240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Laird Scooby]

Sooner the better on the remainng nuts Alan, before he loses the new key!

Looking forward to the write-up and pics of the interior light delay!

[Dippydog]

I'd suspect that the majority of any alloy wheels stolen have for some time been for their weigh in value rather than re-sale.As an aside the front hub nut on my Omega is 320nmand that's a rwd car.

[Laird Scooby]

I sold some scrap alloys a few years back for the princely sum of a fiver each. What annoyed me was they weren't scrap until i had my wheels balanced at a nationwide tyre bay chain, not mentiong any names but their initials are ATS.

The problem was they used the windy gun to tighten the nuts. Not only cracked 2 steel inserts and the wheel behind them but somehow managed to move some others and also cracked a couple of alloys.

That's why my Rover now runs on S40 Telesto alloys.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Dippydog

I'd suspect that the majority of any alloy wheels stolen have for some time been for their weigh in value rather than re-sale.As an aside the front hub nut on my Omega is 320nmand that's a rwd car.

I suspect you are right, there really isn't much market in second hand wheels from common cars like the Insignia. It would be a pity if someone stole wheels for the sake of the scrap (at 30p/kg, so maybe £2.50/wheel) and left a car resting on its discs, but I suppose it happens.

The torqueing procedure for the Insignia was a bit odd: tighten to 150 Nm, slacken off 45 degrees, then torque to 250 Nm. I suppose that is just to make sure everything is centred properly on a FWD car.

Has anyone else noticed that this forum has an American English spell checker (or maybe I have the set up wrong)?

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I sold some scrap alloys a few years back for the princely sum of a fiver each. What annoyed me was they weren't scrap until i had my wheels balanced at a nationwide tyre bay chain, not mentiong any names but their initials are ATS.

The problem was they used the windy gun to tighten the nuts. Not only cracked 2 steel inserts and the wheel behind them but somehow managed to move some others and also cracked a couple of alloys.

That's why my Rover now runs on S40 Telesto alloys.

I've often wondered about that Dave, all tyre fitters seem to use the windy gun to remove and fit wheels (because it saves time I suppose), but I recall having to call out the AA to remove a wheel for me once because it had been done up so tightly the ordinary wheel brace would not budge it. The AA chap said that happens often - because garages do the nuts up too tightly with a windy gun.

I have a windy gun here, but seldom use it for nuts and bolts, I prefer a breaker bar for disassembly and torque wrench for putting things back together. That is particularly important on an older car like the Royal Barge where threads are easy to strip and parts may not be so easy to replace.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Sooner the better on the remainng nuts Alan, before he loses the new key!

Looking forward to the write-up and pics of the interior light delay!

I'll encourage Clarkie to do that I think Dave.

I'm wondering about the value of locking wheel nuts on the Royal Barge myself. On the Porsche they make sense because each wheel and tyre would cost me £700 to replace (so they would be worth stealing), on the Skoda it is about £200 per corner (also so), so it still makes sense, but on the Royal Barge would anyone be interested in pinching the wheels and tyres?

I might not risk the inconvenience though :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I suspect you are right, there really isn't much market in second hand wheels from common cars like the Insignia. It would be a pity if someone stole wheels for the sake of the scrap (at 30p/kg, so maybe £2.50/wheel) and left a car resting on its discs, but I suppose it happens.

The torqueing procedure for the Insignia was a bit odd: tighten to 150 Nm, slacken off 45 degrees, then torque to 250 Nm. I suppose that is just to make sure everything is centred properly on a FWD car.

Has anyone else noticed that this forum has an American English spell checker (or maybe I have the set up wrong)?

Alan

Most of the wheels Vauxhall have fitted in the past 20 ish years, i wouldn't give anyone a thank you for Alan but that's just my opinion. Probably someone out there that likes them.

The procedure for the hub nut on the Insignia sounds like it's to ensure the bearing has settled correctly and the driveshaft is far enough into the bearing to not strip the thread when the nut is fully tightened. Also it gives a tighter fit once things relax after fitting, hence the struggle to remove the nut.

As for the spell-check, i've set up the English-English spell check on my browser and thought i had it on here too.

However it kept telling me i was spelling colour, mould, favourite and a few others wrong so i switched them all off.

I'm lucky that my spelling is generally pretty good (but i type like a distracted, dyslexic chimp!) so normally it's not a problem as long as i proof read before posting although i still miss things at times. There are also one or two words that i only use occasionally that i have to check but i do that using the online Oxford English Dictionary if the spelling is important enough on a particular word to warrant it.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I've often wondered about that Dave, all tyre fitters seem to use the windy gun to remove and fit wheels (because it saves time I suppose), but I recall having to call out the AA to remove a wheel for me once because it had been done up so tightly the ordinary wheel brace would not budge it. The AA chap said that happens often - because garages do the nuts up too tightly with a windy gun.

I have a windy gun here, but seldom use it for nuts and bolts, I prefer a breaker bar for disassembly and torque wrench for putting things back together. That is particularly important on an older car like the Royal Barge where threads are easy to strip and parts may not be so easy to replace.

Alan

The ultimate "insult to injury" with the wheel nuts on mine was AFTER the nuts had been tightened with the windy gun, the tyre fitter got the torque wrench out and checked they were at least to whatever the torque wrench was set to. Horse, bolt and stable door come to mind!

Sometimes with an older nut/bolt, an impact wrench is the only way but like you, i prefer the breaker bar to the windy gun. If i do use an impact wrench, i use one like this now :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AEG-97135-S.../dp/B004PZG59G

Instead of using a pneumatic hammer on the end of the drive shaft, it uses a rotary hammer action so less danger of impacting the fastener onto whtaver it's securing. It's also torque-limited by the electronic control and when i've tested what it's torqued things to, it's been consistent with my torque wrench. As such, i consider it reasonably accurate.

Before resorting to impact wrenches, breaker bars and the like, i usually use a good dose of "WMP"* - 50/50 acetone/ATF-U mix, shaken well then squirted (using an old aerosol modified to be refillable) onto the fastener and the threads. This usually shifts them without resort to brutal methods. So far, i haven't yet found a fastener it won't shift, no matter how corroded it appears to be!

It's also good at derusting and keeping rust away.

* - WMP = Weapon of Mass Penetration

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'll encourage Clarkie to do that I think Dave.

I'm wondering about the value of locking wheel nuts on the Royal Barge myself. On the Porsche they make sense because each wheel and tyre would cost me £700 to replace (so they would be worth stealing), on the Skoda it is about £200 per corner (also so), so it still makes sense, but on the Royal Barge would anyone be interested in pinching the wheels and tyres?

I might not risk the inconvenience though :-)

Alan

You're relatively safe on your alloys Alan, they will only fit part of the 700 range and not much of the 900 range. Obviously they fit a lot of the 240 range but there aren't many of those left now.
The problem is the brake calipers on later models and also the larger brake discs. On many later cars equipped with 15" wheels, the Virgos on yours won't fit because of the design of the spoke, they foul the brake caliper. That means they'll usually only fit cars that originally had 14" wheels - there are a few exceptions but not many. As such, their appeal is reduced. The later Drago wheels looked similar at first glance but had more clearance so would fit almost all the range.

I've often wondered if locking wheel nuts are counter-productive. First they present a challenge to someone to defeat them, second it implies what they're on is worth stealing. It also suggests there may be other "valuable" accessories in the car.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Sometimes with an older nut/bolt, an impact wrench is the only way but like you, i prefer the breaker bar to the windy gun. If i do use an impact wrench, i use one like this now :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AEG-97135-S.../dp/B004PZG59G

Instead of using a pneumatic hammer on the end of the drive shaft, it uses a rotary hammer action so less danger of impacting the fastener onto whtaver it's securing. It's also torque-limited by the electronic control and when i've tested what it's torqued things to, it's been consistent with my torque wrench. As such, i consider it reasonably accurate.

Dave,
Many thanks for the above, that is exactly what I have been looking for. I've read some of the reviews on Amazon, some are excellent, others not so good, so would you recommend that particular model (AEG 97135 SD 340)? If so I think I'll get one, £60 seems quite reasonable if it works.
Alan