Can this be done without any problems?

thanx for any help

cobyfrombrooklyn

I would suspect that the mounting is significantly different, but you probably could fabricate something to adapt the 850 seat the 240, or drill and reinforce a new set of mounts in the 240 to match the 850 tracks. If you have decent metalworking skills, it shouldn't be too difficult. Take you time and be sure that it's safely mounted since your life may depend on the attachment points. Just last year I knew of someone who stripped the interior from a 780 to install in a 242GT (somewhere in the Washington/Oregon area).

Also, if the 850 seat is equipped with side impact air bags, you will want to transfer the triggering unit from the drivers door panel of the 850 to the door of the 240. I can't emphasize this enough, but get the side impact airbag service manual from the literature department at Volvo: www.volvotechinfo.com. The side airbag is a fully self contained system mounted in the front seat, and it requires no external battery power from the car. There is a triggering unit in the door panel of the 850 that deploys the airbag. The principle is, during a side impact collision, the door panel is moved inwards and when the triggering module comes within a certain distance from the receiving module (mounted in the seat), it will deploy the airbag.

Note: Even with the seat sitting outside of the car on your driveway, if you place the triggering module against the side of the seat, it will deploy the airbag. Be careful, and following the instructions in the service manual. When fitting the triggering unit to your 240 door panel, you will need to keep the same distance relationship between the trigger and the receiver as was originally used in the 850.

If you're transfering the seatbelts from the 850 to the 240, be sure to get the service manual that covers the pyrotechnic pre-tensioners in the 850 (if so equipped). The concept is that explosive charges are fired in the seatbelt retractor to "snug-down" the seatbelt at the start of an impact (before the airbag fires). A tight seatbelt during a crash exerts fewer G-forces on your body, but over a longer period of time. (something like 45 Gs over 1/50 of a second for a tight belt, versus 55 Gs over 1/55 of a second for a loose belt, but don't quote me on these numbers. These are just approximate values that I'm pulling off the top of my head.)

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 240 Wagon, 255k miles.

I'm not contemplating ever using the 850 side airbags, but I'm curious as to whether the airbag can be disabled during service. I would guess that an object with the right characteristics would trigger the "prox" switch in the airbag, even OUTSIDE the car.
Am I warm?

I'm pretty sure that the side impact airbag system in the 850 seats requires that the Volvo-designed trigger unit (about the size of a hockey puck if I remember correctly) come within so many milimeters of the receiver unit in the seat before the airbag will deploy. If you mount the 850 seat in your 240 without transfering the trigger unit from the door, there should be ZERO chance that the airbag could deploy.

If it were my car, I would definately take the extra time to transfer the hardware to make the side impact airbags functional. Even with the side impact beams in the doors of our 240s, the airbag does a LOT to reduce body trauma in a side impact collision. A couple of years ago, I saw some pictures on the 850 forum of a very bad accident where an 850 was hit hard in the passenger side door. The owner of the car said that his 12 year old son would probably not have survived if it hadn't been for the side impact airbag. If you have the ability to have functional side air bags, I wouldn't pass it up. It's an extra measure of safety, and it's the combination of many extra safety measures (on Volvos part) that encourage most of us to own these cars.

Back in the early to mid-90s, my father worked at Sparton Engineering (now Dura Automotive) in the airbag division. I was able to see some of the first prototype BMW side-impact airbags before they were equipped any US-market vehicles (the actual components were sitting on his desk). Pretty impressive stuff, and they definately make a significant reduction of trauma to a body in an accident. On a related note, I wrote a small post about front airbags awhile ago when the subject came up. While the triggering mechanism may be different, the side airbag itself has similar concepts and theory. If you're interested in reading it, follow this link: http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=648466

Even if you are going to leave the 850 airbags unused, it would still be worth picking up the service manual and reading through it. -just as a precaution for knowing what you're working with during removal and installation.

God bless and drive safe,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
--
'87 Blue 240 Wagon, 255k miles.