In reply to Nesegleh :
The anti squat is what gives the 240 such good bite off a corner in dirt.You want the axle to push down into the dirt, and it does. Watch also dirt late model circle track cars, they have so much anti squat the body actually rises up. They would work well at rallycross if they were symetrical. The cars you see squatting visually have soft springs, which to a point are good, but if you were to emulate the no anti squat you would slow your exit speeds tremendously unless you had lots more power and tire than you want to run for other reasons. Volvo eliminated the anti squat to make the cars tame and idiot proof, not to make them perform better on slippery surfaces.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
Just noting what I see in successful rally cars. Quick escorts have 4 links + panhard/watts link. Quick Volvos do too. Looks at vids from SwedishRally on YouTube and watch how like all the 240's sit like crazy on corner exit, doesn't seem like they are too concerned with antisquat.
Made a strut brace for the the Volvo. Materials were 1/8" steel, threaded hex tube, rod ends, and nuts. $45 total
Tough bit was accommodating the stock camber adjustment slots. Air file helped with that.

Struggling to cut out the inside of the uprights (grinder cleaned these up later):
Then welded it all up.
Finished, next to my beautiful stock NA engine:
Very pleased with the tight fit around the center lip, should take some load off the studs.
These should work nicely:
Federal federally g-10 rally tires in 185/65r15
I still have to get my eight of them mounted lol....
irish44j said:
I still have to get my eight of them mounted lol....
You gonna run em at summit?
In reply to Nesegleh :
unlikely. The fresh set is for STPR. The other set was used at SOFR by Jon Kramer. I may test the used set one of the days at Summit just to see how they feel, we'll see. Gearing for rallycross is better for me with the smaller tires on the 14s.
If you're following my thread, the Federal 15s are a lot heavier than the 14" DMacks and Maxsports I use for rallycross. Won't matter much on stage, but will hurt speed at rallycross.
Picked up some more spares and a set of 15" wheels over the weekend. The wheels:
Not pictured are some spare trailing arms (also covered in undercoating... Fawk) and some struts. The strut tubes are rusted to E36 M3 but will hopefully be able to salvage the knuckles.
Also pressed in the rear contol arm bushings. Old ones were shot:
New poly bushing + some paint, waiting to go in:
Physical progress has been slow the past week because I've been designing a BEEFY skid plate. Full frame made out of angle and Josh's old 1/8" stainless skid plate. Pics when finished.
Also, anyone have ideas for filling a square radio hole? Preferably something that wont turn into a Manhattan project. BTW my trunk probably has over a dozen (circular) holes in it and I'm not really sure what to do about those either. And its going to be sitting outside for the winter.
TXratti
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8/13/19 9:59 a.m.
Nesegleh said:
Also, anyone have ideas for filling a square radio hole? Preferably something that wont turn into a Manhattan project. BTW my trunk probably has over a dozen (circular) holes in it and I'm not really sure what to do about those either. And its going to be sitting outside for the winter.
Black piece of sheet plastic? Piece of Aluminum? Press fit, rivet on, etc. lots of options.
Nesegleh said:
Also, anyone have ideas for filling a square radio hole? Preferably something that wont turn into a Manhattan project. BTW my trunk probably has over a dozen (circular) holes in it and I'm not really sure what to do about those either. And its going to be sitting outside for the winter.
The trunk lid itself? Rust or intentional holes?
There are a number of cheap single-din gauge pods out there (like this) for really cheap. Back when I was considering building a 240 for stage rally I had planned on just doing a "half dash" and replacing all of the gauges/radio panels with a single piece and mounting gauges/switches to it. Something similar to this: (also posting because it's an awesome video)
In reply to artur1808 :
Meant the antenna hole, right behind the c pillar (not the radio hole in dash... whoops). Just gonna rivet some sheet aluminum on I guess. The other holes are from removing trim tabs, so they are right above the rear bumper. Not too worried cuz those are vertical so not much water gets in, just kinda bothers me.
That vid is what really made me want to build the Volvo for rally. The very first rally vid on my YouTube playlist (now with like 70+ rally vids lol).
In reply to Nesegleh :
Whatever you patch the exterior holes with (unless you just weld them) I'd recommend 3M Window Weld to seal it. Still watertight and going strong on the roof of my truck after over 3 years outdoors.
In reply to Nesegleh :
haha gotcha. On my e30, I bought THIS grommet kit from Amazon and one of the solid plugs was a perfect match for the hole that the antenna left. Plus, then you'll have 124 extra pieces that you can find use for.
artur1808 said:
In reply to Nesegleh :
haha gotcha. On my e30, I bought THIS grommet kit from Amazon and one of the solid plugs was a perfect match for the hole that the antenna left. Plus, then you'll have 124 extra pieces that you can find use for.
yep, I did similar for my antenna hole on the e30 and the Porsche.
For the trim tab holes, aluminum tape, or gorilla tape if you just want to keep it simple. I have trim holes that have had aluminum tape or gorilla tape covering them for years with no leaks/issues. By rear bumper has multiple large holes (drilled by me to access the bumper piston "lock"), covered by black Gorilla tape. I think it's been on there for like 5 years, stepped on dozens of times, etc, and still looks new.
Boring stuff.
Cut the clearance holes on the control arms for the ball joint bolt. Also repainted them because the first time around it came out like garbage.
Got the tires mounted: 
Looks sweeeeettttt but two of them are mounted in the wrong direction... Ugh
Lastly, does anyone know what not having this thing connected does? Internet says it's a radiator temp sensor, but I don't know if it influences coolant temp on dash, goes to the ecu, etc. I can't find the associated connector on the harness.
The thing in the radiator is probably just a fan thermoswitch- on above a certain temperature, off below it. I wouldn't be surprised if the fan circuit is relatively isolated and doesn't go back to the main harness other than to get power.
Yeah that's a pretty standard place for a fan thermo switch. and as Chris noted it really should have nothing to do with anything on the car other than the fan itself and a relay some place. I ran an extra wire to the cabin to have an override switch I wasn't working or something
All replacement radiators come with the fan switch, even for 240s that do not have the electric fan. Very few had the electric when new. You probably have no wires for it.
And here I was thinking I figured out why my temp gauge doesn't read correctly. Thanks guys
Got some exciting parts in the mail:
Semi assembled:
Ford escort parts from the UK. Rix engineering strut tube, lock ring, lower spring perche, upper spring perch ("top cap" in British terms), spacer, and top nut from Motorsports-Tools. 40mm Bilstein inserts (valved 300/100, w/ ~210mm travel) and sperical top mounts from demontweeks. Should make for a pretty sweet front suspension setup.
Spherical top mount for rally car - better stay up on constant disassembly and clearning, else you're gonna have lots of noise. Because dirt WILL get in there.
I know this is for the volvo, but I'm sure you have an e30 top hat sitting around there too - does the piston/threaded section of the insert fit it?
In reply to irish44j :
What can I say, I'm a huge sucker for shiny stuff :)
But really though, I hate rubber. Road car stuff for road cars, race car stuff for race cars imo. Added bonus is I don't have to worry about clearances and making spacers.
I don't think we have any spare mounts. Grab the ID and thickness measurement I'll see if it'll work.
Nesegleh said:
In reply to irish44j :
What can I say, I'm a huge sucker for shiny stuff :)
But really though, I hate rubber. Road car stuff for road cars, race car stuff for race cars imo. Added bonus is I don't have to worry about clearances and making spacers.
I don't think we have any spare mounts. Grab the ID and thickness measurement I'll see if it'll work.
I'm just saying....rally car /= "race car."
Many things that are "upgrades from stock" for a track car are actually "downgrades from stock" for a rally car in therms of "suspension response parts." Track cars aren't generally hitting things or taking the kinds of constant impacts that rally cars do.
Many of us get the cool shiny stuff to start with (or the cool hard-durometer bushings), and then end up breaking stuff because of them, and going back to rubber. It's way easier to replace rubber bushings periodically than it is to replace chassis mounts and things that get ripped out because "not enough give in the suspension when you hit that rock...."
The only hard-durometer stuff I use at this point is for fixed-position things like subframe mounts. All of my control arm bushings, upper mounts, trailing arm bushings, etc I've reverted back to rubber . Learned my lessons the hard way on several of these. Maybe volvos are tougher, lol....
