Hello, all Volvo enthusiasts!

Now I caught my ball: my beloved Volvo (blue 240 DL 1987 wagon) got into a car accident. I stayed in a traffic jam and was read-ended by a Honda SUV. As a result my car jumped forward and hit other car. The rear bumper is OK thanks to the trailer hook. It accepted all the impact and literally punctured the SUV's front bumper. But the front right side of my Volvo is damaged. The headlight is destroyed completely. The front bumper is broken, of course, having fulfilled its task. Luckily, the engine compartment is intact and the car runs as usual great. The guy in that SUV admitted that he was wrong and his insurance company is already processing my claim. Such a story...
Now... I was told that insurance companies very often pay for old cars less than it would be needed to cover body work. They simply "total" such a car and pay only a retail price by the KBB. From the other hand, body-shoppers are sometimes pretty much greedy and they ask much more that you can get for your car.

So, a question... How difficult is it to replace the fender by yourself? I’ve seen several Volvos on our local junk-yard of the same age and color...

Thanks in advance,
Dmitriy.

Guys,

I'm confused... What does this "salvage title" mean? I don't have a title at all. In our state, old cars (probably >15 years old, don't remember exactly) don't have titles.

Thanks.

Replacing the fender is easy, but time consuming. Double that time if you are removing a fender from a junkyard car. I've done it on my 245 and it turned out perfect, but the front filler panel had been spot welded at some time and had to be cut & ground out. As for a salvage title, from a past experience, it's a royal pain. In Ohio the State Highway Patrol must do the inspection and it's at their convience not yours. This means taking time off work to drive there. Ours is 40 miles away and not open on weekends either. They also demand a parts list with serial numbers from the junkyard car(s) you got the parts from. If the serial # is from a non existant or stolen car, BIG TROUBLE. This will only get you a "rebuilt-salvage" title which is a red flag for any future resale or trade-in.
I had a rear-ended $50 Ford Crown Vic from a friend that cost me over $500 to get back on the road. Only got $425 for it when I sold it, and it was nice too. The blue book was about $2000.
Ben

By the way, this accident didn't happen in Connecticut did it?
A friend of mine, a couple months ago, was stopped in traffic at a red light near one of our huge Indian casinos, in a 1994 850 wagon. He was actually on his cell phone speaking to my wife, and she was about to pass the phone to me when "Aww man! My nice car is all messed up!" She could hear the hit.
Keep in mind, I helped him get this car and I *just* did brakes and a few minor repairs on it the week before- he'd had it 1 month.
Well the INCOMPETENT lady driving a GMC Tahoe XL approaching this STOPPED traffic just plowed into the car behind him- an earlier model 240 wagon. That driver had the presence of mind to pull the wheel to the left, and rear ended just the left quarter of the 850 wagon. Sadly, as with yours, the 240 got it at both ends and the RF was particularly damaged.
The 850 ended up being totalled as well, though it was perfectly drivable. The 240 went right THROUGH the left rear quarter, crushing the taillight and the end of the hatch but incredibly not breaking any glass. The car is still being used at a dealership to run parts around, though it's about to become a parts car (nose and engine are perfect).
The only happy thing is, my friend got more money for it than he paid, and found an identical 850 wagon for less money, with 40K fewer miles on it.
Anyway the similarities to the "other" car are amazing.
Good luck with your repairs!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

Rob,

No, it happened on the route 128/95 near Boston, MA. But the funny thing is that the guy who hit my car was from Connecticut. It was a 20-years old young man on his father's SUV...

Sincerely,
Dmitriy.

PLEASE do yourself a favor, and right from the start, work with the insurance companies. They will be more than happy to work with you once you explain your aims, as it will cost them less.
In this case, DO NOT try to get them for the most money, if you intend to keep the car. I just went through trying to get a Salvage Inspection in CT and its something you NEVER EVER want to try to do.

DO take some pictures before and after, and note the VIN if you can of the parts car you get the fender from, JUST IN CASE.

The deal is this- you want to keep the car. You DO NOT want the ins company to take the title and mark it "SALVAGE". I thought this was no big deal till I got the 30-page package from our state dictating how a "rebuilt" car is supposed to get reinspected. (I have this 89 that took a light light hit in the nose several years ago, and the ins co totalled it out, damage must have been no worse than yours based on what's original. Just enough to get totalled.)
So figure that you're only gonna get maybe $750-$1000, tops. More than enough for a good backyard repair I think. More money than that will exceed the 50% value mark of the car's book value and you'll wind up totalled, and you may have to go through one of these inspections just to keep the car on the road!

I'd figure on pulling the whole top and bottom rad supports, front spoiler, bumper and bumper mounts, and probably the panels the headlights mount onto, though that can likely be straightened. Also, obviously, you need a fender (not the hood? lucky!) and the lights. I'd guess $50 for a junkyard fender, and call around a lot, hold out to get one which is the right color. Avoid the $100-300 for painting a panel if you can.
For the lights, I would get new ones (FCP Groton among other places) and not have to deal with crappy parts with broken housings and lenses full of water.
If you put any money in your pocket at the end of the day, you'll be doing ok. But PLEASE call that claim adjuster and work with them, it will save you lots of hassles down the road.
Good luck!!
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

Rob,

I think I won't have any problems with reinspection of my car. I am from New Hampshire and our annual state inspection is pretty much formal. They event don't check CO2 emission level. And more over, our state law allows not to have car insurance at all. "Live free or die" state. :-)

Sincerely,
Dmitriy.

Check the motor and trans mounts as they are designed to shear in a front/rear collision, even low speed (15mph and down).

Our friend from OZ saved me a lot of typing. Obviously he remembers this task well.

I'm not sure whether this carries over the 85-86 boundary, but in the older ones, the very end of the front of the fender is attached to the top rad support by one rivet. Other than that, everything comes loose by screws and bolts.

If you pull the fender in the junk yard, bring a chisel or file along to deal with that one small rivet, if it is still a part of the 87 fender attachment.

We were lucky to find the same color fender for an 83. Bumper, shocks and headlight components all from the same donor.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

There should be no rivet, just a spot weld at the lower radiator valance panel or whatever that piece is called. A cordless drill for that should make quick work of it.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

Thanks Rob.

I remember a rivet, but come to think harder about it, the fender I replaced five years back was previously replaced "professionally". And I do have this recollection of whacking a sharpened putty knife through a spot weld in the bone yard. Good idea with the battery drill; perhaps a carbide bit to deal with hardened weld material too.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

I seem to remember prying it apart with a nice chunky screwdriver.
--
Drive it like you hate it

It's really really easy, Just undo all the bolts and screws, and lift it off. Sometimes the factory put in one or two spot welds at the front, but they're easy enough to pry apart.

Remove the bumper first, then Remove the headlight surround, then the turn signal, then just start taking out all the bolts that run along the top edge (the bolts closest to the firewall have some tricky clearance around the hood hinges.

Then open the front door so you can get at the screws holding the fender to the A-pillar bracket. You can either remove the big phillips screws (four of them) or you can remove the interior trim and undo the bolts securing the bracket to the car.

The fenders aren't that heavy, you won't need any help carrying them out. Don't be afraid to drill out the screws on the A-pillar bracket if you need to. You can get some more from the other side of the doner car, or re-use the originals from yours. Make sure you take all the bolts and screws you removed from the donor as well, you'll always manage to lose a few.

If you can find a rust free car the right colour, you can repair all kinds of damage really quickly and easily. I've got panels, door and lights from about a dozen different vehicles in my car.
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Drive it like you hate it

See!! All the bad luck you've been having is finally paying off. You're becoming a 240 expert.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

I wouldn't call that bad luck, if it hadn't been for the smashed in side, I wouldn't have got the car for free in the first place.

I do believe that everytime my car breaks, I learn something useful. I've got a hell of a mechanical education on my brick. When I decided that I was going to take on a restoration job, I'd never so much as removed a spark plug. A few weeks later and I was learning about rebuilding cylinder heads and the like. It's been a very steep learning curve. In a couple of months I'm going to pull the whole engine and rebuild the bottom end.
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Drive it like you hate it

"In a couple of months I'm going to pull the whole engine and rebuild the bottom end."
Hmm, admirable goal. Haven't done one myself. But be forwarned, engine blocks don't fit into dorm rooms as easily as do starters/alternators.
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1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb and M46 trans

Lol, This will be done over our summer, and I'm probably moving out of college at the end of the year anyway. The most I've ever done at college was strip down a B21 head on my desk. Also I don't live on the ground floor, and I don't think I could drag a cast iron block up all those stairs.
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Drive it like you hate it