1980 VOLVO GT, all stock: Is suspension on this car already lowered from non-GT modwls?
If so, will the IPD kit lower it more?

Thanks,
Mark

The suspension on 242 GT is set up for (mild) rally. Over steer prone versus understeer typical for stock street factory 240.

The front springs were similar in wire diameter to 1981-1985 factory 240 Turbo. I dunno about spring rate or stiffness.

The rear springs were very much like 244 or maybe 245.

The rear stabilizer bar is 22mm or in 1979 23mm. Front is 21mm and the same P/N the stock 21 front / 19 mm rear on 240 from late 1970s onward.

Bushings were the (wish we had these now) solid rubber made by OEM Boge.

Strut mounts were Boge or the other (don't have these anymore) version of Volvo PN 1272455. Volvo PN 1272455 is utter garbage.

In Australia, we see the B23E engine with K-Jet and BW35 or BW55 auto.

All had the Halloween theme with orange striping and wide exterior black and orange pin stripes. For CA-state, the grill was white and may include the former flat hood grille with the Bosch or Hella fog lamps.

Dampers from the factory are all orange de Carbons monotube high pressure or were Koni adjustable. IIRC, yellow model.

iPd sources their own springs and stabilizer bars. These are like the Turbo 240 yet much more aggressive. Not rally. Street.

Original 14" alloy wheels (light and strong) or in 1980 maybe the Virgo wheels.

You will read on Turbobricks and here of the suspension mods on 240.

I think these came with Pirelli and Michelin tires. The suspension wants a mildy sticky tire. A then stock Michelin XZX, primitive versus tires today, was very hard. Easy to oversteer and over correct while on streets during the first rain after a hot summertime.

I owned a 1979 242 GT with M46 and a moon roof from 1989 to 2001 or so. Neglected as anything, the body succumbed to rust or the floor pan plate above the rocker panels. My hope is two get a 1976 to 1984 rolling shell and put the drive line from the 1990 (li'l red) wagon that succumbs to rust.

The dream is a 1972 164 with M410. Easy to jockey D-Jet like K-Jet. Fuggittaboutit. Raise the final drive ratio and a front valence for a wide ranging, steep grade climbin' without slow down, much. 1972 has the tubes inside the doors for raised side impact protection yet with the old grille and front bumper. Clean and LED the 1972 tail lights, add a third high center brake light.

https://oldmotors.net/volvo-242-gt-adding-spice/

Go here:
https://ozvolvo.org/archive/

Use the browser search to search the page. The search field on the web page no longer works.

http://www.v8volvo.se/mekartips/volvo/

Fuggittaboutit.
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To the best of my knowledge the only suspension difference with the 242 GT compared to the base DL model was wider tread on 15" 5-spoke alloys, a rear sway bar (same one as in the wagons as I recall) and a heavier duty front sway bar. IPD sways were one step up again in sway bar diameter, front and rear. A PO along the way may have tried to lower it a bit as there were a couple of aftermarket sources for lowering springs cheaper than IPD, or maybe cut them down a bit. Count the coils and note the end offsets so you can verify them against stock coils. The iPD ones were progressively wound sport coils, so those should be self-evident.

I was minorly surprised to see iPD is still selling them and has them in stock. IPD suspension was a spinoff from the RV suspension mfr next door to their original store and if that shop is still in existence then may still being made there. Given the decades of inflation, I'm also surprised at the price. In the 1997 catalogue I have, they were $284/set of 4 for sedans, which is $531 today. Their current price is $279.

If you're going to significantly lower it, check the advice for going for the iPD adjustable pan hard rod to center the rear tracking to the front. Apart from sport handling, it's especially important in snow because 240s have narrower rear tracking and you'd now have one rear more fully in a front compact snow track and the other rear more outside the front track in possibly lighter snow.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now