1989 Volvo 240 GLT Estate

Hi guys, as some of you may know, I've been trundling around in a little MX-5 for the last 10 months or so, and although it's been a brilliant, faultless little car, and soooo much fun, it was becoming a big thorne in the side of my other hobbies, and to some extent social life, just due to how stupidly impractical it was. So I decided the next logical step was to swap it for 15.8 feet of Swedish steel ;D

I've always had a bit of a thing for estates, and I was after something a bit more retro, so this fitted the bill nicely. I got it off Quirky-Classics (Adam) on here, who is also now the new owner of my old MX-5. That's the 5th consecutive member of this forum to own the mazda, and the 3rd to swap it for a Volvo!

Anyway, onto the Volvo. I met Adam at 11 this morning at Frankly services, between J3 and J4 of the M5, which was about 120 miles away for each of us, exchanged documents and keys, grabbed a bite to eat while I sorted insurance out, then headed on our way our new toys. I stopped off at a mates on the way home, then headed back to mine to give it a much needed clean. I was a bit out of it having got home at 3am last night, so the relaxed and generally quiet drive home in the Volvo was great in comparison to the fun but twitchy and loud MX-5. I say generally quiet, because the roof rack whistles like a dive-bomber at anything over about 50.

As I picked it up:



And after a good clean and with the roof rack retired until it's actually needed for hauling stuff about:




Immediate plans are basically just to tidy it up and sort a decent stereo out. There's still a lot of light scratches in the paint work that need getting out with a mop, but I don't have access to power where I park at home, so I'll sort that sometime in the week. I'll probably look at getting my head-unit and some front speakers in tomorrow. There's also some missing trim that needs sourcing and fitting as and when I can.

I've provisionally sourced some wheels for it, which could be interesting if I manage to get my hands on them. Once I've got them I'll see how it sits on them, and then sort the ride height accordingly. I'm also looking into getting some Monroe Air-assist shocks for the back to stop it getting too saggy when it's loaded up, and I'd like to get the exhaust to sit a bit higher as it's by far the lowest point underneath at the moment.

Then in the slightly-longer term, at some point over the summer holidays I'm hoping to be swapping in a 2.1td Peugeot (or similar) engine to keep the fuel bills down while I'm at uni.

Anyway, I'm loving being back in an older car, and I'm really looking forward to being able to make use of all the space in the back, as a keen mountain-biker I've really missed a decent sized car, and I keep meaning to get back into kayaking too.

More and better pictures will follow, and I'll keep this thread up to date with any progress. Suggestions and comments are as always, more than welcome.