Hello All...

[volvosneverdie]

That looks awesome to the power of infinity.

Well played to all concerned and involved.

[volvosneverdie]

That looks awesome to the power of infinity.

Well played to all concerned and involved.

[thebear54]

I just returned from picking up the 343 from the body shop....and she looks even better in daylight.





I am SO happy I can't tolerate myself. All that excellent work for an unbelievable 1,450.00 GBP

John

[MCHUDD]

Hi John.
Is that a Bannana in the back ground?
Cheers Mark.

[Chris_C]

That must be SteveP's old car I'd imagine? Awesome to have them both together!

[macplaxton]

It is. I guess Two Jobs Bob will be out of hibernation soon enough

[thebear54]

That must be SteveP's old car I'd imagine? Awesome to have them both together!

Sure is Chris......Steve's old EFY, the '82 is still here in Vermont. It runs good but needs Valance, wings and wheel arches (in other words...a LOT of body work..
It's strange having two of the three 300 series in the country at the same location for so long.

Bob should be finished with his second job sometime in March Rich..after that, who knows??

John

[thebear54]

Hanging my head in shame....
Home repairs have taken priority for the past month so work on the 343 had been "put on the back burner"
Finally, yesterday, with spring like weather, I could stand it no more and went to the workshop to lay out all the bits needed for her interior. I had almost forgotten how many bits I did remove, the pile was huge.
I thought I would start with the Headliner since that would be the most difficult to put back...

Quite the puzzle of locking points and rails to remember.


After 3 1/2 hours. Not quite 100% finished, but better than before. Hopefully I'll be able to remove the last wrinkle (the headliner was very stretched after the top was smashed)...but at least the interior light works.

John

[Duvel78]

What an amazing and fantastic job... I'm very impressed!

I'm pretty sure (almost) nobody in Europe would spend so much effort to restore such damage for a 300 series, well done!

It's a real pleasure to compare the 2 views





Really love the story of the car!

[thebear54]

The 300 series may not be rare in Europe.....but VERY rare in the States. There are only three reasons I have spent so much effort on this particular 1978 V343;
1. There are only three (3) in the States.
2. This Volvo 343 is a movie star.
3. The car is 100% rust free (having spent most of it's life in California)
...so it had to be saved to it's former glory.

John

[Duvel78]

You're a Volvo300maniac, and a hero! Congrats again, amazing job!

The 2 other cars in US are still "alive"?

[macplaxton]

The 2 other cars in US are still "alive"?

Well the other one in the background of one of the photos is an ex-UK MY82 343DL 1.4 MT. That's semi-alive. We just need to give Bob a bit of kick up the arse Don't know about the other one myself.

There was not that long ago an ex-UK MY76/77 (whatever it was it had early door handles) that turned up in Canada for sale. http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =2&t=13918

[thebear54]

As Rich said....
There is mine ('78 343 DL Vario)
There is Bob's ('82 343 DL with manual)

The other 343 is located somewhere in California and I have not heard from that chap for a while. He called from a repair shop where the car was having major surgery (and lot of problems). For all I know the car was scrapped. It has not been spotted anywhere for a long time.

John

[thebear54]

Two (of the three) Volvo 343 models in the States

I had the two girls out yesterday.....
MARILYN, the Swedish Spec 1978, will need a good tuning after sitting so long (which has not been done since I have owned her). She still has a Vario clunk when I start from a standstill.
EFY, the UK Spec 1982, ran decent enough and took her around the block a few times, but her body bits (front wings, front valance, rear valance & rear wheel arches) need a lot of attention.

John

[Nimminz]

just caught up on this thread, last I saw it had only half a roof. Looks like a perfect repair, I reckon it's been worth the money and the wait to have such an immaculate model that's so rare in the States.

Good Job!