1985 744 d24t

[adamdrives]

For sale is my 1985 Volvo 740 turbo diesel (D24T). I am selling because I am moving across the country. I’ve put 9,000 miles on it in the past 3 years. It has been a restoration project to become a viable and fun unique daily driver. The car is ready to be driven every day by a new owner.

I bought the car in February of 2016 in PA from a Facebook member of one of the rwd groups. When I bought the car, the turbo and manifolds were off, and the car was non running. I diagnosed the issue as a glow plug failure. With a new glow plugs and a new wiring harness made from an old 850 harness, using all Volvo terminals and almost 100% factory wire colors, the car started and ran without issue. Next, I was tasked with replacing the timing belt, injection pump belt, and water pump as there was no record of replacement. Along the way I set the injection pump timing (.90mm), thoroughly flushed the cooling system and filled with Zerex GL-5, replaced the thermostat and bypass hose behind the head, adjusted the valve lash, and checked and set cam timing. I have videos on youtube of these procedures should anyone need help.

Now that I was driving the the car on a daily basis, I found that the turbo didn’t create sufficient boost for every day driving. It ended up being cheaper to buy a new eBay turbo of similar size than to try to replace the original Garrett which had a worn shaft and damaged compressor wheel. The EGR equipment and all associated wiring and vacuum lines were removed with the turbo upgrade, and the EGR port on the exhaust manifold was blocked off with stainless steel and tapped for an EGT sensor. With an EGT gauge set up, I began to turn up pump fueling to make more power. Once the pump was adjusted to my satisfaction, with minimal smoke and increased power, all the throttle linkage, idle rpm and “fast idle” were appropriately adjusted per Volvo greenbook specification. I increased boost using a traditional manual boost controller. The turbo is fed via a 2.5" diameter aluminum elbow pulling through a huge K&N cone filter. The straight piped exhaust was let out the side using a combination of parts store couplers, and sounds nice.

With the car making a little more power I began to upgrade the suspension. I chose Bilstein touring dampers, ipd springs, ipd anti-sway bars and a 940 subframe connector to get the right attitude and stance. The sway bar link bushings were all replaced with poly, as well as the strut rod bushings. The control arm and strut rod to frame bushings were replaced with OEM rubber bushings. The strut mounts were replaced with Lemfoerder units. Additionally, the front pads and rotors were replaced with Advance parts and the fluid was flushed.

Inside the car, the door seals are 940 units for better sealing and sound isolation. The stock shift knob has been replaced with a Momo knob modified to have a functional OD button in the stock location. The stock boost gauge was refitted with a Dave Barton face that shows boost in numerical values, not yellow or red. An ambient temp gauge using the gauge and sensor from a 960 has also been added above the steering wheel. An oil temperature gauge was also added to the cluster. When I got the car, most of the trim panels were missing. They have all been replaced with the exception of the headliner.

The sealed beam forward lights have been changed in favor of LED replacements. The bezels are still shiny and have very little pitting. The corner marker lights were also replaced with clear assemblies in place of the usual amber, and the turn signals are brand new from the aftermarket. A set of used OEM foglights reside in the lower bumper cover. The grille is a NOS piece to complete the clean look. In the rear, a set of 1990+ style taillights give a sleeker appearance. Inside, LED back up lights make sure you can see clearly in poor conditions.

The car has run Rotella synthetic 5w-40 during its ownership with me, as well as Redline 75w-90 in the rear axle and Redline racing type F in the transmission. The overdrive works smoothly, every time, with no drama. When hot and coming off idle at a light, the transmission can be hard to get into 1st and second gear. I replaced the shifts bushings with brass, and the stretched clutch cable in the hopes it might solve this issue but it has not. The cable may still need adjustment as the clutch engages very low on the pedal, but I am used to it. The clutch was replaced by the PO shortly before I picked up the car. I’ve put about 9,000 miles on it since then.

Most recently, I replaced the heater core and radiator which had sprung a leak, and replaced the truck support struts. While I had the radiator out, I wired in a 940 electric fan which is turned on by a switch in the cabin. If I kept the car, the next thing I would replace is the power steering pump which has a slow leak at the shaft seal. I have a spare pump and rebuild kit available for an easy drop in repair. Once that was done, the car would be completely leak free besides the injection pump, which leaks from the cold start advance arm when its close to freezing.

I have driven this car in all conditions over the past three years, on the coldest day of the year as well as the hottest, as a daily driver to work and back and on longer trips to Carlisle and Ithaca averaging 80+ mph. At this point, I’ve done all the hard work and worked out the kinks. All the maintenance and adjustments are done. You can just get in and make smoke if you want to.

I would like to get 2500 to recoup my time and efforts with this car. I will accept reasonable offers. Attached is a list of parts that is unfortunately incomplete and out of chronological order, but covers most of the basics.

Car will come with stock steering wheel and 15" wheels with new tires. Momo wheel and Hydras with snow tires are available for sale.

For sale ad (hadn't installed fogs yet)

Watkins Glen

Auto-X

side pipe go pro