Death of my "new" 84 760 Turbo

It is with much sadness that I have to report the untimely death of my
beloved 1984 760 Turbo...

An absolute idiot cut me and another car off last week, causing me to
hit another vehicle and causing much damage to the front end of this
great car.

The right front fender, hood, entire front grill/radiator support, as
well as the radiator itself and the a/c evaporator destroyed.

The fan went into the radiator, and also got lodged against one of the
belt pulleys, so I could not even drive it home for a proper service.

Being the tough car it was, though, it did start and run after the
impact allowing me to get it safely off the busy street where the
accident occurred.

If I had a place to keep it safely and replace all the damaged parts,
I may have kept her, but the damage probably exceeds 2000$ US, and
that's just way too much to bear right now.

Interesting thing was that it hit above the bumper, and everything
just crumbled towards the firewall. The right side headlights were
still intact and running, although they were now two feet behind their
original position. AMAZING.

It was a pretty hard impact, but I didn't feel it too much inside, and
there were no injuries to anyone, a very good thing.

Built like a brick for sure.


I did pass it along to a friend, who will be parting it out, so at
least it wasn't just tossed into the junkyard.


The rest of the body was superb, with no rust, and no dents anywhere
except a small ding on the other fender.
What a shame, I loved this car.

I may buy a newer model, but they don't have the same charm that this
one did. Now looking at a 97 960, only because it's available for a
decent price, under 13k US. with 72,000 miles on it.


I wonder about the reliability of that year model.

I appreciate al the help you in this group have given me with the
repairs I did on my old Volvo, and if I get another be assured I will
be lurking here once again, to get and give advice to anyone who needs
it.

Thanks for being a great group of enthusiasts, especially James Sweet
and the countless others whom I have coresponded with over the past
year.

You folks are the best!!!



Now if I could only find a Bertone V6 Turbo...................


Vinny

 

Sorry to hear about the death of your brick, it sucks when things like this
happen to a nice car. While it's possible the car could be fixed, it's also
likely that it would never be quite the same again, as much as I hate to
say, parting it out may have been the best choice. Good luck in your search
for a new car, I've noticed lately there seems to be quite an abundance of
inexpensive 700 series cars, they changed very little over the years so you
shouldn't have much trouble finding one that feels similar to the one you
lost.

 

Any two given cars might line up oddly. but hitting the brkaes hard in
a car with soft front suspension not only affects braking efficiency
but will also allow the front end to droop and thus lower the bumper
height at impact.

Glad you are OK, and there are lots of great Volvos looking for homes
out there! You'll find another!
__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvo
'93 960 Estate

 

Negative on the V6, not wise.

 

Well that and the V6 was never offered with a turbo, the best 780's had the
standard B230FT under the hood.

 

My condolences.

Can you but a similar and take all the good bits form yours?

Paul

 

After 1987 V6 should be B280 which is a fine, strong engine with none of the oil
feed problems inherent in the B28.

Cheers, Peter.

:
:
: James Sweet wrote:
: >
: > : > > It is with much sadness that I have to report the untimely death of my
: > > beloved 1984 760 Turbo...
: > >
: > > An absolute idiot cut me and another car off last week, causing me to
: > > hit another vehicle and causing much damage to the front end of this
: > > great car.
: > >
: > > The right front fender, hood, entire front grill/radiator support, as
: > > well as the radiator itself and the a/c evaporator destroyed.
: > >
: > > The fan went into the radiator, and also got lodged against one of the
: > > belt pulleys, so I could not even drive it home for a proper service.
: > >
: > > Being the tough car it was, though, it did start and run after the
: > > impact allowing me to get it safely off the busy street where the
: > > accident occurred.
: > >
: > > If I had a place to keep it safely and replace all the damaged parts,
: > > I may have kept her, but the damage probably exceeds 2000$ US, and
: > > that's just way too much to bear right now.
: > >
: > > Interesting thing was that it hit above the bumper, and everything
: > > just crumbled towards the firewall. The right side headlights were
: > > still intact and running, although they were now two feet behind their
: > > original position. AMAZING.
: > >
: > > It was a pretty hard impact, but I didn't feel it too much inside, and
: > > there were no injuries to anyone, a very good thing.
: > >
: > > Built like a brick for sure.
: > >
: > >
: > > I did pass it along to a friend, who will be parting it out, so at
: > > least it wasn't just tossed into the junkyard.
: > >
: > >
: > > The rest of the body was superb, with no rust, and no dents anywhere
: > > except a small ding on the other fender.
: > > What a shame, I loved this car.
: > >
: > > I may buy a newer model, but they don't have the same charm that this
: > > one did. Now looking at a 97 960, only because it's available for a
: > > decent price, under 13k US. with 72,000 miles on it.
: > >
: > >
: > > I wonder about the reliability of that year model.
: > >
: > > I appreciate al the help you in this group have given me with the
: > > repairs I did on my old Volvo, and if I get another be assured I will
: > > be lurking here once again, to get and give advice to anyone who needs
: > > it.
: > >
: > > Thanks for being a great group of enthusiasts, especially James Sweet
: > > and the countless others whom I have coresponded with over the past
: > > year.
: > >
: > > You folks are the best!!!
: > >
: > >
: > >
: > > Now if I could only find a Bertone V6 Turbo...................
: > >
: > >
: > > Vinny
: > >
: >
: > Sorry to hear about the death of your brick, it sucks when things like this
: > happen to a nice car. While it's possible the car could be fixed, it's also
: > likely that it would never be quite the same again, as much as I hate to
: > say, parting it out may have been the best choice. Good luck in your search
: > for a new car, I've noticed lately there seems to be quite an abundance of
: > inexpensive 700 series cars, they changed very little over the years so you
: > shouldn't have much trouble finding one that feels similar to the one you
: > lost.
:
: Negative on the V6, not wise.

 

If I had garage space, I wouldn't have hesitated, in fact I may have
even tried to restore the damage.

This has been burning my gut for almost a week now, since I know the
car's repair history for the last 10 years, and a virtual fortune was
spent on it by previous owners, only 2 in the last 20 years.

But having no place to tinker with it and slowly bring it back, was
the reason I just sold it (cheap) to a good friend of mine, a mechanic
who agreed that the damage would be very costly.

He mainly wanted the wheels/tires, maybe the windows, so he could put
them on his young family's 89 Volvo.

So I will continue the hunt, although it will be impossible to find
one in the condition this was in.(Perfect interior, except for a
sagging headliner, which I repaired myself, almost a completely new
suspension, rebuilt engine 3 yrs old, immaculate paint, straight body
panels, etc.

It kills me, I tell ya!

It's out there, though, and hunting is half the fun.

The other half of the fun will be finding another gem like I had.

By the way, thanks for the advice on the V6, I will keep this in mind.

 

The motor is the real value in the '84, the B23FT is a strong engine coveted
by Volvo performance enthusiasts. It was made only that one year for the top
of the line 760 Turbo and is quite hard to come by.

 

Still a pain in the butt to work on and completely unfamiliar to anyone used
to The turbo 4 is an all around better bet. More powerful too.

 

I have a V6, the B280F is a great engine!!! Much improved, I didn't know the 780 had a V6
Turbo however, I thought it was a B230F but Turbo?!? is this not correct?

I have heard horror stories about the B28F though, that V6 wasn't as good. (cam wear,
etc...)

 

It was incorrect, the V6 was never offered by Volvo in a turbocharged
configuration.

The B280F is much better than the B28F, but it's still uncommon and
difficult to work on. It'll be much harder to find good information on
repairing them yourself and it will likely cost significantly more to pay a
shop to work on one. There's millions of the 4 cyl engines out there, every
Volvo shop is familiar with them.

 

Well, once a Volvo gets into your system....

I may be purchasing a real nice S80 this weekend, kicked the tires
today, now I am just agonizing over the cost, (Around 15,000 for a 99
model with 74k on the odometer)

This will be the main car, and over time I will search for another 700
series for the pure thrill.

Don't get me wrong, the S80 drives beautifully, it's tight, and like a
leather couch on wheels.

But no turbo, although it's very quick.

It just doesn't have the charm/charisma/boxy style/thrill of that old
84 760 turbo.

God, I miss it!!

Will let all know how the new one works out.

As well as the search....

by the way, a guy had a 91 Bertone turbo for sale in San Diego on
Ebay, the bid was only about 300.00 US last I looked, the auction is
probably over by now.

Wonder what it went for.

Not too shabby, except for it blowing white smoke when he stomped on
it, (YIKES!) and some minor cosmetic dings.

Either the bargain of the century or a genuine parts car.

Whatever, it's still a great looking model.

Onto the hunt!