Pay Homage to the Brick

[aprophet13]

S/W users, just thought I would take the time to introduce myself and my ride, Olga: The little '82 242 Turbo that could.

Build Thread Here

*DISCLAIMER* I apologize in advance for the shitty cell phones pics, I don't have a good camera. Also for the monstrous size of the photos. I've read plenty of forums but actually posting is new to me.

I'm 18 and live in the bay area, when I first started looking for a project car I had the classic 240 beater drift car in mind. By chance a guy was selling his "drift" volvo and I actually thought it looked badass. This was my introduction to the world of bricks.

She was different, quirky, but kinda cool. Volvos remind of a cute, "nerdy" girl in your class. Sure, she's kinda weird, maybe a little rough around the edges, and definitely isn't the first to come to mind when you think of looks, but the fact that people overlook
her is sort of what makes her cool. And when she tries to look good those same people who overlooked her think wow she's hot! I decided to go for it. I picked up Olga from a guy in san jose looking like this:



The odo was stopped at 181,664 when I bought it. I'm guessing it has over 200k easy. Surprisingly she still runs strong. And by strong I mean can't hold an idle when cold, the gas needs to be pumped furiously
to get it to start, and has left me stranded 2 or 3 times. When your car is 30 years old what can you expect.

First thing to go was the black lip on the air dam, looked to cluttered to me. Oh, and also the tires. For some reason they were down to the cords in the rear, wonder how that happened.

the steelies are 16x7 et0 and 16x8 et-10. fenders were already rolled front and rear. Welded diff. 3 in. exhaust. Pretty good starting point.

Fixed some things that needed attention like the alternator, electric radiator fan, etc.
Then it was on to getting Olga looking much better.

Rolling shot of her nice and clean:



I swapped the front end on from a '75 240. The sealed beam lights that came with it were beyond junk so I got some cheap ebay replacements:



My friend is an up and coming artist. A sample of his work can be found on the left of the hood.



I thought Olga was looking pretty good, but most of you are probably thinking, "That Volvo, is TOO DAMN HIGH." An angle grinder, fender roller, and a couple days of my precious time remedied that situation.





Not slammed by any means, but the front subframe is 1 inch off the ground.. so I might have throw the lip back on. Rear can go lower but is limited my wheel/tire setup.

Speaking of wheels/tires the steelies are cool but I want some thing a little more, well, baller. I picked up these CCW classic 5's for 600 bucks. 16x8.5/9.5 +35. they will be re-drilled to 5x108, they are 5x114.3 right now.
The 5x108 bolt pattern is God's cruel joke to all Volvo lovers, at least if you plan on running any kind of aftermarket wheels.





Planning on using the rear 16x9.5 for fronts, then adding a 4 inch lip to the other wheels and using them for the back.

Paint, and cleaning up the exterior are in store, but I'm leaving for college in a month and a half so work will happen much slower after that.

Let me know what you think, good, bad, doesn't matter.

[Lance_2444]

Always have respect for a volvo! You've got something really nice there

[244Brick]

i like it, but i miss the old front

my old baby

[RU5TANG]

I like the first set of headlights more but still sick. my first car was a 96 850 t5 lol Volvo ftw

[aprophet13]

i like it, but i miss the old front

I like the first set of headlights more but still sick. my first car was a 96 850 t5 lol Volvo ftw

Thanks for the feedback! Ya, people are pretty split on which lights look better, its all preference I guess.

[940]

I have a 940 but I have to ask you , what is the process of "re-drilling" ?? because I'm looking to run a set of BMW Style 19's on mine.

[aprophet13]

I have a 940 but I have to ask you , what is the process of "re-drilling" ?? because I'm looking to run a set of BMW Style 19's on mine.

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but this is how I understand it. There are 3 methods: fill and drill, inserts, and dual drill.

Dual drill is the easiest, and can be done if the hub has plenty of excess space, they simply drill the new bolt pattern along side with the coexisting holes. Style 19's I believe have concealed lug nuts so this would be a viable option (you would want to hide where the lug nuts are since there would be more than 5 holes).

Inserts are when they drill out the existing holes slightly larger then put steel inserts in either closer or farther to the center of the wheel to grow or shrink the effective bolt pattern.

Fill and drill is when neither of the first 2 can be done. This is usually the most costly. They weld the existing holes shut to start with a blank wheel. Your desired pattern is then drilled.

inserts can be around 150-200 and fill n drill could be 200-250. Not sure on dual drill but it seems as if it would be the cheapest of the 3 methods.

[d3bas3r]

Looks like a fun project. I think I would have kept the steelies around for a bit longer; the car looks pretty mean with them, but you did pretty well with those CCW's. Definitely like the round headlights.

Are you sure you're only 18? You're more articulate and intelligent sounding than people twice your age.

Have fun with it.

[kittenpuncher]

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but this is how I understand it. There are 3 methods: fill and drill, inserts, and dual drill.

Dual drill is the easiest, and can be done if the hub has plenty of excess space, they simply drill the new bolt pattern along side with the coexisting holes. Style 19's I believe have concealed lug nuts so this would be a viable option (you would want to hide where the lug nuts are since there would be more than 5 holes).

Inserts are when they drill out the existing holes slightly larger then put steel inserts in either closer or farther to the center of the wheel to grow or shrink the effective bolt pattern.

Fill and drill is when neither of the first 2 can be done. This is usually the most costly. They weld the existing holes shut to start with a blank wheel. Your desired pattern is then drilled.

inserts can be around 150-200 and fill n drill could be 200-250. Not sure on dual drill but it seems as if it would be the cheapest of the 3 methods.

Dead on, my machine shop dude told inserts are the safest when done right, but not all bolt patterns can do inserts. I ran a wheel with inserts for over a year no issues. Nice volvo.

[aprophet13]

Looks like a fun project. I think I would have kept the steelies around for a bit longer; the car looks pretty mean with them, but you did pretty well with those CCW's. Definitely like the round headlights.

Are you sure you're only 18? You're more articulate and intelligent sounding than people twice your age.

Have fun with it.

Thanks man! The steelies are here to stay for a while, the CCW's are sort of like my "project" wheels if that makes sense. Redrill, re-lip, paint, then trying to make them fit will be interesting.

Haha it bugs me when I see some people post with so much slang and bad grammar that it makes it hard to read, so I try not to do it myself.

Dead on, my machine shop dude told inserts are the safest when done right, but not all bolt patterns can do inserts. I ran a wheel with inserts for over a year no issues. Nice volvo.

Ya thats what I have heard too. I am opting for inserts. Some of the redrill pictures I've seen look pretty sketch, but I think it just depends on how reputable the shop is.

[cereal black]

Really neat project. I like it.

[jasonklee]

Another Bay Area member? Awesome.

Welcome to StanceWorks

[jdirty]

She was different, quirky, but kinda cool. Volvos remind of a cute, "nerdy" girl in your class. Sure, she's kinda weird, maybe a little rough around the edges, and definitely isn't the first to come to mind when you think of looks, but the fact that people overlook
her is sort of what makes her cool. And when she tries to look good those same people who overlooked her think wow she's hot! I decided to go for it.

I love your use of personification. I'm probably biased with the new headlight set up because i own an E30. Always had a spot for Bricks too. Lookin good!

[aprophet13]

I love your use of personification. I'm probably biased with the new headlight set up because i own an E30. Always had a spot for Bricks too. Lookin good!

Thanks! Yeah I don't know why, but the round headlights on older boxy cars just looks so good for some reason. E30 was on my list of cars but my dad thought it was "Too old"... ended up getting an '82 lol

[Randomofodication]

I would try to see if you could run adapters instead of a redrill. Never been a fan of dual bolt pattern wheels, and if they drill where the existing holes are I don't think they will fill the old holes to match up
With the face of the wheel, they will just fill in the physical bolt hole. Cool project tho!