Hi again, Bob.

I did a little digging and indeed the rear muffler is specific to the under axle design and is no longer available in the Volvo Canada parts chain. In any case, Volvo is apparently trying to get out of the lifetime guaranteed genuine muffler business for our old Volvos and is turning it over to aftermarket suppliers like Starla, which is now a division of Walker. Anything you find that is Genuine Volvo is likely old stock (as was the genuine Volvo rear muffler I scored up in Courtenay at that shop clearout you brought to my attention -thanks again). I also note some, but not all diagrams you'll find for your 1982 on the semi-official parts.volvocars.ca website show the front pipe with and without the cat (to cover the various earlier years) and, for whatever reason, with and without the middle muffler.

It's quite likely the aftermarket has decided not to bother supplying your rear muffler since your under axle pipe routing in early sedans has been superseded by the over axle routing used in the later 240 sedans. The cat pipe is the same, but everything back of there is different, with the possible exception of the tail piece but I think even that changed. 240 wagons always used the over axle design, so go figure why Volvo had a different design for the early 240 sedans given that wagons and sedans have the same undercarriage, especially when the under axle design was more exposed to damage and a tight clearance to the axle. I believe the mounting points are the same or at least adaptable between the two systems, but I may stand to be corrected on that.

I'll also note for your 960 while I'm thinking of it that the Starla rear hanger bracket (clamp) for the oval shaped rear muffler used in 700s/900s is a slightly different profile from the original genuine Volvo. It took me a fair few minutes to reform the Starla bracket to fit the genuine Volvo rear muffler I scored. It also doesn't last as long as the original Volvo design which used a two piece threaded rod and strap design which is also no longer available.

Starla is by far and away the most common name in aftermarket exhaust components for our Volvos. If you can find Starla Premium mufflers, like with a stainless shell, they come with a lifetime guarantee, but I haven't seen them available for our old Volvos. Starla does make a long life version of our mufflers with stainless steel guts that is often called "premium" or "SS" in the catalogues, but it is apparently not considered one of the Premium ones listed for their lifetime warranty. Surprisingly, I've found long life Starlas with the SS guts at select online suppliers like Rock Auto for less than what I would pay locally for the so-called economy ones, so do shop around unless you're in a rush.

Of course running without that rear muffler is going to be noisier. It will also change the back pressure which can in theory affect low end response a bit, although not so much in turbos such as yours.

Unless you've got a relatively new mid-muffler or don't plan on keeping the car forever, I would go back to OK and get them to replace the entire rear muffler system with an over axle system. You can often get the whole system for much less than buying the parts individually. You're probably going to end up doing it sooner or later as the mid-muffler is also no longer available from Volvo and likely the aftermarket as well. Maybe they'll give you a price break for not having suggested that to you from the start. Or you can try ordering your own parts to save a few bucks -I imagine OK wouldn't too strongly object to a repeat customer supplying their own parts. I'm sure OK deals with Lordco, a large autoparts distributor in Western Canada, much like NAPA affiliates here and elsewhere. I see they have an outlet right across the street. Lordco carries Starla for our Volvos and I've bought from them before as they can usually bring in whatever they don't have from stock in other stores in a matter of a few days. Another distributor in Canada that carries Starla for our Volvos is Worldpac. They're strictly wholesale, but rather than go through your local small shop under their Worldpac account pricing, you can order retail online from Autopartsway.ca who have a high volume discount with Worldpac and their markup is generally much lower than your local shop. They offer free shipping over $99 and with one of their major warehouses just across the pond from us in Vancouver, standard delivery is often just 2-3 days, 5-7 days if it has to come from Toronto.

Good luck!
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now