'84 240 diesel questions

[allczns]

hi all, not sure where to post this but will try here...
stumbled across a 1984 240 diesel sedan, manual trans. The owner says it came from Florida and has absolutely no rust, barn stored for the last several years, never winter driven. Runs but says it has excessive blowby and engine needs to be rebuilt(200,000 km). Asking $1500 Canadian (roughly the same in USD).
Busy here on the farm so I can't see it for probably two weeks.
This is not my favorite body style...didn't Volvo have any stylists on staff???
I've bought and sold several Ford trucks but I'm brand new to Volvo's so what are the points to look out for? For example, any secret places to look for body rot? And what about the engine? Rebuildable? Parts available? Affordable?
Any comments on the asking price? Seems rich to me considering the potential sour engine.
thanks,

[Jason]

It should be running half way well to ask that much. At least he is being honest about it with the blow by. I would just hold out for a turbo diesel. With the turbo they burn cleaner, the block is harder, and they have piston oil squirters. The engines tend to last longer because of those things. As for rust, they rust everywhere so just take a close look everywhere. If you do end up doing a rebuilt, parts are available, they aren't super cheap but they aren't the most expensive either.

Jason

[allczns]

I forgot about the harder block and piston squirters...good points. I might still look at it as part of my Volvo education. Prefer the look of the 740 tho'.
Glenn

[Jason]

Well your on the right track then, only the 7 series cars were turbo. All the 2 series were NA d24s

Jason

[v8volvo]

Hold out for a 7 series, they are better in every way except that some prefer the styling of the 240s. 700s are much less prone to rust, they handle better, more room in the interior, and a lot of little stuff on them is better designed and tends to last longer than on the 200s (seats, wiring, door handles, etc). The only real common issues with the 700s are that the headliners eventually fall down, and some of the front control arm bushings tend to wear out prematurely (costs $20 and 30 minutes of work to replace). Other than that, they are about as bulletproof as any car ever made.

If you want to check the 240 out for rust, the key places to look are the "butt cheeks" (the areas right behind the rear wheels where there is a sort of depression for holding the spare tire in the trunk, on both sides) and the floor right behind the driver's and passenger's seats. 700s eventually rust underneath too, but have much better materials and rustproofing than 240s so it takes a lot longer for one to get really bad.

200 and 700 series Volvos are both great cars, you can't really go wrong with either one... but if you already prefer the styling of the 700 series, I would wait for one of them to turn up since they have the above advantages plus the TD engine, which is a big improvement versus the NA motor.

[allczns]

...I'm surprised how few diesels I've turned up. I'm only about 1.5 hours from Toronto (big market) and Canucks generally think diesels are OK (maybe a little more than our American cousins?). I've done some web reading...am I correct that 700 series only offered the d24t for a few years, maybe '82 to '85 or so? If I'm wrong on that can someone point me to a reliable source of info? need to know what years to search...
thanks,

[Jason]

In the US market, and I'm guessing Canada, the 760 and later 740 was only imported from 83 to 85. The 7 series was only offered with the turbo diesel at least in the US market. I have seen some cars on here from Europe that were 7 series cars with the NA d24 though... I don't think that will apply to you. Mostly I found the diesels collected on the coasts, with very few being sold in the midwest. I don't know how many were sold up there, but not many were sold at all anyway. I looked for over a year before I found one for sale that was resonably close to me (I met the guy half way and it was still a 4 hour drive to meet him!)

Jason

[allczns]

...I think it will be a challenge to find one but I will keep looking...