240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Going for the most relevant points first Alan, the Skandix listing confirms the part number i found (1254057) so it would also seem the SGS struts i found would also work at a considerably cheaper cost.

With the fixings, the chewed silver fixing on one end looks suspiciously like there should have been a star washer on there originally and it was lost so a piece of aluminium was drilled to fit then folded to hold it on there.

The other end that looks like a cheesehead cap screw also appears to have two blobs of weld holding it in if you enlarge the photo. Might pay to investigate these possibilities and invest in new mounting hardware at the same time.

Failing that, bungee cords! I'm not sure if it would apply to the Volvo but on my Rover, the original method of bootlid elevation was a long expansion spring both sides. This hooked onto the hinge in a similar position to where the gas spring was fitted and the other end of the spring was behind the tail lights When mine went weak i fed a bungee cord through each spring and hooked the ends on so the bungees worked inside, in tandem with, the original springs.

Not sure i'd want to even consider drilling into a gas spring, the pressures are incredibly high in there because it's such a small area. To give you an idea, i recently worked out that a 60mm diameter surface would support ~50kg with only 23psi but factor in the different load of the bood lid and that it's effectively a lever pushing back against the gas spring, it needs to be about 10 times as strong. With a much smaller effective area (perhaps 1/2 sq inch) the pressure again needs to be higher. Even though they're weak now, they still support the boot lid - just. That means there's still a very high pressure in there.

I’m sitting in the parents’ car park waiting to collect Dan from school, and to pass an idle moment I thought about gas strut pressures.

If the boot weights about 20 lbs, and there is a mechanical disadvantage via the mechanism to the strut of 1:10 (the boot lid moves perhaps 30” as the strut moves through about 3”), then the force due to the gas being fully compressed would have to be at least 200 lbf. Now, if the area of the piston in the strut is about 1”^2 then that makes 200 PSI, but of course there are two of them, so 100 PSI should do.

In practice the pressure might be a bit higher as it probably won’t drop to zero at full extension of the strut.

So, with a pressure of 100-150 PSI (even if they have leaked a bit over the last 4 decades) I don’t think it would be a good idea to drill into the struts!

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Giving the existing springs a bit of assistance with a bit of bungee cord might be a good idea Dave - the gas struts push rather than pull, so I'd have to think of some sort of mechanism.

You're welcome Alan and no need for any sort of mechanism. On the end of the strut attached to the bootlid, the part that does the pushing so to speak, attach a bungee cord (the ones with hooked ends are easiest) and find a convenient point on the inside of the boot near the light cluster to attach the other end of the bungee. It will pull on the part the gas strut is pushing against if you see where i'm going with this?

If nothing else that will prove the point that the struts are weak. I've never weighed a boot lid but would guess the weight to be nearer 20kg than 20lb so 44lb at a guess. Even splitting the difference i think we'd both be closer.
Putting it in perspective, a steel wheel is ~10kg/22lb so you can understand how i'm suggesting the weight of the bootlid.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You're welcome Alan and no need for any sort of mechanism. On the end of the strut attached to the bootlid, the part that does the pushing so to speak, attach a bungee cord (the ones with hooked ends are easiest) and find a convenient point on the inside of the boot near the light cluster to attach the other end of the bungee. It will pull on the part the gas strut is pushing against if you see where i'm going with this?

If nothing else that will prove the point that the struts are weak. I've never weighed a boot lid but would guess the weight to be nearer 20kg than 20lb so 44lb at a guess. Even splitting the difference i think we'd both be closer.
Putting it in perspective, a steel wheel is ~10kg/22lb so you can understand how i'm suggesting the weight of the bootlid.

Thanks Dave, I'll give that a go.

You are almost certainly right about the boot lid's weight - but all the figures I used were order of magnitude estimates whilst sitting in the parent's car park in the rain. I think the outcome (that the pressure was a bit high to risk drilling in to) was right though :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Thanks Dave, I'll give that a go.

You are almost certainly right about the boot lid's weight - but all the figures I used were order of magnitude estimates whilst sitting in the parent's car park in the rain. I think the outcome (that the pressure was a bit high to risk drilling in to) was right though :-)

Alan

Ah, yeah, i realised you were doing "order of magnitude" estimation Alan - my comments on the bootlids weight were to reinforce your theory on that and also - no pun intended - give weight to the argument that it's definitely a high risk occupation drilling into the strut! Probably a lot higher pressure than your estimate suggested and the outcome is definitely right!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Ah, yeah, i realised you were doing "order of magnitude" estimation Alan - my comments on the bootlids weight were to reinforce your theory on that and also - no pun intended - give weight to the argument that it's definitely a high risk occupation drilling into the strut! Probably a lot higher pressure than your estimate suggested and the outcome is definitely right!

You were dead right about that Dave - many thanks. I'm sure I would have thought about it before getting the drill out, but you prompted that process.

Now I just have to work out how to get those fasteners undone!

Alan

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Their listing leads me to believe they are for the estate Alan. If you go to the listing and click on the "Specifications" tab, it lists "Body Style" as "hatchback". Also if you can find the OE part number on your existing struts, that will help narrow things down.

A bit of a search suggests your original part number will be 1254057 and that doesn't match anything on the SGS listing you found, however it does match this one :

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc2...260-boot-strut

Also on the body style, it says saloon so there's a fairly high chance that's the right one.

I would be very cautious about ordering this item, as they have shown a face-lifted 700-series saloon... The 260 saloon is very similar to the 240 saloon bodily, and identical from the A-pillar/firewall/engine bay bulkhead back; therefore, if they have simply attached the wrong car image then ask them to confirm the details.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

I would be very cautious about ordering this item, as they have shown a face-lifted 700-series saloon... The 260 saloon is very similar to the 240 saloon bodily, and identical from the A-pillar/firewall/engine bay bulkhead back; therefore, if they have simply attached the wrong car image then ask them to confirm the details.

I understand what you're saying but website designers know diddly-squat about cars in general and even the people that are making the struts probably don't know much either. Have a look at their Volvo page and compare all the photos to the models they're allegedly meant to be and you'll see what i mean :

https://www.sgs-engineering.com/car-boot-tailgate/volvo

This isn't a new thing, many sites use the wrong images and at least this one has managed to use Volvos on the Volvo page!

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

I would be very cautious about ordering this item, as they have shown a face-lifted 700-series saloon... The 260 saloon is very similar to the 240 saloon bodily, and identical from the A-pillar/firewall/engine bay bulkhead back; therefore, if they have simply attached the wrong car image then ask them to confirm the details.

Thank you Loki. So true. And ....

Regular readers will be expecting this. How about a revolutionary approach as I have been designated comrade. Contact one of those Volvo dealers who do give a fig. And if they can obtain the correct component the price might even be a reasonable surprise. That does often happen.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



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[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwin

Regular readers will be expecting this. How about a revolutionary approach as I have been designated comrade. Contact one of those Volvo dealers who do give a fig. And if they can obtain the correct component the price might even be a reasonable surprise. That does often happen.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



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Those parts are NLA from Volvo. Not even a price listed, just a prat number.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Those parts are NLA from Volvo. Not even a price listed, just a prat number.

Thank you David for that useful post.

Has the search been raised with one of the several rather diligent among those Volvo dealers who do give a fig?

The prat (sic) number might help by the way. An interweb images search might help to identify the part.
And the number might even find a supplier. I testify that such things have happened.

Comrade Stephen Edwin



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