Volvo 240 Budget Rallycross Build - Michigan

Lof8 wrote: What makes the m50 swapped e30 a "stage 3"?

Cold air intake, exhaust w/ headers, chip and cams. I guess thats what I thought that what stage 3 was, is that not what its called?

irish44j wrote: also, as promised a few volvo rally pics from this weekend for inspiration

Thanks Josh those are some sweet pictures, is there any chance you have contact info for any of the Volvo drivers? I would like to see what set up they are running.

I'll hit up Jared for his email and see if he's ok chatting.

So here is an update, nothing really exciting regarding the car. I missed an event this weekend because I had hockey, we won our conference so I guess it was worth it. Although I would really like to see what this car can do so hopefully soon I can race. The event this weekend was at I-96 speedway looks like they had a pretty good weekend. Here are some pictures just for your pleasure I took them off the Facebook page so don't give me credit for the great shots. Wish I was out there with them, a 240 would have fit in nice...

Another cool thing I found today sitting at Starbucks looking out the window and I saw two identical trailers with Christian Racing on the sides ended taking a picture and of course had to get the Volvo in it but he ended up winning the xgames this year just thought that was pretty cool.

jhockey4 wrote:

Lof8 wrote: What makes the m50 swapped e30 a "stage 3"?

Cold air intake, exhaust w/ headers, chip and cams. I guess thats what I thought that what stage 3 was, is that not what its called?

No, there are no set "stages" to car modification, but you're a young guy and you seem cool and willing to learn, so you get a free pass :)

Some big name automotive tuning shops offer upgrade packages in "stages" but those do not correlate with any universal set of guidelines.

Pretty muchthey way I look at it is you look at the performance rating and determine what "stage" it is on your own if you want to give it a level. Otherwise just call it Stage Me.

BeardedJag wrote: Pretty muchthey way I look at it is you look at the performance rating and determine what "stage" it is on your own if you want to give it a level. Otherwise just call it Stage Me.

Thanks guys I sound dumb now assuming thats what it was, I'll change it now :)

Here is a quote to help get you through the day...

“It’s what non-car people don’t get. People like you or I know, we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities. You can develop a relationship with a car and that’s what non-car people don’t get… When something has foibles and won’t handle properly, that gives it a particularly human quality, because it makes mistakes; that’s how you can build a relationship with a car, that other people won’t get.” -Jeremy Clarkson

Well the snow really came down today so you know what that means... :)

So I figured out how to make about a $10-$15 center exhaust for the 240. I always thought it would be cool to have a center exhaust like some rally cars and I always liked the e28 exhaust set up so looking into it for the Volvo there wasn't really much out there about anyone doing it so I decided to give it a shot. What you need to buy is a exhaust clamp, a clamp on hanger and a cheap tip.

Looking under the car at the muffler it is right in the middle behind the bumper so that makes this a lot easier. (The picture isnt my car I forgot to snap a pic before it was off, this is off Google but you get the idea of where it is located)

That means the tail pipe will fit perfectly in the center if you remove the muffler...

To remove the muffler and tailpipe all you need to do is remove the exhaust clamps holding them on. Once you get the clamps off you might have to use a hammer or your feet to get the muffler off. After you do that then you can remove the tailpipe from muffler, a little twist help to remove that. Once you get those off you can put the tailpipe where the muffler was originally.

Once you get that placed in there tight don't clamp it yet because you have to cut some plastic for the pipe and tip to fit through. As show in the picture I used a jig saw to cut it and that worked really well then I cleaned it up with a die grinder. After the hole is cut grab your clamp on hanger and clamp that with your pipe. (As you can see the black hanger in the picture above) Then finally slap your tip on there and start it up, it sounds so much better without the muffler and also saved quite a few pounds since the muffler is pretty heavy. It's a win-win :)

Since you're in Grand Rapids, look up Houskamp Auto Service way down south on Division St. Bob H. is a dear old friend of mine, and a hoarder of 240 parts. Most 240s came with a plastic belly pan, but the really early ones used metal. You want one of those, and Bob probably still has one, as well as a crapton of other 240 parts, and lots of good advice. Tell him I sent you.

EvanR wrote: Since you're in Grand Rapids, look up Houskamp Auto Service way down south on Division St. Bob H. is a dear old friend of mine, and a hoarder of 240 parts. Most 240s came with a plastic belly pan, but the really early ones used metal. You want one of those, and Bob probably still has one, as well as a crapton of other 240 parts, and lots of good advice. Tell him I sent you.

Okay will do, thanks a lot hopefully I can get in touch with him! Why does he have so many parts? Does he build them or what?

jhockey4 wrote:

EvanR wrote: Since you're in Grand Rapids, look up Houskamp Auto Service way down south on Division St. Bob H. is a dear old friend of mine, and a hoarder of 240 parts. Most 240s came with a plastic belly pan, but the really early ones used metal. You want one of those, and Bob probably still has one, as well as a crapton of other 240 parts, and lots of good advice. Tell him I sent you.

Okay will do, thanks a lot hopefully I can get in touch with him! Why does he have so many parts? Does he build them or what?

Bob is an old pal of mine from back in the late 90s, when I sold him some 240 parts on eBay. We were both 240 nuts, and rather than be competitive, we decided to become friends :)

When I left GR, I gave him all that remained of my 240 parts. I once had a fairly successful side business in parting out 240s, and Bob had a niche business in working on them and/or flipping them for profit. His main business is as a general auto repair shop. (And he's dang good at it - any make, any model!)

But Bob is also a pack rat, and even though the 240 business has declined to almost nothing, he still has a ton of bits stashed away in his shop.

Feel free to get in touch with him - I'm sure he will be happy to meet and help out a fellow Volvo nut - but also remember that he is in business, and that his time is worth money.

Youve got a good start here. As others have said, pcv,Timing belt, water pump, monitor coolant level and if it is the headgasket its not THAT big of a deal.

Seat time and events are what you want. See what you car needs based on how it performs at the events. Resist the urge to just throw parts at it. You may not need them.

Should I paint the rims black or white? I need some advice...

I prefer white over black.

jhockey4 wrote: Should I paint the rims black or white? I need some advice...

Rally cars have white wheels.

(shameless pic whore)

So today today it got really warm so I decided to pick up some paint and paint the nasty brake dust covered rims. Today it got to around 50 degrees and in Michigan that feels like summer. I saw a bunch of convertibles, motorcycles, windows down and sun roofs open like it was 80 degrees out.

Anyway I decided to go with white since it is starting to look like a rally car more and more. I am really happy with the final result, it looks way better than I thought.

It took forever to clean the rims after almost 30 years of break dust on them. I used a lot of degreaser and I was actually really impressed on how well it took it off. I sprayed it then let it sit then wiped it down and kept doing that until they looked almost new. I did 2 coats of gray primer and about 5-6 coats of white and finished it off with a clear coat. A few other little details are I thought would look pretty cool painting the lug nuts red which defiantly wont last but for now it looks awesome and I painted the calipers and rotors black.

I might end up getting some blue mud flaps and paint those lug nuts blue because I want to paint a big Swedish flag on the roof but I feel like that doesn't match red very well...

Oh well here are the pictures of the rims. Let me know what you think about them!

Looks good. Have you installed the mandatory prancing moose sticker yet?

EvanB wrote: Looks good. Have you installed the mandatory prancing moose sticker yet?

Thanks. Haha no I have not, I've got to find some online. Definitely on my checklist!

http://www.davebarton.com/VolvoPrancingMoose.html