I have a Volvo 340 problem
Discussion
I have a Volvo 340 problem.
It started back in 2014 when I started an affection towards these crappy little Volvos. I've always loved Toyota AE86's but the value of them kept rising and rising and it was then that I noticed that the Volvo 340 looks almost similar and was also RWD. That got me looking out for one for sale.
So in April 2015 I headed down with some friends in a tuned RS6 to Kent (about 250 miles from home) to view one. I bought it and drove it back, the 1.4 with approx 30hp was a very different machine to the 700hp+ Audi I'd just stepped out of.
Anyway, I barely changed a thing on the car from how I bought it. But about 8 months after I made the decision to move to a land down under and sold the car to a friend. He has since swapped the engine for a Renault F7 engine and after a period driving that has taken it back off the road to add a supercharger to said engine, which will make it one of a kind.
Anyway, fast forward 5 years and to a time when we're living in Covid-19. That friend who owns my old one happened to spot another white Volvo 340 1.4 for sale, for a meer £500. He sent me the advert and within half an hour I'd rang the owner and put a deposit down.
The story was, the chap owned a white 1.4 340 for many years and in 2010 it went for an MOT and failed badly. Fortunately, he spotted another almost identical car for sale on a used forecourt and purchased that. I in fact found a picture on google of it at that moment of being on a forecourt.
So he'd owned it for the past 10 years and was using it every day. But about 6 months prior he'd stopped using it because he'd been given a newer Golf. It'd been parked up in his bicycle shop and way getting in the was so it was time to part with it. This was the pictures I was provided with.
I headed down at the weekend with a whole selection of tools and parts because although it was still MOT'd, it hadn't been ran or driven in 6 months and I had a 150 mile drive back home in it.
Amazingly, it started fine and drove the whole journey home without issue.
The condition of the car was, well, as you'd expect for a car that was 34 years old and £500.
Solid in the places that mattered, but pretty much every panel had rust. Oh and it'd been a write off a few years prior from a rear end shunt, so the boot floor was full of catty and a few things were out of shape.
How amazing is the way the seat folds forward and sideways at the same time so it's easier to get in and out of the back!
As you can tell, it was pretty grimey all over. What you'd expect from a daily driver for so long. But it all cleaned up really well. Interior is damn near perfect and it was hugely satisfying applying back to black (well coconut oil, that's the secret!) to the bumpers that were totally grey.
And here it is with my old one (prior to cleaning)
I wanted to make it somewhat like my first one did when I got it. So some new lower front springs and lowering blocks ordered for the rear leaf springs. Oh and the rear shocks, they're the same size fitment as Land Rover 90's, so a set off them added as it stiffens up the rear.
All fitted and it was looking a lot less monster truck
Oh and my friend had a welded diff laying around. I mean it's a silly idea on a car with around 30hp but whilst the car was up in the air, we put it in.
It did a few donuts (the tyres that are on the car are completely cracked and need replacing anyway). Then realised it was a terrible idea because it was awful to drive.
I kept an eye out for some minilite wheels to replace the rusty standard wheels with old tyres. I purchased some and got them shipped to me, in the time they were being posted another set came up for sale down the road from me for a third of the price I'd just paid
Nevermind, I now have 2 sets.
Got them fitted
And whilst I was there a friend gave me a roll of tinting film to do the headlights in a yellow tint
You might have noticed that the car looks like it's been left in some abandoned area. Well, it's parked around the back of my friends unit as the MOT has not ran out and I wanted to do a few jobs before taking it.
One of such jobs was the fuel pump. It's a vacuum pump that's attached to the engine and when the engines turning it creates the suction. Well I've been having issues of it being lumpy when you're on a constant throttle (say 30mph). It also struggles to start if its been left for a few days in the sun as all the fuel in the carb has evaporated and just turning the car over doesn't create enough suction to get fuel flowing again.
The solution if it'd been sat was to use a syringe to inject some fuel directly into the carb then once it was running the fuel would flow, not an ideal starting procedure!
Amazingly eBay had a new pump for only £20 delivered, what a deal for a part I thought would be a nightmare to find! I've not yet had a chance to see if it's solved my problems with the car being off the road for no MOT but hopefully will find out soon.
And some pictures with it as it stands now
It started back in 2014 when I started an affection towards these crappy little Volvos. I've always loved Toyota AE86's but the value of them kept rising and rising and it was then that I noticed that the Volvo 340 looks almost similar and was also RWD. That got me looking out for one for sale.
So in April 2015 I headed down with some friends in a tuned RS6 to Kent (about 250 miles from home) to view one. I bought it and drove it back, the 1.4 with approx 30hp was a very different machine to the 700hp+ Audi I'd just stepped out of.
Anyway, I barely changed a thing on the car from how I bought it. But about 8 months after I made the decision to move to a land down under and sold the car to a friend. He has since swapped the engine for a Renault F7 engine and after a period driving that has taken it back off the road to add a supercharger to said engine, which will make it one of a kind.
Anyway, fast forward 5 years and to a time when we're living in Covid-19. That friend who owns my old one happened to spot another white Volvo 340 1.4 for sale, for a meer £500. He sent me the advert and within half an hour I'd rang the owner and put a deposit down.
The story was, the chap owned a white 1.4 340 for many years and in 2010 it went for an MOT and failed badly. Fortunately, he spotted another almost identical car for sale on a used forecourt and purchased that. I in fact found a picture on google of it at that moment of being on a forecourt.
So he'd owned it for the past 10 years and was using it every day. But about 6 months prior he'd stopped using it because he'd been given a newer Golf. It'd been parked up in his bicycle shop and way getting in the was so it was time to part with it. This was the pictures I was provided with.
I headed down at the weekend with a whole selection of tools and parts because although it was still MOT'd, it hadn't been ran or driven in 6 months and I had a 150 mile drive back home in it.
Amazingly, it started fine and drove the whole journey home without issue.
The condition of the car was, well, as you'd expect for a car that was 34 years old and £500.
Solid in the places that mattered, but pretty much every panel had rust. Oh and it'd been a write off a few years prior from a rear end shunt, so the boot floor was full of catty and a few things were out of shape.
How amazing is the way the seat folds forward and sideways at the same time so it's easier to get in and out of the back!
As you can tell, it was pretty grimey all over. What you'd expect from a daily driver for so long. But it all cleaned up really well. Interior is damn near perfect and it was hugely satisfying applying back to black (well coconut oil, that's the secret!) to the bumpers that were totally grey.
And here it is with my old one (prior to cleaning)
I wanted to make it somewhat like my first one did when I got it. So some new lower front springs and lowering blocks ordered for the rear leaf springs. Oh and the rear shocks, they're the same size fitment as Land Rover 90's, so a set off them added as it stiffens up the rear.
All fitted and it was looking a lot less monster truck
Oh and my friend had a welded diff laying around. I mean it's a silly idea on a car with around 30hp but whilst the car was up in the air, we put it in.
It did a few donuts (the tyres that are on the car are completely cracked and need replacing anyway). Then realised it was a terrible idea because it was awful to drive.
I kept an eye out for some minilite wheels to replace the rusty standard wheels with old tyres. I purchased some and got them shipped to me, in the time they were being posted another set came up for sale down the road from me for a third of the price I'd just paid
Nevermind, I now have 2 sets.Got them fitted
And whilst I was there a friend gave me a roll of tinting film to do the headlights in a yellow tint
You might have noticed that the car looks like it's been left in some abandoned area. Well, it's parked around the back of my friends unit as the MOT has not ran out and I wanted to do a few jobs before taking it.
One of such jobs was the fuel pump. It's a vacuum pump that's attached to the engine and when the engines turning it creates the suction. Well I've been having issues of it being lumpy when you're on a constant throttle (say 30mph). It also struggles to start if its been left for a few days in the sun as all the fuel in the carb has evaporated and just turning the car over doesn't create enough suction to get fuel flowing again.
The solution if it'd been sat was to use a syringe to inject some fuel directly into the carb then once it was running the fuel would flow, not an ideal starting procedure!
Amazingly eBay had a new pump for only £20 delivered, what a deal for a part I thought would be a nightmare to find! I've not yet had a chance to see if it's solved my problems with the car being off the road for no MOT but hopefully will find out soon.
And some pictures with it as it stands now
Now this is where it becomes a problem.
So I might have mentioned that the gearbox and diff from a 1.7 Volvo 300 are what is required to fit a Renault engine from the older Clio/Megane. The F7r or F7p engine that is.
So I was in some FB groups for Volvo 300's looking out for those parts when I spotted a 1988 Volvo 340 1.7 GLE for sale for again, only £500.
Immediately I thought it's a good price for a whole car and I can have the running gear and scrap the rest. I enquired to the location of the car as usually, they're in the South East but no, this one was located in the North East, just 20 minutes away. Damn it, that means I have to buy it. So I arranged to come the next morning to view (and most likely buy).
So the story with the car -
Purchased new in Somerset in 1988 by a lady. She owned it and had it serviced every year at a Volvo dealership (that's right, its got full service history!). In 2009 it got parked up for whatever reason and thats where it stood for 10 years.
The chap I bought it from had collected it from Somerset and brought it up to the North East where he sorted a bunch of things required to get it running again. He also spent some time and money welding in some new sills and new valance along with some lowered suspension & wheels.
It went through its MOT a couple of weeks ago and passed. Albeit with a few side issues, more on that later.
With too many other projects he decided to move it on and that's where I came in.
Here it is with his other car, a Volvo 340.
Drove it home and on a country road drove through a load of fresh cow sh*t covering the sides and inner arches. Brilliant!
So the specifics -
1988
95k
1.7 5 speed
12 month MOT
Electric windows
Heated front seats
Now you might have noticed patches of tape on the doors. Well that's the bit related to the MOT.
As I've been informed, if your car has non-structural rust but you can't fit your fingers in it then it's not a fail. So the holes were taped over to pass the MOT.
I didn't actually check what was behind the tape when I viewed the car, only when I got home did I find the horrors that lay beneath!
But, the car did come supplied with 4 extra doors. That's right, this car came with 8 doors.
The spares aren't perfect, nor are they the same colour but they're solid enough to work with.
Some other rust related issues are as follows -
the sunroof, which I'm pretty sure will leak if I remove the tape as its 80% rust.
This front slam panel, which can be bolted off
And the rear boot along the top and to the left of the number plate is gone but it did come with a cut from another car that can replace it
Those of you eagle eyed might have spotted the cherry bomb exhaust in the back. Oh how 90's! Well it's because the current rear exhaust doesnt exist. The car sometimes doesn't run right and can backfire, well it backfired one time and blew the rear silencer off. So it was supplied with a new cherry bomb. But I've checked and you can get an OEM rear exhaust for £30 delivered off eBay, which is the better choice.
So now lets address the wheels. They're very marmite. Some people like them, most people hate them.
But they've got great tyres and I'm supposed to be using this car for parts. But just out of interest I thought I'd see what'd look like if I were to add some black to the wheels, either the inner or outer sections, what do we think looks best?
As is
Option 1
Option 2
Oh and don't forget the coconut oil trick on the old plastics!
So now I'm a bit stuck what to do. I already have one little project car, the white 340. This was supposed to be for parts, but I really like it too, and with it's history and a full years test I can't bring myself to scrap it for parts. I'm not even sure which car I prefer now.
Is this how hoarding starts?
So I might have mentioned that the gearbox and diff from a 1.7 Volvo 300 are what is required to fit a Renault engine from the older Clio/Megane. The F7r or F7p engine that is.
So I was in some FB groups for Volvo 300's looking out for those parts when I spotted a 1988 Volvo 340 1.7 GLE for sale for again, only £500.
Immediately I thought it's a good price for a whole car and I can have the running gear and scrap the rest. I enquired to the location of the car as usually, they're in the South East but no, this one was located in the North East, just 20 minutes away. Damn it, that means I have to buy it. So I arranged to come the next morning to view (and most likely buy).
So the story with the car -
Purchased new in Somerset in 1988 by a lady. She owned it and had it serviced every year at a Volvo dealership (that's right, its got full service history!). In 2009 it got parked up for whatever reason and thats where it stood for 10 years.
The chap I bought it from had collected it from Somerset and brought it up to the North East where he sorted a bunch of things required to get it running again. He also spent some time and money welding in some new sills and new valance along with some lowered suspension & wheels.
It went through its MOT a couple of weeks ago and passed. Albeit with a few side issues, more on that later.
With too many other projects he decided to move it on and that's where I came in.
Here it is with his other car, a Volvo 340.
Drove it home and on a country road drove through a load of fresh cow sh*t covering the sides and inner arches. Brilliant!
So the specifics -
1988
95k
1.7 5 speed
12 month MOT
Electric windows
Heated front seats
Now you might have noticed patches of tape on the doors. Well that's the bit related to the MOT.
As I've been informed, if your car has non-structural rust but you can't fit your fingers in it then it's not a fail. So the holes were taped over to pass the MOT.
I didn't actually check what was behind the tape when I viewed the car, only when I got home did I find the horrors that lay beneath!
But, the car did come supplied with 4 extra doors. That's right, this car came with 8 doors.
The spares aren't perfect, nor are they the same colour but they're solid enough to work with.
Some other rust related issues are as follows -
the sunroof, which I'm pretty sure will leak if I remove the tape as its 80% rust.
This front slam panel, which can be bolted off
And the rear boot along the top and to the left of the number plate is gone but it did come with a cut from another car that can replace it
Those of you eagle eyed might have spotted the cherry bomb exhaust in the back. Oh how 90's! Well it's because the current rear exhaust doesnt exist. The car sometimes doesn't run right and can backfire, well it backfired one time and blew the rear silencer off. So it was supplied with a new cherry bomb. But I've checked and you can get an OEM rear exhaust for £30 delivered off eBay, which is the better choice.
So now lets address the wheels. They're very marmite. Some people like them, most people hate them.
But they've got great tyres and I'm supposed to be using this car for parts. But just out of interest I thought I'd see what'd look like if I were to add some black to the wheels, either the inner or outer sections, what do we think looks best?
As is
Option 1
Option 2
Oh and don't forget the coconut oil trick on the old plastics!
So now I'm a bit stuck what to do. I already have one little project car, the white 340. This was supposed to be for parts, but I really like it too, and with it's history and a full years test I can't bring myself to scrap it for parts. I'm not even sure which car I prefer now.
Is this how hoarding starts?
Fond memories of my old mans 340GL (A775FRS) when we were young.
Blue interior, the choke, donuts in the swimming pool car park in the snow, singing the door handle when messing with the cigar lighter, sitting on the bonnet at 40 along forestry roads, days out and camping round what is now part of the NC500 and the spare wheel under the bonnet.
Wheels - just the black centre cap I'd say.
Blue interior, the choke, donuts in the swimming pool car park in the snow, singing the door handle when messing with the cigar lighter, sitting on the bonnet at 40 along forestry roads, days out and camping round what is now part of the NC500 and the spare wheel under the bonnet.
Wheels - just the black centre cap I'd say.
ALBA MELV said:
Fond memories of my old mans 340GL (A775FRS) when we were young.
Blue interior, the choke, donuts in the swimming pool car park in the snow, singing the door handle when messing with the cigar lighter, sitting on the bonnet at 40 along forestry roads, days out and camping round what is now part of the NC500 and the spare wheel under the bonnet.
Wheels - just the black centre cap I'd say.
This is a big part I enjoy about owning these little Volvos, you get lots of people come up and tell you a story about when they had one or had memories in one. Blue interior, the choke, donuts in the swimming pool car park in the snow, singing the door handle when messing with the cigar lighter, sitting on the bonnet at 40 along forestry roads, days out and camping round what is now part of the NC500 and the spare wheel under the bonnet.
Wheels - just the black centre cap I'd say.
Strangely for me, I've got no memories of them. I've been told my Grandad had one when I was born but must of got rid of it before I got older. That's another point, both of these cars are older than me by a good couple years
So most of the people coming up to me are confused as to why someone of my age has something this old.surveyor said:
My first car. That had massive rust holes too.
I'd write more but I can't see after reading about the reason for the cherry bomb!
I'd write more but I can't see after reading about the reason for the cherry bomb!
It was a shocker to me too. Guess the guy I bought it off thought it'd be a cheap solution to a missing exhaust.But, just moments ago I purchased from eBay a brand new OEM rear exhaust section for £33 delivered. I didn't know you could get stuff that size delivered for that price!
Hyde said:
loving the thread
Flog the weird bronze wheels... adds some £s to the kitty
Put your second set of Minilites onto the 340 4 door
Keep both... fix both... have fun
Job jobbed
Well, the other set of minilites sold tonight, went for £100 more than i'd likely get for these crappy gold wheels.Flog the weird bronze wheels... adds some £s to the kitty
Put your second set of Minilites onto the 340 4 door
Keep both... fix both... have fun
Job jobbed
I love minilites, but there's just one huge problem, it's clearance.
This picture illustrates it well, both cars are lowered the same amount but the bottom bolt of the rear shocks is probably 15-20mm off the floor on the 13 inches vs the 15's. They drive much better on 15's I feel.
Still, I'm sure at some point the missus will have calmed down and forgotten about me buying more rusty Volvos and I can sneak a new set of wheels onto the car
I've got a soft spot for these cars.
First of all, I bought (I think) a 340 from outside Carmarthen for under £30. And a complete dog it was - aside from costing more to get there to pick it up, the poor thing was worn out (about 160k miles on the clock) and wouldn't idle even after toddling down the motorway for a couple of hours. And then wouldn't restart without much loud & smoky effort. Took it for an MOT, and their considered opinion was to get rid.
Then I managed to get given a 360 by a guy I never met, who'd moved to Canada. It'd been sitting for months while he couldn't give it away, but I took it on and did 2000 comfy, fast-ish but thirsty-ish miles in a couple of months before a front strut gave way. I was then done over by a local garage who replaced the wheel bearing as I'd asked, but didn't think to mention the strut wearing the tyre away....
Anyway, both have been gone for quite a few years, but they still come up in fond conversation.
The bit where I slid the 360 straight through a junction in the dark in rainy Wales has, thankfully, been forgotten about by everyone but me...
First of all, I bought (I think) a 340 from outside Carmarthen for under £30. And a complete dog it was - aside from costing more to get there to pick it up, the poor thing was worn out (about 160k miles on the clock) and wouldn't idle even after toddling down the motorway for a couple of hours. And then wouldn't restart without much loud & smoky effort. Took it for an MOT, and their considered opinion was to get rid.
Then I managed to get given a 360 by a guy I never met, who'd moved to Canada. It'd been sitting for months while he couldn't give it away, but I took it on and did 2000 comfy, fast-ish but thirsty-ish miles in a couple of months before a front strut gave way. I was then done over by a local garage who replaced the wheel bearing as I'd asked, but didn't think to mention the strut wearing the tyre away....
Anyway, both have been gone for quite a few years, but they still come up in fond conversation.
The bit where I slid the 360 straight through a junction in the dark in rainy Wales has, thankfully, been forgotten about by everyone but me...
I was amazed by a 340 1.7 that a mate had in the 90s.
He bought it with about 40k miles on, and drove it for 70k miles over the next 3-ish years. One day its engine seized on the M5. That was the point when he admitted that in the time he'd had the car, the bonnet had never been opened and it had never been serviced. Was impressed that it ran as long as it did!
He bought it with about 40k miles on, and drove it for 70k miles over the next 3-ish years. One day its engine seized on the M5. That was the point when he admitted that in the time he'd had the car, the bonnet had never been opened and it had never been serviced. Was impressed that it ran as long as it did!
Back in the 80's I owned a 1983 360GLS in that same colour....I bought it at 5 years old and 44,000 miles on it.
I commuted up & down the A1 to Gateshead every day in it.
One day I forgot to top up the rad ( I knew it had a leak !) and it completely ran dry on the motorway !!
Got the A A out, he just filled it up with water, and it was fine !!
I had the leak sorted immediately after that.
I sold that Volvo on with 114,000 miles on it, was one of the best cars I have owned.
It had the 'proper' Volvo 2 litre engine, which would not do much more than about 28mpg (!!) but it drove really well and was so comfortable....heated seats etc etc.
If I had it now I would have lowered it, put stronger rear springs on it /stiffer arbs maybe if possible as it 'wallowed' quite a bit, but it was a really good car.
After various VWs, BMWs, and a couple of Alfa 156s, I am now back in a Volvo.....albeit a ' Ford Focus' based C30.
I commuted up & down the A1 to Gateshead every day in it.
One day I forgot to top up the rad ( I knew it had a leak !) and it completely ran dry on the motorway !!
Got the A A out, he just filled it up with water, and it was fine !!
I had the leak sorted immediately after that.
I sold that Volvo on with 114,000 miles on it, was one of the best cars I have owned.
It had the 'proper' Volvo 2 litre engine, which would not do much more than about 28mpg (!!) but it drove really well and was so comfortable....heated seats etc etc.
If I had it now I would have lowered it, put stronger rear springs on it /stiffer arbs maybe if possible as it 'wallowed' quite a bit, but it was a really good car.
After various VWs, BMWs, and a couple of Alfa 156s, I am now back in a Volvo.....albeit a ' Ford Focus' based C30.
I had a 343 back in the day followed a few year later by a 340
Both died of terminal rust, the mechanicals were still all turning though.
People often say Jags are old mans cars, I think Volvo would only sell you of these on production of a valid pension book.
Plenty of room in the engine bay to put in something interesting, make a good custom car these days.
Both died of terminal rust, the mechanicals were still all turning though.
People often say Jags are old mans cars, I think Volvo would only sell you of these on production of a valid pension book.
Plenty of room in the engine bay to put in something interesting, make a good custom car these days.
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