Volvo 340 Enduro Rally Car

Post by **Bourton Volvo** » 07 Jan 2008 11:19 pm

My brother and I are going to build an enduro spec Volvo 340 rally car.
In enduro rallying the modifications that you are allowed to do are extremly limited and the maximum engine size is 1.4. This is all to keep the costs of the sport low.
We will use a 340 DL 1.4 (bought for £50).

One of the mods that you are allowed to do is fit a twin barreled carb eg. Webber.

My question is, has anyone either fitted a bigger carb or re-jetted the existing twin choke webber?

Post by **shimon340** » 07 Jan 2008 11:54 pm

sounds an interesting project! keep us posted with pics!

Post by **Jason B** » 08 Jan 2008 01:53 am

Not sure tbh, but to be competitive definitely rip the volvo carb off and replace it with a nice bigger weber of some description as the old one will be very restrictive. Funnily enough someone on this forum (and a mate of mine) has already considered an enduro 340, not sure whether he has decided between that or a micra yet. 340 will undoubtedly be the cheapest (and most fun) route into enduro, question is do you want to be competitive?

Post by **Chris_C** » 08 Jan 2008 12:07 pm

Are you sure you can fit a twin choke? I thought enduro rules were that you could only have twins if it came on the car as standard i.e. something like a 205 Rallye. If not enduroing certainly becomes more possible.

I havn't seen any pictures of this done for a few years, but the manifolds certainly exist to fit webers onto 1.4 R5's, so it's possible, but unless you know what you're doing I'd imagine it'd involve a session on a rolling road, no one has published useful things like jet sizes for the 1.4 340 that I've seen.

There was a gent and his son enduroing a 340 a while back, but basically stock from what I remember, did the Lombard with it and a few other bits.

Keep us posted anyway, theres a few of us into 12 cars and road rallies on here!

Post by **Jason B** » 08 Jan 2008 02:12 pm

carb upgrade seems a little grey in the blue book to me, in 22.1-22.5 it allows the same mods as nat b i.e. a twin choke carb may be fitted, but in the enduro list it uses the words "standard production engine" so not sure what to make of that.

Post by **Chris_C** » 08 Jan 2008 02:17 pm

I'd imagine a "standard production engine" is anything block and inwards... carb would be under induction.

Post by **garth** » 08 Jan 2008 06:11 pm

Defo check the rules on that one. I thought it had to stay standard ie Volvo Carb?

Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Jan 2008 06:44 pm

A grey area indeed,I would ask MSA or a scrutineer ! In road rallys its 2 chokes,so single twin choke or 2x single choke. I would change the carb anyway and if anyone asked I would say thats what I bought the car with!

ps It was afather/son who had the 340 untill about a year ago!
pps put a guard on the back big enough to cover gearbox/diff

Post by **Bourton Volvo** » 08 Jan 2008 07:05 pm

Thanks for all your interest, we don't feel so alone now!!

I think I will talk to the MSA on the carb because we don't want to get it wrong.

I am in contact with the guy who did the Lombard and he had issues with the fuel tank (it was holed by a welsh rock). I did see on this forum about 2 months ago that there was a 360 being built as a rally car and he had the tank above and in front of the gearbox where there is some space.
If we could put it there it would bring the weight forward and keep it out of the way. Does anyone know anymore on this subject?

Post by **garth** » 08 Jan 2008 07:11 pm

May be too much work, but see (when asking about the carb) if you can put it in the boot. I know you with need to separate the inside from the boot then (with a firewall), but if it keeps getting damaged then it may be worth while.

Post by **Bilbo** » 08 Jan 2008 09:09 pm

If you have a sump and rear guard you will be fine,even if you get stuck in big rutts,the only other thing that will take a battering is the exhaust centre box. To stop that just convert to single box system and it'll still be quiet enough......

Post by **Jason B** » 08 Jan 2008 09:19 pm

Thats basically my intention when I get the time, I already have a (seemingly effective) sump guard but you definitely need a tank guard as I have scrape marks on my tank and have yet to do any decent off road stuff. Ripping the centre section out will give a bit more clearance (and who knows maybe a little more oomph to boot)

Post by **Bourton Volvo** » 08 Jan 2008 09:54 pm

Talking about oomph, I like the straight 6 idea

Post by **kaos** » 08 Jan 2008 10:50 pm

Chris_C wrote:Are you sure you can fit a twin choke? I thought enduro rules were that you could only have twins if it came on the car as standard i.e. something like a 205 Rallye. If not enduroing certainly becomes more possible.

I havn't seen any pictures of this done for a few years, but the manifolds certainly exist to fit webers onto 1.4 R5's, so it's possible, but unless you know what you're doing I'd imagine it'd involve a session on a rolling road, no one has published useful things like jet sizes for the 1.4 340 that I've seen.

There was a gent and his son enduroing a 340 a while back, but basically stock from what I remember, did the Lombard with it and a few other bits.

Keep us posted anyway, theres a few of us into 12 cars and road rallies on here!

Main jet info, do have idle jet info aswell.

main jet 1982(93-100/95-100): 1st stage is 110-115 Second stage is 132-135
main jet 1982(all except 93-100/95-100): 1st stage is 125-130 Second stage is 117-123
main jet 1982-1983(93-101/95-101): 1st stage is 110-115 Second stage is 132-135
main jet 1984(104-100, 105-100 and 109): 1st stage is 120-125 Second stage is 135-140
Main jet 1984(105-100): 1st stage is 122-127 Second stage is 135-140

Post by **garth** » 08 Jan 2008 11:25 pm

Sorry I thought you had a tank guard on, and that you were still getting leaks. Make sure your guard isn't square at the front. If you hit something unmoveable, then it'll rip the guard off all together. Also make sure theres a little gap between the tank and the guard so if you do hit something, the guard won't damage your tank. As for the exhaust, try and do these few things. Make sure it's as tucked up into the floor as possible. If you're aloud to cut the rear valance to get more clearance then do it. A good bit of chain bolted through the floor on big bolts, then wrapped around the back box is another one. If you smash it off it'll stay there allowing you to carry out repairs on a neutral section. Then take off your exhaust and make little 'skids' over any sharp angles on your boxes, thus any object on a track will just slide over it. Hope this helps.