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Building an Off-road/Soft Road 240 Wagon?

I made a feeble attempt at one, but it doesn't matter good luck with yours.

Mine is about 2 1/2" higher than stock, 28 x 8.50 R14's on it.

PICT0281.jpg

Have more pics?..one of my favorite color 245s
 
:doh:
Small wonder.
You changed the dual factory plan that feeds air to the radiator.
Most of what comes in your grill drops right off the radiator,and escapes under the car.
You should get a longer air pickup from a commando car, zip tie the front tabs in there and capture the air that is being compressed under the car.

Many modern rounded cars don't have open grills at all just an air pickup.

(Respectfully): No s***, Ken. But the roads down here are pretty harsh and the dams get ripped off all the time. It's amazing how many STIs don't have full bumpers by the 1/2 way point of the race. Sometimes there are water crossings, too. Big rocks are also dangerous -- several races have stages with many rocks the size of ping pong and even tennis balls that get bounced up by the front tires and flung into the underside of the car. Check out the huge dents on the part of the skid plate you can see. It's not the PNW where it's just straight up gravel.

You may not notice it, but that's just a bumper skin and the license plate area is fully ducted to the rad (there's sheetmetal inside that guides it).

My setup is not bad if the car is normally aspirated, but if it's turbo, it's right on the bleeding edge, hence the hood louvers.
 
EDPM pond liner, and a heavy wire mesh grill down there to stop the rocks then.
There has to be a way.

Or something like I made for the Orange car out of a tire sidewall.
That Sh!t ain't going nowheres!

73145Engine10.jpg
 
^^^If the 240 front were all steel, that would be one thing. But since it's ikea plastic...

No good for ditch-hooking, shorting high-bank corners, or hard landings off bad jumps from water bars. Just comes off real quick.
 
Yeah, car tire ain't goin' anywheres on an all-steel front 145 on a smooth track.

Notice how many of the Swedish VOC gravel 240's lack them OR use the low-profile scoop without the cutout for the pickup. (And note that their roads are like smooth freeways compared to SW US rally roads):

http://www.volvooriginal.com/bildbanken/bildbanken.htm

Anyway, back to your normally-scheduled thread about trail-crawling 240's.
 
<a href="http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=593&u=12797741" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i39.servimg.com/u/f39/12/79/77/41/245-7610.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosted by servimg.com" /></a>

<a href="http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=594&u=12797741" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i39.servimg.com/u/f39/12/79/77/41/245-7611.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosted by servimg.com" /></a>

<a href="http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=595&u=12797741" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i39.servimg.com/u/f39/12/79/77/41/245-7612.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosted by servimg.com" /></a>

Thanks for the responses guys. This is exactly what I had in mind. I'd really like to see the particulars of it. 240 Apocalypse edition. I'd appreciate any other inputs guys, thanks again. RallyBrick, I'll shoot ya a PM.
 
101_1059.jpg

27 x 8.5 R 14 General Grabber AT2's
Only modification needed is slight fender lip rolling in the rear. Barely kisses the front spring perches.
The tires alone provide about a 1.5" lift.
 
For a car that is 2" lower with 2" less suspension travel stock, and a weak rear subframe to boot?

Small wonder:roll:

:roll:

Uh, being lower, and planning on going even lower, is the reason I want to protect the pan. And at any rate, plenty of 7/9 cars racing off-road over in Sweden, so yes, it IS surprising there's no aftermarket one available.

And who cares what car is ">" than another. That's a silly thing to say. I like my 7, just like I like 2's, 1's, 8's, & 9's.
 
I think I'm going to try the gradual approach and see how it goes. Since my springs are chopped, I need new ones regardless. I'll probably try some XJ springs on the rear, Diesel springs on the front, and a set of 27 x 8.5 R 14 General Grabber AT2's. Anyone have a source on some Diesel springs?
 
I looked on FCP for those springs and couldn't find them...they all have the same description. If you happen to find a link, that would rock.
 
Diesel. I have GT springs on the front of mine and they are a bit stiffer, but don't really raise the ride height. Maybe a few millimetres, but it really ain't much. Diesel will give you an inch or so lift
 
Diesel. I have GT springs on the front of mine and they are a bit stiffer, but don't really raise the ride height. Maybe a few millimetres, but it really ain't much. Diesel will give you an inch or so lift
This. See if you can have FCP measure the wire thickness of the springs, though. From the factory, SOME of the diesel springs were 14.2mm and the GTs that had the stiffer front springs also had 14.2mm wire thickness springs, but they were a shorter overall height. I've also had some springs that were removed from diesel cars but they are only 13.9mm thick. That being said, the springs on my stock 1987 244DL are 14.0/14.1mm thick! Maybe they are just the same 13.9mm springs but have really thick paint.

All that jazz aside, I recently purchased some "used" black springs with tags on them that say made in Sweden and I am wondering if they are these "diesel/heavy duty" springs made by Scan-Tech that FCP is selling in the link above. They're 14.6mm in the front and the rears are 14.2mm(larger diameter than even the stiffer, lowering springs I have from TME and Lesjofars!).
 
hmmm... i bought those "diesel" "gt" "hd" springs... whatever you want to call them.... same as in the link FCP's SKU is 302606....

next to the stock ones... they are shorter and fewer coils but thicker wire....
they also are narrow enough diameter that the retainer hat (or whatever it is properly called) does not want to seat... and there is a lot of wiggle room on the bottom....

say made in sweden on them... with a SKU of 302606

to my knowledge all springs should interchange and the strut assemblies used the same perches....
i wonder what the deal is.... of course these things are always noticed on the weekend...

here is the thread on the
http://turbobricks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4236551#post4236551
 
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I'd go for a coilover setup with long springs (14"). If you run out of droop length you could lengthen the housings and use 700 series inserts. Last time i checked those had 8" of travel
 
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