Post: #1

Back when I was 14 I fell in love with the 240 series and always showed my dad videos and pictures of them. One day he told me that if I´m able to find a old Volvo, then we would restore it together as a project. About 2 months after I turned 16 I told my dad about a car I had seen for sale, a rusty 240 2 door with some stripes. He wasnt to happy about the car, because for him "old" means 1950´s and 1960´s, but he was willing to help me with it. Neither me nor my dad really knew what special car it was. We bought it barely running and in very rough shape.

And thats how the story begins...
What I had bought was a 158´000km 1 Owner 1979 242GT 2.3L that had been sitting since 1999, it should have been exported either to africa or east europe, but I bought it just in time.




Once we got it home we started inspecting the car:






















Looking for Rust... and we found it




















The other side looked the same



We found a lot of rust (not all in the pictures) and we got really demotivated, so we called it a day. My dad worked on the car in secret, thats how I found the car the next weekend:

Post: #2

Each saturday we worked from 6am to about 10pm and because of that we made good progress.







While visiting a Volvo Specialist to ask for parts (no success) we got 4 of these wheels for a very good price. They came off of a low milage one owner 240 classic that had rusted away.








Fast forward about 3 weeks. We got the car running good and replaced all suspension components, now the car is getting bodywork done.































We transported the GT to the paint booth, then we began our work.



We had 2 weeks avaiable so we had to work fast

Post: #3

NOS Parts arrived







Back at the garage




Lowered by 40mm and new Bilstein shocks and the new wheels are painted

Post: #4

I had to work out some electrical issues and we tried on the GT-Stripes, but decided to go with the clean no stripes look.







During painting a circle appeared on the hood. It was in the clear coat and formed within 3-5 minutes and no one was in the paint booth at that time to mess with it. That is why we named her Christine, like the movie, because the car had its own mind.

Christine got a complete exhaust from a B23ET, finally a GT Steering wheel and a lot lot more.


Almost done








And she is officially finished...atleast for now






The drive home




These pictures were taken between January 2016 and June 2016, it only took us 6 months, but over 700 hours were invested.

Post: #5

The car changed quite a lot during 1.5 years between June 2016 and now. I have bought a DSLR Camera, so the quality of the picutres should be better.

April 2017, first Volvo meeting with the GT




One day before the Volvo meeting, the GT got a friend. More info on the car and its restoration in another thread.




Christines Birthday
















I had found a NOS Zender Spoiler











I then restored a R-Sport Cluster together with a R-Sport Steering wheel




I decided to buy OZ Futuras later on and bought something else instead. For now that is all. I think the pictures should speak for themselves








-Volvo0815

Post: #6

wow that is cherry

Post: #7

About a month ago I had found the original owner... after over 2 years of searching. After asking some questions I didnt recieve the answers I was looking for:
The Person I was talking to was the wife of the old owner and she told me, that her husband had died in 1999 (thats why she sold the car) and that she doesnt want to meet up/ see the car or talk about it, because she fears that bad feelings will come up. I totally respect that and wont ask any further questions.
Now that I have her name I´m looking for the 2 children and hopefully they can tell me more stories about the car.


-Volvo0815

Post: #8

I am impressed! It looks great!

Post: #9

Wow! Your Volvo looks nicely restored. I am very impressed.