'82 343 DLS: beyond the arctic circle

[MCHUDD]

Hi Tom.
Does your car have a single front down pipe? I was givin one some time ago
and i can let it go for free if anyone wants it.
Cheers Mark.

[SteveP]

Excellent! Good to see they've been put to use! They make the standard steels look quite smart for standard items

[trabitom99]

Does your car have a single front down pipe? I was givin one some time ago
and i can let it go for free if anyone wants it.

Thanks for the offer, Mark, I think the single front downpipe was for the de-tuned 63bhp B14.3E 340s though, I'm pretty sure the B19s had the double-barreled type ...

Cheers

Tom

[trabitom99]

Update time. Progress with this car has been painfully slow since the summer, but things have been moving on a bit recently.



Work done so far:

new brake master cylinder
new brake hoses
new fuel tank level sender
new bonnet release cable
welding near the fuse box in the engine bay

... and the only bit of work I did myself, a new rear seatbelt A common fault with the Mk1 / early MkII rear belts seem to be that they "lock" and you can't get them out of the housing anymore.



There are still some small bits of welding to be done mainly on the inner wheel arches, but nothing too major, and it'll hopefully be getting its TÜV (German MOT) soon.

Am looking forward to some B19A revviness soon

Cheers

Tom

[SteveP]

B19A revvyness? Certainly not revvy in my experience!

Great looking DLS though!

[volvosneverdie]

Weldy weldy, cooly cooly.

[trabitom99]

B19A revvyness? Certainly not revvy in my experience!

Great looking DLS though!

Well, not revvy compared to a 10,000 rpm Honda V-Tech But it feels much more responsive than a B200E/EA/F. At least, over the 2 or 3 kms I drove in it last summer.

Tom

[SteveP]

Response I will definitely agree with - instant torque from practically tickover

[MCHUDD]

Hi Steve.
When are you getting back in the game mate.
Cheers Mark.

[JDT]

Ah, this is the one from Youtube, I've found it

Like I said, it looks really nice Tom! I'm looking forward to see (and hear!) it!

Looks to me that they've replaced the bodypart beneath the front bumper (with the holes for the foglights in it), simply because they didn't sell those fog lights on the DLS'es and GLS'es. Those lights were being sold from MY 83 (first 360GLT) and further.
So if you want this car 100% original, you should remove those black caps and weld the holes

And that B19A-engine... with the carburettor and ignition correctly adjusted it drives like a diesel: from 1500 tpm and on it'll just pull and pull and pull
With my 345 GLS, I never have to go further than 3500/4000 tpm. Enough power.

Edit:
this one's my DLS




In a poor condition, unfortunately...

[trabitom99]

You're right, well spotted, I hadn't noticed that before I'll ask the previous owner (there was only one), maybe he had a prang once and they fitted the wrong panel afterwards. But I don't think I'll go so far as to weld up the holes

That's a nice DLS you have too! What are your plans for it? I'm not really sure in what direction I want to take mine TBH, I quite like the "basicness" of the thing so I don't really want to add accessories and stuff. Maybe a 5spd box, possibly some Leos, maybe Junior stripes? And one day, perhaps some R-Sport-style engine tuning.

But an MOT will do for now ... that reminds me I must go to the garage tomorrow morning.

Cheers

Tom

[JDT]

Nice!
I've thought about it to turn the car into an R-Sport replica, but because this is probably the only 343 DLS that's left in Holland (it's an original Dutch car, one owner, 251k, 31-08-1982) we'll keep this one completely original.
The car has been stored since last year. I don't have the time for the restauration of the car, and my 345 GLS needs all the spare time I have... but that one is almost finished so who'll know, next year...

[trabitom99]

I wasn't considering an R-Sport replica, but some period engine tuning would be nice (cam, carbs) Anything I change about this car will be in keeping with what was available at the time.

I can absolutely see the appeal of keeping the car entirely original and not modifying anything whatsoever. On the one hand, "trim level" differences are only different bits of plastic and badging they chose to fit at the factory, on the other if there are only two of these cars left with this exact specification it seems a shame to mess with it, as a complete "package" if you know what I mean? The DLS has a certain "basic, stripped down" appeal - a big engine and a rev counter, but no extra equipment, or chromey "bling". It may not be that important really, but as far as I can tell, only the Dutch market was offered the DLS trim level for the whole of the 1982 model year. In Germany it was dropped fairly early on (later brochures only list the GLS), France only got the GLS and in the UK the S-versions were never imported at all before the 360 came along. I'm not sure about the Scandinavian market.

I remember writing in another thread that it's a shame that there are so few completely unmodified V300s on V3M and in the V3C, and by that I don't just mean modification in terms of lowering and 16V conversions. The "beardies" and "purists" are "guilty" of it too. At a DAF meet I once noticed how nearly every car was polished up to an almost unnatural level, smothered in "club stickers", packed full of extra dials, DAF-sport wheels, soft toys on the parcel shelf etc. My favourite car at DAF meets is a basic Volvo 66 DL, with standard steel wheels, a few dings and dents and rusty patches here and there, and no accessories at all. When I see an old car, I like to see what it looked like "back in the day" that means either the kind of "time warp" car which looks just like it did in the showroom, or "real life cars" with a bit of patina, dings and scrapes etc, just like most of them looked like after a few years out on the road.

Having said all that, I don't know how long I can hold back before altering something with the car. It doesn't even have a radio And I've made a bad start by fitting chrome trim rings ...

Cheers

Tom

[JDT]

The Scandinavian market was offered the 343/345DLS/GLS from the beginning (August 1980), just like the Dutch market.
On the contrary of the GLS, the DLS was mostly sold to "the working man" as a business car. That's why there a so few DLS'es left; they were driven until "the end" and then scrapped. They weren't as popular as the GLS was. The GLS was mostly sold to "the rich" who were quite careful to their car.

Keeping it original is difficult to me; nice alloys and a Louvres makes the car look much better...

[trabitom99]

"A working man's car" - I like the sound of that

About the originality - take that last post of mine, and quote it back to me in a year or so, we'll see how far I've deviated from that credo

Picked up some very important documents today:

MOT (TÜV) and emissions certificate (AU) (advisories on "a wobbly battery"). It needs replacing anyway, will screw it down tight ...


The registration plate is reserved too, now all I need is insurance and the car will hopefully be on the road by the weekend

Tom