JJs Project Thread - 240 GL Estate

[Problemchild1976]

Grabbed some Hella 550 comets off FB and some covers off eBay

Made some brackets up and fitted to the bolts under the bumper

Undecided if I like but let’s see



Still on the hunt for some wheels

JJ

[Problemchild1976]

Given the temp variations and inability for the car to get up to temp I thought I’d change the thermostat

Picked it up from classic swede at the same time as I got my clutch cylinder

It’s only 2 10mm nuts and the housing comes off



Well I’m glad I looked



So cleaned out the casing and the faces and refitted.

While I had it all apart I used a low pressure hose to flush the radiator, expansion tank and the block out - lots of brown yukky water (and bright green coolant)

So reassembled and refilled and ran the engine

Getting a nice stable temp

Assuming this is where the needle should be and not where it has been which is about half inch above the bottom line



Another job down

JJ

[Problemchild1976]

On the wheel front. I’ve got my hands on some 16” Ford steelies

I’m going to get the centres matched to the Volvo and banded to about 8.5J and then painted up

They came with a decent set of tyres and a full set of wheel trims so a good find I hope - if I can find someone to band them locally to me



Wish me luck

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

On the wheel front. I’ve got my hands on some 16” Ford steelies

I’m going to get the centres matched to the Volvo and banded to about 8.5J and then painted up

They came with a decent set of tyres and a full set of wheel trims so a good find I hope - if I can find someone to band them locally to me



Wish me luck

JJ

A wonderful project, well done.

It must be a generation thing, but I'm struggling to see any advantage in banding 16" steel wheels out to 8.5" rims when there must be a panoply of 5X108mm wheels available in suitable sizes and widths. This isn't a criticism and there is no need whatsoever to explain (I probably wouldn't understand anyway).

Interesting thread - thank you.

Alan

[Problemchild1976]

Yeah there are quite a few for Ford and new Volvos but apart from a few I’ve seen, they are all ugly or expensive

I’ve paid £10 per wheel

£50-60 per wheel for banding

That could get me something I actually want for not too much money



This is what I’m aiming for

Ps - im 45

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

Yeah there are quite a few for Ford and new Volvos but apart from a few I’ve seen, they are all ugly or expensive

I’ve paid £10 per wheel

£50-60 per wheel for banding

That could get me something I actually want for not too much money



This is what I’m aiming for

Ps - im 45

JJ

Don't get me wrong JJ, I meant no disrespect. What you are doing is interesting, but wheel banding is something most of us Volvo owners are a bit too conservative to consider. We all look forward to seeing the end result of course. The wheel you have shown in the photo above looks like it has a negative offset (with the banding on the outside). You may have to make sure you can fit a 8 1/2" rim in the gap to the wheel arch, the back axle will probably be okay because the 240 has a 2" narrower track there, but the front may be a tighter fit (I'm sure you knew that and have done your calculations).

5x108 is a pretty common hub, so most of us staid old (I'm 61) Volvo types might have just looked through the eBay catalogue to find something (and then ended up with a Volvo wheel like the Virgo anyway).

This is an interesting thread - I am enjoying reading it.

Alan

:-)

PS. I think your motor car probably came with 15x6J wheels with a 20mm offset, so to increase the width of the rims to 8.5" you might have to fit 235 or 245 width tyres (nearly 10" in either case). I doubt there would be room to fit 2.5" wider rims and tyres inside unless you decrease the offset considerably. I suppose (although I have no experience) that is where the banding comes in. If you add the banding on the outside of the rim the centre of the wheel moves outwards and so the offset decreases. If you added a 2" band outside then the offset would decrease by half that to -5mm. That is all very interesting, I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on.

PPS. Does banding really only cost £50/wheel? That sounds like a lot of engineering for not much money to me.

[Problemchild1976]

Originally Posted by Othen

Don't get me wrong JJ, I meant no disrespect. ….

PPS. Does banding really only cost £50/wheel? That sounds like a lot of engineering for not much money to me.

Defo no offence - sorry if my response came across as defensive

The wheels on the car above are just the wheels I’ve got that have been banded

Yeah you just put an extra strip of metal on the outer edge to move the centre line closer to the hub.

My only concern is getting the clearance on the suspension strut.

If I still need spacers then I’ll rethink

But a few have been done in this style

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

Defo no offence - sorry if my response came across as defensive

The wheels on the car above are just the wheels I’ve got that have been banded

Yeah you just put an extra strip of metal on the outer edge to move the centre line closer to the hub.

My only concern is getting the clearance on the suspension strut.

If I still need spacers then I’ll rethink

But a few have been done in this style

JJ

This is really interesting. I have only seen this done on an episode of Wheeler Dealers, so I'm certainly no expert!

There should not be any issues with clearance on the inside (to the strut) because you would have to add the band to the outside (otherwise you would increase rather than decrease the offset, and you would not have room to do that on a 240). I think the problem might be clearance to the wheel arch at the front. Unlike fitting a modern 8.5" rim wheel which might have an offset of say 40-50mm in order to keep the centreline in about the same place, the banding adds all the width to the outside - so the outside of the tyre moves outwards by about 2" (with 235 or 245 width tyres that you would have to use with 8.5J rims).

This would be easy enough to test before you get the wheels banded - just measure out 2" from the outer face of the current tyre and that will show you where the modified wheel will end up. Just looking at the RB (which I think has 195 width tyres fitted) I think it might be too tight at the front. If there isn't enough clearance then you could use a narrower band (say 1" and then fit 205 or 225 width tyres) which would probably work (but check first!).

You will not need spacers: they move the wheel outwards, which is where you will be short of room. You would only need spacers if you used a modern 8.5J alloy wheel with a larger offset, I found these really nice looking (IMHO) Jaguar S type wheels complete with tyres for no money on eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203788243...458e%7Ciid%3A1


...they have a 60mm offset but would probably fit your motor car with some 35mm spacers (which are really cheap, I've just fitted some to my 1963 Amazon and they only cost £60/set delivered), see here:

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showp...&postcount=476

Anyway, a fascinating project... but I'd better get on with my errands for the day.

Alan

[Problemchild1976]

Originally Posted by Othen

This is really interesting. I have only seen this done on an episode of Wheeler Dealers, so I'm certainly no expert!


Anyway, a fascinating project... but I'd better get on with my errands for the day.

Alan

I will make the fronts narrower - so the set up is staggered.

I will fit them to the car, check rear clearance, measure the extra width, I’ll uses stretched tyres to give me an extra with but without fouling the arches etc

Will look at your thread now

Cheers

JJ

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Problemchild1976

I will make the fronts narrower - so the set up is staggered.

I will fit them to the car, check rear clearance, measure the extra width, I’ll uses stretched tyres to give me an extra with but without fouling the arches etc

Will look at your thread now

Cheers

JJ

... I thought I'd logged in top a VW forum by mistake! staggered wheels and stretched tyres on a 240 - whatever next!

I'm joking of course, it is nice to see some innovation. I don't know whether you have realised yet, but the track on your 240 is 2" narrower at the back than the front (my theory is that Mr Volvo was using up a stock of old live axles when the 240 came out); making your rear wheels 1" wider each might neatly even it up. On the RB this has been achieved (by a PO, I'm far too much of a tightwad) with 1" spacers:



... which work very well. I don't think these make any noticeable difference to the road holding or handling, but it does look a bit smarter.

I'm not sure stretching tyres is a good idea.

Alan