10 Januari 2009 we went to take a look at a volvo 340 variomatic for my girlfriend. We had just inspected a 345 with the help of a volvo 300 club member when we went to take a look at this car. The 345 was a no-go, as it was way to scary to drive it as a first car, but this one had body panels that are still obtainable. (kind of)

Nice color, right age (as cars from 1987 onwards will never be tax free in this country :( ) and right price. (when something happens, like a crossing lamppost, no big, expensive dent)

Without seeing much more of it, we decided to buy it. Below is a list of points of attention:

• We need to dig it out.
• Needs a good cleaning.
• Make it MOT proof.

The car is going to be lots of fun... for us. (she already owns an overall to be able to do some work on it)

It says My girlfriend her 1985 Volvo 340 DL in the title, doesn't it... :-)

Ok, not yet, she'll first have to get her license and she'll have to help dig it out and fix it. :) (and there's something with the payment still left to be done...)

The car was not running, or at least, I remembered it to be running when sold to us, but it wasn't. There was a slight problem with the gearbox, as it wouldn't move one inch. The seller already replaced the variomatic, but this didn't help. At a technical event of the V3C, the car was one of the demo cars to demonstrate the adjusting of the variomatic belts, replacement of the belts as the maximum adjustment was not enough. The adjustment of the clutch was demonstrated with a seperate set, as doing it on the car was not enough. (to little space to show the process)

The next weekend we started adjusting the clutch and were a bit suprised to find it in very small peices under the car... that's not good.

After replacing the clutch and trying to start the car, the ignition system died. The rotary shaft had been replaced before, but after 5 minits running, the 'new' one was history, so the car got another engine. First remove the old one, then bolt everything you need on the replacement engine and then fit the replacement back into the car.

The car was drivable, kind of, but hey, when it would pass the MOT, we would be happy. The first try it failed, but the second try, after fixing some minor stuff, it passed on 13 mrach 2009... friday the 13th...

Well, the "it's at home' part was an adventure in itself. The car passed the MOT on friday the 13th, this should have given us a warning, but it didn't. On the 15th of march we collected the car. She wouldn't run nice, but the engine wasn't used for very long, so we decided to give it a go anyway. First stop, gas station for some gas.

The car had some issues... leakage when filled to the top. It stopped soon enough, so don't fill her completely.
We went on our way and noticed the lights weren't completely up to the task. After a while on the motorway in a construction area people started signalling, but with the very short emergency bays besides the road and brakes I was pretty disappointed about, we decided to drive on till the next real emergency lane. When we reached it, I drove onto it and before coming to a complete halt, there was a big bang...

Due to a failing altenator, the car had run on the battery only and after a couple of hours the ignition failed and all unburned fuel came into the first muffler, which was really hot and exploded. The altenator got smacked by the AA mechanic, so it worked again and we were towed to a AA workplace where they closed the muffler... kind of.

After this adventure we bought a fresh muffler, altenator and wend looking for lots of other parts at the junkyards with volvo 3 series on the lot. We got a tip of one of the V3C members of a RAI special he found. When we went there, it wasn't a rai special as such, but it had the right color and interior, so we went there to get some parts.

Tabitha was working on the interior while a friend and I removed the engine parts and hood. At home the car was given it's new hood and washed, so it looked nicer. Just after we bought all parts from the junkyard we found an identical car on marktplaats that was being sold for parts for the amount of 150 euros, which was 10 less then the parts we just bought. We decided to buy it, as it had all the extra parts we needed, and so it ended op on this website and has it's own story.

At this moment this car is taken of the road, as in direct comparison with the parts car, the latter was way better then this car. We haven't decided yet as to it's future, will it be a parts car of will we fix it, as the idea of owning 2 specials licensed on the exact same day is still appealing.

I've added a nice app to calculate all costs made for this car. Just folow the link.
If you want to take a look at all the pictures I've got online, take a look here, just click on the image to view the fullsize image.

© 2009 Jan Huijsmans