About the Volvo 740...

I just lost my '89 745T to catastrophic engine failure and a subsequent fire. I picked it up for $350 - all stock with the manual gearbox - and promptly upped the boost and swapped in a hotter cam. The car made just over 200HP and plenty of torque. I had 3 very fun years, but things caught up with me. My car had the thin rods, and eventually the stress of 16psi overtaxed #4, and it decided to leave the engine block.

I'd buy another, but I already have a 240 to play with...

m4ff3w wrote: Great cars. I loved my '91. 20psi of boost on a TD04HL-16t, Enem V15 Turbo cam, NPR intercooler, Ford browntop injektors, straight pipes out to the rear, DIY coilovers on Koni SA dampers, and IPD bars. More fun that a wagon that large should EVER be.

Rowdy!!!

Where do I look for rust on a 740 Wagon?

I just want to know what I'm getting into and how to value the thing...

Thanks,
Clem

I'ver never seen rust on a 740.

Although, I am in San Antonio, TX; so I assume my experiences do not count.

Mine has rust, but not much. Flat part of the floorboards on both sides in the front footwell and slightly under the seat. Should be an easy patch if I ever get to it. Also the seam at the toeboard but thats a bit harder to deal with. I don't have holes there yet so it'll be POR'd at some point. Rockers and body panels are solid, at least on mine.

It seems like the 240s rust a lot more than the 740s do.

740s are galvanised so they shouldn't have a lot of rust.

BoxheadTim wrote: 740s are galvanised so they shouldn't have a lot of rust.

Certain parts are galvanized, but a lot isn't. My 1988 740 Turbo had rust in the front floors, in the trunk, front wheelwells, rear wheelwells, and above the windshield.

The worst spot is the floors around the transverse beam that goes below and slightly in front of both front seats. That crossmember catches a lot of crap, and rusts prodigiously.

Find a solid one, though, and there's not a lot that's more fun to drive!

ClemSparks wrote: Where do I look for rust on a 740 Wagon? I just want to know what I'm getting into and how to value the thing... Thanks, Clem

The seam inside the front fenders. The body seam behind the front fenders, on the floor pan. Upper fender lips on the front fenders. Tailgate/trunk lip. Fake rear frame rails.

I've seen quite a few 740's with rust in those locations.

Alright...
So I went and looked at the 740 today and here's what I know so far.
-It's an '86
-It's a 5 Speed (or is it considered a 4 speed with electric overdrive?)
-It's an intercooled turbo setup

The interior is filthy and the parts of the headliner that are not falling down are long gone. The car appears to have been resprayed at some point (boo!). It's silver. It has factory [edit: Draco] alloy 15" wheels (missing two center caps). The passenger rear door is non functional (who knows why...) and the driver rear window felt (the squeegee thing at exterior bottom) is missing and has been replaced by black duct tape.

This car has NOT been well taken care of.

I think the no start condition is due to a bad head gasket. When you turn the key it tries to start but won't. Then you hear a noise from the overflow bottle and it seems to be under vacuum (it doesn't blow air out when you remove the cap...so it must be sucking air in).

So...how hard is a headgasket on one of these? What all, parts wise do I need to do that job (gaskets, bolts?, t-belt, tensioner?, Etc.)

I'm sure I'll end up with the car (at a nominal price...certainly not more than I could cherry pick a few parts and break even)...I just want to budget my time now.

I didn't get any good overall photos of the car. I did take some surprisingly useless detail shots that can be found here: http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o313/clemsparks/1986%20Volvo%20740/

I'll get more/better photos after I drag it home (hopefully this weekend).

Thanks all!
Clem

I'd buy it just because it's a turbo wagon with a 5-speed, but I wouldn't pay much at all.

Possibly helpful: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/volvo-turbos/

(ya'll forget there's a lot more to the site than searching the forums)

Keep in mind this car was purchased for $500 and driven home. Sure I swapped out the whole interior, but only because it was easier than scrubbing for 3 days. It still has the original good headliner. If you have th espace I'd say grab it and use it for parts to +T and manual swap a 7xx/9xx or 2xx.

Its not that fixing it would be hard. Or all that expensive. Its just that good ones are so damn cheap to start with. I do have some parts if you need them.

The HG is easy as pie. The engine bay is V8 size and everything is easy to get to.

What kind of gas mileage are you guys getting around town?

If I were to buy that 740, it would be for the manual transmission only. So I'd pay accordingly. There are way to many of them in good shape, going cheaply, to waste time and money on a pig.

Well...let's just say that I'll be picking this one up for less than what I could sell the "+T" parts for.

Aside from being dirty and needing some parts (window trim, wheel center caps, headliner material, lots of other stuff that I don't know what it is yet, etc.), a head gasket (probably...), and a whole lot of cleaning...this car is way nicer than what I normally drive.

For the folks saying "these things are everywhere and cheap" must live in areas with a lot more population than I have. There are exactly ZERO Volvo 740 on my loca craigslist right now (or when I searched two days ago). There was exactly ONE rear drive volvo on my local craigslist (and that's an old 242, but the seller is awol, so it really doesn't count).

I'm not going to be paying "real" money for this. It'll be driving and functional for way less than a grand.

When I say it wasn't taken care of...I may have come across wrong. This thing has been owned by a college kid that didn't clean it up or fix minor things. It sounds like it has been mechanically cared for, to some extent (it has good tires on it and a list of recently replaced parts by a mechanic). But basically, it's a 24 year old car that the owners are tired of spending money on when it needs work. I, on the other hand...am stupid and have no problem throwing my own labor at a neat old turbovolvo.

So...is this a particularly good transmission?

How about the engine and fuel injection? Is it easily maintainable, diagnosable, repairable?

Also...

Are the head bolts reusable? [edit: I've since read that they use Torque-to-yeild head bolts...so I know I can't reuse them...but should I look into aftermarket bolts or studs?]

I'm not planning on turning up the wick (boost) on this one...but if there's any nominal upgrades that I should do while I'm in it that far (while i'm replacing the head gasket, that is) let me know and I'll weigh my options.

Thanks, Clem

BattlePope wrote: What kind of gas mileage are you guys getting around town?

I'd like to know what kind of mileage these things get too.

My last one was low 20s mixed IF I kept out of the boost. Without the chips it was 19 max. New one has tank sender issues so I have no idea what I'm getting yet.

As for the HG replacement use top quality stuff now. Turning up the boost is so easy and gratifying you'll kick yourself later if you don't plan for more power now.

Yeah...actually...160 horsepower stock will probably get old fast, so...scratch that part about not turning up the boost (sorry, I'm researching as I go here...just found out that part about 160 hp). I don't want to do anything that will push the limits of the rest of the engine in stock form, though...so I'm not sure what that means (how much boost can I safely throw at an '86...small rods).

What would "top quality stuff" entail on a head gasket job? eEuroparts lists an elring head gasket kit (all the gaskets) for, like $63. Is that top quality, or should I be looking at something else?

Are these heads iron? Are they robust? Should I be looking for common cracks or anything while I have it off?

Thanks,
Clem

12psi should be easily doable with some other upgrades. Stock parts should be fine at that level too but again if you go for more later you might wish you'd spent more for studs etc.

I was blasting around on 20+psi on a 16t with stock head bolts (and factory head gasket with 160k miles on it).

In the 4spd+OD sedan I got about 20 in town, running 12psi. (small rod engine)

In the wagon (auto), at 12psi (stock, just more boost) I got 18ish in town. (big rod engine)

In the wagon with the mods listed at the bottom of page 1, I got 16-ish in town.

Now, I do tend to spend about 80% of my driving in boost...

I just bought my 5th 80s/90s RWD Volvo and as it has been said they're great cars for the money. All were purchased with minor issues (aside from the modded '88 740 I bought with a blown trans) for <$1k, most under $500 and I got many miles out of them. I averaged 25/30MPG city/higway in the N/A cars and 18/26 in the 2 turbo models.

The modded 740 had a V15 Turbo cam, straight pipe, browntops and upped boost and was a blast but kept breaking on me. m4ff3w, I think you might have been the guy that bought it from me after the radiator split in the parking garage where I work...

Lots of fun swaps you can do too, mounts available for Ford (Converse) and Chevy V8s (JTR) that make it a bolt-in affair. I've been dreaming of an LSx powered wagon for quite some time

Well...I got it. Now when it warms up I suppose I ought to see about fixing it.

Clem

I'm looking to buy a 1990 N/A 740 with a no start condition. Cranks, but haven't checked for fuel or spark. Looking at parts prices, I don't think it's going to be expensive to fix in any matter.

The story was that the car was running just fine and then stopped. They sprayed fuel into the TB and got it to start and made it a few miles home. To me, that rules out spark.

The current owner said that he had a sensor replaced about a year and a half ago to the tune of about $250, and it ran fine since. He also said that it's presenting the same systems now that it did then.

Asking around on another forum, I got the recommendation to check the TPS and FPR, then check the fuel pressure. I'd really like to just drive the car home instead of having to tow it. It's a shame that the TPS is a part that I'd have to order. I don't get payed until Friday, and I want to bring it home Saturday at the latest.

Should I just buy the FPR and TPS, install them and see if that's the issue and if not, return them? Sounds like a plan to me.

The car is going to be my brother in law's car for college. He needs something less theft attractive and with better fuel econ than his current V8 F150. He likes the idea of a wagon. I'll get his truck while he's in school.

If all of that sounds right, let me know and I'll get on with it.

Thanks

I would not blindly buy parts to throw at a problem, but that's just me. I'd prefer to diagnose the problem and then fix what was wrong. You know, doing things like jumpering the fuel pump to see if it actually works, etc.