1995 Volvo 940 Turbo Shed with 230,000 miles
Discussion
Had a bit of bad news recently and decided I needed a bit of cheering up, so I've been on the lookout for a new toy. After a 400+ mile round trip, I'm now the proud owner of this 1995 Volvo 940 SE (low pressure) Turbo!
I've wanted a proper RWD Volvo since I was about 16 (sad I know!), and it's taken over daily driver duties from my 2002 Boxster with a huge split in the rear window. Being an SE it has nearly all the toys - heated seats, heated rear screen, electric mirrors, roof rails. Not a fan of the cloth seats but it was soooooo comfy on the motorway, 3 and a half hours absolutely flew by. Way faster than
I've fixed a few things on the Boxster and my old Jag but overall I'm actually not that good at spannering, so I hoped a cheap project car would give me a hands-on learning experience. There are a few niggly problems I'm looking forward to tackling over the winter:
- Passenger seatbelt was twisted and stuck (just fixed but in the excitement forgot to take photos)
- The famous 940 speedo and odometer are broken
- Takes a while to start when cold
- Heater not working!
- All the badges are missing
- Lambda light on, which I'm hoping is related to:
- Very loud side exit exhaust like an old Mustang
- Rear wiper not working
- Essential headlight wipers missing
- Oil leak
- On the lookout for a leather interior and some Turbo rims (but I do also like the ones I have)
- Previous owner fitted a shorter gear lever and BMW (I think) knob, which looks a bit silly
But I shouldn't pick holes, it was less than a grand and I'm over the moon with it.
I'll take some better pictures later and keep this thread up to date, hopefully at least one person likes these as much as I do and will find it interesting.
I've wanted a proper RWD Volvo since I was about 16 (sad I know!), and it's taken over daily driver duties from my 2002 Boxster with a huge split in the rear window. Being an SE it has nearly all the toys - heated seats, heated rear screen, electric mirrors, roof rails. Not a fan of the cloth seats but it was soooooo comfy on the motorway, 3 and a half hours absolutely flew by. Way faster than
I've fixed a few things on the Boxster and my old Jag but overall I'm actually not that good at spannering, so I hoped a cheap project car would give me a hands-on learning experience. There are a few niggly problems I'm looking forward to tackling over the winter:
- Passenger seatbelt was twisted and stuck (just fixed but in the excitement forgot to take photos)
- The famous 940 speedo and odometer are broken
- Takes a while to start when cold
- Heater not working!
- All the badges are missing
- Lambda light on, which I'm hoping is related to:
- Very loud side exit exhaust like an old Mustang
- Rear wiper not working
- Essential headlight wipers missing
- Oil leak
- On the lookout for a leather interior and some Turbo rims (but I do also like the ones I have)
- Previous owner fitted a shorter gear lever and BMW (I think) knob, which looks a bit silly
But I shouldn't pick holes, it was less than a grand and I'm over the moon with it.
I'll take some better pictures later and keep this thread up to date, hopefully at least one person likes these as much as I do and will find it interesting.
Edited by Lord E38 on Sunday 15th December 10:32
Edited by Lord E38 on Sunday 15th December 10:43
These old things just run and run if looked after.
I bought one very similar (N238GNM) to assist with my mum moving house c. 8 years ago as it was only £350, which was a hell of a lot cheaper than the number of skips we would have needed to clear 40 years of hoarding from her house. I only had something small at the time and that I didn't want to wreck shuttling 40 year old paint tins to the dump...
Umpteen tip runs and trips back and forth between her old place and new moving whatever would fit in the Volvo (which is quite a lot in one of these), sold it a few months later for the same as I bought it for.
Fast forward to now, the same car is still MOT'd and now approaching 260k miles. They are immortal with basic maintenance.
I bought one very similar (N238GNM) to assist with my mum moving house c. 8 years ago as it was only £350, which was a hell of a lot cheaper than the number of skips we would have needed to clear 40 years of hoarding from her house. I only had something small at the time and that I didn't want to wreck shuttling 40 year old paint tins to the dump...
Umpteen tip runs and trips back and forth between her old place and new moving whatever would fit in the Volvo (which is quite a lot in one of these), sold it a few months later for the same as I bought it for.
Fast forward to now, the same car is still MOT'd and now approaching 260k miles. They are immortal with basic maintenance.
Here's that short shift thing. To my eyes it looks ridiculous and isn't comfortable to use. I took off the knob and rubber thing and surrounding trim and found this.
Then I found this diagram:
So if I'm understanding correctly a previous owner removed absolutely everything from above fig 1 and threw it away, then put the BMW gear knob directly on top.
I'm trying to put the whole thing back to standard but most of those parts are discontinued so I'm a bit stuck.
Volvo update!
Got ahold of the grille badge and some headlight wipers. The motors will probably never work again but a Volvo looks wrong without the arms and blades at least. I have the badges for the rear that are going on when the weather cheers up.
Gave it its first proper wash possibly for many years and WOW. It's a really nice shade of green.
But now for the bad news. I drove over a log in the middle of the road on the way to work one morning. I destroyed my front lip and plastic undertray, but luckily also the side pipe exhaust.
I have a new complete exhaust system and another spoiler ready for paint. I also bought another O2 sensor to see if I can bring the MPG up a bit.
Sent £35 to a breaker for a complete gearstick assembly which never turned up, lesson learned.
I'm hoping to get all this on the car by the end of the week, then I can have a crack at the cold starting problem and put the Boxster back into hibernation.
Got ahold of the grille badge and some headlight wipers. The motors will probably never work again but a Volvo looks wrong without the arms and blades at least. I have the badges for the rear that are going on when the weather cheers up.
Gave it its first proper wash possibly for many years and WOW. It's a really nice shade of green.
But now for the bad news. I drove over a log in the middle of the road on the way to work one morning. I destroyed my front lip and plastic undertray, but luckily also the side pipe exhaust.
I have a new complete exhaust system and another spoiler ready for paint. I also bought another O2 sensor to see if I can bring the MPG up a bit.
Sent £35 to a breaker for a complete gearstick assembly which never turned up, lesson learned.
I'm hoping to get all this on the car by the end of the week, then I can have a crack at the cold starting problem and put the Boxster back into hibernation.
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