Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Exhausted

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macplaxton
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Corrosion assessment

Post by macplaxton » 29 Dec 2011 03:32 pm

Chris_C wrote: Are you going to straighten out the forklift marks on the rails too?
Quite probably, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that they were still like that with the rest sorted. :lol:

I'll have to work out a game plan to keep the wheels turning. I still have the Citroen, although it should really go. The dizzler needs a fair bit of work to bring back into service, but it would be a useful relief car. Not really an excuse for delaying things I know, but at least I've not got the time pressure on it in quite the same way (NCT exempt being pre-1980 :wink: )
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SteveP
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Corrosion assessment

Post by SteveP » 29 Dec 2011 05:37 pm

To be fair I've seen worse chassis rails than that just down to incompetent jacking :lol:

Rust looks a bit concerning, but again - seen much worse on much later cars and this one's a bit special :)
1989 - Volvo 360 GLT
1985 - Volvo 360 GLS
2008 - Volvo S60 SE Lux

macplaxton
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by macplaxton » 02 Jan 2012 06:35 pm

A quick update from the Mint Hotel Glasgow...

Left Dublin on Saturday morning (Hogmanay) at 0840 and nipped round to the petrol station to fill the car up. Everything went fine until we were just short of border after Dundalk, but before Newry. The car was hesitating on throttle a bit and getting worse. Pulled over and it gave up. Decide that the new small fuel filter that was fitted Christmas Day was clogged. Refitted the previous larger filter and was back in business again. The small could have only done around 100 miles. Think I may well be getting round to changing the tank rather than buy an industrial sized quantity of fuel filters!

Due to be short on time, had a very brief chat with MCHUDD and Ride-on at the petrol station before the dock entrance at Belfast. Checked in at 1105 for a 1130 departure, but I wasn't quite the last. I was second-last onto the boat. Crossing went well and everything was fine up the A77/M77 to Glasgow. Stopped at Asda, Govan for some cheap booze, but then the car decided to conk-out leaving there, just before the entrance to the petrol station. It was raining a bit, but I got out and pushed the car (still with roofbox and trailer) into the petrol station and onto a pump. I filled the car back up again as it was quite low, but that wasn't the problem. The float bowl seemed dry as did the fuel filter. Tried by-passing the filter, but nothing was coming through. Then got some fuel pipe out of the boot and mis-timed my suck a bit and got a lovely mouthful of premium UL. :oops: Anyway, I concluded that the pump was shot.

I got onto the phone to Brian, my main man down the road in Renfrew and asked if he could pick us all up and take us back to his. The original plan was to stop at his and drop off the trailer at the lockup until Wednesday, then continue on to friends at Cardross. So once we got back to his, my only option was to nick the fuel pump off Abby (the white '82) and sort something out for that later. Got a lift back to Asda and fitted the pump and was back in business again. Who needs the AA/RAC?

The car is running okay, bar a blowing exhaust. It appears the the connection between the front and middle sections has opened up again. It'll be fine as long as it lasts until we get to Carlisle, as I have a downpipe heading there so I can swap it then.

340pw
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82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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trabitom99
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by trabitom99 » 02 Jan 2012 07:23 pm

Well done for getting it going again! Could the gunk in the fuel tank have damaged the fuel pump do you reckon?

Tom
343 GL Touring B14.1E CVT (155) 98000kms 1980 (sold)
343 L Junior B14.3E MT4 (155) 229000kms 1981 (scrapped)
343 DLS B19A MT4 (155) 167900kms 1982
360 GL Injection B200F MT5 (231) 348598kms 1988 (scrapped)
360 GLT B200F MT5 (302) 230000kms 1988

macplaxton
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by macplaxton » 02 Jan 2012 07:34 pm

Maybe, but the filter is before the pump. It was probably all the E10 in France.
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82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by volvosneverdie » 02 Jan 2012 07:44 pm

Well done for pressing on man.

Never fancied a nice reliable diesel Mondeo?

:lol:
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nvdw
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by nvdw » 02 Jan 2012 09:49 pm

Reliability is overrated :lol:

It's the wonders of running old tat: you can swear at it when it breaks down and forget it all when it's back in working order because it gives so much joy.

I don't know if I could ever forgive a Mazda 323 for failing to start. Or a Mondeo diesel for that matter :lol:

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trabitom99
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by trabitom99 » 03 Jan 2012 10:31 am

I have to say, 2011 wasn't a particularly good year for the trabitom family in terms of reliable older car motoring:

#1 Trabant had to be towed away for the first time in it's life, apparently a blocked carb
#2 GLT's battery died hundreds of kms away from home, on the way from a wedding with all the family in the car. Luckily I had a spare with me, and tools ... Was told later the generator was OK
#3 terminal rust on the GLi, have given up on the car
#4 the Mk1 broke down on the way back from Weeze airport, 150kms away from home, in the middle of the night, with three colleagues in the car. The car had to be towed away, all 4 of us stayed the night in a hotel. 2hrs sleep, half the firm missing the next day. My fault entirely, the points were shot (damn those points, I need Renix!)
#5 GLT's battery died again (this time I don't believe the generator is still OK). Managed to limp to a train station, get back home for the Mk1 and pick up the family.

It's nice if you're able to fix it on the spot, and an adventure if everything goes well, but I really could've done without the Mk1 breakdown.

Cheers

Tom
343 GL Touring B14.1E CVT (155) 98000kms 1980 (sold)
343 L Junior B14.3E MT4 (155) 229000kms 1981 (scrapped)
343 DLS B19A MT4 (155) 167900kms 1982
360 GL Injection B200F MT5 (231) 348598kms 1988 (scrapped)
360 GLT B200F MT5 (302) 230000kms 1988

macplaxton
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by macplaxton » 03 Jan 2012 12:56 pm

The trick Tom bar carrying tools and obvious spares is to break down in strategic places near spares/other cars!

Euro holiday (which I will complete the thread on one day :oops:) was completed somehow...

The BB doesn't have points, but does have a Lumenition Optronic kit fitted. If persevering with points then avoid new ones like the plague. Ancient NOS ignition components seem far better made.

Twice in 2011 I have had to phone-a-friend to be recovered in Dublin due to the points/condenser dying on the Citroen. French crap!
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82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by nvdw » 03 Jan 2012 07:29 pm

For reasons still unknown to me, my cars keep eating their batteries. I know I make rather short trips but these batteries are NEW and as of now, both my Daf and Volvo are out of electricity, and my BMW motorbike also needed help when I wasn't prepared to give it any. My Daf has a handy voltage meter which told me of impending doom and lo and behold, it did not start this morning. That's two vehicles out with a dead battery. BWARRRRR

macplaxton
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Scottish test run

Post by macplaxton » 03 Jan 2012 09:28 pm

volvosneverdie wrote:Never fancied a nice reliable diesel Mondeo?
Never, maybe a Maestro Clubman D though :mrgreen:

Image

This used to be the City Inn a couple of years ago, then some bright spark decided to re-brand it Mint. Fortunately Hilton Worldwide have bought this portfolio of hotels and will re-brand this one as "Hilton Garden Inn". Don't know how or where they are going to fit the garden on this site, but it's a slightly less ridiculous name. Nice hotel anyway, and it probably one of the more reasonably priced ones that is central and has a free car park.

Tomorrow will be interesting. Maybe a fuel pump will turn up. Maybe it won't. :? Either way, at some point later in the day, it's another 100 miles down the road to Carlisle with the trailer re-hitched and noisy exhaust. A new downpipe arrived today in Carlisle, but judging by the signatory, it's been left with a neighbour. Hope the neighbour doesn't hold it and make a huge ransom demand.
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82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Ding on rim

Post by macplaxton » 07 Jan 2012 11:19 pm

Left for Carlisle on Wednesday 4th around 8pm. Had spent the late afternoon sorting out some of my Glasgow stash of parts to take back to Dublin. :wink:

As well as it blowin' a hooley, it was also "pishinitdoon" with much of the A74(M) covered with surface water. Somewhere around the first quarter of the journey I heard a loud clunk as I (presumably) had a wheel disappear down a bloody pothole in lane 1. Pulled in further up the road under a bridge and there was still air in all the tyres, so pressed on.

In the morning the damage was more clear:

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Arse! Still, at least the tyre didn't suffer a blow-out.

After doing family stuff on Thursday, I just had to nip round to Michael Douglas's (not that one, the other one). Unfortunately, there were no new 300s in (a couple of years back there were six) and the two that were there were both 360s. I think both of them were there last year too. Nice of them to hang on to the oldies a bit longer.

360GLE:
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360GLS:
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The GLS turned up October 2010 I recall, so was fairly fresh in when I saw it December 2010. I had all the locks (it was a two-key car), various bits of trim, clocks, driveshafts. For any one interested it still has the motor/torque tube/gearbox/diff in it.

I started the morning by raiding the wiper motor/linkage/arms sm4 which means I can get rid of those stupid pin attached things I've got at the minute sm95 (MY 1983 means it still has the LHD wiper sweep) After getting those, I thought about going back for more - whilst I was there like - and so I gave MCHUDD a bell to see if the bumpers floated his boat as he's a bling merchant. :lol: I also came back with a couple of windscreens and a heated rear window (thought about the hatch complete, but then thought I already have a spare and I've somehow got to get this stuff back). :? :? :? :? :?

Asked if they could bring it round to bag the front struts. Answer was they were drilled (part of the draining of fluids). I said doesn't matter, I'll have a look at the holes, but I can't see it making a difference. They also found a pair of 340 ones off the shelf too. So bagged them too. Scrappy also took a hammer to my dinged rim so it looks a bit happier now, but needs touching-up. Mrs MacP wasn't too happy (my "I'll be about an hour" was more like four :D ) and I had arranged to go to a friend's for tea, so that was a bit of mad scramble. After leaving there at 8pm, went to the Asda to get some cheap baby consumables (4 boxes of nappies, in addition to the two bought on Hogmanay), etc.

Then left myself with the conundrum of packing the car this morning at 6am, with a long drive to Holyhead and a boat to catch before the check-in closed at 1305. Plus loads of parts. Trailer already had a couple of front panels in it, along with a prop. So some more stuff went in. Also had the headache of a huge teddy bear that wee MacP got from Granny and Granddad, along with a jumbo bag of bean bag refill polystyrene balls. I split down the nappy boxes and took out the two wrapped packs from inside, and laid them all out as a bed for the glass in the roof box. Then the two windscreens in with a couple of blankets and the rear window on top of that. Then I emptied about half of the poly balls into smaller bags and resealed the remainder of the big bag and put it on top of the glass in the top box.

*I haven't opened the roofbox yet, as I too scared to see if the glass is intact or in a million pieces.*

Rest of the stuff was either in the car or trailer. Although having had some of the stuff out of the trailer 1 of 6 bags of poly balls had caught a jaggy edge and gone pop. Could have been worse I suppose.

Left Carlisle at 8.15am this morning and despite three stops (two for fuel :roll: ) made it just in time for the boat.

Interesting though was this spot when I pulled in for the first break/fuel stop at Killington Lake Services (M6 Southbound)

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Nearly de-badged 3-door (only had the last "VO" on the back) and windows heavily tinted. Anyone know the car or owner? (I didn't see anyone around)

The trailer wasn't that nose heavy, but I thing my rear springs are a bit past their best:
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72 DAF 44 Estate 78 Volvo 343DL Black BeautyImageImage
82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Ding on rim

Post by MCHUDD » 08 Jan 2012 03:40 pm

Hi Rich.
Sounds like another epic trip.
I think those bumpers will look the buissnes on my motor :D
Cheers Mark.
sm95 sm95 sm95 sm95 sm95 sm95 sm95 sm95

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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Ding on rim

Post by volvosneverdie » 08 Jan 2012 04:48 pm

Good job you DID go with the Steels Rich.
That might have cracked or smashed an alloy.

Hammer repair ftw. 8)
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SteveP
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Re: MY78 343DL Black Beauty - Ding on rim

Post by SteveP » 08 Jan 2012 04:51 pm

Bad look with the rim! Inspiring to see you using this as a daily on some pretty epic long journeys, looks like fun :)
1989 - Volvo 360 GLT
1985 - Volvo 360 GLS
2008 - Volvo S60 SE Lux

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