Earliest year for 601 red 700 series

Basically, moms low mile 1993 244 has a worn driver door hinge, guess the color.
I have spares & the door itself is fine, despite the body tooling & hardness of the metal being pretty worn out by the time they got around to whacking out the very very last of them in 1993…

I prefer the harder metal grease zerk equipped -‘85 hinges off the back door of grandmas sedan.
You have to separate the base plate to use 700 hinges on a 240 & it’s a bit of a PITA/wouldn’t go to the bother & would just use a 240 hinge, but if I can get harder metal & grease zerk I’d go to the trouble of that in addition to digging behind the stupid SRS knee booster & giant mess of wires they had by 1993, I’d like it to last longer/as long as possible?

I’ve seen 601 as early as ‘87? On 700s, what say TB? Obviously there’s 173 which was your ‘bright red’ option in ‘82-83.

Then to **** can those black thin metal junk late door handles for heavier ones from an ~’72 that don’t warp & weigh another ~6oz of better metal…
…tho those handles are all sorts defective in how they operate the extant linkage compared to ‘67-‘71 in the original design before the ‘Nader’ anti-roll-over ‘flush’ door handles ‘72+…

No.

i no…700 parts…heresy…
…I feel dirty even broaching this…

You Know The Rules

700 parts are to be binned at risk of wasting time trying to 'pass them along'.

Take your early kryptonite hinge with the aircraft zerk fitting clean it with a toothbrush & lacquer thinner &

Besides 240s being thin in the yards the early 700s are practically nonexistent anymore so good luck with that either way.

The spring broke on the driver door on my 414 paint code 240 Classic. Good luck finding another 414 paint code 240 hinge.

Then, pure luck, a 414 paint code 940 showed up in the PnP yard. A couple of minutes removing that little piece of sheet metal, and voila, a 414 paint code hinge.
#winning

(Although now my 240 is sullied by 900 series parts. And Mazda parts. And Chevy parts. And Ford parts.)

^It's the early hard metal, grease zerk + the OEM++ late 80s awesome super toxic electrostatic paint I want in the right color...

The metal got a lot softer on the outer panels & hinges '84-'88 & tooling wore out that much moar.

The bolt spacing & hinge wear was much less of a PITA on the old 220s like my Aunt bought a few years old when they first came out in the states for the '64? model year?

140s the check strap breaks/gets whacked around & traps water after 40-50 years/gets loose, but the hinge/latches/door handles are more durable, but also don't like to be mis-adjusted...

I have some '601 red back door hinges from an '89 244 w/ sub 100K miles w/better metal/more toxic paint but still galvanized/late model in the right color, but been procrastinating ~2-3 years already, why have 'pretty good' if you could have 'puuuurfect' hard metal grease zerk + OEM paint in the right color?
Maybe that would inspire some thrill of the hunt/action here?
I wish mom would sell this 30 year old POS Volvo & just buy a real car or borrow Dads newer common Toyota that just works no fuss (thus far )...I'm terrible scared my elderly mother will stranded or I'll have to take a very awkward phone call?
Everything needs special attention w/old parts & a mini-restoration on that thing & having the space/time to drive it around a while & really go over it is not forthcoming...
...it's not that its been a 'bad' car but IDK?

To be clear, it hasn't busted the door, run dry of lube or anything, but the pin is loose in the damn thing (soft metal/questionable tolerances) & driver door isn't perfectly adjusted, so if something isn't done this is gonna snowball like everything that isn't checked & attended to/adjusted on these needy effing mouths to feed 200 series/revised & cheaped out/emissions & safety constrained 140s...

See if I'd just found a perfectly straight 189 white 90K mile 1993 244, none of this would be a problem...
...get the super hard metal '83 hinges on there from 2 low miles V-shop/MVP maintained cars that got greased up properly every few months/oil change & parked in a carport/garage in the right neighborhood, DONE!

1st world problems...dang fading #rare red paint?
Why do car makers have to make cars any color besides white?
Think of how much less fade there'd be, cooler summers, discrete anonymity, how much lower costs collision repairs could be, how much lower insurance premiums could be etc etc?
Just get rid of the entire autobody & paint industry all together for the most part! 1 color code for all cars, house appliances etc etc etc.
30-40 year production runs, junkyard body panels 4-evar!

'Can you describe him?'
'It was the white van man!'
*blank stare*

Have you considered merely moving the somewhat worn hinge to another door where it will be, percentage wise, a much smaller problem than on the driver door?

I have the part from an '89 244 back door in good shape, just don't see the stupid car that often & don't want it to wear out other stuff.

Just closing the door gently without rubbing the paint off it with your thumb on the '72+ cars is a PITA compared to the -'71 140s...

601 red hinges? How many would you like?

^I may come get those last few 601 parts depending what I have/need...they're just going to have to store them in their basement until I can get to them...maybe if they trip over the parts they can get good & sick of the parts & sell the whole car & parts stash to the next guy to deal with it?!?


It's not like they aren't retired/can't own/operate a real car instead of a ~30 year old Swedish 3-stooge assembled (bad) joke-box, but paradoxically she's used to the 240 & claims to 'like it' & doesn't drive that many miles, anyway.

At least she heeds my advice to warm it up, listen to its noises (or for any noises out of the ordinary) & let me poke & prod it/check it out a little before any long trips I guess?

Just the stress? Not that any particular brand of car can't/won't break...they're machines, they all wear out/break buuut...idk riding w/her is like being with Magoo & struggling to keep it within 5mph of the speed limit dyin' to get outta the passenger seat of the antique thing?

Finally had a little 'talk' about how 'per the uniform traffic code you must display hazard lights if you are 5-10mph under the speed limit (depending on location, vehicle size & situation of course) as a 'road going hazard' trying to put it as delicately as possible knowing full well that by the time I'm her age, if I'm driving, I'll likely be the same or worse...
...you only have 1 mother & try to be compassionate & understanding I guess?

@ least it's red & easy to see?
Maybe some reflector tape on the bumper & a trailer hitch w/caution triangle might be prudent @ this point?
New trucks & SUVs are so dang tall, hard to see out of and so many drivers post covid are crazy impatient in the city, not gonna lie, I'm a little scared someone will plow into the back of her?
We also know how 'reliable' 244 6-panel tail lights are?
The bulb integrity sensor & 3rd brake light appears functional, on the bright side?

Lol come on guys get over yourselves, none of us are going to Pebble Beach let alone show our turds there.

Rare factory 'Harlequin hinge' option...
*crowd gasps*

Redwood Chair said:

Lol come on guys get over yourselves, none of us are going to Pebble Beach let alone show our turds there.

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No, but if someone wants to live that dream & that car can go away for more $ rather than less sooner rather than later, but get used in the meantime?...

Kjets On a Plane said:

No, but if someone wants to live that dream & that car can go away for more $ rather than less but get used in the meantime?...

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lol Are they going to know there's an aircraft zero fitting & kryptonite metal where it's not supposed to be?

Have Roy send you the right thing and call it a day ...

^If they take it to Jim that does every little rat fussy thing on the service list & has been repairing Volvos since ~1970ish?, probably?

Not sure if that's a 'good' thing, however.
'this tweaked out molested old pile!' may be more the careful shop's sentiments/may want nothing to do with it or anyone that would own it if it wasn't serviced there from just out of warranty to concurrently...

Kjets On a Plane said:

^If they take it to Jim that does every little rat fussy thing on the service list & has been repairing Volvos since ~1970ish?, probably?

Not sure if that's a 'good' thing, however.
'this tweaked out molested old pile!' may be more the careful shop's sentiments/may want nothing to do with it or anyone that would own it if it wasn't serviced there from just out of warranty to concurrently...

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Lol most shops have been taking any work they can get since the economy tanked in 2008 don't kid yourself.

Well maybe a few snooty Mercedes / Ferrari shops with gold leaf on the pen jars in the waiting room next to the credit card terminal but that's not for us dirt bag old Volvo guys either ...

I've seen cars come into the dealer with cockroaches, dead rats in the cabin filter, dogged out, hoarded out, living in the car, etc.