Hi all, anyone know what plastic Volvo used (apart from bio-degradable LOL) I have loads of broken interior panels that need gluing as its so hard I wondered if polystyrene modelling glue might be better than super glue, epoxy would work but hard to keep a clean joint, I was also thinking of laminating a layer of fibre glass mat on the back once glued to give it half a chance of lasting, especially the centre console, anyone done anything similar?
240 plastic
Which piece?
Some of them can still be purchased as new reproductions
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I can't answer the question, but it may be worth saying what age the car is to get that answer from someone who knows that answer ... I say that because I know that during the 240's production-run Volvo were changing the plastics they were using for certain things (eg. the wiring seem to have had longer-lived insulation in the early years & late years than in the mid 80's), and also when I was trying to Lego together parts of early-dash with parts of late-dash the actual plastics did appear slightly different for the parts which were slightly different shapes to each other but fitted into the same/equivalent place.
Mind you the problem with gluing old plastics back together is they often fall apart due to being brittle, and the glue sorta means it'll happen somewhere else.
I've seen the door pockets glued back together fairly successfully by gluing a backing-plate to the back which was the size of the entire flat section, and which reinforced the whole thing, although a hairline crack was still visible.
Thanks ramrod and forg, I have 2 '89 240's and a '90, all with various broken trim bits but I have most of the bits, hence not wanting to buy new ramrod, I will try polystyrene cement and superglue but may also lay up some fibre glass mat on the back which in theory should make them virtually unbreakable??? I just thought there might be someone that knows what grade plastic they used, as you may know if you've ever built a model aeroplane the polystyrene glue welds the parts together, thanks anyway.
Stoonly What year model is the car, what plastic bits do you need to repair/replace, and what colour?
It's amazing how many changes were made in the plastic trim parts over the years, some of which do have subtle differences that nobody really notices until you put the two parts together side by side, so year model is important.
Many plastic bits are available as reproduction (e.g. via Voluparts) or NOS (via gcp.se). I've used superglue and Araldite on the non-visible side to repair some parts which are unobtanium, but have ordered new bits where available since most OZ cars have very well-baked plastic from the sun. The youngest used 240 parts are now 30+ years old, too… so, there's that.
A mixture of 50% boiled linseed oil to 50% metho is better than commercial protectants at cleaning up the plastics, but care must be taken to dispose of the soiled rags afterwards, which are quite volatile and can easily cause fires.
Ohhh, i like the fibreglass on the back of the map pockets. could be a good prevetentative measure.
I've done this. The plastic sticks well with a good quality cyanoacrylate by a company like lock tight. Use the professional grade adhesive, they are only a few dollars more. For laying the fiberglass sand the surface to scratch up the gloss, and degrease with methylated spirit. It is fiddly, but actually works pretty well. I've seen no degradation of the plastic after glassing with bunnings grade products. But I would recommend better grades. But it's alot of trouble to go too if new ones are available. But they do turn out exceptionally strong.my door pockets and centre console are indestructible it seems . No longer eggshells.
Thanks everyone,
Good to know I'm not alone, I know the new ones are not as brittle but still not a good design so the fibreglass can only be an improvement, would be worth doing even on new ones!