Little Low Red Wagon - The other Volvo wagon

[Nick475]

thats seriously awesome dude. congrats on finally getting it running

[Kinghorn]

One of the most aggressive 240's I've ever seen. Not only does it have bags, but it has a 5.0 V8 too... Your wagon is killer.

[SheaMoose]

That's awesome man.
I'm so happy you got this running.

It pays off to do everything right the first time.

[carter]

Thanks guys! I'm gonna try sneak it out of the garage again this weekend and try get some nice fall shots of it before the snow flies. Hope my neighbour isn't home this time lol

[carter]

Well...after humming and hawing I ended up just buying a Lincoln 120v welder to get the exhaust done. It fit perfectly under my Napa tool cart and I've now converted it to be my welding cart with a bracket to hold the bottle (not pictured). My original plan of cutting and using masking tape to hold sections together and driving an hour to my dad's shop an hour away to use my 220v welder was quite inefficient haha. I went 2.5" and started cutting up some tubing and eye balled most of it. It's really really tight for space in there and couldn't fit my measuring tape up there. I had to cut off the header flange and rotate it so the stud wouldn't hit the frame. I added an H pipe under the tail of the transmission (not pictured yet). It then goes into a Dynomax Race Bullet on either side. I built the H pipe and "mufflers" as one so if I don't like the sound its easy to undo 6 flange bolts and it'll come right out. I ground down the welds and coated them in vht header paint. I was told the dynomax bullets sound amazing but are unfortunately the loudest on the market. I'm quite limited for space however so these seemed like the best option. The exhaust coming from the mufflers will be turned down and out to the side before the rear tires because I won't have enough clearance between the floor and rear diff when the suspension is slammed.

Ill get some more pictures this week hopefully.

What I did was buy a 2 U shaped mandrel bent tubing from our local hot rod shop and started cutting. Started with this and just added more on as I went.







I ground the welds down (some of the first ones weren't very pretty but by the end I was getting the hang of it and had the settings dialed in)






(Below is pre welder purchase lol)




I then coated them in VHT black header paint.







I'm starting to see why I was quoted $1500 for a custom exhaust...it took some time to get it all to fit. So far I think I've spent $900 with the welder and bottle of gas included. But now I have a welder at my disposal if I want to change it up.

This is what the race bullets should sound like:

[carter]

Took her out for a drive today. Hopefully the weather stays nice and I can get some shots with my dslr. Also did a bumper tuck and tossed a lip on.

[Keith602]

All kinds of awesome happening here. Great work man!

[andybob]

This just keeps getting better.

I respect the hell outta the fact you just went out, bought a welder, and did what you had to in order to make an exhaust.

Nice work man.

[Awful Hero]

I dig the old school theme, wish i could bag my wagon! !
Looking awesome carter

[carter]

This just keeps getting better.

I respect the hell outta the fact you just went out, bought a welder, and did what you had to in order to make an exhaust.

Nice work man.

Hey man, this shit ain't gonna weld itself! This also isn't my last built. Not even close. It's an investment really, it can make me money if any local guys need work done.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'm super stoked to be able to relax this winter and pick away all the little stuff that needs to be done.

[Keith602]

Hey man, this shit ain't gonna weld itself! This also isn't my last built. Not even close. It's an investment really, it can make me money if any local guys need work done.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'm super stoked to be able to relax this winter and pick away all the little stuff that needs to be done.

[teejsauce]

damn this thing is awesome! read the whole thread. I recently did the same thing to my winter rims -the beauty rings

[244Brick]

That thing sound raaaaw

[MGW]

Oh my gosh... Just get some white walls and it looks like you're done.

[carter]

Whoa, forgot about this over winter haha.

As far as money goes, I added everything up that I had bills for (tried to keep every single one but a few got lost. The big ticket items were kept though). I ended up at $4000 out of my own pocket but with IPD adding $2500 cash and $2500 worth of parts I'd be at $9000. Sounds like a lot, and it is. BUT that's a rebuilt 302 with aluminium heads just under 400hp and a complete one off suspension set up.

Anyway, I pulled it out of storage, gave it an oil change and went for a rip. It hauls. It feels like everytime I drive it, it makes more power. Probably due to the break in process. Because the diff is still open, if I mash the gas pedal to the floor it redlines by the time my foot stops on the floor. Time for 2nd, spin all the way through and nail 3rd. I've never had a car so ridiculous and fun in my life. I needs an LSD. It would also need wider tires if I wanted to be quick but that's not why I built the car. I plan to run what's on the back but in a summer tire once I get the wheels powder coated to match the tank.

Here's some updated short videos and pics, note I need a side marker housing (not just the lens, the pastic behind it is broken) on the passenger side lol if anyone has a spare...I'd gladly buy it off you for the right price.






These were taken with my Nikon D7100 DSLR. Still learning how to use it effectively, I'm a noob at photography. I made the mistake of putting them on my phone and forgetting to back them up on my computer before I cleared the memory card so ****ty pics is what we all get to see for now till I take it out next lol.





















As a side note Iooking back, I find it funny that this started as a budget build...life took some turns for the better as far as work goes and now it's no longer a "budget" build. I'm not using as many used parts as I had planned, and buying new parts off the shelf just seems to be the norm now. I'm now planning to do an Accuair E level install next and then maybe a 347 bottom end to put my heads on. A solution for the one tire fire will be determined as I do more research as I have found the Tru Trac LSD I planned on using won't hold up long with the power I plan to send through it.

-Off Topic-

Also I dunno if there are any fellow Toyota fans in here, I bought a new DD/parts hauler. Traded my 12' WRX in for a 14' Taco. No more cramming engine blocks in that hatch. Any future parts WILL fit in the back of this thing now without any issues lol.