BHX recommissioning thread - 1979 Volvo 343 DL

[S10NPH]

Hello all

Today I might have accidentally purchased yet another 340. Oops.











It's a 1979 model year, manual 343 DL with 73,000 on the clock. It's had the same owner since 22 February 1980 who is now 89 and had given up driving. It has been standing for a couple of years in his garage. It's this one: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=139574

I've brought home with me a big folder full of receipts and all the old MOTs and tax discs. On looking, the receipts are all for fairly small amounts (mostly service bits), and so he has serviced the car and looked after it himself. Indeed, the engine sounded beautifully sweet.

Unfortunately, it needs quite a bit of work doing. On initial inspection, the sills are pretty ropey in places (especially where they have already been patched up), and the front wings in front of the front wheels are in pretty rotten shape. The inside of the front wheelarches will also need some attention. Oh and also the crossmember near the fuel tank. So pretty much all the places that mk1 340s rust! If it was any newer I'd have walked away, but the pretty little black badge on the wing saying '343 DL 1.4' was just too much to resist.

The car should be being delivered on Wednesday this week, so I'll be able to put up more information when I've had a chance to look at it properly.

And Mac, I might be calling on you to cast your expert eye over it, if you wouldn't mind the trip to Cambridge sometime in the next few weeks?

Siôn

[SteveP]

Ahh nice! I was kinda interested in this but given the work maybe u did me a favour Good luck with the project

[jtbo]

Hmm, those wheels look almost like old Saab wheels in 96, but I think Saab had 14" or 15" wheels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saab96v41971front.jpg

They used different materials for seats and doors in those earlier models than late 1981 onwards?

That model is exactly what I would like to have next, then 1.7 3dr and also B19E engined 1981-1982 model preferrably 3dr variant, then I think I would have best of them all gathered

Good luck with project, looks quite clean sample even that there are some work, it is probably that work is worth doing.

[macplaxton]

Very interesting. Congrats on the purchase.

However, if my beady eyes don't deceive me, that has a relatively modern radio in it.

Super beardies note all those lovely new features and details new for 1979.

[MCHUDD]

Hi mate.
Holy shit . That looks a cracker.
Someday i will have a red one
Good luck with it.
Cheers Mark.

[Hell Driver]

Nicely saved! I was wondering what happened about it. I imagined that it would need some work, hoped it would be a real minter though, but those early ones rusted like crazy. It's actually a amazing thats it looks as good as it does, even at only 73,000 miles. Even carefully garaged and pampered ones rusted if they got any use at all in winter. My dads old '77 was pretty bad at 70,000 and 13 years old. That was garaged all that time as well. I remember in 1987 when I was learning to drive, I started to tidy up the car and the front lower section of the front wings just fell apart, as did the back end of the sills. I rivited an old biscuit tin over the holes in the sills and just cut off the front wing lower edges! The jacking points were fixed with nuts and bolts using metal from an old washing machine! Those were the days

[volvosneverdie]

very sexy.

[S10NPH]

very sexy.

Hehe, thanks!

Macplaxton, your beady eyes are unstoppable - it does have a relatively modern radio in it, that will of course be coming out. It apparently didn't have a radio before though, so I'll be on the lookout for a proper one.

The wheels are a real selling point for me, I love those early ones. Unfortunately, it's not early enough to be one of the ones with the black hubcaps like this:

I've never tackled any work like this before, but it should be fun and it's definitely worth saving.

[thebear54]

VERY VERY NICE 343 YOU FOUND

John

[volvomania]

The wing mirrors are also of a later model (MY80-84), but it still looks to be in really good nick.
What is its chassisnumber (I have have its continental twin sister)

[Ride_on]

Ah the memories, nothing like real chrome rather than pathetic plastic sht. She is a cracker. Hopefully being garaged it won't be too bad, but if its had welding already be prepared for the worst. Get a pipe inspecting camera and go in from the passenger compartment to the sills and box sections.

[S10NPH]

Ah the memories, nothing like real chrome rather than pathetic plastic sht. She is a cracker. Hopefully being garaged it won't be too bad, but if its had welding already be prepared for the worst. Get a pipe inspecting camera and go in from the passenger compartment to the sills and box sections.

That's encouraging, thanks(!) I know I have a good bodyshop, so I'm not completely disheartened.

The wing mirrors are also of a later model (MY80-84), but it still looks to be in really good nick.

I think that the latter half of the 1979 model year had the bigger door mirrors, like these 2 I have found:

What is its chassisnumber (I have have its continental twin sister)

I haven't got it to hand at the moment, but I'll have a look when I get it.

[MCHUDD]

Hi mate.
I have built a CD player into mine but i kept the origional radio-cassette.
You load the tapes in frontwards instead of sidewards. Cheers Mark.

[S10NPH]

I thought I would post an update on this thread. The 343 was finally delivered yesterday, and so here are some initial pictures taken in the dark with the car safely parked outside my house after its trip on a lowloader from Kent:




Original dealer tax disc holder FTW:


Bits in the boot:


Some interior details (the missing clock is in the boot somewhere):







The bad bits:





And with its younger brother:


I haven't had much chance to play with it properly, but I have moved it about the driveway. Everything seems to work, lights, heated screen, dashboard backlights, heater, fan etc. It also starts extremely quickly, even from cold. It just needs one turn of the key with a little choke and fires straight up with no turning of the engine beforehand. My other two 340s need 5-10 seconds of engine turnover on a cold start.

Anyway, I'm busy tomorrow but I will have a bit more of a play on Sunday afternoon and put up some more pictures taken during daylight hours! I think the plan is to have a poke around myself and find out the extent of what needs to be done, possibly with Mac's help, then get some quotes for the welding.

[Chris_C]

then get some quotes for the welding.

She looks awesome bud! On the above, just be super careful that they are going to do a "proper job". If you can, take it to a classic car restorer rather than a bodyshop, get them to show you other work they've done (even better if it's 3 years old) just to see.

It's a minefield, getting people who care isn't easy. There was a chap on another forum who was doing a *lot* of work on a customers 200, no idea where in the country he was though. I'll have a look at least.