240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[john.wigley]

Amazin' (or should I say Amazon)!

Good on you, Alan; like 'L.S.', I look forward to reading of your adventures with your new purchase. Is there a special significance in the name?

Regards, John.

[Bob Meadows]

You lucky man! great car Alan:~
Regards Bob.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

Amazin' (or should I say Amazon)!

Good on you, Alan; like 'L.S.', I look forward to reading of your adventures with your new purchase. Is there a special significance in the name?

Regards, John.

The name? No, it is just a generation older than the RB, that is all. It came to me as I was driving back - but perhaps Aunt Maud will stick?

:-)

Alan

[Othen]

This is my car (ABD984A):



:-)

[Othen]

It has been a busy day - and at last I have a minute to sit down and collect my thoughts.

So, this morn the RB and I drove down to Bedford to see his Great Aunt Maud - she is a generation or so older than the RB, being a 1963 122 - B18D motor with a M41 gearbox and D type overdrive (an addition). GAM's owner was a thoroughly decent chap (David - a lapsed member of this forum).

It was love at first sight for the RB and his GAM, so I'm really pleased to say the motor car will be coming home to live with us tomorrow.

I'll start a project thread in the 1800 section, but until then this is a preview for our friends in the 200 series section of the forum.

GAM is very elegant for its years, but has a few issues which make it unsuitable for David to persevere with, but entirely apposite for me (being retired with plenty of time and space for one more project before my dotage). The biggest problem is a hole big enough to get my index finger into in the OS front chassis member. I'll get the car up on some ramps on Saturday and have a better look. I'm not all that concerned about this because that box section is made of pretty thick steel (I would guess about 3 mm) and doesn't show. I'll cut out the bad stuff and ugly weld some new stuff in the next couple of weeks. The bottoms of the rear doors are rusted through - the right side worse than the left. The good news in that GAM came with two pristine rear doors (from dry state USA):



... I still have a choice - either fix the existing doors and patch paint (plus sell the pristine ones) or have the pristine pair painted, swap over the furniture and fit them. I'll take a view on that issue some time next in the next few weeks.

The windscreen seal leaks a bit on the passenger side where the rubber has perished. I'm thinking I'll probably try a silicone sealant fix from the outside rather than have the screen removed as the chance of breaking it would be high - and that would be a catastrophe. The paint under the windscreen on the passenger side of the windscreen has blown out a bit - so there may be some rust underneath. I'll wait for better weather and have a better look in the spring - then take a view on what to do.

There is an oil leak - a pet hate of mine. It looks like it may be coming from the gearbox, but I'll have a better look at the weekend. It is all so simple under the motor car that I could probably have the gearbox off in an hour, so even that wouldn't be much of a drama.

There will of course be a myriad of bits and pieces that I discover over the next couple of months. David described the car well and pointed me to the major faults.

The front suspension looks like it could do with taking apart and new bushes, dampers and springs putting in (a set of nearly new springs came with the motor car) - but I bought a bearing press recently so that will only be a day or so's work.

The rest looks fine. The paint is generally good, the rest of the body looks fine, the motor pulls well with no smoking, the gearbox and clutch work fine, the brakes will lock the wheels (either good brakes or rubbish tyres), the electrics work(it has an alternator conversion and halogen headlamps)... more to follow when I start a project thread.

Overall I'm feeling smug - GAM is exactly what I was looking for. This may be my last project, I have 18 months until Dan finishes his A levels and this is the ideal thing: a runner and rider with a bit of work required to make it nice.

This bit is important: the project aim and scope. I am not (under any circumstances) going to do a full restoration - that would cost £15,000 and take 3 years - and I have no desire to own a show car. I have 18 months and about £1,500 to make a nice driver. It will never be as practical as the RB (which is staying of course) but I think it will be fun and satisfying to make get GAM up to scratch and perhaps make a few subtle improvements.

:-)

Alan

PS. I insured the GAM (One Call with whom I already insure the RB) for only £97 this afternoon - including breakdown insurance and a £40 loyalty discount from the RB's renewal premium in February!

[Othen]

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...75#post2798075

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...75#post2798075

Thanks Alan!

[Othen]

An additional bonus from Aunt Maud was this very nice set of Thule roof bars for the RB:



... the PO (David) kindly included them with the spares box. I think they belonged to his father's 240 many moons ago - but as you may see fit the RB perfectly.

:-)

[Othen]

I have just received my invitation to renew the RB's insurance (due on 5 February). I am very pleased to report that the renewal premium will be just £48.56 - and that includes some basic breakdown cover. It was about £90 last year, but One Call has given me a year of NCB (generous on an historic car I thought) as well as a £40 discount for insuring GAM with the company.

So, this year's fixed running expenses for the RB will be:

Insurance: £48.56
Tax: £0
MoT: £0
Oil change service: £25.
Total: about £75.

I'll pay it quickly :-)

That doesn't take into account any fuel or spare parts I may have to buy, but the RB is now is a use and running maintenance phase and has become very reliable indeed. This really is the sweet spot in historic car ownership: an interesting and good looking motor car that can be driven every day, is certainly appreciating in value and costs £75/year to keep on the road.

The wonderful, every day (as they say at the Swedish shop).

Alan :-)


Alan

[john.wigley]

And that is precisely why cars like the R.B. are much 'greener' than a new E.V. in my opinion, Alan. Plus you get to drive it and don't have to rely on a computer. What's not to like?

Regards, John.