James's 1977 244 DL "Momo"

jamesinc · 2019-07-01T12:34:00+00:00

I flew to Melbourne and bought this non-runner, and had a great time fixing it on the spot and driving it back to Sydney on a permit. Ran out...

Ex850R

jamesinc
Finally found the source of a random rattling I was getting on bumpy roads, one of the rear brake calipers was missing the plate that clips over the guide pins and holds everything still. So I refreshed the brake hardware (pads were fine), new guide pins and lock pins and retainer plates.
I also lined the boot with dynamat and waterproof liner in the floor. I stripped out the sound deadening in the middle of the boot floor as it was cracking. Moisture had got under it and there was some surface rust so I'm glad I went to the effort, I wasn't originally planning to do the floor, just the sides.
Dynamat in the boot has made a huge difference to cabin noise, much more than I anticipated.
There's also the pressed fibre card thing that goes over the so-called butt cheek, and is always caved in. I wrapped that in a soaking wet towel and left it with some weights on top of it, the next morning it had soaked and flattened out. I then unwrapped it and left it to dry out for a few days (still with weights on it) and then air dried it for a couple days and now it is pretty much perfect.
I need to do the trailing arm bushings still, but I think I can probably procrastinate about that for a few more months.

Do you have a good source for bulk sound deadener? Is liquid stuff as good? (Thinking bituminous pond sealer!)

AshDVS

jamesinc
Finally found the source of a random rattling I was getting on bumpy roads, one of the rear brake calipers was missing the plate that clips over the guide pins and holds everything still. So I refreshed the brake hardware (pads were fine), new guide pins and lock pins and retainer plates.
I also lined the boot with dynamat and waterproof liner in the floor. I stripped out the sound deadening in the middle of the boot floor as it was cracking. Moisture had got under it and there was some surface rust so I'm glad I went to the effort, I wasn't originally planning to do the floor, just the sides.
Dynamat in the boot has made a huge difference to cabin noise, much more than I anticipated.
There's also the pressed fibre card thing that goes over the so-called butt cheek, and is always caved in. I wrapped that in a soaking wet towel and left it with some weights on top of it, the next morning it had soaked and flattened out. I then unwrapped it and left it to dry out for a few days (still with weights on it) and then air dried it for a couple days and now it is pretty much perfect.
I need to do the trailing arm bushings still, but I think I can probably procrastinate about that for a few more months.

Trailing arm bushes absolutely require some procrastination.

Use urethane at one end and rubber at the other. If you're using urethane for the big ones, make sure you buy the kits with the shells included. More expensive, less swearing.

Of course, yell if you need any of that.

jamesinc

I use Dynamat for the sound deadening, then I use Car Builders acoustic liner on top of that. I think their mass loaded vinyl is the more premium option but IDK if you've driven a 1977 Volvo but you can throw all the money you like at sound deadening and it will only get you so far.

I put deadener inside the outer door skins, on the floors, on the firewall, I leave the stock deadener on the roof.

I use Dynamat Hood Liner in the four triangular cutouts under the bonnet.

The other thing I do for manual cars at least is I get the foam that goes in the tunnel, it makes a huge difference.

Anyway with all this the cars are pretty nice and quiet inside and you hear a lot less noise from the engine bay even when outside the car.

jamesinc

So this is one issue I have with the steering wheel. This photo shows you what I see when driving, or rather what I don't see - my speed between 40 and 140. It's really annoying.

So I may have to swap this out for a larger steering wheel, which sucks, but I'm also going to look at HUDs as that would be pretty nice, and I could hide the projector in the hole originally for the centre dash speaker.

Philia_Bear

@jamesinc

Would lowering the seat height not be less effort?

Ex850R

Philia_Bear
@jamesinc
Would lowering the seat height not be less effort?

Tall people.....

jamesinc

Philia_Bear
@jamesinc
Would lowering the seat height not be less effort?

Haha

Philia_Bear

jamesinc
https://ozvolvo.org/discussion/comment/211861#Comment_211861
Haha

remove seatbase.... just put cushin on floor and mount backrest to floor... fixed...

ramrod

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jamesinc

ramrod
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/IO7EQCBN0L0Y/untitled.jpg

Why didn't I think of that

jamesinc

Honestly the seat is as low as I want it to be, I could move it a bit further back with a rail extender and that would help a bit.

But I am also considering just swapping out for the slightly larger Momo wheel.

GreenGL

Maybe a nice little digital speedo box on top of the steering column shroud? Won't look super out of place.

But if it was my car, I'd go a bit larger wheel.

jamesinc

I added a pusher fan. AC works well.

GreenGL

jamesinc
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/FO9VAXUCYRAN/pxl-20221112-005226988.jpg
https://cdn.ozvolvo.org/uploads/2IWFKMXR2YVS/received-878245389837911.jpeg
I added a pusher fan. AC works well.

What brand pusher fan did you go with? My car has one fitted, but I've got other issues with my A/C.

And are you running a York or Sanden compressor?

jamesinc

This car has really grown on me. It's comfortable, great to drive, turns heads, it took a lot of work but I'm really enjoying the pay-off.

Yesterday I removed the H cam as the B21E just doesn't have the compression to make it work, it bogged down at idle and in traffic with the auto box and A/C on it was struggling to run at all.

So I swapped in a K cam, adjusted the clearances and now it idles fine and drives fine. Still need to hook the CO meter up and set the mixture, I had it richer for the H cam.

Slowbrick

Creamy

adrianw

Looking damn good now. Although my poor old 88 wagon is nowhere near as awesome, I have the same issue with an aftermarket steering wheel, at 190cm tall I can't see the speedo

That well either, I might have to go from a 350mm steering wheel to a 380mm one.

jamesinc

Okie dokie I was waiting for 7810 voltage regulators for ages, I'm still waiting on them but I am impatient so I ordered some LM2940T voltage regulators (datasheet). These are a 10V, 1A regulator and it's the same TO-220 package. It's a fancier, more expensive voltage regulator that is overkill in this application but the 7810s I ordered aren't going to be delivered until well into 2023.

Anyway I'll let the photos tell the story. If you have an early 240 cluster, a GT cluster, or any cluster that has this style of regulator and you would like it rebuilt using a modern semiconductor regulator, drop me a DM. I will do it for you for $50 including return postage.

Old internals (broken):

New regulator + thermal paste + wiring pigtails:

Bolted in place. I used blue loctite on the M3 screw. I drilled the hole in the housing.

All wired up

After taking the car for a drive, gauge is sitting exactly where I want it. I measured the regulated output at 10.6V.

racer1234

It is worth adding the output capacitor if you can fit it in. Stops them oscillating and failing. 22+ uf.

jamesinc

Yeah because I switched to a low-dropout I was wondering if I'd have trouble, but I tested it all out and everything seems stable. I would still rather use a 7810 though as I know they work well without caps.

racer1234

I always use caps on both. Even though they work fine without them most of the time, murphy will get you and there will be a weird combo of load and inout voltage that will make it oscilate and cook itself. 22uf 16v low esr tant.

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