Bean Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 Hi guys, With the new baby sleeping crazy hours, and me on nights looking after her, I've been doing a ton of searching on my 505 Turbo. I've found a legendary guy in Seattle that is REALLY well known in rally circles. He has a shop in Seattle making some really cool stuff for 240 Volvos and XR4Ti's... Thing about this is that the 240 front suspension is very similar to the 505 Turbo, and the XR4Ti has a very similar rear suspension to the 505 as well. (As an aside - there's a big movement in rally circles to move to 2WD open class cars. It's been dubbed "Max Attack" and is gaining a lot of popularity due to lower running cost - and more spectacular driving for pleasing the crowd. This is the push for doing up 2WD cars like the XR4Ti's and the Volvo 240s. Personally the 505 Turbo should destroy both of those cars given equal prep!) Anyhoo - He's come up with some crazy suspension systems for these cars himself using Bilstein 50mm racing gear, and it should honestly be a fairly easy cross over to the 505. What I'd like to do is see if I can give him a call after arranging for him to take a look at a 505 Turbo. (This is where someone comes in with their car... ) Now most of you aren't interested in spending very much, but there may be some cross over that we can discuss as well - like custom springs, and threaded perches on stock housings. This guy is really good - and will work on anything - so if anyone is interested, and is able to dedicate some time - it would be most appreciated! Some links to check out: John Vanlandingham's shop web page - all sorts of stuff he's done is here. Modded Volvo 240 struts - same design as the 505 - but made into a 2pc. XR4Ti's rear trailing arm modification On the XR4Ti's they actually weld a mounting on the the rear of the trailing arm, and move the shock to the very rear to improve damping characteristics. He's a small operation, so if he can increase his target market, then the unit cost should go down. I know the general rule I've read is $2000 USD for a complete suspenstion set up - but that's for the full rally/race spec version. I'm sure there will be some spin off possibilities that should open up cheaper options for us as well. Canadian dollar is doing really well now, so doing something like this is actually a possibility now! So now - anyone interested? Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted June 17, 2007 Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 What kind of stuff for 240's?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 It'd be easier to follow the links I provided then for me to run down his mods... The only one I was interested in was his front strut design. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august Posted June 18, 2007 Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 if koll doesn't want to do it, let me know. i'd be glad to drive up there if it comes down to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2007 I forgot Koll was down there... Hopefully he posts here - but if not I'll send him an e-mail direct. It looks like a crazy bit of kit for the car, and it's CHEAP in comparison to what people pay for high end stuff. Valving and springing it for tarmac set up would make the 505 a huge sleeper on track days! Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Ya, he's close (10 miles). I can check it out. However, I'm working some strange-ass hours nowdays. It might be a week or so. Exactly what do you want me to ask him? Maybe he can make some discs for our ABS cars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 No worries when you can get there Koll... I'll contact him via e-mail and maybe even phone. I've since gotten additional info on what he's really like and that he may not have the stellar reputation (For work done) as I initially thought. He does live up to his rep as being pretty difficult to deal with too. I MSN'd a fellow rallyist about it and he voiced caution (to say it politely), and he also said back in the day the stock Peugeot suspension was a performance advantage when the rallies were quite a bit rougher. So maybe a coil over conversion on modified housings with stock internals is still the way to go... My thinking though is that technology has made leaps and bounds since then and 50mm Bilstein inserts with custom coil overs might be the way to go anyway. If John V. can do it for a decent amount it still might be worth pursuing. The only issue so far is that the strut on your 88' is the new 2 pc design and the older 1 piece design is the design that is shared with the Volvo 240... I have an 88 set up as well - but the passenger side took a good hit and folded the strut a bit - so I don't want to trust the hub very much. Rear is the same though so it's still worth a visit. ( I might even send a set of my old struts for him to check out.) As for the brake disks - I'll see if I can take one off my 88 GLX (non - abs but same suspension - should be the same disk no?) to my friend with the wheel shop - see if they'd be able to machine some centres that would then mount up to some replacable willwood disks... Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N9TE Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I'll contact him via e-mail and maybe even phone. I've since gotten additional info on what he's really like and that he may not have the stellar reputation (For work done) as I initially thought. He does live up to his rep as being pretty difficult to deal with too. I MSN'd a fellow rallyist about it and he voiced caution (to say it politely), and he also said back in the day the stock Peugeot suspension was a performance advantage when the rallies were quite a bit rougher. So maybe a coil over conversion on modified housings with stock internals is still the way to go... Ya, I went through his site and it looked ... interesting . Compounding this is the fact that my car is inop at the moment. I'm doing a lot of summertime work on it and the worst part it's progressing at a snail's pace. I'm no racer, but I don't see the upside myself of dumping the six valve OEM units people salivate over for something else. Oh the discs, I'm keeping the ABS, so it's not a matter of bolting up whatever. I've got to get replacements eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august Posted June 24, 2007 Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 we're working on a ABS rotor replacement, and should hopefully have some info in a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcal505 Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 we're working on a ABS rotor replacement, and should hopefully have some info in a few weeks. haha i dont even have it my car is Ol' skool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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