Having owned every year of Volvo 240 made except 91, 92, and 93 (seriously), I have to disagree with some of what you said. Most of the problems with the early 80s 240s (cheap interiors, falling of trim, bad wiring) didn't exist on the early 1975-1979 models. I would say that those were the best ones made, and the build quality fell from 1980 to 1987, and then started to rise again from 88 to 93, but still never approaching that of the early ones.
The blower motor *is* easy to replace if you know the trick. I can do one in about 30 minutes by cutting the side panels on the heater box in half, and reinstalling them in 2 sections, sealing it with heater duct metal tape. Even the hard way, it's easier than a W115 blower. Regarding the cam profile and horsepower on the early model cars- I think it's the opposite of what you said. The later B230 engines had a high torque, low horsepower cam which *feels* more powerful for normal driving, especially with an automatic. The late 70s B21 engines, especially the canadian models had a very hot "A" and "K" cams had a very rough idle and were gutless below 4,000 rpm, but pulled VERY strong from 4,000-6500rpm. Many of these cars were without overdrive and had high rear end ratios, and were simply designed to run at high rpms all of the time. I am pretty certain that a B21 with an A or K cam would beat a late 80s 240 equipped with a B230 and an M cam in an actual drag race, especially since the early cars are lighter. Tyler Steve wrote: > They are basically good cars that by 1990 had been pretty well > sorted out (about time, seeing as they made their debut in Europe in > late 1974). You will find trim pieces (both interior and exterior) > break easily and are generally way inferior to Mercedes. Exterior > trim bits are insanely expensive from dealers. Look on eVilBay. > Drivetrain is excellent. Not that slow at all, that reputation is a > leftover from some of the 1980s models that were imported with an > anemic 2.1 liter motor with a weak cam profile. If the car is > sluggish you may want to gently put it through some Italian-tuneup > workouts, as some Volvo owners are chronic slugs and the motor may > be full of gunk. Unfortunately all Bosch injection parts are now > very expensive. Other than that the only major OUCH is replacement > of the blower motor, which was apparently the first thing bolted to > the chassis on the assembly line. Not hard in terms of competence, > just requires removal of most of the dash. Not a hard car to work on > but you will find things are not quite as well thought out as on a > Mercedes. Cheers _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
