Me and my '76 343 DL

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trenning
Posts: 44
Joined: 08 Apr 2015 08:44 pm
Location: Almelo, Holland

Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trenning » 17 Apr 2015 10:30 pm

Hello Volvo 300 enthousiasts,

My name is Freerk Trenning, 41 years of age, from Holland, to be more precise, Almelo, located in the east, very near to the German border. Being married to my lovely wife an father of 2 kids (age 4 and 5) I want to share 1 big hobby of mine...
Since my parents have owned a number of (6) Volvos 343/340 series since 1976 (yes!) till 1994, thus have grown up with these lovely cars, It's not a surprise becoming a enthousiast as well.

So, in June 1994 I got a 340 GL Automatic in Light green Metallic from a former boss of a Peugeot car dealership. Since trading in this Volvo for a Peugeot 205, and not being fond of the model either he gave it for free to me!
Drove around to my work and college classes in the evening, I drove some 20.000 miles in 1 and half year.
Did some minor repairs, but only the most necessary to keep it running. i did not even have photos of the car, but it's similar to this:
Image

After a while I traded it for a '87 340 DL in white (also 5 door) but now a Manual box (5 speed).
I started upgrading it a bit with some GLT alloys, Rev.counter and such. Drove it for nearly 5 year and then got lost to a bigger 940 Volvo. Not bad, but these nice little Volvos kept attracting me...

So when I saw near my residence a '80 343 DL in Karlsbad Yellow, an appointment with the seller was quickly made and purchase was done fast. But technical state and bodywork was poor: engine suffered from 2 leaking exhaust valves + bodywork suffered from al lot of rust. But since is covered only 68.000 km's (42.260 miles) I did see possibilties for restoring it. So I did: New front wings, Front body part, back wings + full respray. During the bodywork the clutch was also blown, so rebuilt that as well.:
Image

Used it for some 6 years as a "hobbytimer" and eventually sold it to an acquaintance who only drives some 150 miles per year, because another 343 caught my eye:
Image
"First meeting"

License plate shows a '76 model and after some research it is likely to be the oldest 343 still on the road. But it had a blown Engine and again a lot of rust. So.... It had to be done again!
Purchased it on April 17th 2006 (exactly 9 years ago) and dismantling started in January 2007, the bodywork finished in September 2012 and have been rebuilding it since.
Some pics to accompany all the talk:
Image
"Overall condition not bad, but a lot of work!"
Image
"Deconstruction almost completed"
Image
"Paint job under construction"
Image
"Paint job completed"
Image
"Nice front view"

Have done the check at the Dutch Volvo Importer about the cars details of production:
It was build between May 31st and June 3rd 1976 and delivered to the dealership on August 27th 1976, First day on the road August 31st 1976.
Mileage is low, some 37.000 mls and been in 1 family since new, that's why it isn't bought back by Volvo to be discarded, as they did with the first built series (due to all the teehting issues...)

Nice detail, my Parents did own also one of the first 343's, their Choclatebrown 343 L was registered on July 23rd 1976.
My father does also recall all the quality issues of that car, the successor of it, an '78 343 L was very reliable.

Some of the jobs I have to do are: bleeding the brakes, mount the wheels, do some mayor rustprevention and so.

Hope you enjoy this story, will post some more pics and keep you updated.

Cheers, Freerk

macplaxton
Posts: 3283
Joined: 09 Feb 2008 02:29 am

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by macplaxton » 18 Apr 2015 12:30 am

Hello and welcome Freerk.

Nice to see such a GREEEEEEEN car :)

I'm sure Siôn will be along shortly once he has stopped drooling. :lol:
72 DAF 44 Estate 78 Volvo 343DL Black BeautyImageImage
82 Volvo 343DL CVTImageImage 88 Volvo 340DL Diesel

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SteveP
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Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by SteveP » 18 Apr 2015 09:10 am

What a brilliant colour! Nice car :)
1989 - Volvo 360 GLT
1985 - Volvo 360 GLS
2008 - Volvo S60 SE Lux

MCHUDD
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Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by MCHUDD » 18 Apr 2015 09:55 am

Hi mate.
Can only say one word BRILLIANT.
Cheers Mark.
sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69 sm69

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S10NPH
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Joined: 23 Sep 2008 09:52 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by S10NPH » 20 Apr 2015 10:39 pm

Hello Freerk

Thank you so much for posting about your car on the forum.
macplaxton wrote: I'm sure Siôn will be along shortly once he has stopped drooling. :lol:
I've actually been drooling over your car for many years - I spotted the photos from when you first bought it on another website, although it was so long ago I can't remember which one. It was certainly very rusty in some unusual places, like the bootlid and bonnet.

I'm very glad to see that you have given it a proper restoration treatment, and I am really happy to see the updated pictures. Are you keeping all the drivetrain as original '76 MY? There were some 'improvements' made by Volvo very early on such as more bolts holding the vario unit to the chassis, and bypassing the warming plate under the carburettor to stop the car shuddering when holding the brake (although my early '77 MY car still has the original set-up). Will you be re-fitting the original B14.0 engine?

I absolutely love the green colour, it's so vibrant. Does it have the really early choke pull, which has a different shape and marking than 77MY cars? Does it have the original speedo with only 5 digits on the odometer? Does it have four large raised 'dots' on the heater cover in the engine bay? Is the trim holding the carpet beneath the doors made of (inevitably cracked) plastic?

I would love to see your car in the flesh and on the road sometime. The full restoration puts my own '77 MY (but September 1976 build) car to shame, but at the moment mine has an MOT and I think has a few more years for me to enjoy it on the road before it will need some serious work. I'm lucky in that it was very solid when I got it. Driving a 76/77 MY car is a very different experience to later 300s, because of the lack of tachometric relay, it's quite mad but fun.

As you may have gathered, I have a slight obsession with really early 343s....!

Siôn
1977 Volvo 343 DL 1.4 Vario TUJ 247R
1980 Volvo 345 DL 1.4 PGH 590V
1981 Volvo 345 DL 1.4 ECR 312W
1985 Volvo 340 DL 1.4 Vario B168 DTU
1982 Volvo 245 GLT 2.3 Auto VKN 137X
1997 Saab 900 Convertible P290 DDF and 2018 VW Tiguan S10 NPH

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Hell Driver
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Joined: 18 Aug 2009 09:58 pm
Location: Doncaster UK

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by Hell Driver » 21 Apr 2015 01:16 am

Thank you for posting here! I have also seen some photos of this car elsewhere. Always liked that green, I only remember seeing one that colour, in the late 1970's.

I drove a '77 car for 10 years, metallic blue DL, it was the family car from that time which I was given when I was at college in 1991, as a runabout.

Keep up the good work!
360 GLE Saloon (D 86)
360 GLS (A 84)
343 DL (W 80) :-)
340 GL 1.7 (G 89)
360 GLS (Y 83)
440 Turbo (J 92)
Transit Tipper 125 T350 (02)Alive Again!
Transit Tipper Smiley face Q reg
Mitsubishi Colt 1.1 (54)
R.I.P. 77 343 DL vario :-(

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trenning
Posts: 44
Joined: 08 Apr 2015 08:44 pm
Location: Almelo, Holland

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trenning » 21 Apr 2015 02:39 pm

Thank you all very much for your warm words.

It hasn't been easy for me to find the time nor the "feel" to be tinkering around with the '76; but this sure helps me!

@Siôn: I saw your 343 for sale in Southern Limburg, this is a nice Original car, I like the bronze metallic paint very much, and also saw the movies on YT. Very nice indeed!
On early improvements: I do have quite an extensive library of factory instructions on that.
Concerning the fixing bolts of the transmission, I don't have al clue.
The "hotspot"-plate has the Original condition on my 343 as well, however, an sheet metal heat shield was added onto the exhaust manifold, probably to guard the starter motor.

I discarded the orginal B14.0E engine, on the 1 cylinder the piston sized up, and complete broke lose the small end, which protruded through the engine block, just below the oil filter.
These engines were know for extensive oil comsuption, due to the lack of valve seals.
Now I have put in an B14.3E, which has all original "looks" but is more refined and suitable for unleaded fuel.

Early spec heater box: I do have the backwards mounted bolts, and the rubber dots as well. The britle plastic is a real nightmare, just like the upholstery.
On that: I do believe you have been acquiring (or tried to?) some seats from Holland, end of August '14? This guy who dismantled a '77 343 in Yellow (for Bangerstox!) I also sourced a great deal of nice parts as well. During the past 9 years I have found quite a few of the horrible brown plastic parts, some I keep in spare, but also have some surplus. Do you need some specific parts?

Choke pull: Yes, it's the Daf-part, I also have the 5 digit speedo, when did it change into a 6 digit number? I have several fascia's of the MK1 in stock, or is it changed with the MY'79 updated 240-look-a-like dash?

Hmm: slight obsession? In case you have it; I definitely must have it! :D
Some more pictures:
Image
"top view"
Image
"Alternator (a not original one!) side"
Image
"Air cleaner: before painting the yellow writing said: AVRIL 1976"
Image
"Valve cover, with the lower oil filling tube, originally with de [343 1400] decal"

I hope I have the MOT sorted out shortly, like I wrote before; some minor work on the brakes and rust prevention and it should be showtime.

Freerk

360beast
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Joined: 27 Dec 2013 08:40 pm

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by 360beast » 21 Apr 2015 06:11 pm

That has to be the best condition 300 series I have ever seen!

Keep up the brilliant work :D

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S10NPH
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Location: Cambridge

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by S10NPH » 21 Apr 2015 06:38 pm

My original B14.0E is still going, at about 120,000kms. I need to give it an oil change again now though, as I really want to prolong its life as much as possible - it's started to get noisy again. I'm a little worried that one day it may go 'bang' - is there any maintenance you would suggest I should do to it?

You are right about the seats - I did indeed try to acquire replacement seats from the guy who was breaking the yellow 343, but sadly he messed me around: I messaged to say I would buy all the seats, and he agreed, then just before I booked my eurotunnel ticket to have a road trip to collect them, he said that the rear seats were now gone and he had only the front ones. So I decided I wasn't going to drive all that way to collect only the front seats from a guy I really couldn't trust. Very annoying, as if I was based nearer I could have just quickly driven there immediately and collected them. It didn't help that my Dutch wasn't very good either, so he probably didn't quite understand how much I would have been willing to pay for the whole set!

So sadly, my seats are still very badly torn and let the car down. They are the main thing I need, as I too have a few spare brown parts laying around.

The 6-digit odometer came in with 77MY, it's one of the things that you can use to distinguish 76 and 77MY cars. My car has 6 digits if you look at my thread.

The engine bay pictures of your car are gorgeous! I can't tell you how glad I am that you are bringing this car back to life properly.
1977 Volvo 343 DL 1.4 Vario TUJ 247R
1980 Volvo 345 DL 1.4 PGH 590V
1981 Volvo 345 DL 1.4 ECR 312W
1985 Volvo 340 DL 1.4 Vario B168 DTU
1982 Volvo 245 GLT 2.3 Auto VKN 137X
1997 Saab 900 Convertible P290 DDF and 2018 VW Tiguan S10 NPH

volvomania
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Joined: 09 Aug 2005 02:24 pm
Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by volvomania » 22 Apr 2015 07:55 am

trenning wrote:Some more pictures:
Image
"Air cleaner: before painting the yellow writing said: AVRIL 1976"
Freerk, do you know that that you can get de decals from BBB (http://www.born-built-beauties.eu/html/ ... tml#Intake & exhaus system) as 3290926-D?
He also has a range of door and bonnet stickers......(http://www.born-built-beauties.eu/html/ ... urstickers and http://www.born-built-beauties.eu/html/ ... apstickers)
Life is a journey, so sit back and enjoy the ride!

Born Built Beauties: Parts keeping our cars on the road!

http://www.Born-Built-Beauties.eu

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trenning
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Joined: 08 Apr 2015 08:44 pm
Location: Almelo, Holland

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trenning » 22 Apr 2015 09:23 am

S10NPH wrote:is there any maintenance you would suggest I should do to it? Check the valve clearances, ignition timing and oil level regularly; the engines themselves are quite reliable; the lack of valve seals causes great oil comsuption

You are right about the seats - Hmm, now that's a pity! This guy is living vety near to me, so it was easy for me to visit him on a saturday afternoon. In his defence: He got a lot of inquiries for the parts and a few people were fooling him on the parts as well, at first a lot of discussion per e-mail/sms/whatsapp and not showing up at the agreed time... When I got there the front seats were there, but no rear seat! The fury protection cover of that I took with me, since my rear seat cover is also ripped. And since my co-mechanics are there to be seated: :D
Image

So sadly, my seats are still very badly torn and let the car down. They are the main thing I need, as I too have a few spare brown parts laying around. Isn't there any source for the brown cloth? I remember the black cloth is somewhere available...

The 6-digit odometer came in with 77MY I'll check my stock of fascia's!

The engine bay pictures of your car are gorgeous! Thanx!

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trenning
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Location: Almelo, Holland

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trenning » 22 Apr 2015 09:29 am

volvomania wrote:Freerk, do you know that that you can get de decals from BBB
Hello RJ: that would be some real icing on the cake!


Very nice these guys over at BBB take so much effort to reproduce some parts which are not available else! :)

Ride_on
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Location: Belfast, N. Ireland

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by Ride_on » 23 Apr 2015 11:49 am

Good Restoration work, nice to see it being saved :)
1980 345 DL_______1987 360 GLE (project car restored to GLT spec and B230FT'd)
1984 360 GLT______1987 360 GLT
1983 360 GLS______1989 360 GLE
1985 340 GL_______1986 340 1.4
1985 360 GLS______1995 940 SE 2.3 Turbo Estate (daily)
1987 340 GL 1.7

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trabitom99
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Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trabitom99 » 04 May 2015 08:42 am

Hi Freerk,

it's great to see you here, and I'm really looking forward to see more from the oldest 343 on the road! What chassis number does your car have?

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

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trenning
Posts: 44
Joined: 08 Apr 2015 08:44 pm
Location: Almelo, Holland

Re: Me and my '76 343 DL

Post by trenning » 04 May 2015 01:05 pm

trabitom99 wrote:What chassis number does your car have?
It's *343500EC301518*

Hi Tom,
I remember I shipped a new Power Assisted Steering housing for your 360, you needed it for passing the TÜV.
The inner joints were worn out, if I'm correct.

Freerk

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