240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

Eeeek!

We have being watched by the Politically Correct Police!

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Indeed and their powers of observation leave a lot to be desired!

Originally Posted by Othen

Walls have ears... and pork pies, and sausages...

:-)

What arrogant nonsense !! LOL



.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Walls have ears... and pork pies, and sausages...

:-)

Yes, so be careful what you say about their ice cream!

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Yes, so be careful what you say about their ice cream!

This [section of] the forum has deteriorated. Is life. shrug emoticon





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[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Othen

So...



...perhaps I'll buy a polo pony now, and spend my days chatting with Lavinia, Lavinia's friend and Lavinia's friend's sister...

From the photograph the DL is at the earliest a 1978-79 model - the square headlamps are the immediate giveaway, while its door mirrors are the internally adjustable type that were fitted as standard for the 1980 model - while the estate appears to have a tailgate-mounted rear fog lamp, which was a UK-mandatory fitting from September 1979. All have the correct, Right-hand sweep wipers of post 1978 MY cars.

That's 40-42 years ago by my reckoning. The polo-playing crowd tended to be small-c conservative so the clothing might reflect parental "suggestions" or what the male players expected the female one to wear so I still think my belief as to their age ranges is credible.

However, as has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it is NEVER a good idea to either guess at or ask a lady her age: death, I am reliably informed, is permanent!

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

From the photograph the DL is at the earliest a 1978-79 model - the square headlamps are the immediate giveaway, while its door mirrors are the internally adjustable type that were fitted as standard for the 1980 model - while the estate appears to have a tailgate-mounted rear fog lamp, which was a UK-mandatory fitting from September 1979. All have the correct, Right-hand sweep wipers of post 1978 MY cars.

That's 40-42 years ago by my reckoning. The polo-playing crowd tended to be small-c conservative so the clothing might reflect parental "suggestions" or what the male players expected the female one to wear so I still think my belief as to their age ranges is credible.

However, as has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it is NEVER a good idea to either guess at or ask a lady her age: death, I am reliably informed, is permanent!

True Loki.

And. The photograph is seriously unlikely to be from "real life". Models photographed and told what to wear ...

Regards Stephen




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[Stephen Edwin]

.
Ahem. Do any members "believe" brochures?

Volvo like many brochure providers wanted potential buyers to see the contrived surroundings and to have aspirations.

Royal Czar I am actually pleased you bought th brochure. It is part of your "portfolio" re your jam jar. I hope you enjoy having it. Kushtie

And Royal Czar. From another thread. If you are interested in 15" alloys of that ilk, omega, someone has a set of five and, might be persuaded. They were bought to be used with winter tyres but life is too much to cope with now. So those wheels ... and very good winter tyres not yet fitted, might, be available. Someone does not want to dump but must clear down to salvage the end of days.


Comrade Stephen Edwin




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[Othen]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

However, as has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it is NEVER a good idea to either guess at or ask a lady her age: death, I am reliably informed, is permanent!

We all strongly agree on that one Loki!!!!!

Alan

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Othen

We all strongly agree on that one Loki!!!!!

Alan

Do we all? Probably but for whom are you authorised to speak?

Actually it depends on circumstances, degree of tact, &c. &c. ....

One remembers assisting a lady by indirectly asking that question. You might mention to your friend that you could in time approach an age when you would not be elligible to do that form of service ...
Damsel rescued. One was rewarded by a very full Yorkshire tea.

And instances of ladies needing to be asked their date of birth ....

Generally one would not ask.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



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[Othen]

... and for the next thrilling episode (my winter project) we have: 15" Pholus wheels:

Bob and I had a really nice day out in the RB today - we drove to Worcester to collect a set of nice 15" Pholus wheels for renovation. First the trip: the RB was first class, this was the first longer trip (>30 miles) I'd taken it on, and was really pleased how well it performed. The journey was nearly all motorway and dual carriageway, the RB had no problem keeping up with traffic and cruised at 70 MPH (3750 RPM) most of the way, Bob didn't mind the vinyl cover I'd fitted to the back seat and enjoyed the ride.

As we left out I filled up at our local Morrisons (1 mile away), and did so again when we got home, so as to accurately gauge the fuel consumption on a longer run. It covered 176 miles on just 27 litres of Morrison's very cheapest (I make that 6 gallons used) - which comes out at 29.3 MPG - I am really happy with that, I think it is excellent for a 40 year old car.

I had a look at a AW71 gearbox whilst we were in Worcester, it looks more or less like it would fit and seemed to have the same 4 hole output flange, so perhaps that will be next year's project. My concern is the gearing, in a 740 the engine turns over at 2400 RPM at 70, so the gearing is 56% higher than the BW55 that is fitted. The RB only produced 100 HP when it was new, and probably a few have bolted over the past 40 years, so I don't know that it will produce enough torque at 2400 RPM to be in top gear at 70 MPH. The answer we discussed might be to get some more torque - which might lead to a twin Weber carburettor conversion... but then where would I stop. I need to think about this one over the winter.

On to the wheels: the most important thing is they fit, vice the Virgo wheels:



... very snug indeed.

I've started cleaning them up and they are not too bad:



I'll get the tyres taken off this week. There is a fair bit of surface corrosion to sort out on the backs, but the fronts of three of them are good like this one:



... just one of them is badly scuffed:



On the whole they are a bit better than I'd expected. I've ordered some paint and etch primer, plus some 2 pack alloy putty. I think the wheels will come up just fine and will give me something to do for a while - then I have to decide what to do with them (maybe get some tyres fitted and put them on the RB, maybe have some winters fitted, or perhaps just store them to the day when the RB's Virgo wheels need changing).

All in all Bob and I had a really good day with the RB :-)

[john.wigley]

Glad you had a good day, Alan.

You said:

"I had a look at a AW71 gearbox whilst we were in Worcester, it looks more or less like it would fit and seemed to have the same 4 hole output flange, so perhaps that will be next year's project. My concern is the gearing, in a 740 the engine turns over at 2400 RPM at 70, so the gearing is 56% higher than the BW55 that is fitted. The RB only produced 100 HP when it was new, and probably a few have bolted over the past 40 years, so I don't know that it will produce enough torque at 2400 RPM to be in top gear at 70 MPH. The answer we discussed might be to get some more torque - which might lead to a twin Weber carburettor conversion... but then where would I stop. I need to think about this one over the winter."

I don't know how easy it would be, or if it is even feasible, but might an alternative solution be to change the rear axle reduction ratio? Reference to Mr. Haynes' book of words suggests that there are five, ranging from 3.54 to 4.30, or 3.15 to 3.91, to 1, depending on type.

Out of interest, our last 740s, both '87 2.3 FI autos, turned over at an indicated 2,700 RPM at 60 MPH (a needle's width over 3000 at 70), so it may not be as far out as you think.

If your rear axle is also showing it's age, might this be worth looking into as an alternative to extracting more power from the engine. Perhaps you could even do both?!

Regards, John.