1978 Volvo 245 Wagon Classic Vintage Flat Hood Manual B21 K-jet Original Clean

1978 Volvo 240 DL Description

For sale is a beautiful 1978 Volvo 245 DL wagon. The paint is original, and the body has some dents and dings, but this is a solid original car with some tasteful upgrades.The B21 2.1 liter engine with K-jet mechanical fuel injection runs great, and the manual M46 4 speed transmission with electronic overdrive functions perfectly. The car cruises smoothly on the highway. The classic red interior is in great condition for a nearly 40 year old car. I believe the vinyl is all original. The front seats show some light fading, but there are no cuts or splits of any kind.
I'm a Volvo fanatic, and I own and work on my own old Volvos as well as some of my friends' cars. This is one of the nicest old 240s I've run across. I spent a lot of time going through this car to find and fix any issues. I removed most of the interior to clean and inspect it. I vacuumed out the rockers and checked for rust, cleaned the carpets and seats, vacuumed out the door interiors, lubricated all of the door and window components, repaired and adjusted the door handles, etc. The front seats were rebuilt by a previous owner, and the foam bottoms are firm and intact. The rear carpets in the luggage area were badly faded, so I cleaned them up and color matched them with SEM Color Coat 15113 (Firethorn Red). They aren't perfect, but they look good. The front seat belts were badly frayed and wouldn't retract properly, so I replaced them with later 240 belts and had the original latches professionally sewn onto the newer belts. I added a new set of Rensi Swedish-made floor mats. The carpets have minor stains and wear but are clean and intact.
On the mechanical side of things, I removed and cleaned the K-jet system, replaced the injector seals, built a custom intake hose to replace the original that was split and no longer available, installed all new vacuum lines, installed new battery cables, and eliminated the heavy old AC compresssor with a proper AC delete bracket kit. All the filters and fluids (oil, transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and rear differential fluid) were changed. I replaced the engine and transmission mounts and installed a new flame trap system. I installed a good working used OD solenoid and rewired the OD and transmission. I rebuilt the driveshaft with new U-joints and carrier bearing. I installed new parking brake cables and sleeves. In front I replaced the control arm bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends and then had the front end aligned. The car has a brand new set of Douglas All Season195/75R14 tires. I installed a new Swedish-made Starla cat-back exhaust system. I inspected the timing belt and water pump, and both looked solid. I changed the aluminum engine fan over to a later model plastic fan. I installed agoodused starter and a belly pan from a parts car.
On the exterior, I switched the front end to a flat hood and single round headlight setup from a 1975 parts car. The driver's door had a bad dent in it, so I replaced it with an OEM color correct door and transferred all the door and glass components over. I installed new interior and exterior rubber window scrapers. I had a new late model windshield installed with the low profile integrated rubber seal. All the glass is original except for the windshield. I pulled the rear quarter windows, repaired the rust and corrosion under the old seals, and reinstalled the original glass with late model seals that feature better seals and integrated drain holes. The car has a brand new set of classic Volvo mudflaps and original chrome hubcaps and beauty rings.
The original odometer was working, but the speedometer needle had broken and was poorly repaired. I installed a speedo/odo unit from a parts car and added a center tachometer. (I'm not sure that the tachometer is entirely accurate. I've read that even changing the length of wire can affect the accuracy.) When I changed out the odometer, the original had200,017 miles and the replacement had76,248 miles. The difference of 123,769 should continue to give the correct mileage on the car. The speedometer needle was jumping at low speeds, so I installed a new speedometer cable. All instrument cluster warning lights and dash illumination lights were checked and replaced if necessary.
The negative:
The car had a few small rust spots. The worst was at the bottom front corner of the driver's rear quarter window where the metal trim had scratched through the paint. I pulled both rear quarter windows and found corrosion and some surface rust under the old seals, which were trapping water. I cleaned down to bare metal, used a self etching primer, and painted witha high quality custom matched automotive touch up paint. In the worst spot, I used 5-6 coats of an epoxy metal filler to smooth it out first. I am not an auto body professional, and this is probably not a permanent fix, but in combination with the later style window seals with drains, I believe this will take care of things for a long while. There was also some surface rust bubbling under and around the old windshield seal. When the windshield was removed, the rust was cleaned to bare metal, primed, and then painted with a high quality custom matched automotive touch up paint. The driver and passenger door thresholds each had a few small rust spots that were cleaned and touched up. The car has a number of dings, scratches, and chips. Everything has been touched up and is difficult to photograph, but it is visible upon close inspection. There is a dent in the passenger rear corner, right behind the black plastic vent. The hood and one fender have a handful of hail dents. I tried to photograph them but wasn't very successful. The passenger front fender had some body work done by a previous owner. It was rather poorly done and sprayed with a cheap white paint. It's not visible from fifteen feet away, but it does show up if you look closely. There's also a bit of overspray in one spot on the hood. The donor parts car must have been parked under a tree for a while, because the flat hood paint has some oxidation and staining that didn't buff out. The rear tailgate shock must have come loose at some point, and as the tailgate was repeatedly opened and closed, the mount tore a hole in the side of the tailgate body opening. I used a piece of steel and some heavy duty rivets to repair the shock mount so it functions perfectly, but the hole is still there. There's some corrosion and missing paint in the engine compartment, on the strut tower next to the exhaust. I would guess that it's due to heat from the exhaust; these early 240s don't have a heat shield in that location. I didn't do any significant cleaning in the engine compartment.
I had the car professionally buffed and waxed, and the original paint shines beautifully. If a future owner ever decides to repaint the car, I have two body panels that I cut from my parts car, and they will go with this car. One is the passenger rear corner that includes the metal to repair the shock mount and the dent by the rear plastic vent. The other is the section to repair thebottom front corner of the driver's rear quarter window.
I've tried to represent the car as accurately as I can. I don't know of any current issues with this car. I repaired or replaced everything that the car needed. The car drives smoothly on the highway and around town. It cruises easily at 75-80 mph. This is a solid old Volvo that should run forever if maintained properly.
If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask. I've sold a few old cars on Ebay and lots of Volvo parts, and I have perfect feedback. I will do whatever I can to make sure you're happy with your purchase. I can help arrange shipping or transportation as necessary. I believe that the car is ready to drive anywhere, but I strongly recommend shipping it or picking it up with a trailer. I speak from personal experience. I've had enough breakdowns in old cars to know that anything can happen with a nearly 40 year old car.
Thanks for looking!Jason
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