Seeing under that bonnet brings back memories of working on my 87 340 GL and 89 340 GLE, in the days when I could easily change the oil, sparkplugs and points myself 😊 Great wee cars, the GLE especially as it was the neatly designed saloon 🥰
I had a 340 gl 83 model back in 1987. I was at the grand old age of 19 then. I took to over 200k and then part exchanged it for a 360 gls. Then I had a 340 gle saloon. Lots of memories for me.
Great car, the sound of it reminds me of my 360GLE that I had many years ago, was a lovely car and that engine sounded so good! Looking forward to more videos on this one
I really have a lot of respect for the time and energy you are investing in these cars! Looking forward to Part 3 👍 Maybe someday, I need to buy a 360 too.... spend most of my childhood in the back of one but actually never got to drive one! In Sweden where I live even nice examples are not worth a lot, if you can find one that is.
I remember my first sales job and being taken to the dealer in Leeds in January 1991 to collect the E reg Volvo 340 GLE from its 66000 mile service, it was the same colour!
One thing that has always puzzled me about the Volvo 300 series is the gearbox and clutch setup, I know the gearbox on them is on the back axle, but how does that work with the clutch?
In what way? The normal single plate hydraulicly operated clutch & bellhousing is on the back of the engine, as per usual. No wizardry! The gearbox is mounted to and part of the rear diff. On the 360 Redblocks (2.0 Volvo Engine) there is a steel tube that links the two together - with the gearshift bolted to it, and a steel propeller shaft inside providing the drive. There is a rubber coupling also. This was done due to the torque of the redblock. On the 1.4 / 1.7 poverty 340 models, they deleted the torque tube and the propeller shaft is bare -this works ok, but has the negative impact that the gearchange moves all over the place as you come on an off the power. ('power' being debatable). Obviously on both cars the propeller shaft spins at engine speed at any time the clutch is released. The earlier B19A engine used a single Stromberg CD175 carb and the Renix ignition system (92hp, 100 torques), the B19E Bosch LE Jetronic (115hp), then post '85, they switched to the lower friction B200K with twin choke Pierberg Carb, with 105hp or so, and the B200E again used the LE jetronic with 118hp. For those in the know, the complete 182hp 740/760 B230FT engine could be transplanted in a mornings work, repleet with PAS (needed a trick downpipe to clear the steering shaft) for the ultimate sleeper, but was an absolute hoot / missile, and indeed i had such a machine for several yrs during university. Later 1988 / 1989 cars came with PAS from factory and indeed you could spec a/c on the GLT also, but were rarer than Unicorn droppings.
Well done, good job👍
Seeing under that bonnet brings back memories of working on my 87 340 GL and 89 340 GLE, in the days when I could easily change the oil, sparkplugs and points myself 😊 Great wee cars, the GLE especially as it was the neatly designed saloon 🥰
My dad had a Volvo 340 as our family car when I was younger. I’d love to have one at some point 😊
I had a 340 gl 83 model back in 1987. I was at the grand old age of 19 then. I took to over 200k and then part exchanged it for a 360 gls. Then I had a 340 gle saloon. Lots of memories for me.
Nice job. 👍👍👍
Great car, the sound of it reminds me of my 360GLE that I had many years ago, was a lovely car and that engine sounded so good! Looking forward to more videos on this one
I really have a lot of respect for the time and energy you are investing in these cars! Looking forward to Part 3 👍 Maybe someday, I need to buy a 360 too.... spend most of my childhood in the back of one but actually never got to drive one! In Sweden where I live even nice examples are not worth a lot, if you can find one that is.
I remember my first sales job and being taken to the dealer in Leeds in January 1991 to collect the E reg Volvo 340 GLE from its 66000 mile service, it was the same colour!
I had a well used 343 1.4, a lot of gear changing involved on winding country roads lol
What is the parts and service situation like with these cars?
Are they as well catered for as other older models?
One thing that has always puzzled me about the Volvo 300 series is the gearbox and clutch setup, I know the gearbox on them is on the back axle, but how does that work with the clutch?
The clutch is up at the front. The 360 has a torque tube for the prop shaft, 340 has a bare prop shaft.
In what way? The normal single plate hydraulicly operated clutch & bellhousing is on the back of the engine, as per usual. No wizardry!
The gearbox is mounted to and part of the rear diff. On the 360 Redblocks (2.0 Volvo Engine) there is a steel tube that links the two together - with the gearshift bolted to it, and a steel propeller shaft inside providing the drive. There is a rubber coupling also. This was done due to the torque of the redblock. On the 1.4 / 1.7 poverty 340 models, they deleted the torque tube and the propeller shaft is bare -this works ok, but has the negative impact that the gearchange moves all over the place as you come on an off the power. ('power' being debatable). Obviously on both cars the propeller shaft spins at engine speed at any time the clutch is released.
The earlier B19A engine used a single Stromberg CD175 carb and the Renix ignition system (92hp, 100 torques), the B19E Bosch LE Jetronic (115hp), then post '85, they switched to the lower friction B200K with twin choke Pierberg Carb, with 105hp or so, and the B200E again used the LE jetronic with 118hp.
For those in the know, the complete 182hp 740/760 B230FT engine could be transplanted in a mornings work, repleet with PAS (needed a trick downpipe to clear the steering shaft) for the ultimate sleeper, but was an absolute hoot / missile, and indeed i had such a machine for several yrs during university. Later 1988 / 1989 cars came with PAS from factory and indeed you could spec a/c on the GLT also, but were rarer than Unicorn droppings.