bugcos:
Thought F89s were LHD only
yes i thought f89s was LHD to
i use to drive a f88 for t roberts of sheffield.
The Volvo in the pic is LHD, check the angle of the near side mirror!! that’s a left ■■■■■■.
Ross.
LOOK AT THE WIPERS DEFINETLEY LEFT HAND DRIVE
Hi Chaps
I would say it is an F89 because its got a flat air stack on the right side & is a flat one.
If it was an88 that late with square side lamps & large grill it would have a round air stack on the left hand side.
F 88 with wide grills were 290 hp & only made for the U K market & i belive, but may be wrong were only made in R H D.
i would say its a f89 because hh says so .i think mr grant would know. 
tribsa:
Hi ChapsF 88 with wide grills were 290 hp & only made for the U K market & i belive, but may be wrong were only made in R H D.
I know most of you will know this but for the benefit of those who don’t;
In late 1972 Volvo released the 73 model with the black plastic grille replacing the previous models chrome item, the interior was also improved especially the dash board & the wipers were based at the bottom of the screen rather than the top.
For 1975 they introduced the ‘wide grille’ on all models of F88 but for the UK they introduced the 290 engine as the 12 litre F89 wasn’t available in RHD cabs due to the bigger ‘right sloping’ engine being where the gear lever would need to be. So all post 75 F88’s had the wide grille which was introduced at the same time as the 290 (smoker) engine, I don’t know for sure whether or not they ever made a 290 left ■■■■■■ but I can’t see why anyone would want one, if you wanted a ‘lefty’ you bought an F89 which was a much stronger engine. (No stupid pear drops!!)
For reference, I’ve driven;
1974 LHD 240 F88
1976 RHD 290 F88
1978 LHD 330 F89
1979 RHD 240 F10 (cheers Carl 
)
1982 RHD 330 F12 (ACM330X pictured in Kammac thread [from when they had custody of it])
1989 RHD 360 F12
1992 RHD 299 F10 6x2 S ride (a slug!! so a quick change to)
1990 RHD 400 F12 6x2 S ride G’trotter (soooo nearly lost a front wheel when bearing went in france 
)
The F88’s & 89 were as a driver, I owned the rest.
Ross.
Hi Ross
Just to be picky the early grills were stainless steel & the late ones had the wipers at the bottom & the short black plastic grill went on in 75 & this stayed on all 88s except 290s there are some late short grill LHD 88 on various threads on this site.
We still have a 73 stainless grill bottom wiper one which seems to be different as it is only 230 bhp where most were 240bhp at that time & we have had it since it was 3 months old & have known it from new so it hasnt been altered.
Tribsa.
Some L reg F88s had the small plastic grille & others had the earlier stainless item, that 1973 facelift also coincided with the introduction of different hubs, the studs on the early models were closer together like the American system (which is the market the F88 & it’s predecessor the ‘Tip Top’ were designed for originally) rather than the European standard (there’s a tecky word but I can’t remember it) The F89s though always had the European stud pattern, confusing isn’t it! The wipers also went to the bottom of the screen & they had the blue interior trim, which was also shared with the early 290s & F89s of the time, the brown trim & dash with the warning lights along the top was intoduced in 76. The 9.6ltr engines always had the air stack on the left of the cab, no matter where the steering wheel was (except very early ones which never had a stack at all) the 240 had a flat stack, the 290 a round one, the F89 was always LHD due to the previously explained slanting engine leaving no room for a gear linkage & the stack (flat) was on the right. The 240 was discontinued in the UK when the 290 came out & the 290 was UK market only to compensate for the lack of a RHD F89. The 240 was still available elsewhere though & it always had the smaller grille. The 290 also had a more pronounced grille than the F89, it stuck out about 2" more & the flap between the headlights was slanted out at the top towards the bottom of the grille, whereas on the 89 it was flush with the headlight panels.
And then there were the Swiss only CH230 which had the 12 ltr engine & 88/89 cab but had recessed door handles, flush front wings & trilex wheels to get inside the 2.3m width limit in Switzerland, the G models with their set forward front axle & the FB 6 wheelers, this could go on & on & on 
God I’m exhausted now Hope it makes sense
I am officially an F88 nerd
I cannot fault Newmercmans post, as he said the grilles were not always a definate sure fire way of identifying them but the lower front flap was. In a similar vane was the already mentioned wipers. If anyone has ever driven an old F88 they will know exactly why
Air powered wipers at the bottom were no better despiteall the Volvo mods.
If & when ours gets its rebuild it so badly needs it will have two seperate electric motors ex Bristol Bus .
tribsa:
Air powered wipers at the bottom were no better despiteall the Volvo mods.
If & when ours gets its rebuild it so badly needs it will have two seperate electric motors ex Bristol Bus .
Shock, horror. 
Bet you’ll get similar reactions from some, like when I tried to join the Classic American Car Club with my 1938 Packard Eight.
Except that it was by then a 1938 Packard Perkins P6. 
I thought the Hon.Sec. was having a seizure.
Didn’t join the club. 
We were once @ the Brighton for HCVC london to brighton where there were 2 morris 1000 van owners nearly at blows over where the I D plate went by about 1/2 in.
Regarding spec’s for certain years, don’t forget that there were overlap models and also pre August 1983 when a second hand vehicle was imported it got a ‘new’ registration. As an example, check Ash’s 80’s thread near the bottom is a Volvo with “bottom mounted” wipers, chrome (stainless) grille on an ‘N’ registration;
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=24867&start=1230
I wonder what dash board it had, warning lights along the top or the older random spread style?? It’s almost certainly a left ■■■■■■ so could well have been a used import, who knows, interesting tho innit??
Ross.
PS, I always wondered why so many Swiss F89’s had ‘Trilex’ wheels, now I know:)
Hi. Just to stir things up a bit more IIRC Ray Gillard from Somerset was a Volvo user and wanted more power than the 290 for his heavy haulage / long beams transport, he pestered Volvo (Ailsa?) so much for a RHD 89. It was said that they finally found a way of building one but by then he had discovered Transcons. Also the black Volvo with Yeomans name on it (owned by an ex Yeomans employee, can’t remember his name) has an F12 engine in it, does that slope the same as an 89?
Gavin
F89: TD120A engine, F12: TD 120C/D/F/G engines a development of the F89 engine. The engine mountings canted the engine in the F89, the F12 engines are upright.
I knew I had an engine photo somewhere. F12 TD120C (non intercooled and upright).
gazzer:
I knew I had an engine photo somewhere. F12 TD120C (non intercooled and upright).
Ah nostalgia!! nice pic, from the look of it a pre 82 and obviously a ‘lefty’
Ross.
A late model F89 on its first trip to Iran towards the end of 1979
I really like this pic
hi mate that my old truck the number plate was s …vng its a long time a go now well if that the one on hubbard use to own and i drove it for a little time my was f89 but also had air cooler on the roof