1980 Volvo 242 SBF swap

[MattRabbit]

This car is kind of an inherited project. Long story short, my coworker got hit hard by Hurricane Sandy and decided to sell me his project.

The car came to him as a stock Volvo with some coilovers and upgraded swaybars. Being a Ford guy, he started to swap in a 5.0 motor and T5 transmission out of a fox body mustang. Thats where I come in. I have never owned an american car, or a Volvo before. At the start of this project I had to go out and buy a set of SAE combination wrenches and sockets so I could work on this thing. I am sure this project will be quite fun once it is on the road though.

Lucky for me, this car has very basic electric systems in it. No a/c, no power steering, and crank windows. Time will tell if the this salt water damaged car will be needing a new wiring harness. As for now, the plan is to swap out the motor for one that isn't full of salty rust water, and get it running.


How I got it:






Old engine coming out:




Next up....cleaning up the new (to me) engine and getting it all back together.

Another looming concern is the gas tank that is potentially a 50/50 mix of gas and salt water. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

[Hawk242AE82]

Very, very cool. Boat load of potential right there. Hope to see good progress. Any plans besides simply getting it going?

[MattRabbit]

Very, very cool. Boat load of potential right there. Hope to see good progress. Any plans besides simply getting it going?

Well the interior is kind of lame and smelly, so I will probably strip it and put some racing seats in it. Currently the 3.73 rear is an open diff welded solid so I'll be modifying the Ford 8.8 I got with it to put in there. After all that I'll be on the hunt for horsepower.

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[FunfGang]

I approve of all that is happening here. Please continue.


And your e24 looks amazing.

[axelillo_PR]

Wow, so much potential

[Alexridesabike]

I love Volvo 242's. Can't wait to see where this is headed!

[L1no]

[blowntwofive]

I love 242s btw as far as the gas tank if the car wasnt completely underwater you should be good with the gas tank

[MattRabbit]

I love 242s btw as far as the gas tank if the car wasnt completely underwater you should be good with the gas tank

Thanks everybody.

I'm not sure, but there is a chance that this thing was a submarine for a short time. I was thinking about just pumping out the tank using the fuel pump but I am afraid it will be damaged. A little siphoning might do the job so I'll start with that. Better safe than sorry.

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[HouseOf1817]

[QUOTE=MattRabbit;955366]Better safe than sorry. /QUOTE]

Looks like a fun build, don't bother leaving things to be chanced especially the fuel pump.

[blowntwofive]

Thanks everybody.

I'm not sure, but there is a chance that this thing was a submarine for a short time. I was thinking about just pumping out the tank using the fuel pump but I am afraid it will be damaged. A little siphoning might do the job so I'll start with that. Better safe than sorry.

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Ive owned a few of these cars mainly 240s but they are very very easy to pull the tank straps soo ur best bet if you feel its necessary just drop the tank and drain it and flush it completely

[MattRabbit]

I'll keep that in mind. The main thing I'm afraid to find is a gas tank full of rust, though I've noticed that fuel cells are very cheap, so that will be the backup plan.

I also have some concerns about problems with the wiring harness, having been in the water. If it comes down to it though, I could just throw in one of those "painless" harnesses.

Coming from working on the e24, I am overjoyed by the price of parts for this 5.0 swap stuff. I bought my 90k mile replacement complete 5.0 HO engine for $250. After much debate, I ended up buying this gauge cluster that my coworker had almost finished wiring up for the car and a "typhoon" intake that he had laying around.


The car also came with an aluminum driveshaft, a 6 puck clutch, and some Ford racing shorty headers.

The only fabrication I have to do to get it on the road is an exhaust. I'm planning to just go straight from the headers to an x-pipe, straight back to some flowmasters, then 90 degrees out to the sides in front of the tires. All of this assuming that there is good enough clearance.

[blowntwofive]

You should be fine wiriing wise these damn bricks of a car last forever lol even after being a submarine haha

[Switch3d']

Let me know if you need anything relating to the volvo side of the build. I have both a 81 turbo and a 79 gt and the gt I should be starting to part out soon.

[herrakani]

Yeah the tank drops right off, no prob. I know there's a boy with a sbc-240 somewhere in my town. I remember he went for a glassfiber front and roll bar with full race interior. In Sweden they've done full stock looking ones, with power windows and air conditioning etc. both 240's and 740's. I can look and translate some project blogs if needed.