240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Those hog rings should do the job Alan, especially if you apply them with the bungee in the stretched configuration. That way if they grip in the "worst case scenario" they will always grip when the bungee is more relaxed.
You may need to grow an extra pair of paws to do it that way but i'm sure you'll find a way!

This should be the last episode of the boot lid control saga:

The very stout 12mm bungee cord and the hog staples arrived with our lady postie this morn. It is a lovely day so I thought I'd get the boot lid job finished.

I used the old bungee (with the hooked ends) to calculate the length for a 12mm bungee loop. Dave was absolutely right: the hog staples are best fitted whilst the elastic is stretched and so narrowed - I did this with the two overlapping ends trapped in my bench vice and a pry bar as a lever - and with my other hand tightened the hog stapes with some gas pliers. That was not as difficult as it sounds - after a couple of practices I fitted 5 hog rings (one or two would have probably been enough - but I had a packet of 25...):



As you may see, I could have probably made a neater job if I'd tried harder, but they would not show and the joint was quite firm.

I found a long D-shackle at the outer end and a short one at the inner gave the best combination of tension and unobtrusiveness, and I covered the joint over with a couple of layers of Harry Black (adhesive cloth tape in the Army):



I think the result looks fine, doesn't get in the way and most importantly: it balances the weight of the boot lid spoiler perfectly.

All in all I'm happy with this, it was cheap but effective, and is entirely in keeping with the Royal Barge project.

:-) Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Excellent stuff Alan! Glad to hear your boot lid is now doing what it should and not attempting to decapitate you at every opportunity!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Excellent stuff Alan! Glad to hear your boot lid is now doing what it should and not attempting to decapitate you at every opportunity!

Exactly that Dave - and I owe thanks to you for coming up with the simplest but most effective of solutions.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Exactly that Dave - and I owe thanks to you for coming up with the simplest but most effective of solutions.

Alan

Youre welcome Alan, glad i could help!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You'll have to suck it and see i think Alan, you may be lucky and get away with minimal dismantling but when you refit the back and front halves of the prop together, a light smear of grease on the splines will be helpful - forgot to mention that earlier.

Whichever way you end up doing it, your usual methodical, clean approach is going to be the best approach.

After what seemed an eternity (the Royal Mail seems to be getting slower) the package with prop shaft bearing and support arrived - but the motor factor has sent completely the wrong part (I think it is one for a BMW). I have generally found compatibility checkers to be very good, but unfortunately not in this case.

Not to worry... start this job again :-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

After what seemed an eternity (the Royal Mail seems to be getting slower) the package with prop shaft bearing and support arrived - but the motor factor has sent completely the wrong part (I think it is one for a BMW). I have generally found compatibility checkers to be very good, but unfortunately not in this case.

Not to worry... start this job again :-)

Alan

Have you got a photo and/or part number for what they've sent Alan? Very often it is the right part but only with later model compatibility listed on the boxes.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Have you got a photo and/or part number for what they've sent Alan? Very often it is the right part but only with later model compatibility listed on the boxes.

... it is clearly a completely different part Dave; the company has checked against the OEM part number I found on the Skandix site and confirmed it is different. Unfortunately it doesn't stock the right part, but it will take a return, so no matter:



I've found the bearing support (the rubber bit) in stock with a UK supplier and already ordered one. that is the part I know needs changing, so I'll pull off the rear part of the prop shaft, which should allow me to change the rubber boot. I'll have a look at the bearing at the same time (well, give it a spin) and see if it needs changing. If it does then I'll order one and will have lost nothing apart from some time as I needed the rubber boot anyway.

Many thanks,

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... it is clearly a completely different part Dave; the company has checked against the OEM part number I found on the Skandix site and confirmed it is different. Unfortunately it doesn't stock the right part, but it will take a return, so no matter:



I've found the bearing support (the rubber bit) in stock with a UK supplier and already ordered one. that is the part I know needs changing, so I'll pull off the rear part of the prop shaft, which should allow me to change the rubber boot. I'll have a look at the bearing at the same time (well, give it a spin) and see if it needs changing. If it does then I'll order one and will have lost nothing apart from some time as I needed the rubber boot anyway.

Many thanks,

Alan

Cancel the rubber support Alan!

Find a supplier that has the complete assembly and order one of those instead.

There are many reasons for this the main ones being that firstly it's almost impossible to get the bearing perfectly aligned by yourself in the rubber donut which leads to vibration and premature wear of both parts and secondly if one part is worn, the other is almost certainly going to be worn and will induce premature wear in the new part. It would be like fitting new threads on a knackered resilient mount.

There are other reasons but those two are strong enough on their own that i'm firstly fairly confident that you can work them out yourself and secondly, they're certainly good enough IMHO to warrant replacing the complete assembly. A quick hunt reveals a kit of new parts (amazed they haven't assembled it!) :

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...40-260-51-6309

I also tried Rockauto.com and found the separate parts, no kit or fully assembled item though!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Cancel the rubber support Alan!

Find a supplier that has the complete assembly and order one of those instead.

There are many reasons for this the main ones being that firstly it's almost impossible to get the bearing perfectly aligned by yourself in the rubber donut which leads to vibration and premature wear of both parts and secondly if one part is worn, the other is almost certainly going to be worn and will induce premature wear in the new part. It would be like fitting new threads on a knackered resilient mount.

There are other reasons but those two are strong enough on their own that i'm firstly fairly confident that you can work them out yourself and secondly, they're certainly good enough IMHO to warrant replacing the complete assembly. A quick hunt reveals a kit of new parts (amazed they haven't assembled it!) :

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...40-260-51-6309

I also tried Rockauto.com and found the separate parts, no kit or fully assembled item though!

I'm sure you are right Dave. The new doughnut was only a tenner (delivered) and is on its way, so I'll let that stand.

According to the Skandix website there are two different variants of pre-1984 cars (types 1140 and 1310), so I have to get underneath and check the diameter of the front prop to determine which is the correct one (44.5 mm or 50.8 mm). I'll pull the rear prop out, do the reconnaissance, fit a new doughnut (if I'm right that should be a very easy job) and re-grease at the same time. In slower time having determined which of the two possible kits I need I'll get one ordered (Skandix charge about the same - 30ish Euros) and change the whole thing during the winter SORN.

There is never a dull moment with a 40 year old motor car :-)

Alan

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

I'm sure you are right Dave. The new doughnut was only a tenner (delivered) and is on its way, so I'll let that stand.

According to the Skandix website there are two different variants of pre-1984 cars (types 1140 and 1310), so I have to get underneath and check the diameter of the front prop to determine which is the correct one (44.5 mm or 50.8 mm). I'll pull the rear prop out, do the reconnaissance, fit a new doughnut (if I'm right that should be a very easy job) and re-grease at the same time. In slower time having determined which of the two possible kits I need I'll get one ordered (Skandix charge about the same - 30ish Euros) and change the whole thing during the winter SORN.

There is never a dull moment with a 40 year old motor car :-)

Alan

Alan

Having seen your donut in the pics on fcp now Alan, i'd suggest boiling an old pan of water and dropping the donut in for 10-15 minutes before you start fitting it to make it more pliable.

You're right about never a dull moment, been trying to find and have now decided to recondition, the front drop links for my Rover. Fortunately i had the idea of reconditioning them before i bought a bag of NOS ones ~9 years ago so i have plenty to experiment with!