Volvo rear springs

[vegiguy]

What do most 140/240 ITB racers do for rear springs?

[anthony1k]

My 142 came with 200 lbs, 8 inch long. I understand that 200-250 is what most people use. I'm not sure about the 240.

[vegiguy]

That's a short spring height. Do you have adjustable perches or something? I've heard the 140's and early 240's are the same from the firewall back. Do you have any pictures of the rear suspension of your 140 that you could post? Thanks a lot.

[Gary L]

My ITB 142 has what you might call the standard setup, and yes... they are 8" rear springs sitting on shimming perches, with "spools" top and bottom, to keep the spring in place during full droop. I'm running 675 lb-in front springs and 225's at the rear.

Newton, Kansas? I'm an hour and a half southeast of you (20 miles east of Ark City). Who are you, and what are you building?

[vegiguy]

My name is Greg Schmidt. I'm building a 242 which I got from my insurance agent's husband for the salvage cost. I'm trying slowly but surely to turn it into an ITB car. Right now it has 200lb. 11" stock car springs on the back, but it still sits too high in back for racing. That's why I posed the question - to see what others were doing. It has custom coil-overs in front. I'm tinkering around with different spring heights and weights to get the right ones.

I like the 142 race cars like yours a lot. I'd like to see it in person some day. I used to go to the Pontiac Uprising that they had at Mid-America Dragway every year, but they moved it to Wichita a few years ago so I haven't been down there for a while.

Thanks much for the info.

[Gary L]

If you get a chance, we'll be running at Topeka on the April 30th/May 1st weekend... stop by and we can chew the fat. BTW, my brother lives in Newton, I get up there every once in a while. In fact, I took the car up there for it's annual inspection a week or so back... the SCCA MidDiv Tech chief is a Newtonian, as well.

[vegiguy]

Small world. The computer sure makes it smaller. So you're running your 142 in Topeka next weekend? I'll see if I can get away. As luck (or bad luck) would have it I'm going to Topeka this weekend to get some parts for a 1941 Chevy pick-up I'm working on. (I restore old vehicles for a living.)

[rsportvolvo]

Most folks run the BHP Development rear suspension setup in the 142/242. That's the setup on Gary's 142. Check out Gary's website for more details. Some other folks have found success with stock and iPd rear anti-roll bars (RARB ).

The Volvo's are getting re-processed and the results should be posted in the next Fastrack. I've been working on this for 2+ years now.

If you need some help with info on the 242 feel free to ask.