After noticing a crazy noise coming from the left front wheel on turns, I parked and cranked the wheel... only to find that the backing plate/shield had completely rusted apart, and was rubbing on the rotor, etc. It was completely shredded, so I pulled the worst parts off. Now, there's not much of a shield left on that wheel, and the other side is pretty rusted too.

I'd like to find a replacement to keep my brakes nice and clean (and working) - does anybody know where I could find one or two of these damn things?

It does seem that the front brake shields rust out quicker than the rears.

On my 88, the shields had rusted completely apart. I ended up buying new ones from fcpgroton. I've also given them 2 coats of POR-15 paint before installation, to help prolong their life :-).

When you order new ones, remember to order the circular ring that holds it against the strut assembly as well. That distributes the force of the three 8mm bolts onto a larger area. You may want to buy new bolts as well. Of the six bolts on my 88, only one had a head that was still hex. The other five had rusted so far that I had to take a smaller impact socket, hammer it onto the rounded head, and use that to turn out the bolt.

Also keep in mind that you'll need to remove the hub in order to install the new shields.

Hope this helps,

Michel

1979 242DL
1988 244DL

Thanks for the assistance - that info is going to come in really handy! Could you tell me what part number they were, or where you managed to find them on fcpgroton? I'm coming up empty handed all over their site.

I'm not sure if you have ABS or not (my 88 doesn't). Also, the parts aren't listed on fcpgroton's website, but they can source parts that aren't listed.

I bought the 1988-onwards parts catalog from volvotechinfo.com for about usd$60. It doesn't show repair techniques, but the blowup diagrams are *very* useful for figuring out how parts fit together. Also makes ordering bizarre parts easier :-).

Anyways, here's the part numbers you need:

if you DON'T have ABS:

protector plate (qty 2) 1272469
retaining ring (qty 2) 1272102
lock screw (qty 6) 948536

if you DO have ABS:

protector plate (left) 3530540
protector plate (right) 3530541
retaining ring (qty 2) 3530542
lock screw (qty 6) 948536

You can also get the lock screws elsewhere, they're M8 x 10mm. Just make sure to put some Loctite on them (I use Loctite 243, it's tolerant of oil on the threads, where 242 (the normal blue stuff) isn't).

Michel

1979 242DL
1988 244DL

Thanks a lot for the part numbers, I'll see if FCPGroton can help me out. I really appreciate your assistance with this question!