The Volvo 340 DL

Well they're definately the same engine as used in the 5, as is the 1.7. We used to run the brown one on unleaded, but then, it DID die with 19k miles on the clock. But till then it ran fine, just wouldn't start in the end, all the ingition stuff was bolloxed :(

Later 340s were had cats, ergo must be unleaded friendly. The 1.7l 440 Volvo is the same engine too, and will run unleaded. Fancy grabbing a cylinder head (with all the valve gear and the like) from the local scrappers? Volvo Owners club site

What year is it? I had a E-reg 340 and a B-reg 360 for a while. Can't remember where I got the info from now - on the web though, Volvo site or something. Both of mine could happily run on unleaded with no mods at all.

Mike

The 1.7 in the 5 gtx has a much higher compression and develops more power than the Volvo version. As for the 1.4, there shouldn't be any problem running on unleaded if the timing has been set to take account of it.

IIRS it's only the red-block 2.0 that isn't happy with unleaded, and even then I'm not convinced that it can't be made so very easily.

A 360GLT is a very good way of scaring yourself silly in winter :)

Richard

Bit of subject but these are great cars in the dry and will carry tons of stuff, but in the snow - well all I say is put a few bags of sand in the back !!!

It's a Volvo for god's sake. When does it get scary; when you realise your two tonnes of Volvo is heading towards a rather less solid and more expenive car :P?

That isn't scary. Least not for you :)

It is when you have to pay for the other blokes written off BMW or whatever. After you've sprayed over the scratches on the Volvo, of course :).

Those are your battle scars. they don't get touched. Cracked bumpers do not get replaced, they get a gaffer tape bandage as campaign ribbon.

Its 1986. Apart from the horrible steering, its not actually too bad. Wish i'd gone for the 360 GLT i saw now though :) A mate told me earlier that his 340 DL was the 3rd most sideways car he's had - behind a 340 GL and a TR7 V8. Cant wait to get it out on some slippy lanes tonight :D

I recall it was tricky to slide in the dry (although ours did have Goodyears on, i'd imagine most of them come with proper s**te tyres now), but in the wet it was a bit of handful, especially at low speeds cos it didn't have the power in 3rd/4th (only 4 speed). Wet roundabouts were endless fun, and in the snow it was downright dangerous - but immensely exciting :)

Once hit a bank, flew through the air, and landed nose down on the road again, the kind of impact that would tear all the front bumper etc off of most cars, not the volly, a dint in the metal and some sparks was it :) And yes, there WAS some gaffer tape on the bumper, and scratches WERE left :D

Actually, up in Scotland, the houses are stronger than the cars. I don't know about your MDF and reinforced polystyrene cubes down south ;)

Besides, 300s aren't /that/ strong in a crash...

Richard

You should try the booted 360 GLEi- tail slides like a 911!!!! *scary* Quite brisk upto about 80 from the very torquey red block and handled quite well in the dry too.

CR was 10.5:1 and they didnt like regular 95 octane - lots of pinking. Volvo's answer was 2 headgaskets, which really is a severe bollox-y way of getting around it.

Tim..

Even if it's only mild rain :-

Mike

marshalling

That sounds about right. Both the 340 and 360 pretty easy to get sideways. Not as much fun as the 240GLT Turbo my dad owned out in Greece for years. Awful handling, and a massive turbo that ages to spin up, then came in with a bang. Fantastic:-) Spin the wheels in any weather, any gear. You could get the bloody thing sideways going in a straight line if you tried !

You might want to get the tracking done on yours. The steering was awful on the 340 but having the tracking done right improved it 500%. Was still s**te compared to a modern car, but easy to live with. The only other thing I had go wrong with the 340 is that the airfilter bolts only to the carb, and 170K miles of vibration stretched the bolts and damaged the carb between the top and bottom halves. Scrap carb cost £30.....

Mike

It's a shame that a car that reads so well, having what looks like good front/rear weight balance etc, actually looks so pig ugly. Is there a kit car body that will fit straight on the subframes or whatever...?