (no, really, I didn't even ask and was content with riding along with people for the afternoon runs). It was that same 318i that I think is the fastest car in the world. irish44j really screwed his first run up on the really hard to read course, and I ended up gaining enough time and I think ended up 1st. It was a good weekend though, and I couldn't be happier with the way the car felt with just bigger sways and tires. I think I need to address the shocks and springs though.

I think there was talks of one of the Mercedes front springs fitting the front but if rules allow You can put 2.5 springs on stop perches on the front, can't remember the length but it's somewere on turbobricks.

Oh someone mentioned z71/suburban shocks. That's only the front shocks put in the rear on lowered cars (shocks are shorter). Did you ever put the Gabriel ultras on?

50mm bilstein inserts into a custom coilover setup is the answer :)

"irish44j really screwed his first run up"

Understatement of the year, lol

Congrats on the win! You're starting to scare me with your fastness, lol.

thanks now you have me looking...

http://york.craigslist.org/cto/5235848210.html

http://frederick.craigslist.org/cto/5262820916.html

chiodos wrote: I think there was talks of one of the Mercedes front springs fitting the front but if rules allow You can put 2.5 springs on stop perches on the front, can't remember the length but it's somewere on turbobricks. Oh someone mentioned z71/suburban shocks. That's only the front shocks put in the rear on lowered cars (shocks are shorter). Did you ever put the Gabriel ultras on?

I'll look into it. There's way more Suburbans in junkyards here than anything Euro. I'm pretty sure wodified rules allow... whatever. Which is what I want to exploit. Ha.

captdownshift wrote: 50mm bilstein inserts into a custom coilover setup is the answer :)

Ooooooh yeah. I gonna need someone to sponsor me a set of those. Did you see that I'm working on this thing in a gravel driveway? Haha.

irish44j wrote: "irish44j really screwed his first run up" Understatement of the year, lol Congrats on the win! You're starting to scare me with your fastness, lol.

Lololol. It was obvious by how filthy your car was that you made a pretty big mistake. Thanks man! I'm hoping I can start consistently running with you guys in a car that will last an event.

captdownshift wrote: thanks now you have me looking... http://york.craigslist.org/cto/5235848210.html

I fixed it for you based on availability, BUT you should totally snag that thing. I'm not completely convinced yet, but I think the Volvo 240 is the answer to building a cheap, competent RWD car.

In reply to corey_mck:

They absolutely are, and there are some killer final drives out there for that Dana 30 in the rear, 5.84 if you dare go that insane.

captdownshift wrote: there are some killer final drives out there for that Dana 30

I almost feel like Volvo knew that when they built it. I'm heading to the local pick-n-pull tonight to see what diff / gearing / suspension options I can try out for cheap.

This project is fun to watch already. A Volvo wagon like this is on my project bucket list .

corey_mck wrote:

chiodos wrote: I think there was talks of one of the Mercedes front springs fitting the front but if rules allow You can put 2.5 springs on stop perches on the front, can't remember the length but it's somewere on turbobricks. Oh someone mentioned z71/suburban shocks. That's only the front shocks put in the rear on lowered cars (shocks are shorter). Did you ever put the Gabriel ultras on?

I'll look into it. There's way more Suburbans in junkyards here than anything Euro. I'm pretty sure wodified rules allow... whatever. Which is what I want to exploit. Ha.

captdownshift wrote: 50mm bilstein inserts into a custom coilover setup is the answer :)

Ooooooh yeah. I gonna need someone to sponsor me a set of those. Did you see that I'm working on this thing in a gravel driveway? Haha.

irish44j wrote: "irish44j really screwed his first run up" Understatement of the year, lol Congrats on the win! You're starting to scare me with your fastness, lol.

Lololol. It was obvious by how filthy your car was that you made a pretty big mistake. Thanks man! I'm hoping I can start consistently running with you guys in a car that will last an event.

no, that had nothing to do with the mistake. I made the mistake (off-course) and AFTER that I decided that I might as well hit the lake at high speed because who cares at that point, lol...

In reply to corey_mck:

i might have to check out this one as well

The owner wrote an ad that is just shy of "best of" quality and seems like the type who might even come down if they know that it was going to see rallycross type adventures.

In reply to captdownshift:

That 92 looks really good!

captdownshift wrote: In reply to corey_mck: i might have to check out this one as well The owner wrote an ad that is just shy of "best of" quality and seems like the type who might even come down if they know that it was going to see rallycross type adventures.

well, based on my observations last weekend, it does have the required roof rack....

I'm going to make a Facebook group for dirt cheap ($1500 or less) possible rallycross, autocross, GRM or Lemons cars. There are way too many of these things destined for the crusher.

EDIT: Dirt Cheap Future Racecars

I did it. Feel free to join and post anything interesting you see!

NGTD wrote: In reply to captdownshift: That 92 looks really good!

...and it's gone :/

Man, I've been slacking. It's rock climbing season so that's been occupying my time. I also bought another 244 that I've been screwing with.

The car still looks like this... Working on getting the diff welded and e-brake fixed. Maybe next week I'll get it home to get some springs ordered.

New car. I thought it was an excellent deal, but it needs a good bit. Also needs a freaking blower motor. Ugh.

In reply to corey_mck:

Is that the one from Frederick CL for 600 that I posted it looks familiar

captdownshift wrote: In reply to corey_mck: Is that the one from Frederick CL for 600 that I posted it looks familiar

Haha sorry! I couldn't pass it up. Someone posted it on a rallycross group that morning and I was on it immediately. I got the price down a little more once I found out about the blower motor.

Don't be sorry! I'm glad to have contributed to the madness as I'm in no position to pick up another project right now :)

Awesome thread man. Can't wait for more progress!

In reply to MrLittle:

Thanks! It may be slow in here for another week or two, but I have a garage lined up to rent and then I'm hoping to get some stuff rolling on this car.

Actual update:

The final WDCR event was yesterday. Nothing was really new with the car, I got the diff fixed the night before and had an issue on the parade lap with the throttle sticking when I got into boost. I'm thinking it was the recirc valve - I pulled it apart on grid and cleaned it out, and didn't have a problem after that. The car held up the entire event, and Josh (irish44j) even swapped me for a run so I could feel what a proper race car does (thanks Josh!). His car feels excellent, BTW. Anyone who wants to know something about setting up an e30 for RX should check his thread out. Here's a video of one of my slower runs:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBR79pXsJoY

I ended up barely edging out 1st place, and the car lasted the event, so I am okay ending the season on that note.

Neat car! I'm seriously considering replacing my 04 Ion with an old 240 for a daily driver. Obviously a 5-speed wagon would be ideal!

WaterfordMan wrote: Neat car! I'm seriously considering replacing my 04 Ion with an old 240 for a daily driver. Obviously a 5-speed wagon would be ideal!

I bought that blue sedan to be a daily. I'm excited to drive it, honestly. I say do it!

I bet you pick this up to replace the blue sedan

and end up selling the blue sedan to someone on here.