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Greetings,
Yesterday lead me to the local Rual King (aka farm and fleet for you northern Illinoirs). Picked up some nice to size to fit grade 8 hardware, and a length of black gas pipe (48" for $6.99).
I quickly made my way home to pounce on the cheap strut mod I've been planning, based on some research of forum posts and online shops to see the 'profesionaly' manufactured ones. This was a briged idea from a earlier post I made reguarding P/S pump ocilation after an A/C bypass. It carried over nicely.
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1335024/220/240/260/280/shake_rock_steady.html
After two hours with a 5 lb. sledge on my wee little anvil, heres what I came up with mounting. It ended up pretty simple and straitforward, as I marked the faces directionaly prior to forgin. Thus giving a rough indicator as the angle, and direction I had to bend the steel.
Also, I took much care in not buckling/cracking/spliting the pipe at its edges when hammering flat. It would negate the structural integrity of what I was trying to acomplish here. Ive seen somethings happen like this before at another job so, I made sure that the pounding was even and consistant as to not 'shock' the metal to much.
All in all, it was about $10 and a couple hours work but Im exstatic to see how it turned up!! Lets see what ya'll feel...
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1/2" EMT conduit is your friend.
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71-145-S
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soooo true :)
I now love 1/2" black gas pipe a little more than I did before.
Its a noticable feel in better steering and handling both. Although Im no fast driver at all; more like a turtle actually, its clear this was a really cheap, and big help.
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Nice fabrication job!
Heat will help when working mild steel like that pipe.
Stainless is very malleable and can be found at your local
metal recycling yard for cheap.
A bit of bling and no paint needed.
Tubing under compression is very strong.
If you can do a straight run it will be very light.
OEM 240 firewall braces are slightly larger diameter,
and lighter gauge than 1/2" EMT.
However the OEM braces are @$50 used,
and tend to loosen up because of the slot at the firewall.
Drill a 6mm or 1/4" hole and file it for a tight fit.
FYI The firewall is threaded for 7mm ΓΈ x 1mm pitch.
I made a straight run strut tower brace for my 86-245,
but the 83 245 TIC I have now has the tall oil filler valve cover
right where the tubing needs to run.
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71-145-S
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bummer on the route for the pipe. Any way to have a bracket to exert the force around/over the oil filler?
Also, the pipe choice came at random on this one for me. I sought out a nice thick wall gauge while still maintaining a relativly small 1/2" whole pipe dia. for the strength, but this pipe might be a little overboard (kinda weighty, about 3 or 4 pounds with hardware). Oh well, sturdyer the better I suppose.
peace
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I am thinking about keeping it hi-tech low cost.
A low neck valve cover,and a straight run.
Remember if the car gets aligned you will have to spend 15 minutes,
and a dollar on 3.5 feet of conduit,as the straight run tower bar goes
between the moving strut studs,not the pivot ones.
I like your style,get it done with available materials.
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71-145-S
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whoops. Heres the photos of the works...
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Tie Strut tower to strut tower will make it even better as well as doing the lower Frame together. Greg
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That looks very neat and professionally done.Great. Since you are good with hammer ;-) here are couple of new ideas (I am only a dreamer, so I have not done any personally)
Lower braces
check this link
http://www.ipdusa.com/version.asp?strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=69,265&P_ID=337&CAT_ID=265&V_ID=807
Tower to tower brace:
You could also try a tower to tower brace. I do not know why a simple straight pipe will not work .Some think like this.
http://r31skylineclub.com/wiki_img//sbsbwhiteline.jpg
Ipd's complex design looks like this
http://www.ipdusa.com/version.asp?strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=69,265&P_ID=337&CAT_ID=265&V_ID=808
You could also try dual sway bars . There used to be a link on turbobricks. Atleast the front one were quite easy to do with minimal $$ and work. Regular sway bar clamps, long bolts and modified end links were needed. I am not able to locate that link somehow.
Regards
Gopesh
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DD-1990 240 DL SW M47II FI 3.1 234 K miles
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Man, that is some *very* slick work! :-)
Lovin' it.
-Ryan
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Athens, Ohio
1987 245 DL 314k, Dog-mobile
1990 245 DL 134k M47, E-codes, GT Sway Bars
1991 745 GL 300k, Regina, 23/21mm Turbo Sway Bars
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That is exceptional work. I am going to do it for my 262c V8 conversion. Thanks.
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Much obliged man. I look forward to seeing how your set turns up.
Joe
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Any noticeable Driveablility difference?
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm
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Quite.
Though I only took it out for a little while yesterday, im going for a longer drive today. As in tendem with these bars, I flushed, filled, freshed the auto transmission fluid and filter. So giving it some drive in time will be crucial on both accounts.
What I can say as of now, is the bita intown driving I did do was a noticable canvas for the repairs. It handles much stiffer without nearly as much sway on corners. Grantied Im not a fast driver by any means (mor of a turtle really).
Also, my P/S kinda had a quiet grind with the wheel turned to its limit in either direction... yet after this quick mod, no more!
Its really suprising to me that this wagon which reguardless of the length turns better now than my old beater 91' (cheap import) hatchbcak did. Which in consideration, that car was abid half the length of this one.
So all in all... Im feeling like this is a better $10, and arm workout, than Ive had the chance to take on in a while. I deffiantly recomend it.
If anyone else has some ideas in the same narrow foot path (IE:cheap, simple, effective), share em. To me, these are the things that keep a bit of inspiration in my step. Peace all
Joe
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Didn't the Euro models have another set of Braces for the bottom of the car??
I can't remember what where they went exactly...but it would be up the ally as what you did with the Strut towers.
I'm not a speedy driver by any means but a tight car feel without the kidney-punching ride would be a bit of fun.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm
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Are you talking about there
http://www.ipdusa.com/version.asp?strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=69,265&P_ID=337&CAT_ID=265&V_ID=807
Regards
--
DD-1990 240 DL SW M47II FI 3.1 234 K miles
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I thought I remember a different configuration. I thought I remember them looking like asmaller version of the Top Braces. If I find them, I'll post the link
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm
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The GTs had lower bars that were made of the same hollow tubing as the strut-to-firewall-bars.
"There were lower strut braces fitted to some cars, and my '78 GT is so equipped. These braces connect the rear a-arm mount to the crossmember, right under the front pivot for the a-arm. These should be really easy to make, as it's just a piece of steel tubing flattened at the two ends. Holes need to be drilled in the car, too."
They're pretty short and I don't think they'd do as good a job as the IPD H shaped part.
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That must be what I was thinking of. I remember them being Tube Style and Just little shorty pieces.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm
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awesome. Thanks for the info and comments thus far, and forward looking is how im feeling about more ideas on this from yall. PEace till next post
To the hardware store I go...to the hardware store I go....High ho the....
nevermind :)
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Joe -
That is some nice work and solid (looking at least) craftsmanship. Well done!
I'll have to think on the other cheap modifications - though as mentioned in the initial email - there are plenty of little electrical cleanings and improvements to be made - cleaning the grounds, cleaning out the window switches (if electric windows), fixing the seat heater grids and switches (if present), repairing the harnesses that go through the rear door hinges (if a wagon), resoldering the overdrive relay, rebuilding/strengthening seats, finding a driver's central locking system and retrofitting it to the passenger's side (again, if central locking system present), bushings & bearings, etc.
Nice work -
Zach
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I feel bow bushings might be my next bear. Any tips on this struggle as a whole?
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When you say bow bushings, you're referring to the front end bushings? Other than the upper strut mount bushings, the front end is certainly easier to tackler than the rear end, and the rear end is only complicated by the rear trailing arm bushings. Even there, some have tried appropriately sized hole-saws recently to clear out the old rubber and slide new urethane bushings in with some decent success. Most of the other bushings are simple push-out and push-in affairs.
I don't recall from your initial post whether this is a turbo car or not. If it isn't, I'd recommend you find a set of IPD (25/25mm ish) sway bars or a set from a Turbo car (23/21mm) to help round out the suspension upgrades. That will make a huge difference in how the car handles the corners and steering inputs.
Zach
Anchorage, Alaska
1990 245 w/271k mi
flickr.com/photos/zachz/tags/volvo
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