Can you smell fresh meat?

YES!!

Hi boys and girls

I have been driving around a 1980 240DL for the last 3 years.

I have recently purchased a 1988 volvo 360 glt and passed the old beast onto my younger brother.

I won't get the car till easter but in the mean time i have been reading your forums and am extremely excited about get my hands dirty in my new car.

Obviously i have a few questions, I am planning on painting the inside dash like Chris_C's car except a darker grey. and i would love to increase performance in the car but being a student limits my budget. I would die for a turbo but not sure what cost or experiance is required to make such a thing happen.

Once i get the car you will probably quickly get sick of me as i will have 101 questions to ask but i am a quick learner and not affraid to get my hands dirty.

Anyway speak to you soon
P.S here is a pic of the new girl

Welcome

No worries here we are all ready for questions (bet there are more than 101 too).

Nice looking motor - same colour as my old 360GL, I have to ask 'is there any rust on her'? (I know a hot country - but near the coast?)

There are loads of peeps here who will have the car whipped into shape in double quick time.

I'm just working out how to stick a turbo in Kar, it's a tad different for me as I have a renault engine, but you'll find there are enough people who've done the turbo swap to a GLT that if you are keen it's possible.

As to the dash, it is dead simple, it all just comes out with a philips screwdriver

This is usually the point where I try and pester a new person from Oz to send me over a snowflake A/C switch, but I won't today, as I've spent more than too much on getting Fake running lately... If you have one in a few weeks however

And really don't worry about questions, I'm sure as you've been finding pictures of my car you've been searching, there is a heck of a lot around, not always in the obvious place, but searching is usually quite helpful. Anything you don't find, there isn't many other places with the amount of knowledge of the 300 as here

For question one: That was one of the things i was worried about but after a close inspection there was only little rust in door hinges but has been taken care of.

See the car is one i have got from my grandpa's garage he owns and runs a euro car garage in a town in victoria so it has been no where near the coast as of yet. I won't be goin down to get it until easter hence the wait. I can't ask my pa about turbo and that asort cause he is fully old school and all those kinda things he off loads to the younger employees but being over 2000k's away i would rather get to know you guys better .

As for second question pa has another 360 down there a 86 model i think that we are ripping the parts out of cause it is goin to be scrapped (stuffed engine) i could get the air con button of it when i go down if that is what you need .

Glad to become part of the group and in the short time i got to see and drive the car when i was down there 2 weeks ago i have already fell in love with it .

Nice car and welcome!

Not fair - aircon and lack of rust on Aus cars!!!

Air con button would be much appriciated And a little wait suits me fine If you are breaking the car, I'll definately have the switch from you!

If you are going back down there, ask about the B230ET (you watch my lack of knowledge get shot down in flames ) which was in 700's and 900's I think, but I don't know what models you had over there. Someone who knows the stuff a tad more will confirm. Thats the simplest swap for a 360

Looks like you got lucky with the car, one possibility I am intrigued in it the B28, dealer was trying to persuade me to buy a 360 and drop one in the other day, said it's a straight 6, and drops straight in, sounds intriguing.

Yeah when i go down i will get the A/C button no worries.

The whole engine swapping thing kinda worries me as i have never down anything that in depth before and aren't engines the most expensive things to buy???

To tell you the truth i just want a turbo cause it is kinda the thing to have here on the gold coast shame on me i know.

But if engine swap is the cheapest and easiest way of goin about it and i am capable then i gotta do what i gotta do right . i am sure i can get one from my pa's garage cause they are the only volvo specialists in 100k's in any direction they have a lot of cars and parts.

Oh before i forget Chris_C your back side cover panel in the boot is shmick as could you possibly give me a step by step to replecating?

Yay!!! Aircon button! Cool, cheers mate!

As to the cavity covers, I needed to hide my amp away. so got dad to make me a pair. I can get the dimensions of them for you, maybe might even be able to send over some A4 scans to make up a paper template for you. Dead easy to do, mine use shed door turnbuckles to hold them shut, and as they are black, and positioned out of the way, you can't see them at all.

mine (made by Mr Farrell ) use the proper volvo glove box catches and look lush

Ok as i said above i really want a turbo . I am affraid dropping a b230t and 16v head into it may be to expensive and need more knowledge and skill than i have. Can someone tell me all my options for getting more power into her and the costs and work involved in them.

Thanks

If you want power your best option is to install a whole new redblock engine - something from a 740 or 940 would be best. You've got plenty of choices, off the top of my head: 2.3i 8v, 2.3i 16v, 2.0i 8v turbo, 2.3i 8v turbo. The normally aspirated engines would more or less bolt straight in and match up to everything, you'd just need to swap the ECU and wiring. The turbo lumps are a bit more difficult as I believe you have to make up a new exhaust manifold/downpipe.

If you have the facilities your best bet is to buy a cheap 740/940 and strip everything you need and swap it over to the 360. If you can afford it you could also throw a Megasquirt setup into the mix, to maximise your power potential!

My plan is to use a 2.3 lump with twin carbs. Got the engine, possibly have the carbs, so just need to get hold of a manifold now!

Hmm, correct me if I'm wrong, but 740 had distributor next to camsaft in cylinder head and that needs little work to get fit, 200-serie however had distributor in block like 360 and is easier to fit.

Of course it is possible to relocate distributor to block, but sometimes need to change that shaft, hmm what it was called, anyway shaft in block that drives distributor. Sometimes shaft is proper model and don't need to be changed sometimes it is not, I have not heard anything that would help to know which is the case as same type of engines has different type shaft.

Then it is possible to modify airbox so that distributor fits, or leave distributor out and use COP or something similar system.

But his is a RHD car, so it should fit ok if it was left on the end of the cam.

I'm going to relocate the dizzy on my B230 block to the same place as it is on the standard 360 since I've got a K-cam to go in which doesnt have the dizzy drive on the end of it. From looking at it, what I think I'll need is the auxillary shaft (with the dizzy drive on it) plus the dizzy itself from a 360. The only bit I'm not sure about is how to block off the hole at the end of the cam - I'm hoping it'll just need a blanking plate, but we shall see!

Answer to block hole at end of cam is in Volvo Dealer, there is these half/full moon shaped pieces that are used to block that hole, I think those were not too expensive either. Maybe possible to source 2nd hand too, but worth to ask from dealer first.

Oh yes, this LHD/RHD thing mixed me up again