Body/Trim: Front spoiler

[Steve and his 244]

Im afraid im catching the modifying bug!

Thor is going to be my daily driver for the first 2 years of driving, so a car that is more refined to my taste seems suitable....im likely to return some things back to original after that when the car becomes more of a show car that my everyday car. Thats why I only want "bolt on" modifications...

Im thinking of fitting a front spoiler to Thor. I think it looks to be missing something at the front and the car seems to sit way too high for my liking, although it only standard suspension...I think a spoiler would help to hide this

I would jump at an early 240 spoiler (but they are like rocking horse excrement!)

My question is, would a late (i.e. >1980) spoiler fit? I know they have lugs on the end that go onto the bumpers. What would I do about this? (Ive got the earlier aluminium bumpers)

Also, would the spoiler end up sticking further back than the bumper?

If anyone os good with photoshop, and chance they could "have a play"?







Steve

[Steve and his 244]

Bump! No comments?! I think I posted this at the wrong time and people never noticed it...

[dan 244]

Sorry to here that you are going to be using the car as a daily driver, you will need to take care of it, I wouldnt leave any of mine out of the garage as I feel they are the type of cars that rebelious kids would take a liking to tampering with. (nice and shiney and obviously looked after).

Anyway my view is original is best, so I would leave it as it is, but if you are set on a spoiler then as you say the late version is probably your only option, as an early one would be hard to find. I think if a late version could be made to fit then I would consider colour coding it to the colour of the car, as the plastic it is made of dosent match anything on the car.

I think I have a later version spoiler around so next time I am at the garage I will offer it up against an early model to see if it looks like it could be made to fit.

[Steve and his 244]

Dont worry i'[ll be taking care of it, although when I say daily driver, I just mean I will be using it more than I had previously intended. I will still have my moped for the daily commute, but there are times when a moped just isnt good enough...we live in a nice quiet area and the car will always be alarmed and outside my window, so i'll have the baseball bat handy

Im having my doubts as to whether a later one would fit, so it looks like I will be leaving it spoiler-less, but if one does fit, I will definitely be colour coding it...

Steve

[gary austin]

hi steve have a look at the brown 244 for sale in the section above 6995 it has a spoiler fitted if you want to see how it will look cheers gary

[john h]

Steve

Within reason, any spoiler can be made to fit any car if you try hard enough.

Do you want to fix a spoiler to the bumper itself, or onto the bodywork behind/under the bumper?

A bumper fitting should be quite easy. The underside of the 240 bumper gives you quite a large flat surface to mount to, so more or less any spoiler the right width could be fitted, once the top of the spoiler is trimmed down so it's flat.

If your chosen spoiler is too wide, you can usually narrow it by taking a symmetrical slice out of the middle.

Mounting to body work is a bit trickier because you need to match the contours, but still possible. E.g. I fitted this spoiler to my Scimitar; it was a Triumph Dolomite spoiler cut down and completely reprofiled (with grp and filler) to match the contour of the body.



Best thing is to measure the width of the 240 bumper and look round some scrap yards for spoiler possibilities. Can you persuade your Dad to take you?

Look for a car with a "flat" front like the 240... i.e. looking down on the car from above you want spoiler from a car which is square like the Volvo, not rounded.

What about an early 760 spoiler?
It's in keeping with the Volvo theme
You could integrate your foglights
It could be easily made to mount up to a 240 bumper
Plan view is similar to the 240 shape
It would look good either black or body-colour



However, you'd need to check the width. This one might be tricky to narrow neatly because really the 3 holes in the centre need to be all the same size for it to look right. I'm sure some willing volunteer on the 760 section would take a tape measure to their spoiler for you!

One thing to be careful with, whatever spoiler you go for. Don't underestimate how strong the mountings need to be. The spoiler takes a lot of force from the airflow at motorway speeds.

Cheers

John

[Steve and his 244]

Thanks for taking the time to post john, but I want to be in keeping with the genuine volvo theme on my car - theres not much to be seen thats aftermarket. Just the foglights really.....

The 760 option could work, although id rather have a 'bolt on' spoiler.....im just in the process of trying to find out whether a later 240 spoiler would fit.....

[volvobm]

please put one on its not a volvo without the air dam

[Steve and his 244]

LOL I think I will, as long as a later one will fit....

Steve

[RealEstate]

A spoiler should improve the fuel economy too. The lower the better to reduce the amount of air going under the car, so long as it doesn't ground on bumps etc.
Look forward to hearing what you decide.
All the best,
Ben