Customer Spotlight - Damian Byers

My 1991 Volvo 240 

by Damian Christopher Byers

I had just finished-up with graduate school and I needed a ride. Specifically, I needed a ride that would tow a trailer from Rhode Island to Minnesota. I searched around Providence looking for something that was cheap and hardy enough for the haul. I wasn't having much luck when one day I came across an ad for a '91 Volvo 240, which also happened to be right around the corner from where I was staying.

I called and went to have a look. Truth be told, I was pretty underwhelmed. I had previously owned a '91 Saab 900 – and loved it. I considered myself a Saab driver, and thought Volvo 240's plodding and utilitarian by comparison. However, the car was cheap, would take a hitch, and was perfect for what I needed it for. I bought it.

What I didn't expect to happen was a complete 180 in how I saw Volvo 240's, and my near instant transformation from a “Saab driver” to “Brick driver.”

Not long after I bought the car, I started researching 240's in order to prep for the hitch and tow across country. It was shortly after I began my search that I found ipd's website and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

ipd offered all the material support I needed to help get the car ready for the trip. But it also gave me an idea that I could undertake a full restoration job. The more I researched, the more I wanted to make it happen. It took a couple years to realize the end result, but I finally finished this past summer and couldn't be happier.

In addition to all of the cosmetic work (new paint, dent and body repair, trim restoration) and basic repairs (new A/C, new flame trap, alternator/oil sender rewiring, transmission flush, radiator flush, ipd Temperature Gauge Bypass Kit, new engine sensors, throttle body and manifold gaskets, windshield wiper linkage assembly), I also invested heavily in upgrading wherever possible: ipd Sway Bar Kit, ipd Upper and Lower Chassis Braces, Boge Turbo Gas Shocks and Struts, 15” Turbo Rims, ATE Slotted Rotors, low mileage re-milled head, ipd VX Camshaft, Turbo Exhaust Kit, Tachometer, K&N Air Filter, and new suspension bushings all the way around.

One helpful tip I discovered was to use Plasti-Dip on the black window trim and side mirrors, and metallic on my turbo rims - both applications worked and look great. 

The car runs and looks great, and I could not be happier...of course there is that 16 valve conversion upgrade!

Thanks ipd and my mechanic, Bruce Berry.

For more pictures of Damians car, check out the gallery at the bottom of this post.

We love featuring some of the great Volvo stories that come across our desk. We plan on doing this on a regular basis so if you have a project car, helpful tech tip or other cool Volvo related story, share it with us and we’ll likely feature you in a future customer spotlight.