240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

The level of knowledge shown by Stephen, 'loki' and 'L.S.' is indeed legion, 'Othen'. I agree with 'L.S.' regarding the headlights. They changed over the life of the 2-series; our 'N' and 'S' reg had circular ...

I've just had to break off to deal with a wayward 6' x 6' fence panel - bloomin' heck, that's one fierce wind out there!

... ones, our 'V' reg (like yours) had square and our 'X' and 'Y' reg cars rectangular. I'd imagine it would be a fairly straight-forward swap along with the appropriate grille.

The boot spoiler is, I think, a genuine Volvo accessory, listed in their period 'boutique' accessories catalogue. However, I agree with 'loki' that the roof spoiler is a non-standard fitment.

As far as I recall, all 2-series cars, even our very early 'N' reg, had door mirrors (again the design varied by year) as standard. The last Volvo that I had which was fitted with 'wing' mirrors was our 'K' reg 144, the 'L' reg had fixed door mirrors.

As the 2-series matured (they were built from 1975 through to 1992, there was naturally a trend by owners of earlier models to 'update' their cars over time. I think your stripes may also fall into that category - they are highly reminiscent of the ones that were fitted to my '83 245GLT. As you go through your car you will almost certainly find other examples of the presence of Trigger's broom.

I'm pretty sure the bonnet badge is non-standard too, I don't recall any 2-series car fitted with anything similar. My thinking is that a previous owner was so proud of his Volvo that he wanted the world to know about it - the rear mud-flaps are another example.

As others have said, the extra lights are also after-market items. Having said that, the Swedes are big on what they term extra-ljus, huge powerful driving lights for the long dark Swedish winters which were offered as genuine accessories by Volvo.

I join others in wishing you well with your new car, I think you bagged a bargain with it!

Regards, John.

Hi John,

Do you think the lights would be interchangeable with those from a later car?

I don't mind the boot spoiler, and I quite like the black stripes (it looks like quite a professional job that cost someone quite dear), the roof spoiler had to go though - I pulled it off the other day, it has left some very stubborn adhesive patches that need cleaning up - I've tried a few solvents without success, maybe acetone might work? It much have been on the car some time as the paint elsewhere has faded, so I may have to T-cut the whole roof when we get some better weather.

I think the bonnet badge will probably disappear, the rear mudflaps have already been changed back to the originals that came with the car, they are perfectly serviceable, look smart and don't scrape on the ground when I reverse. The car looks much better from the back without the daft roof spoiler thing and with the standard mudflaps:



See my last post above re the extra lights. I think I'll just keep the inner ones and wire them up properly with the original looking fog lamp switch.

Thank you for your kind comments about the Royal Barge, I really like the car, it drives well and I enjoy putting right all its little foibles (of which there are quite a few, but nothing serious or costly to put right). I think the Royal Barge is a really nice classic car for a couple of grand.

... now, it really is time to walk Bob :-)

Best wishes,

Alan