440/460 Bodykit...
 

Hey Guys...

A touch of deja vu here! As many 400 owners probably know through the amount's of post's throughout this section, the front bumper spoiler/attachment that makes up the bodykit is a very rare and sought after piece of 'kit' (excuse the pun). As no-body seems to have any luck with finding a complete undamaged one, i have had an idea.

Dave Slater (of DBS) makes alot of mouldings for Volvo's, and he once said that if we could get a complete front valance in good nick, he could create a mould and run off a load for people interested. He didn't say how many people he would need to get a run of them, but i'm sure he wouldn't need too many.

So, here comes the idea. It was just something that popped into my head-i haven't asked him, i just want to see if this is a feasable idea and if so, how many people may be interested. So this doesn't mean that if you reply to this post you are a dead cert, and you are listed to go ahead, as i said, it's just to see if there's a market for it.

Volvo still sell the front spoiler for the 440. Last time i got a price for it, it was around £280. Thats alot of money for a piece of fibreglass. All it does is clip onto the old style front bumper-so for a facelifted shape like mine, i would still have to fit a Mk1 (1990 shape) 440 front bumper (which would fit, just a straight swap)...more money. So, as i cried myself to sleep, i though about this; If there were at least 10 people on here who were interested in the front spoiler, then we could club together, and with my 10% VOC discount, split the cost of one front spoiler 10 ways-this would work out to about £25 each. We could then send this front spoiler to Dave at DBS, and he could then make perfect moulds for the 10 of us who paid for the spoiler. I don't know how much he would charge for the mouldings each, but i know he is quite reasonable and if there were a large group of us, he could probably do us a deal as well.

Does that sound like a good idea or not? As i said, it's just an idea at the moment, but if enough people were interested, and dead cert. about being interested, i would then approach him and get more information.

As i said-this is not a commitment! Just testing the water to see if people are interested....

Let me know people....
Later,
Dan M

Oh, and for those unfamiliar with what the front spoiler looks like, click this link to see it on a Mk1 440...
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/photopos...cat=511&page=1

And click this one to see it on a facelifted 460...
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/photopos...cat=511&page=7

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Hi mate,

Yeah I'd be up for that. Let me know how it goes. Give me a bit of warning though if its going ahead cos I'll need to put sum student loan aside.

Nice one. Thanks a lot

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Dan,

Matt and myself are about to source a complete kit. How about getting mouldings of the WHOLE KIT?!

cheers

James

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Just to follow that up, last time I spoke to Dave he was talking in terms of it costing serious £££ due to the time it takes. I'm planning to take mouldings of the 300 series kit, but taking on the 400 series kit too would be a hell of a job.

In other words, £280 for a front valance might be the easiest thing to do. I've also heard bad things from a Volvo parts guy about the quality of the Volvo kit, and that certain parts of it are VERY hard to remove - particularly the arch lips.

cheers

James

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

this is wierd, there was a 440 with kit on ebay for about a month a while ago - it ended up selling for only £200 iirc! and now people wanna spend lots on just a kit! :o

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

There have been a couple...one of those is the one we're getting ;)

cheers

James

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Blimey-i dint think anybody would reply!

With regards to moulding the whole kit-it's a nice idea, but i don't really think the whole kit is needed. The reason i suggested the front valance is because that is the most popular part-plus there's the cost factor. I'm a struggling full time student too, so inevitably cost is going to play a big part for me also!

So anyway-what have you and Matt been up to? I haven't heard from him for a while-i thought perhaps he may have sold up as he's been such a stranger! Your venture sounds quite interesting...what's it all about-or is it top secret??! And you say it would cost Dave a fair bit to mould-any idea, in your opinion, what we might be looking at?

With regards to the 440's that have been on eBay with the kit-it's ok if a) you can travel to get the car in the first place, b) you have the storage space to keep the car and the kit once removed, and c) you can afford it in the first place! There have been 4 opportunities for me now to get the kit, but its always been one of those factors that's stopped me!

One more thing Mr James-the image in your signature-how do you get that to appear? I have one in my sig, but no-body can ever see it! I've tried a hosting site but still no joy....

Cheers for the response Colin-that's one person anyway....2 if you count me! And also sounds like you've been busy on your 440-any chance of seeing some gallery pics?

And one more thing-incase anybody thinks im vein-i've only posted loads of pics for my car because for some reason, for ages i've not been able to post, but now i'm allowed! So they're just all updates, incase you think i just like looking at my car! :-)

Later
Dan M

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Well...the whole lot is potentially available, that's the point :)

Matt is now running a Renault 19 1.8 16v motor with a 2.0 stroker crank, and megasquirt. I've not seen the MS and crank, but I've seen pics of the engine in the bay - looks good! We're going to get the car at the weekend, so you'll get pics soon enough :)

I think last time we asked Dave, he was talking in terms of circa £800 for the full kit - but we'd really have to ask him. Just the front valance...a lot less probably. I think Matt will be anxious to get a 'commission' on the parts moulded, as I know first-hand this is not a cheap exercise. However, there may well be a full set of Volvo factory lowering springs for sale soon... ;)

The sig pic is just hosted in the VOC gallery...no magic!

cheers

James

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

right , ill do the work , but i do need paying fro what i do , and itall depends on how good it is when you get it to me . And as im recovering from an operation at the mo - it wont be till jan - so start saving .

If std copies are wanted , it may be advisable to buy a brand new front valance between yourselves , and ill mold it - unless you can find a really good secondhand one .

RE: 440/460 Bodykit...
 

Well we didn't pick it up today (long story...mainly involving Matt being a fool - if he reads this...:-P), but we're hoping to go next weekend, and we'll assess the condition.

Dave - What sort of ball-park figure are we talking about to duplicate the front bumper / splitter, assuming you can keep a mould for future use...and bearing in mind that a certain figure has to be added on to each of the first run (at least) to help meet the considerable costs involved with obtaining the original.

Obviously Matt gains a (semi)usable car and a few other toys out of getting the car, but I think he'll want a certain 'commission' for use of the wing. In fact, I think that's one of the reasons he's getting the car - nice as the kit is, its not worth the hassle and the several hundred quid!

Another option is for me to mould it, but I'd REALLY rather not, because...
1) I'd be taking business from Dave, a mate.
2) I've got quite enough fibreglass work to do as it is with making copies of the 300 series kit!

cheers

James