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340 1.7GL

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 09:09 pm
by RoyMcCarthy
Hi all,

I posted this on the Volvo Forum website, but I thought you might also be interested in having a look at the 340GL my girlfriend and I just picked up. It's a 2 owner car with 40K on the clock and full service history (the sales receipt shows the owner, Mr Holmes, traded in a '74 144GL for it, back in 1991). He bought it for £5,000 with 32K on the clock and racked up just a further 8K in 11 years.

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It hasn't moved since 2002, when Mr Holmes decided he was too old to drive and put it away in his garage. After a bit of encouragement and some fresh petrol it started up and drove all the way from Chorley to its MOT appointment in Wallasey, Merseyside.

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The brakes were a bit knackered after sitting still for so long, so it needed a new master cylinder and some new pipework. We also got a set of second-hand 14" wheels off a Vauxhall Astra and some decent tyres, as we thought the old rubber was probably a bit of a risk after the 11 year rest. Once that was done, and a couple of other minor bits & pieces, it passed with no advisories and now has 12 months ticket and a fresh tax disc.

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The next job is to change the cam belt before we use it properly, and to work out what's making all the dashboard lights come on when the headlights are switched on - I think I might have just put a bulb in upside down, but it needs investigating.

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The good news is it only cost us £150. The bad news is that I now have to make space on the driveway for it, which means disposing of my 240!

Thanks for looking!

Roy.

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 11:19 pm
by iurgi340gl
WELCOME!!!! very nice car I hope you'll enjoy it!!

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 13 Aug 2013 11:21 pm
by classicswede
Looks very clean.

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 01:18 am
by Ride_on
Nice! perfect for a 360 conversion.

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 09:04 am
by MCHUDD
Hi mate and welcome.
Just love this sort of story.
Cheers Mark.
sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:23 am
by RoyMcCarthy
Hi, thanks for the welcome & all the nice comments - I'll post some photos of it as it came out of the garage, if I get some time later.

Probably going to keep any modifications to a minimum (360 conversion would be tempting if the 1.7 wasn't so clean and unused) and just use it every day. Having said that, these things are always worth thinking about! :wink:

Roy.

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 06:36 pm
by bogbasic
Wicked work.

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 14 Aug 2013 11:25 pm
by Ride_on
It is very unaged, make sure you get some cavity wax into it, and body wax on the outside especially if you are going to keep it outside. There is a volvo guide in the resources secition on rust proofing.

I do have a pet hate for 1.7s hence the cheeky 360 comment. Still it would be a nice change for someone to keep a good nick car original, and not ruining it :)

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 12:03 am
by bogbasic
I do have a pet hate for 1.7s
What don't you like about them?

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 07:30 am
by Evoman
Looks great! Nice to see such an original car! Mr Holmes didn't get a lot of use out of his 5k!

Re: 340 1.7GL

Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:56 pm
by Ride_on
bogbasic wrote:
I do have a pet hate for 1.7s
What don't you like about them?
Just not as reliable as the other 300's. Fuel and ignition problems.