It isn’t often that a car leaves me stranded. Problems are common with the junkers I’ve driven over the years, but with the exception of a totally grenaded clutch, I can’t recall a time that I’ve needed to call a tow truck in the past decade or two…but that was before I purchased a ’70s […]
Editor CFlo: I sold our original Volvo 242 project car to a friend almost one year ago. Since then it has undergone quite the transformation. Below is the first installment in a series updating us on the beast, in the words of owner Alex B. Since buying the ’83 Volvo 242 DTPC I have been […]
Tires! They are the most important car parts. The only connection between the metal bits and the road. Without good tires, it doesn’t matter what the chassis and powertrain can do because we don’t all drive SoroSuub X-34 Landspeeders…or Light Cycles…yet. The DTM5 came to me with “temporary” tires that were old, hard, crusty, and […]
by CFlo Despite not updating you, dear reader, on a regular basis I have been thoroughly enjoying the DTM5 after sorting out some “pressing” issues. This is the 3rd installment in that vein. I had a few theories about why the DTM5 was running “popcorn fart lean,” a known problem with the car when I […]
When we had last left the Draken, it had come home with me and it still needed a few things fixed before it could be used on a regular basis. First and foremost was the a malfunctioning blinker/hazard light system and second was the noxious odors of gasoline whenever the the Draken was topped up […]
by CFlo If you remember from the last installment of the DTM5 intro saga, I explained how I picked up a highly decent, thoroughly rebuilt and beastily upgraded example of the last hand-built ///M car for pennies on the dollar. There was a pattern – the previous owners dumped money in, drove for a few […]
by CFlo The most expensive used BMW is also the cheapest used BMW. This is an axiom that I’ve heard repeated amongst enthusiasts, basically expressing the fact that any cheap BMW has to have something terminally wrong with it that will cost you a fortune to fix. In my case, the cheapest used BMW just happened to […]
by CFlo Those of you who have been following my posts on the Daily Turismo Project Car probably saw this coming, but the 242 is now happily living with a new owner and has been since October. Friend, regular DT reader, mechanical (rocket) engineer and Swedish-American certifiable Volvo nut Alex B. expressed interest in the […]
by CFlo As I’m sure many of our readers are aware, the goal and scope of a vehicle project can change drastically after you’ve already dived in. Either money runs out, time gets short, priorities are rearranged or tastes change (thankfully someone told you to reconsider those chrome 24″ wheels that were slated for your […]
The Volvo 242, at the risk of sounding like a hipster, is one of the coolest anti-cool cars. They were decidedly uncool when introduced (think Donald Sutherland-esque community college professor in a corduroy sport coat with elbow patches) but these cars have endured the decades so well that lensless glasses frame wearing aspiring graphic designers […]