Steve O
02-26-2005, 06:03 PM
<b>GT Grill Build Up</b>
Of all of the grills that were available on Volvo 240s, the GT model grill was by far one of the best. While OE and NOS GT grills can still be had, they can be a bit on the pricey side. Even used grills in decent shape run into some pretty big money at times. While you can find ones that didn't stop in time fairly cheap. I enjoy most of the styling of the 242 GT but did not want to replicate a GT, just use the GT parts I liked to style my 240 to my personal liking. So after a few junkyard runs and some parts swapping back and forth, I ended up with three grills that I intended on turning into one GT type grill with my own personal flavor.
<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/gt_old.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/gt_old_tn.JPG" width="200" height="75" border="0" ><br>
</a>
The first and most important grill was a OE GT grill off a parts car
that had faded chrome, missing mounting tabs, bunches of cracks, missing
fins and no emblem left in the center. It did however have the much needed
fog light shrouds. <br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/donor_grill.jpg" target="_blank"><br>
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/donor_grill_tn.jpg" width="200" height="88" border="0"></a><br><br>The second grill had all of it's mounting tabs but not the trim and it had the wrong fin and slash combination for the GT setup.The third grill, while being the right fin and slash setup had several cracks and two of the three mounting pins were busted off.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework_tn.JPG" width="200" height="150" border="0">
</a><br><br><br>The battle was on. The first thing I did was fire up the Dremel and
remove any trim or plastic welded add ons from all three grills.<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework2.JPG" target=blank><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework2_tn.JPG" width="200" height="150" border="0"></a> <br><br>
The second step was to repair the target grill to best of my ability by
JB welding all of the cracks between the fins and preparing the broken
pins surfaces to be be replaced by the donor grill's pins. This turned
out to be a bigger sticking point than planned but more on that later**.
I Then used the Dremel to cut the fog light shrouds out of the GT grill
and tossed out the remainder of the tattered pieces. Next I cut the two
needed mounting pins off the third grill leaving lots of extra material
around the pin.<br><br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/new_pins.JPG" target="_blank" ><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/new_pins_tn.JPG" width="200" height="136" border="0" ><br><br><br>
</a>After cutting the pins and the mounting surfaces flat and smooth,
I epoxied the pins to the grill. After letting them set up for a while
I cleaned up around them with the Dremel some sand paper.<br><br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts_tn.jpg" width="200" height="205" border="0" >
</a><br><br>Next was cutting out the fins for the foglight shrouds. This part
was easy. After determining where they were located on the grill, I just
cut out the fins with a pair of wire cutters and cleaned them up with
the Dremel.<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts2_tn.jpg" width="200" height="158" border="0" ></a><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_shrouds.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_shrouds_tn.jpg" width="200" height="150" border="0" ><br>
</a> After setting the shrouds in place I ran a small bead of epoxy around
rather than with the two rivets they used stock. This holds them a lot
tighter than original.<br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_paint.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_paint_tn.JPG" width="200" height="181" border="0" ><br>
</a>After a good amount of cleanup with 400 grit sandpaper the grill was
ready for paint. I used a gloss black bumper trim paint for the flexability.<br><br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_finished.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_finished_tn.jpg" width="300" height="154" border="0" ></a><br>
<br>
I also used the chrome strips from the stock grill for the brightwork.
The original GT grill was silverish gray with black trim strips. The new
one was a gloss black finish with silver trim strips and slashes. The
rework of the grill made it almost a requirement to redo the headlight
surrounds. <br>
The surrounds were much easier as they just needed the trim removed, a
good scuffing with 400 grit paper and several thick coats of the same
paint.
<br>
The main point of the GT Grill buildup being: Build it yourself. It's
cheaper, not too hard and best of all, it gives you the chance to "make
it your own".<div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="1">**
As a side note, the pins did not hold up well after installing and removing
the grill several times mostly due to the added difficulty of the fog
light being in the way. The fix was to drill very small holes down the
center of the replaced pins right through the grill and making sure some
of the epoxy gets into the hole on both the grill and the pins. Since
this repair there have been no problems.</font></i></font>
Of all of the grills that were available on Volvo 240s, the GT model grill was by far one of the best. While OE and NOS GT grills can still be had, they can be a bit on the pricey side. Even used grills in decent shape run into some pretty big money at times. While you can find ones that didn't stop in time fairly cheap. I enjoy most of the styling of the 242 GT but did not want to replicate a GT, just use the GT parts I liked to style my 240 to my personal liking. So after a few junkyard runs and some parts swapping back and forth, I ended up with three grills that I intended on turning into one GT type grill with my own personal flavor.
<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/gt_old.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/gt_old_tn.JPG" width="200" height="75" border="0" ><br>
</a>
The first and most important grill was a OE GT grill off a parts car
that had faded chrome, missing mounting tabs, bunches of cracks, missing
fins and no emblem left in the center. It did however have the much needed
fog light shrouds. <br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/donor_grill.jpg" target="_blank"><br>
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/donor_grill_tn.jpg" width="200" height="88" border="0"></a><br><br>The second grill had all of it's mounting tabs but not the trim and it had the wrong fin and slash combination for the GT setup.The third grill, while being the right fin and slash setup had several cracks and two of the three mounting pins were busted off.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework_tn.JPG" width="200" height="150" border="0">
</a><br><br><br>The battle was on. The first thing I did was fire up the Dremel and
remove any trim or plastic welded add ons from all three grills.<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework2.JPG" target=blank><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_rework2_tn.JPG" width="200" height="150" border="0"></a> <br><br>
The second step was to repair the target grill to best of my ability by
JB welding all of the cracks between the fins and preparing the broken
pins surfaces to be be replaced by the donor grill's pins. This turned
out to be a bigger sticking point than planned but more on that later**.
I Then used the Dremel to cut the fog light shrouds out of the GT grill
and tossed out the remainder of the tattered pieces. Next I cut the two
needed mounting pins off the third grill leaving lots of extra material
around the pin.<br><br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/new_pins.JPG" target="_blank" ><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/new_pins_tn.JPG" width="200" height="136" border="0" ><br><br><br>
</a>After cutting the pins and the mounting surfaces flat and smooth,
I epoxied the pins to the grill. After letting them set up for a while
I cleaned up around them with the Dremel some sand paper.<br><br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts_tn.jpg" width="200" height="205" border="0" >
</a><br><br>Next was cutting out the fins for the foglight shrouds. This part
was easy. After determining where they were located on the grill, I just
cut out the fins with a pair of wire cutters and cleaned them up with
the Dremel.<br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_cutouts2_tn.jpg" width="200" height="158" border="0" ></a><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_shrouds.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_shrouds_tn.jpg" width="200" height="150" border="0" ><br>
</a> After setting the shrouds in place I ran a small bead of epoxy around
rather than with the two rivets they used stock. This holds them a lot
tighter than original.<br>
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_paint.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_paint_tn.JPG" width="200" height="181" border="0" ><br>
</a>After a good amount of cleanup with 400 grit sandpaper the grill was
ready for paint. I used a gloss black bumper trim paint for the flexability.<br><br><br><a href="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_finished.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~steves_cars/1980_242/grill/images/grill_finished_tn.jpg" width="300" height="154" border="0" ></a><br>
<br>
I also used the chrome strips from the stock grill for the brightwork.
The original GT grill was silverish gray with black trim strips. The new
one was a gloss black finish with silver trim strips and slashes. The
rework of the grill made it almost a requirement to redo the headlight
surrounds. <br>
The surrounds were much easier as they just needed the trim removed, a
good scuffing with 400 grit paper and several thick coats of the same
paint.
<br>
The main point of the GT Grill buildup being: Build it yourself. It's
cheaper, not too hard and best of all, it gives you the chance to "make
it your own".<div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="1">**
As a side note, the pins did not hold up well after installing and removing
the grill several times mostly due to the added difficulty of the fog
light being in the way. The fix was to drill very small holes down the
center of the replaced pins right through the grill and making sure some
of the epoxy gets into the hole on both the grill and the pins. Since
this repair there have been no problems.</font></i></font>