240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Wouldn't the hydraulics relaxing over time cause a problem with that idea Alan? Of course you could probably build a humungous cider press with a nice big ACME threaded lead-screw and tighten it daily to extract all the juice..... Hic!!

... if I grow some vines in the garden I could then use it as a wine press and make a few bottles of Chateau du Chateau Dave :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... if I grow some vines in the garden I could then use it as a wine press and make a few bottles of Chateau du Chateau Dave :-)

You could start your own microbrewery Alan! Beer, wine, cider........

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You could start your own microbrewery Alan! Beer, wine, cider........

... better plant a few hop bines in the garden :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... better plant a few hop bines in the garden :-)

Sounds like a good idea to me!

[Othen]

I got round to changing the troublesome wheel bearing this morn. The bearing part of the job was trivial, but there was a difficulty - more of that later.

With the car jacked up and secured getting the brake calliper bolts undone proved difficult:



... they did both come undone after a bit of a heave with the breaker bar and the calliper could be tied out of the way:



... the pads and discs were all in good order. With the disc off, the hub came off easily, it is just held on with a single castle nut and split pin:



Getting the two races out wasn't too hard, I just tapped them out through the hub with a punch - a vice was useful to support the hub for the back one:



The bearing press I bought last week is a fantastic machine: instead of hours tapping things into holes, lots of skinned knuckles and swearing the two races were pressed in dead straight in a few minutes. I should have bought one years ago:



This little rubber seal came in the kit, so I changed it anyway:



Putting the hub back on was trivial: plenty of grease (in the kit), tighten up then loosen off a third of a turn so the castle nut is hand tight, then fit a new split pin:

... Roger so far? Everything had gone so well - and had only taken an hour or so... now came the problem.

One of the two bolts that had been so difficult to get out of the brake callipers was clearly damaged beyond use:



... and the thread on the other one was quite worn. The bolts don't seem to be M12 - I had a couple of M12 bolts that were the right length but the threads were tight so I didn't force them. Does anyone happen to know what thread they should be (I'm guessing something imperial)?

The bolts are part number 947328-1, so I'll order a couple of new ones this afternoon (I don't even know whether the ones that came out are correct).

There is always something that holds up working on a 40 year old motor car :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

The bolts don't seem to be M12 - I had a couple of M12 bolts that were the right length but the threads were tight so I didn't force them. Does anyone happen to know what thread they should be (I'm guessing something imperial)?

The bolts are part number 947328-1, so I'll order a couple of new ones this afternoon (I don't even know whether the ones that came out are correct).

There is always something that holds up working on a 40 year old motor car :-)

Alan

I suspect they are M12 Alan but a fine thread. Something like M12x1.25 or maybe 1.5

This will give a slightly reduced OD as the thread pitch, being finer, has lower peaks and troughs. I would also inspect the carrier/bracket they go into to make sure the thread is ok in there as well, wouldn't be surprised to learn someone has cross-threaded or even used a wrong pitch M12 bolt in there with a windy gun to "assist" it inwards.

Other than that, great job and glad the hydraulic press made life much easier!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I suspect they are M12 Alan but a fine thread. Something like M12x1.25 or maybe 1.5

This will give a slightly reduced OD as the thread pitch, being finer, has lower peaks and troughs. I would also inspect the carrier/bracket they go into to make sure the thread is ok in there as well, wouldn't be surprised to learn someone has cross-threaded or even used a wrong pitch M12 bolt in there with a windy gun to "assist" it inwards.

Other than that, great job and glad the hydraulic press made life much easier!

Thanks Dave,

I did some research and found they are indeed M12 thread - the issue was that one of the holes had its thread full of the swarf from that buggered bolt. I cleaned it up with a tap as deep as I could, then a new, clean M12 bolt with a bit of oil and the thread is fine now. I've fitted two new high tensile bolts and given the RB a test drive - it is all good.

:-)

PS. The hydraulic press is a marvellous machine!

[Othen]

I was just starting to think about changing to winter tyres for the RB and the Skoda, but then it is so mild at the moment - we have hardly had a frost here in Northamptonshire.

Has anyone changed to their winter tyres yet this year?

Alan

PS. Another job I have to do at the same time will be fitting the nearside rear plastic wheel arch liner (the 940 one I got from Luke). The offside one I made fit last year has been excellent in every way.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I was just starting to think about changing to winter tyres for the RB and the Skoda, but then it is so mild at the moment - we have hardly had a frost here in Northamptonshire.

Has anyone changed to their winter tyres yet this year?

Alan

PS. Another job I have to do at the same time will be fitting the nearside rear plastic wheel arch liner (the 940 one I got from Luke). The offside one I made fit last year has been excellent in every way.

I've often thought about a set of winter tyres, never gone so far as to get some though.
That said i've never felt the need, i've tried being brutal in icy conditions and at worst i've provoked a twitch from the back end that has quickly been regained. With that in mind and my low mileage, it doesn't seem worth the expense and finding storage for the "off" set of wheels would be difficult.

General consensus on the weather is overnight it's just about getting down to just above freezing with an air or ground frost in some areas but still mild (allegedly) through the day. I say allegedly mild as it still feels seriously cold to me.

None of that gets remotely close to answering your question though Alan!

I'd suggest playing it by ear and when you hear the crunch of ice on your lawn two mornings running, switch to your winter set.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

General consensus on the weather is overnight it's just about getting down to just above freezing with an air or ground frost in some areas but still mild (allegedly) through the day. I say allegedly mild as it still feels seriously cold to me.

None of that gets remotely close to answering your question though Alan!

I'd suggest playing it by ear and when you hear the crunch of ice on your lawn two mornings running, switch to your winter set.

I think you are probably right Dave, it isn't really cold enough here in the Midlands to justify changing to the winter boots yet.

Alan