Volvo 240 wagon - partial Kammback prototype

[Big Dave]

Bureaucratic dodge: Remove your bumper. Make up a little piece of aluminum sheet bent kinda like a bumper. Attach it at the back of you tail. declare the aluminum to be your bumper.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by diesel_john

looks good, can any air get in below the bumper...

Nope, pretty well sealed. Factory air dam is lip-mounted to bumper's lower edge. My air dam extension is screwed to lower edge of that, nearly a perfect seal. Factory one has holes that feed to the radiator. Well, have to admit that the ducting/baffling is not perfect there. That's something I could address, I could build some additional panels into that system. Thanks for making me think of that.

Anyway, the bottom panel is a lot like the one in diesel_john's thumbnail diagram, its joined to the air dam's lower edge via a bunch of small angle brackets, all the way along.

[cfg83]

brucepick -

Originally Posted by brucepick

Thanks guys, for your encouragement and information.

Project stalled.
I paid a visit to DMV today, asking about regulations.
Apparently in CT, anything permanently attached behind the rear bumper is a no-go. I hope to check into this further to see if maybe the inspector was misinformed.

Instead, I'll likely put my attention on other projects I have planned - underbody smoothing and maybe an oversized roof extension similar to the pic I posted in the start of this thread.

Stuff like this is good to know. Maybe we should check all our state regs and add it to an Ecomodder "state laws" page.

CarloSW2

[basjoos]

The tailcone of this airplane has the optimal proportions for a boattail and is what I used as a model when designing mine. The Questair Venture is a 350mph kitplane nicknamed "The Flying Egg" for its short fuselage. The angle on the bottom side of this boattail is a bit sharper than optimum for a ground vehicle, but I didn't change it on mine since I needed the ground clearance for entering my steep driveway. Since your Volvo has a lot of overhang behind the rear wheel, it'll be more likely to scrub the pavement with the underside of your Kammback if the bottom angle isn't sharp enough. As far as the rear bumper problem, remove your stock rear bumper and design a new rear bumper into the back of your Kammback. Its not like they require 5mph bumpers any more, a bumper is just a flat peice of metal, foam, or plastic on the rear of the vehicle.

[brucepick]

basjoos and Big Dave-

Good thoughts.
I'm going to have to look into the state regs myself if I can manage it.
Adding something I can call a bumper could be the solution.
I'll save the airplane drawing as a reference.

I've seen 12 degrees and 15 degrees mentioned. Anybody have a hard spec on that? How about a suggested radius? That would probably be as a function of length I think?

The good news re. scraping the boattail is that my bumper (bottom) is about 16-17 inches off the ground. So any boattail starts there and goes up as it goes further back. I'd have to pay attention to that though.

I'd probably leave the oem bumper in place. It's provided terrific protection in some rear-enders that I've been subjected to. You shoulda' seen the other cars! GMC Savannah van that hit me got hauled away. No lie.

[tjts1]

Hey Bruce, long time no speak. I'm happy to see you are keeping up the 240. You seem pretty dedicated to improving the fuel economy of the 240 wagon. I would seriously consider the M47 swap I did. The difference in consumption between the no lock up AW70 and M47 is massive. We saw as much as 32mpg on the highway on a couple of occasions but 27-28mpg most tanks. I know it seems like a big project but with a little planning its totally doable.
After the accident (the 240 was totaled) Liz is driving a 96 NA 855 5 speed averaging about 24mpg with lots of city driving. I'm working on it
Cheers
Justin

[brucepick]

Hi Justin -
Good to see ya again!

Yes I'm pretty dedicated. I always have some compulsive thing that I put my attention on. I've been on FE for the "brick" for a while now. The e-fan conversion project you inspired me for was summer '05.


I've been tempted to do the 5-speed conversion as you just mentioned but you're right - it's a big project. Would cost some major money too.

I've considered a Volvo 850 5-spd for a future daily driver - but while they're more fuel efficient than the 240's, they're not a whole lot better. Also from '96 forward the 5-spd 850's became pretty uncommon. Not easy to find one of those! Pre-'95 or '96 won't take a scangauge, which is a requirement for my next car.

Sorry for the OT. Good to see an old friend again!

[diesel_john]

if your trying to develop a curve you might be interested in this site:

http://www.pagendarm.de/trapp/progra...les/NACA4.html

[tjts1]

Hey Bruce
Quick question. What kind of plastic did you use to make your airdam and more importantly where did you find it. Did you put it together with rivits, nuts and bolts. Im dreaming up an undertray for the 850. I was planning to use aluminum but that stuff is getting expensive and hard to find.
thanks for the help
Justin

[diesel_john]

if you don't mind sorting the junk, your local alumimum recycler, will usually resell. one time i bought a bunch of road signs the county scraped. big pieces.