1989 340 GL 1.4* *(atleast 1.4 for now :p)

[BaldBackTyres]

Hi all!
Just joined up as i recently bought me a 1989 Volvo 340 GL 1.4 for £100 with years tax and MOT, and for £100 i cant complain, infact i love it! i used to see volvos as a grandads car, What was i thinking :p
are 1.4 volvo engines meant to do 110mph, sit at 90mph just literally touching the pedal down a few mm and STILL not use hardly any petrol atall?
im 18, not long had a license, my 1st rear wheel drive and i love wet concrete! need i say more?
planning to do the car up and keep it for a long while to come!

[petefarrell360]

Welcome! You've discovered the well kept secret of the Volvo 300! It's one of the most underestimated cars around, unless you've had one you just can't see how good they are! Then you've also found one of the most friendly forums on the net. RWD is the way to go, can't beat it. Enjoy your 340 chap.
Pete

[340GLT]

Mate i,m 18 too and October 2004 my car was totally standard, it now looks like this!!!


I bet your mates are asking you the usual question, why drive a Volvo and all the rest of it. But you know the fact that its quicker more reliable and cheaper to insure than their 1litre beasty!!!!
Welcome to the forum!!!
Cheers Adam

[foggyjames]

My 1.4 does 100 with almost no throttle...and it has done 183k The 1.4 is a great engine (when you're driving it.....not trying to fix it!), and must be a right laugh in the Renault 5.

cheers

James

[classicswede]

I think the 300 secret is well and truely out.

Nice to see a new person with a 300. I hope you enjoy it and continue to upset your mates

[redline]

My 1.4 does 100 with almost no throttle.James

yeah and his 360 do's 100 with almost no petrol , then it ummm, stops lol

[MJ]

You'll be sad you missed the meet Mick. Several jokes involving petrol, or lack thereof, were directed at poor james

[petefarrell360]

Poor chap will get a complex! Everytime he was away from the group banter, he'd return or emerge from a car only to hear laughter and find he was the brunt of some sort of joke, normally involving petrol. Foggy, the half polished Nessy roof was special!

On here you'll see a vast array of cars, some stock, some to the extreme end of the modding, which is pretty spectacular and very impressive for a car so old and often thought of as being an old rust bucket for old people. Hope you'll be able to keep it on the road, and might get some inspiration, help and advice from the site.
Pete

[Thomas D]

my car goes 90 when I´m lucky on full throttle and a long time to get there.

[n xntrx volvo]

adam your car looks pissed off. like the lip.

[classicswede]

Some thong must be wrong there, it sould do over a 100mph with a 1.4 and about 120mph with the 1.7.

Lots of jokes about poor foggy

[antiekeradio]

@thomas d;

thats the consequence for having a 'economy version' B14.3....

on the upside; flat out it is much more economical than a B14.4

[Thomas D]

Wouter, I don´t have the 14.3 economy version. I´m still driving the 14.4, but I am considering to downtune it to a 14.3, because in my memory, it was just as fast (or even faster) but a lot more economical.

But probably, my 14.4 should be faster / more economic than it is. Just can´t find the reason why it is not...

[Thomas D]

In about 5 weeks i will have time to do an engine swap. My options are:

- replacing the 14.4
- change the 14.4 into a 14.3
- put in a B172

so many people, so many advice (Ranging: "The B172 is unreliable" and "The B172 is not noticeable stronger" to "it should go 120 mph with a B172" and "a B172 is much more economic" )

Anyhow, The exisitng setup has to go, poor power, poor economy. New spark plugs and air cleaner, 12 bar compression, valve clearance checked and checked again, manifold tightened, carb tightened and cleaned, what more can I do?

Strange thing, it starts perfectly. Somehow seems to lose power above ±3300 rpm (accompanied by rattling noises). First Idea was fuel pump, but that could only have influence on max. power, not on economy...

[5lab]

put a 1.7 engine from a 400 in it - much better engines - the injection versions pump out (if i remember right) 110 bhp, and the turbos something like 130..


as for nessy, she does do 100, but not much over.. (113,once, on a big downhill) and as for barely any throttle, well it'll start loosing speed if you do that

the renault 5 was actually a touch slower - my mate had one with the very same engine in, and with the foot flat to the floor for about 10 mins we managed 98. i think the aerodynamics were worse, or it might had a lesser state of tune??

the 1.4 engines are piece of piss to tune/fix, just dont expect perfect results first time