Btw, for all you talk about how big the volvo is, thought I'd do a quick comparo of 1990 models of the 240 vs. 325i out of curiosity.
Length: Volvo is 15" longer (talk about overhangs!)
Wheelbase: Volvo is only 3" longer
Width: Volvo is 2" wider
Weight: Volvo is only 30lbs heavier.
So really, pretty similar in most respects to the e30's functional size and weight. I'm betting the overall length is due to the Volvo's huge-ass bumpers lol...
The weight surprised me though...My 1985 318 was almost 500lbs lighter stock than a loaded 1990 325i. Crazy.
irish44j wrote:
Having driven that thing though....and daily -driving a 18psi WRX....your volvo boost hits like a freight train and pulls hard. Makes my M42 e30 feel like I'm pedaling it with my feet lol...
I think if you went full mod class weight reduction it would be extremely fast, and it's pretty damn fast already.
It is strong feeling, and that's nice. And fun.
Weight reduction! I almost forgot to do that. Haha. I'm working on Lexan and moving the battery this week. I need lighter seats ASAP too, but I want to hold off buying until I decide what I'm doing for a stage car.
Onto the dimension thing - I looked specs up when I bought the car, but had a hard time getting definite trim level / year breakdown on dimensions. Wheelbase is arguably the most important when it comes to how it feels, and while it's bigger 3" isn't bad. Wheelbase is actually shorter than an E36. Apparently my car is slightly wider than the newer cars, not sure why. I have no idea on weight, but I'd imagine stock it is only marginally heavier than the E30 (which is impressive). That said, I think it is the overhangs that make it feel so big when I'm dodging cones. I've already thought about getting rid of the bumpers.
can you "tuck" them like e30 guys (including me) do?
You can tuck the bumpers. Btw have you removed the "frame weights" yet? Good for (using my arm here) 30-50lbs. Look at the rear axle they are the weird triangle things under the gas tank bolts.
And volvo 240's arent big cars. They feel like it but really arent, you cant find a 3k lb sedan these days.
Edit:2800-3100 lbs depending on options and body style. Wagon with ac and pw windows being the 3100lber. "Coupe" or 4 door stripper your looking at the lighter end. Of my two wagon with ac and sedan stripper i dont feel any difference in weight. I need to put them on scales though for sure
Updates coming! I did some things, broke some stuff, got new things, and am getting ready for SCCA East Coast National Challenge. 
moxnix
HalfDork
6/28/16 11:15 a.m.
corey_mck wrote:
am getting ready for SCCA East Coast National Challenge.
Remember to register in advance.....
http://www.scca.com/events/1981862-2016-scca-east-coast-rallycross-national-challenge
bump for all the rally builds at the top of the page at once :)
I have some catching up to do! To avoid getting wordy, I'm just going to list what I did before the last event and then post some pics. -Replaced junk stock torque rods that bent and ovalized and made awful noise with nice Yoshifab adjustable units with Heims. This is honestly a must-do for any 240 as far as I'm concerned. Definite weak link, and the Yoshifab torque rods aren't that expensive. Poly bushings don't last either. -Got that 90+ tubular-ish manifold ported and mounted -Finally put in a cam from a turbo head -Replaced old, soft intercooler rubber hoses with stiffer new stuff -Tucked bumpers
Stock torque rods are useless.
Cam in.
Valve cover painted. Gotta look legit, even if the car is actually junk.
Before bumper tuck.
After bumper tuck. I was pretty excited to see how much better a quicker spooling turbo felt on course. I loaded up and trailered my car to the event for the first time ever. I'm glad I did. I broke the driver's side axle shaft 1/4 way through the very first turn of the day. I had no idea that a welded diff car with one broken axle moved so poorly. My first run put me 10 seconds down from the field. I ran the rest of the day in good friend and general good guy Jeremy's excellent handling 318is. I put in some decent times, but it wasn't enough to catch a podium spot with everyone else running pretty clean all day.
HUGE shout out to Steven Phillips for these excellent event photos BTW. This guy does really good work and DC Rallycross is lucky to have him at our events! Here's links to the last two events: June 12th @ the Farm: <a href="HERE Inaugural @ the Farm: HERE The car sat for a few weeks. I decided this weekend it was time to get it ready for SCCA's East Coast National
Challenge.
As you can see, one axle shaft broke at the spline, and the other was twisting. I need to find something stronger. For now I put some stock axles back in. I like to think they'll at least hold up to three days of loose gravel in Frostburg. I also painted my wheels.
While I had the axles out, I realized both of my trailing arm bushings were ruined. They are a little less than a year old. I still need to come up with a solution for that before the weekend.
So... SCCA East Coast National Challenge. What a good time that was. The night before the test and tune, I decided to replace the trailing arm bushings. I had a hard time getting the bolt out because:
Yeah. The bushing was fine. The bushings have these little humps that the bolt rides on, and apparently the bolt had rotated inside the bushing and wore grooves in them. The morning of the test and tune I went to find some bolts. A local hardware store had them, luckily. I could have taken it from one of the other 4 240s in my driveway if it came down to it.
The car felt excellent at the event. This was the first time I drove it since the new manifold and other small improvements, and it felt great on course. I started Saturday off with a decent lead, but ended up getting a few cones on one run, then absolutely blowing a tricky hairpin on the next run. It left me in 4th at the end of the first day. Sunday started poorly with a cone on my first run. I buckled down and made some time up the rest of the event for a 3rd place finish. 
What's that mean? A Volvo 240 can ABSOLUTELY mix it up with the typical RWD rallycross class leaders. I know, I'm surprised too. The Modified RWD class was stacked with drivers and cars I didn't think I had a chance against. I didn't start this project thinking it could be competitive. I really did it because it was good, cheap fun.
I'm pretty sure the key to making a 240 handle in rallycross is: A) Welded diff. It's consistent. Throttle makes it rotate and turning in aggressively makes it rotate. Both of those are good for piloting a slightly larger car through a tight course. B) Dial back the body roll. The chassis flopping side to side won't keep up with the quick inputs required to drive through tight gates and chicanes unless you do this. My formula to this point is: - New shocks. Chances are whatever shocks are on a Volvo purchased on Craigslist and getting thrown straight into rallycross duty either already has blown shocks or will very shortly. I'm running Gabriel Ultras in the rear and KYBs in the front. - Bigger sways. I have dual 19+21 in the rear and and a 23mm from a 760 in the front. I don't think this setup is great or even ideal, but it's working. That's good enough, right? From here I'd like to find a spring rate that lets me run less sway. If anyone has any input on where to start, I'm open to it.
Overall, the National Challenge was a great time, the car felt excellent, and I'm happy it held up for the event. Congrats to Josh for the late charge for the win.
Seat time is seat time, right? I went autocrossing, and instead of running my normal steed (MR2), I ran #uglyvolvo. It wasn't fast at all, but it is a riot trying to pilot a welded diff car with junk tires through cones on pavement. I was trying to run cleaner and smoother all day, but oddly enough my fastest runs were also my most sideways.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/1ZTPCHno_Ms
The more I drive this thing, the more I love it.
Drift events are going to become a habit if they keep being this much fun. Yesterday I went to Swing Set LLC's Action Matsuri at Shenandoah Speedway in Shenandoah, VA. It's like all the good things about rallycross, except the cars range from 'take that to the scrapyard' to 'leave that in the garage because it might rain'.
Only changes to the car were some 195/65-14s with 44 lbs in them. I know, 44 lbs in cheap tires puts me in the DANGERZONE.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ad4r97BxDq4
I need a proper seat and steering wheel.
WHY DO I KEEP BREAKING AXLES? I broke two this weekend. One driver's side before lunch, swapped in a spare, then broke the passenger side 7 runs later. That's 3 total this season. I think I'm going Ford 8.8, fitting the outside of the Volvo housing to the Ford housing, shortening the shafts and trying to keep Volvo hub spacing. That said, I let roughly a dozen people drive my car at this weekend's test and tune the day before the race, and I'm pretty sure everyone loved it. Probably not in the 'I want that to be my racecar' way, but they definitely had fun driving it.
To be honest, its probably the welded diff, especially since it appears your broken axles are occurring more on the side that goes into the diff
All this DCR rally action makes me very excited for eventually getting my new-to-me 190E out to Frostburg and wading into the rallycross pool.
Gaunt596 wrote:
To be honest, its probably the welded diff, especially since it appears your broken axles are occurring more on the side that goes into the diff
Yeah, I figure that's it. I just know of guys running them welded with LS swaps on pavement and they don't have problems. I just wasn't expecting them to be that weak.
corey_mck wrote:
Gaunt596 wrote:
To be honest, its probably the welded diff, especially since it appears your broken axles are occurring more on the side that goes into the diff
Yeah, I figure that's it. I just know of guys running them welded with LS swaps on pavement and they don't have problems. I just wasn't expecting them to be that weak.
Might also be a material thing, if the stock axles just arent up to par anymore
corey_mck wrote:
WHY DO I KEEP BREAKING AXLES?
I broke two this weekend. One driver's side before lunch, swapped in a spare, then broke the passenger side 7 runs later. That's 3 total this season.
I think I'm going Ford 8.8, fitting the outside of the Volvo housing to the Ford housing, shortening the shafts and trying to keep Volvo hubs.
That said, I let roughly a dozen people drive my car at this weekend's test and tune the day before the race, and I'm pretty sure everyone loved it. Probably not in the 'I want that to be my racecar' way, but they definitely had fun driving it.
Swap to the g80 with welded govenor paw or a better lsd? Welded diff is for sure killing axles. But if you really want to swap rear axle look into the toyota rear axle from iirc celicas, lighter than 8.8, just as strong and tons of factory gear options. If you run across john van landingham just ask him about it, hes facilitated putting tons of 240s through rallys, prepare for a long phone call though.
In reply to chiodos:
I like being welded and don't want to change it! It's consistent. It's just that it also consistently breaks.
Looking into Toyota axles, too. I live in redneck country, and while they like their mini Japanese trucks, I can find Exploders in every corner of every junkyard, most empty fields, and on the side of some roads. I do like less weight.
Where is that autocross w/ the vid btw?
In reply to NorseDave:
Cumberland airport, just outside Cumberland, MD. Always a fun event with some crazy vehicles.
corey_mck wrote:
In reply to NorseDave:
Cumberland airport, just outside Cumberland, MD. Always a fun event with some crazy vehicles.
Good to know. Looks fast! All the ones I've ever done (not that many, really) have way less space to operate.
In reply to irish44j:
Yeeeeah... sorta dreading that.
