240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Oooooo-errrrrrrrrrr! We've created a monster!

Are you thinking of buying a car with a duff engine, sourcing a replacement and fitting it then selling it on?

Don’t worry Dave - I’m only joking!

The hoist is for the AW71 project of course :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Don’t worry Dave - I’m only joking!

The hoist is for the AW71 project of course :-)

I did wonder for a minute there Alan! I thought that was the intended use but i sometimes you can never be sure when it's only the written word.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I did wonder for a minute there Alan! I thought that was the intended use but i sometimes you can never be sure when it's only the written word.

... my fault Dave, I was being a bit flippant - because I was so pleased at acquiring that hoist for nothing. It is from a factory that is closing down, the MD is a mate.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... my fault Dave, I was being a bit flippant - because I was so pleased at acquiring that hoist for nothing. It is from a factory that is closing down, the MD is a mate.

Gift horse and mouth Alan, would have been rude to refuse! Shame the factory is closing, at least some good will come of it as you have an engine hoist and a few other bits from the sound of things.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Gift horse and mouth Alan, would have been rude to refuse! Shame the factory is closing, at least some good will come of it as you have an engine hoist and a few other bits from the sound of things.

Yes indeed Dave.

the MD of the factory is a mate; yes it is a pity it is closing, nothing to do with Brexit or anything like that, it is just part of a global reconciliation with production being moved to a larger plant in Morocco. Still a shame though.

I'm thinking I might invest on one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000lb-91...53.m1438.l2649

... as the B21a+BW55 will be a bit of a lump.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Yes indeed Dave.

the MD of the factory is a mate; yes it is a pity it is closing, nothing to do with Brexit or anything like that, it is just part of a global reconciliation with production being moved to a larger plant in Morocco. Still a shame though.

I'm thinking I might invest on one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000lb-91...53.m1438.l2649

... as the B21a+BW55 will be a bit of a lump.

That would be a useful tool to have when you do it Alan, also consider jacking up the back end when you come to remove the engine and box and refit it. It gives quite a bit more room to lift the engine up, forward and out.

I did that many moons ago with my first SD1 when i transferred the engine and box to an intact rolling shell (my original shell was held together by the rust!) and it made life much easier. That was a BW65 hung on the back of the old POB 215ci V8 more commonly known as the Rover V8. Overall length of the engine and box very similar to a red block and BW55 and similar weight too.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That would be a useful tool to have when you do it Alan, also consider jacking up the back end when you come to remove the engine and box and refit it. It gives quite a bit more room to lift the engine up, forward and out.

I did that many moons ago with my first SD1 when i transferred the engine and box to an intact rolling shell (my original shell was held together by the rust!) and it made life much easier. That was a BW65 hung on the back of the old POB 215ci V8 more commonly known as the Rover V8. Overall length of the engine and box very similar to a red block and BW55 and similar weight too.

Thank you for that Dave,

I was thinking I could put the front end up on some ramps, which will aide access to the gearbox and engine mounts no end. I noticed there were a couple of very meaty machine jacks at the factory yesterday that I might claim. They are far to big (about 10t I should think) to use as everyday car jacks, but I was thinking I could jack the differential up enough (with a trolley jack) to get one under each side of the live axle, then use them as a pair of adjustable axle stands to lift the back up to a convenient height.
The engine hoist appears to have a good range of movement, and I think could cope with lifting the B21a/BW55 from an extra foot high and the additional clearance underneath the car would help a lot.

The project is coming together.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Thank you for that Dave,

I was thinking I could put the front end up on some ramps, which will aide access to the gearbox and engine mounts no end. I noticed there were a couple of very meaty machine jacks at the factory yesterday that I might claim. They are far to big (about 10t I should think) to use as everyday car jacks, but I was thinking I could jack the differential up enough (with a trolley jack) to get one under each side of the live axle, then use them as a pair of adjustable axle stands to lift the back up to a convenient height.
The engine hoist appears to have a good range of movement, and I think could cope with lifting the B21a/BW55 from an extra foot high and the additional clearance underneath the car would help a lot.

The project is coming together.

Alan

You really need to keep the front end low if possible Alan, if you can get the back end fairly high you can disconnect the propshaft and undo the gearbox mounts (and speedo cable!), disconnect the gear shift linkage etc all fairly easily.

The engine/gearbox combo will have a tendency for the gearbox to come out lower than the engine which is no bad thing. Think of it as being 8ft long (it isn't but helps imagine the idea) coming out through a hole that is 3ft x 3ft - it's near impossible to get it vertical but if you can lift the back end of the car, it helps get the relative angle between car and combo nearer to a right angle.

Not sure about those machine jacks being helpful, do they have cups on the top similar to axle stands or just the end of the ram?

[Othen]

Regular readers will know that the RB has reached a maintenance and use phase (good thing), but that doesn't mean I don't think of small improvements here and there. The motor car came with some really garish orange disco covers for the otherwise very good door speakers:



... it would have been sort of nice to go back to the OE Volvo square speakers, but they seem to sell for about £20 each second hand, which is too much to pay for a piece of plastic. I found these more sedate one on eBay for £2/pair (yes, you did read that right, 2 English pounds per pair):



Fortunately they were an exact fit, and have toned down the speakers much more in keeping with the RB's character:



On a less rainy day I might spray them - perhaps a tan colour, and find some better fixings than the wood screws a PO had used to secure them, but all in all quite a nice improvement for a doubloon.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

On a less rainy day I might spray them - perhaps a tan colour, and find some better fixings than the wood screws a PO had used to secure them, but all in all quite a nice improvement for a doubloon.

:-)

I was going to suggest spraying the original speaker covers that came with the car Alan, some plastic primer followed by BL Champagne Beige would be a good match for your interior.

You could either pop the mesh out before spraying to give a bit of contrast once refitted or spray the mesh as well for an "all-in-one-colour" look.

Meanwhile the replacemenit grilles are looking good!