Project '82 Volvo 242
 

We've been lurking here for a while checking out the amazing builds and decided to post up a little thread about our project. My brother Alex and I are working on what could most accurately be described as a g-machine Volvo 242. It's not domestic, it doesn't have a V8, and it's not being professionally built, but we're pretty sure it still fits the mold. The car was originally my brother's project (I had my own), but we realized that it's a much more rewarding experience to share time on one car. Everything is being done in our garage with spare time and funds.

Since no one likes huge blocks of text with no pictures, here's a quick pictorial run down on what we have so far.

The victim: an 1982 242DL. Note the two-door configuration. Among us Volvo wackos it's generally considered the most desireable of the 240 body styles.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/RS...0/DSC00441.JPG

The car sat in a stripped condition for a couple of years before we decided to really move it to the front burner in December of 2008.

Moved the firewall back 6" and fabricated a new transmission tunnel.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/SW...0/IMG_6360.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/SX...0/IMG_6373.jpg

Minitubbed the rear end and built a new parallel four-link.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/SY...0/IMG_6396.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sa...0/IMG_6438.jpg

It came stock with a fairly anemic single cam 4 cylinder, which was promptly tossed as the car got stripped. The new engine is a three liter (183ci) all aluminum DOHC straight six from a 1996 Volvo 960.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sc...0/IMG_6469.jpg

Tacked up a divided inlet equal length tube header. 1.5" sch40 with ~25" primaries and a 9" collector. The flange is specific to the turbo and falls somewhere between a T4 and T6.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sg...0/DSC00058.JPG

Happy Holset is happy. Factory remanufactured HX50. Came off some Cummins powered dump truck. Compressor maps indicate that is tops out somewhere around 700hp.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sl...0/IMG_6554.jpg

60mm HKS knockoff wastegate.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sm...0/IMG_6574.jpg

We decided that a turbo just wasn't cool enough, so we added a blower to the mix. Eaton M90.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sm...0/IMG_6577.jpg

Mounted some carbon/kevlar buckets.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sm...0/IMG_6583.jpg

Tacked in the main hoop. The whole cage is being made from 1.75" .095" mild steel DOM.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sm...0/IMG_6584.jpg

Mounted the intercooler. It's an eBay special with a 4" core.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sm...0/IMG_6587.jpg

The wheeltubs were originally measured out to tuck something like a 285, but we recently got a new set of wheels that throw a wrench in those works.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sl...0/IMG_6551.jpg

BBS E28 race wheels. Three piece, single lug. 335/30R18 on 18"x13" ET25 rears and 285/30R18 on 18"x11" ET20 fronts.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_7EUAij74Ycw/Sl...0/IMG_6552.jpg

It's currently sporting a T5-WC five speed with a custom adapter plate that I put together. With the kind of power we hope to be making it won't last very long though, so the latest hare-brained scheme is to cut out the 4-link and install a complete C5 Corvette rear end. They're cheap, available, and seem to be pretty stout.

That's pretty much the story so far. If you guys don't totally disapprove we hope to be posting up more updates in the future.

/Karl and Alex Buchka

This an awesome build. Keep up with the updates. I Love those meats too!

Definately keep up the updates!
Is that turbo going to stick out of the hood?

DUUUUUDDDDE!!!

I had a light blue 82 242 Volvo with a 5 speed turbo as my first car. I love that you are doing this project.

LOVE IT!

Tyler

Definitely keep us up to date on any progress.

Seriously, keep us updated. This is going to be a sweet build.

My brother had a Volvo just like that one, w/ a manual tranny to. It was a pretty fun car to drive.

subscribed

:thumbsup: Very cool build! Great way to think outside the box on this too!
But since you already have the 4 link in, why not use a new T 56 Manum? It's rated to 700-750hp I believe. Unless you are making alot more power than that? Thanks for sharing , please keep the info and pics coming.

Well I guess it's unanimous. Thanks for the kind words guys!

Yeah, the turbo is going to come out of the hood. We would have loved to keep it under, but with a turbo that size and a 9" collector it just wasn't happening. Some guys have bitched about loosing the sleeper factor. The only thing I can say to that is "have you seen the rest of the car lately?". :P

Thanks! I would love to run a T56 Magnum, but spending upwards of $3000 on a new transmission just isn't happening. My brother and I are 22 years old and we just don't have that kind of money to throw around. As it stands now we've got about $5000 in to the car, and by the time it's done I don't see us having spent more than $15000 total.

I can guarantee that when people first opened this up and saw the first picture they would not have expected anything like this!! Nice project!

Veeeery nice! :thumbsup:
Love the oddball car & project! Those Volvo blocks can take a ton of punishment so be nice to your T5.