240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Apologies Alan for the slight hijack as this is really for Loki :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan_Contessa



Isuzu 1.8 powered VX-copy ^^^^^

Just wondered if you'd come across any at Billing at all?

Thanks LS.

The bumpers fitted aren't ones I'd seen on a Contessa before, but the Club's Facebook page has a number of "blinged/tarted-up/butchered" examples of the Contessa that have been posted.

I don't think anyone brought a Contessa to any of the VBOA meets, although one gent showed up in an Australian take on the Opel Commodore estate with a Chevy straight-6 instead of the Opel CIH lump in 2015 or thereabouts. In fact, I'm not sure that there are any Contessas in this country although people have discussed importing them on occasion.

[Othen]

Some readers may recall from the very early days of this thread that the RB came with a really awful shark's fin spoiler on the rear of the roof that just had to go. Unfortunately removing it left the rear part looking a bit different from the rest of the roof - it had not been discoloured by the sun so much and the adhesive used for the spoiler had taken some paint with it.

I patched up the area at the time, and always meant to do something better. In the longer term (probably next year) the aim is to have a nice black vinyl roof fitted, but I was not doing much this week so I thought I'd improve the paint as much as I could for a small cost.

So, I ordered a couple of mixed rattle cans from this company:



... which was a very reasonable £29 (delivered) for two 400ml tins plus two aerosols of 2K lacquer.

Yesterday I masked up the car and keyed the whole roof with a scotch pad (the original paint was sound, just discoloured by 40 years of sun and patchy at the back where the spoiler had been). I was quite impressed by the colour match of the base coat, NU-AGANE CAR PAINTS got it just about right. I gave it three coats of colour and two of the 2K lacquer and I'm pretty happy with the result for a rattle can finish:



... the lacquer finish is not quite as shiny as the original on the vertical surfaces, but I may be able to bring that up a bit with a good wax polish in a few days when it has cured (the photo has not had any polish yet). I'd say the finish is better than the boot lid that I painted with rattle cans from a different supplier some months ago:



I still think I'll go for the vinyl roof next year, but in the meantime less that £30 and a bit of time has made the RB look very presentable for a 40 year old motor car.

Whilst I was waiting for the paint to dry I did a bit of experimentation on the black painted tops to the wings and doors. I found that the black (must be modern paint and not sealed with lacquer) washes off fairly easily with acetone (although it is a bit of a messy job), as you may see here:



Now, I'm thinking about where I want to end up with the RB. I quite like the vinyl stripes, and they are part of the RB's character so they will stay, but I'm wondering whether to strip (back to the original green) and re-paint (with rattle cans like the roof) the front and back wings and the door tops. The alternative is to re-spray the area I've stripped black again (I have some work to finish repairing where the horrible wing mirrors stood, so it probably needed stripping anyway).

Now that I've found a good supplier of Volvo #136 Cyprus Green metallic I'm tending to think the original colour with the black vinyl stripes would look quite nice. The cost would be small - a couple of litres of acetone plus two more cans of paint and lacquer - maybe £50 total, and a day's work. The old green paint underneath would make a sound base, but having been covered with rattle can black for the past decade or two could never be brought back to life itself.

There is no rush about this one, but opinions on whether to go for original Cyprus green metallic or revert to black would be appreciated.

PS. Mr FedEx will be delivering the new exhaust back box today, so I should have that fitted.

[Othen]

The old exhaust back box didn't want to let go without a fight, but after a wrestle it gave up:



... it just melted away - the metal was as thick as foil and it was as full as the sands of the Nile.

The new one is fitted and everything is much better.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

The old exhaust back box didn't want to let go without a fight, but after a wrestle it gave up:



... it just melted away - the metal was as thick as foil and it was as full as the sands of the Nile.

The new one is fitted and everything is much better.

:-)

Wrestle with it by all means Alan but did you have to shoot it as well?

Looking at it all the withes fur has gone as well, can't have been doing much for the economy, silencing or anything else!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Wrestle with it by all means Alan but did you have to shoot it as well?

Looking at it all the withes fur has gone as well, can't have been doing much for the economy, silencing or anything else!

... it does look like I got the 12 gauge out, I must admit! I think I changed this one just in time, it sort of looked okay from the outside, but there wasn’t much metal or insulation left. I don’t know how long the box had been on the car, a couple of decades I would have thought; for part of that time the car would have been running without a thermostat (and so far too cool) and with a leaky head and gasket. It must have been full of water most of the time.

The car is certainly quieter, the motor also seems perkier and I’m sure it kicks down more readily, so improving the breathing may have released a bit more torque (and therefore perhaps a pony or two). It will take a while to see if there is much improvement in economy, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we start getting better than 25 MPG.

The supplier didn’t send a tailpipe (although the ad description was very clear), I’ve followed it up with an email but for the meantime I’ve refitted the old one with the twin pipe.

244s are so easy to work on, I didn’t even need to put the car on ramps to get access, so the job only took about 40 minutes. It is quite satisfying to sort out another little issue at very low cost (even if it was a problem I didn’t know about until a few days ago)

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Fitting an intact exhaust rear silencer will have restored the tuned length of the exhaust Alan not to mention making it quieter and smoother.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Fitting an intact exhaust rear silencer will have restored the tuned length of the exhaust Alan not to mention making it quieter and smoother.

Agreed Dave, it is much better now.

Late for Bob's first walk today (no reason, just drinking tea and sitting around).

Alan

[Dippydog]

Personally I'd stick with the black wing/door tops in part at least because it helps "tie in" the boot spoiler with the rest of the car rather than it looking like some kind of afterthought.

[john.wigley]

That is a valid point, 'D.D.', but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and is a very personal thing.

I think Alan is right to experiment until he finds his preferred look; after all, nothing that he does is irreversible.

Personally, I prefer the plainer, purer look of the early twos. We had several, in various (solid) colours and felt they were all well-balanced and aesthetically pleasing cars. Our '83 GLT estate, on the other hand, in blue metallic, had the wide black band below the side windows from the factory. I think that this was intended to give the car a sleeker, more sporty appearance, but I did not particularly like it.

Each to their own. I really enjoy reading Alan's saga on the Royal Barge and eagerly await each new installment!

Regards, John.

[Othen]

Many thanks DD and John,

I'm fairly stuck with the vinyl stripes (which look like they may have been on the car 20 years or more, so if I removed then the paint underneath would be a very different colour) and the boot spoiler (well, I could weld up and fill the holes...). Fortunately I like both and think they are part of the RB's history and character. I have to finish repairing the wings where I removed the ugly wing mirrors (early on in the RB saga) anyway, so this isn't a bad time to experiment with the final finish.

Actually I don't mind the black on the tops of the wings and doors - so DD may well be right, but it is always a good idea to get a second and third opinion. I'm in no rush and all the metal is protected from the environment, so I'll probably just leave it for a little while and see how the mood takes me.

As you will both know, there has never been any intention of restoring the RB, that would be completely contrary to the ethos of the RB project, so I'm not tied to any particular outcome as long as the RB remains a fun car to drive and work on. I'm pleased you enjoy the installments John, I do use this thread as something of a project journal for myself, but I'm pleased when others enjoy it also.

Many thanks,

Alan

PS. Here is a reminder of that awful shark's fin spoiler on the RB's roof:



... and one from the front of the car:



... I think the RB looks far better with the shark's fin, wing mirrors, surplus Volvo badges and half the accessory lights removed, the correct size tyres fitted and the roof re-painted. I'm pleased the daft 'Volvo 244 GL' mudflaps have gone as well, but I've come to quite like the black vinyl stripes, boot spoiler and even the twin tail exhaust (see above):