Greetings from Portland, Oar-EE-gone: 1984 Volvo 245 D24

[SMN3D]

Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce myself as a long time grazer at D24T.com, and now official owner of a white 1984 factory Volvo 245 D24!

My love of the VW Diesel engine began with my parents purchase of a new 1976 Rabbit Diesel. Although my poor mother was laughed at by the guys in the 18 wheelers (only place to get diesel fuel in the 70s was at truck stops), we laughed all the way to the bank, getting 50+MPG with very little effort.

I acquired my 1984 D24 in December (to go with our pre-existing 1985 gas Volvo 245), M46 is in great condition with working overdrive, and drove it home to Portland (with the "Brake Failure" light coming off/and on and VERY squishy brakes).

I have been slowly in off hours fixing a bunch of wiring issues (at least a dozen wires were cut for no apparent reason). My favorite previous owner wiring F-up was the removal of the glow plug relay from under the dash and replacement with a large Radio Shack pushbutton, which was tackily placed into the center of one of the 52mm gauge faceplates… I also repaired the power windows ("It's never the relay" but it was), and then went one step further by replacing just the front power windows with manual ones, keeping the rears power (we have young kids and manual windows are not a good thing for them), and moving the controls to the center console (in the gaping hole where the seatbelt connectors were--I moved them).

I've also:

-- Replaced the brake master cylinder (ATE)

-- Swapped the tan interior for a blue one (from our other volvo), including 3rd row seat

-- Replaced the fully-functional original Volvo tape deck/radio with a more modern one (in the upper instead of lower dash), including wiring for a rear view camera.

-- Replaced the hood hinges (one was broken and the other one seemed about ready to go)

I'm in the process now of putting things back together and getting it back on the road, with the last non-engine issue being putting together a working tach (I am blessed with a correct alternator that has the W terminal). I'll be posting my progress (and questions) about that project on another thread.

I'll also be going through the paperwork and verifying the changing of the timing belt, and if I can't find any info, go ahead and get that done. Also change the oil, and clean up the engine bay a bit (quite a bit of acorns and oil).

If all goes well, I hope to see some of you at the iPD garage sale in a few weeks,

Scott