Hey guys,
I'm new here so I thought I'd give a little introduction. 18 year old car, bike & motor racing enthusiast who's finally been forced to get his driving license because all my (changing personal pronouns I know) friends that drive are buggering off to uni.
I've told myself for the past year that I will not get a license until I absolutely need to. Reason being because I'd rather spend the £300 a month insurance costs on other activities that mean more to me. Anyway, as a result of the above I think it's time to stop obeying the rational thoughts in my brain. So, license; check.

I wont drive a fwd and MX5's, E30's, E36's are all too damn expensive to insure. So Volvo 340 it is then. (Sorry to all the hardcore 300 fans )

Anyway, just a few questions. I could probably find these elsewhere with the search button, and I will try to in a little while but here goes nothing...

*Can you get an LSD for a 340 or is it best to just weld it up?
*I've came across the subject of using Land Rover coil springs. Is this make you scrape over speedbumps or does it genuinely help the handling of the car? If it does help the handing of the car what spring rate should I be looking for and will I need to cut them?
*Chassis rot - given the age of the car where are the worst effected places? I'd imagine the sills would be ready to go through, suspension turrets etc.
*Is it worth buying one without MOT? I'm prepared to do a little work to make it road worthy, but not days spent under the car patching crap.
*What kind of power loss am I looking at from a standard 1.4 engine? - If anyone knows.

I think those are all the questions I have at the moment, but if I think of anything else I'll post.

Regards,
Jake.

Welcome!

LSD's were standard on a few (like 10 or something) 300's and are uber rare. Miniswift on here has had a torsen style one made which I am gong to be testing when I get the car put back together

Land rover defender DAMPERS fit the back but aren't al that great for the road, Classicswede on here does some adjustable front and rear dampers and also lowering springs for the front and blocks for the back

Sills, bottom of windscreens, under windows in doors, rear chassis x-member are all common places, sill's seem the most common

In my experience it's always worth buying cars with some test, then atleast you can decide if you like it and if anythings wrong with it before you spend money on it.

Power loss? They have about 60bhp standard i think, still fun little cars and driftable although on insurance quotes i've got before, a 1.7 isn't much more

Hope all that helps, always search up the top right before asking something, might just have been answered before. Best of luck finding a 340, they are pretty cool things - IMO cooler than an mx-5

Matt

Firstly - go do your searching

Basically - what are you after out of the car?

By the sounds of it you're after a daily that you'll take the occasional stab at drifting in?

No LSD options available under £300 but welders are always fine IMO. Both me and Jonovlov run them in vehicles we use everyday.

You're getting confused with landrover bits - a common mod is to use landrover 90 SHOCKS on the rears to stiffen up and use for drifting - HOWEVER this has been discussed to death on here and the conclusion is you're better off getting either double leafs or adjustable shocks from Classicswede.

The 1.4 is underpowered for drifting although with a welder they will slide in the wet.

The other answers I'll let you find out yourself. The best way of learning about these cars is searching these forums.

Most of all, don't red oxide or matt black the car that you end up buying, and we won't have a go But generally, we don't mind young/drifting types. I'm one myself and I still consider myself a "hardcore" volvo fan.

Agh damn you Nimminz

Thanks for the answers guys, you've been very helpful!
Just checked out Classicswedes website and bookmarked it.

I guess I'm not that into drifting, just want something with a bit of turn in and to be stable under yaw (under yaw? doesn't sound right but I'm using it anyway).

But yeah, I'll use the search function from now on

And thanks for the heads up on the 1.7. I hadn't got myself a quote on one because I presumed that it would send it OTT. £500 more through Go Compare but I might be able to get that knocked off if I try hard.

Just as an example my 360 (2L) costs me 800 a year all things decared (21, 2Y NCD)
my corsa b (1.2) cost me 1280 a year with no mods (although only had it a month or so)

They are cheap cars to insure

MrJakes wrote: *What kind of power loss am I looking at from a standard 1.4 engine? - If anyone knows.

FIrst of all welcome! Second of all - power loss? If the car is in good shape, recently serviced and carb running correctly it shouldnt've lost any power. They're 72bhp standard and don't go all that badly. The whole power loss with age business is rubbish spouted from Clarkson and the internet, in my opinion. Huskyracer on here dyno'd his standard 340 a few years ago and it put down 77bhp!

Spouted by people who don't maintain their cars!

Hi mate and welcome.
Good luck in finding the right car. I would also go with one
that has a bib of tax and test incase you don't like it and need to send it on.
Cheers Mark.

Good news on the power loss, I was at least expecting some loss through drivetrain wear and tear, but I guess that would vary from car to car.

Welcome in dude.
Whereabouts in town are you?

We had 4 300s together in Newcastle once.
It was a regional meet attendance record.

I live in Whickham and work in Ouseburn, soon to be Team Valley bud.

These are great cars! I think they a perfect "my first retro/drifer/classic" car.

Insurance wise I pay £450 a year on my 360, the policy includes all extras, Im 21 with 4 NYC but 9 points.

volvosneverdie wrote:...We had 4 300s together in Newcastle once.
It was a regional meet attendance record.

Well there's me and mattywatsit at the mo in the north east and if MrJakes gets one that's 3 and I'm sure there was someone else localish who was after one too

We could make it happen again

Nimminz wrote:

volvosneverdie wrote:...We had 4 300s together in Newcastle once.
It was a regional meet attendance record.

Well there's me and mattywatsit at the mo in the north east and if MrJakes gets one that's 3 and I'm sure there was someone else localish who was after one too

We could make it happen again

Im in.