Description
1989 Volvo 740 Turbo Intercooler Estate - G407 LUA
181, 000 miles, MoT expiry December 2025, partial service history.
2. 3 litre petrol turbo, manual 4-speed + overdrive. ‘Facelift’ 940-style front end styling, but original 740 interior - rare car, very few around.
Fair external condition, very good interior condition, lots (!) of recent maintenance and performance modifications. Recent Michelin CrossClimate 2 tyres all round, fresh oil and filter. Goes well and drives really nicely, a world away from how it was when I bought it!
Averages 25 mpg, capable of 30 mpg on a long, gentle run. Always run on E5 super unleaded during my ownership.
Car is located in NE Bristol, BS16. Happy to take prospective purchasers for a drive, but any test drives will need proof of fully comprehensive insurance.
Please read the description thoroughly - I’ve tried to be as comprehensive and honest as possible. Sold as seen, no warranty given or implied.
Equipment:
Heated front seats
Heated electric mirrors
Electric windows all round
Electric tilt/ slide sunroof
Central locking
Heated rear screen
Front/ rear fog lights
Original AM/ FM radio/ cassette with graphic equaliser
Plastic ‘snow tray’ footwell mats
Removable plastic boot liner
Retractable load cover
Towbar with electrics
15” ‘Draco’ alloy wheels with full-size spare
Engine modifications:
‘531’ cylinder head with VX3 cam and enlarged exhaust valves
15G (850 T5) turbo with braided oil/ water lines and 3” downpipe
Full 3” JT exhaust with cat, 2 large silencers and 1 small
Ignition and fuel chips from ‘Stoni’ (Dirk Steinbrenner), 470 cc injectors
Aftermarket intercooler with silicone hoses
Catch can PCV setup with drain back to sump
Currently only running ~0. 7 bar boost to preserve the M46 gearbox
Chassis modifications:
Bilstein B8 dampers and iPD lowering springs (-45/-30 mm F/ R)
iPD anti-roll bars (25 mm F/ R)
BNE Dynamics front spherical adjustable top mounts
Adjustable panhard rod
Various bushings replaced with polyurethane parts
Late 940 ‘jumbo’ front brakes (standard diameter, thicker disc)
Faults/ Issues/’Character’
Unsurprisingly given the age and mileage of the car, there are a number of faults, issues and elements of ‘character’.
Usual B230 piston slap when cold, uses a reasonable amount of oil, some oil leakage. Doesn't smoke, but definitely not 'clean air zone' compliant!
Beginnings of rust showing up around rear wheel arches and in a few other places. I’ve spent some time applying rust converter and underseal to try and slow the process.
Dent in passenger’s side rear door.
Lacquer peel starting on sunroof.
Typical cracks in dash top - don’t seem to be getting any worse.
Plenty of stone chips and small scrapes. Some have been touched in by a previous owner.
Passenger’s side rear door central locking sometimes sticks (more often when warm).
Tailgate doesn’t always unlock first time on central locking. Usually unlocks on second try, occasionally takes 3 cycles. Suspect worn linkage.
Tailgate cannot be opened with key - lock barrel seized solid.
Radio has recently developed an intermittent fault. Suspect grounding or dry solder joints - had been very good previously.
Door switches for interior lights getting sticky - wasn’t a problem when car was in more regular use.
Clock adjustment has recently broken.
Reversing lights intermittent - have had loose connection at gearbox switch and in rear lights previously.
Advisory for steering rack gaiter on most recent MoT.
One tyre has slight loss of pressure over time, suspect poor sealing to rim/ around valve rather than slow puncture - wheels would benefit from refurb to cure this.
4th-3rd shift doesn’t like to be hurried especially when cold, double-declutching helps.
Dash sometimes needs a tap to wake up all the gauges.
Sunroof occasionally sticks on wind deflector when closing in ‘slide’ mode and needs a little help from outside the car.
Ride is pretty firm on the B8 shocks, doesn’t really do the ‘armchair on wheels’ thing!
Exhaust is not ridiculously loud, but is noticeable at idle. No issues with drone inside the car - quiet at 2000 rpm around town, wind/ tyre/ mechanical noise dominate at motorway speed.
Exhaust sits quite low under the car, don’t generally have any issues even on rough roads - firm suspension helps. The joint between the downpipe and rear section took a bit of improvisation and could be improved.
I forgot to specify a sensible rev limiter to Stoni, so I think it’s set at 7250 rpm. I would not advise trying to confirm this without first fitting an uprated flywheel!Owned since 2018 and much enjoyed, but time to find it a new home so I can focus on other projects. I’ve covered just under 21, 000 miles in this car and see no reason it shouldn’t make it well past 200, 000 miles with ease.
The interior of this car is probably its stand-out feature - it’s been looked after very well, spared the ravages of children, dogs or use as a van. I have been very careful to keep it this way during my ownership. The exterior scrubs up OK, but does show the years and miles in places.
I bought this car in 2018 as a lightly-recommissioned garage find with 160k on the clock. It had been stored off the road since the early 2000s - the first MoT which shows up in the online history is from 2018.
The (unverified!) story I was told was that the ‘old boy’ who owned it had long since stopped driving, but would occasionally roll the car outside to run it. When he dented the rear drivers’ side door doing this, that was the prompt to finally sell it. I bought it from the dealer who bought it from him, so I’m effectively the third significant owner of the car. There is a letter sent between the first two owners included with the car’s handbook.
I had a few issues with the car early on in my ownership (probably to be expected given the lack of recent use), which led to a couple of breakdowns and a period of the car being off the road. Since then I have (touch wood) replaced pretty much everything that might cause a breakdown, and I haven’t needed to call the AA out since 2018.
The major work undertaken on the car in my ownership includes:
Cooling and fuel system overhaul, cambelt and waterpump replaced late 2018, 161k miles.
Gearchange linkage, propshaft joints, couplings and bearings replaced late 2018, 161k miles.
Cylinder head and cam upgrade, overhaul and replacement, early 2019, 161k miles.
3” exhaust fitted late 2019, 164k miles.
Comprehensive suspension overhaul mid-2020, 165k miles.
Alternator, distributor, ignition coil, power stage replaced mid-2020, 165k miles.
Steering rack replaced late 2021, 166k miles.
Turbo upgrade, bigger intercooler, new oil cooler, oil hoses, catch can etc. May 2022, 170k miles.
Brake master cylinder replaced, brake fluid change Dec 2022, 174k miles.
Front brake hard lines and hoses replaced, Dec 2023, 179k miles.
I haven’t been as diligent as I could be in recording maintenance during my ownership of the car, so the service history runs out in the early 2000s. I have changed the oil and filter every 3-4k miles during my ownership of the car, but haven’t kept good records.
What follows is a list (probably not complete!) of the parts I have replaced, repaired or upgraded during my ownership, in roughly chronological order.
Engine and gearbox mounts.
Overdrive 4th gear switch.
Fuel pressure regulator.
In-tank fuel (lift) pump, pump/ sender assembly, main fuel pump, fuel filter.
Fuel tank removed and cleaned out. New seal and clamping ring fitted.
All rubber fuel hoses under the car, including filler coupling.
Radiator, radiator hoses, heater valve, heater hoses, header tank, thermostat.
Cambelt, water pump, belt tensioner, belt cover.
Crank pulley (harmonic balancer) and drivebelts.
Cylinder head (upgraded to 531 with 46 mm exhaust valves), refitted using full Elring head and top-end gasket set, new head bolts.
Original ‘T’ cam replaced with ‘VX3’, clearances set with new shims.
Gearshift linkage rebuilt, new bearings and bushings, new gear knob.
Gearbox oil drained, flushed with Type F ATF, filters cleaned, filled with Redline MTL.
Diff oil changed.
Graduated boost gauge face from Dave Barton.
Propshaft joints and support bearing.
Complete exhaust including 3” downpipe.
Suspension - iPD springs, Bilstein B8 dampers, BNE top mounts, iPD anti-roll bars, polybushes from Retro Turbo/ iPD. Front radius arms.
Front hubs and wheel bearings.
Engine plastic undertray.
Brakes - front calipers, carriers, discs, pads and backing plates.
Clutch hose.
Alternator (new, Hella) and bushings.
Distributor body (NOS Bosch), distributor cap, ignition leads, spark plugs, ignition amplifier.
Fuel and ignition ECUs (later ‘gold’ chippable types fitted).
Fuel and ignition chips.
Mudflaps - new genuine Volvo.
Steering rack.
Front and rear washer nozzles and check valves, cleaned out washer tank.
Turbo, intercooler, turbo oil/ water hoses, intake/ boost hoses, vacuum hoses.
Oil cooler and hoses.
Block ventilation plate, catch can and hose
Headlight and foglight bulbs - Philip
Front indicators, rear light clusters.
Brake master cylinder.
Front brake hard/ flexi lines.
Sunroof dash switch and sunroof limit switches stripped, cleaned and relubricated.
Dry solder joints in radio, instruments, relays fixed
