|
I have 5 Volvo's in the clan right now and 2 of the 3 240 wagons came with roof racks and I do use them from time to time. I have installed countless numbers of them on all the models that take them and I can tell you it is not for the week of heart. Drilling 8-12 1/2" holes in the top of a brand new car just does not seem right. Over the years I have seen plenty of roof rack holes that were showing signs of rust, but here in So. Cal most of them do not. One problem is that the chuckle head of a techinician that originally installed it put nothing on the holes to protect them. I have always used factory touch up paint and it seems to work well. Another thing is that no one ever seems to re-torque the darn things down the road. I alway do it when I am servicing a customer's car and if it is not one of my regulars you can bet they are loose.
If you are going to do it you will need to get a brand new install kit. If you cannot come up with a new gasket and hardware kit I would pass on it. I know that the 200 series kits were available until around 2000 and then discontinued, the 700/900 may still be out there but you will have to see. What I am going to describe might sound a little crude, but it works choice. Once you have the rack assembled on the ground, if yours is coming off of a donor car then it will already be assembled for you. If it is a donor rack then I would advise loosening up the 4 screws that go into the side straps. Loosen them until they are only in by 4 threads or so, make them all the same. Place the rack on the roof and now center it up using your fingers (this would be the crude part). We use to use a tape measure to do it until someone figured out that it was faster and just as good if you used your fingers to space it. If memory serves me it is about 4 fingers distance on the back, back edge of the rack to the seam where the tailgate hinges, about 2-2.5 fingers on the left and right side in the rear, from side of corner post to edge of roof, and a full three fingers in the front corners. Now obviously everyone has different sized fingers but equal is equal and so long as you have set it up equally and at about four fingers in the rear it will be fine. Now with the rack centered up you need to go around it and CAREFULLY mark the holes with an automatic center punch, the kind that you push on and are spring loaded. If you are verticaly challenged then get a milk crate and stand on it so you can look straight down into the holes and put your punch mark exactly where it needs to be. Center punch all eight holes and then drill them out. I believe it is a 1/2" hole but you should double check on the old car, take a 1/2" bit and see how it fits. We always used a uni-bit to cut the holes and it worked choice. The bit we use was only 1-1.5" tall so we would not stuff it through and damage the head liner. Carefully drill your holes, use a drill and not a holesaw as it will drop the center piece down onto the headliner and damage it. Put some kind of paint or sealant on the holes and allow it to dry, this is your rust prevention right here. Install the well nuts, if the well nuts sit too high in the rear most holes simply take a punch and smash the metal down right there. Every now and then you run into a structural piece in there that is a little too far forward, no big deal just hit it with a punch and it will be fine. Install all well nuts, install the gaskets and make sure that they line up with the bottom of the roof rack as it is possible to put these in upside down and backwards and still have them fit the holes you drilled but not line up on the roof rack itself. With your hardware in place lay the assembled rack down and line it up, with it lined up go around and start each screw. With each screw started go ahead and tighten it up one corner at a time. Do not push too hard while you are doing this as you will stuff a well nut all the way through the roof and have to take it back apart and try to fish the well nut out (nightmare). With all four corners tight go ahead and tighten up the four screws that go in to the sides pieces ( the ones you loosened in the beginning). At this point it should be a done deal.
Hope this helps,
Mark
|
