Pappa's '87 340DL 1.4

[Pappa]

Here she is..

Check out the backseat window..




She's rolled 95k miles, has a 4-speed manual transmission and is as close to rust free as you can get. When i bought her there was some damage on the side panel by the headlight on the driver side, the engine made a funny whistling noise at 1/2 throttle or less, the car was shaking apart at idle when it was warm and as you can see it's missing a window.

Since then I've ruined the front bumper and parts of the front by colliding with a road sign, the engine is still whistling, the shaking has been fixed (at least partially) and I've at least added some soundproofing behind the black plastic bag to kill the road and engine noise entering the cabin. I've measured the time from 0-60mph to more than 20 seconds, so something's not right.

I've also ruined something in the front suspension or steering when i smashed it into a pavement (the edge was about 5" tall) going 25mph, the left wheel is pointing too much to the left and it keeps flatting out tyres. I dunno the full extent of the damages but i know the outer tie rod on the left side is broken to pieces. I really need to fix the issues with the tyres flattening out so if you have any tips please let me know.

Also the big lights mounted on the front bumper has been stolen I was gonna take them off and throw them in the thrash anyway, but now I don't have to i guess. Sucks when people steal from you anyway though, if I had caught them red handed I'd probably beat them to a pulp.


Anyway the plans i have for the car now are somewhat different from the original plans. I had planned to paint it black with a paint roller and attach a 3' tall and 1 1/2' deep rear spoiler made from styrofoam and fibreglass, and then drive it like an ass till it broke down.

Now however i want to put it in a good condition as I've gotten to like the car quite a lot. I'm gonna fix the broken bumper and the other things in the front, fix the bumps on the side panel, sort out all the engine issues and make it run like when it was new, fix the front suspension / steering so it steers like it should and doesn't flat out tyres after 5 minutes of driving, fix the rear hatch so it doesn't go "click-clack" when you're driving (very annoying) and build a decent audio system in it. Also i need to fit an RPM gauge, but i dunno how In the future i might be looking for more engine power but I think I'd be better off selling this and getting a 360 or a 340 with a B200 and putting a B230 in it.

I am not a competent mechanic in any way but i hope this car will help me become better I have a father who's good with cars and engines though and a friend's father who's a wizard with mechanics so I've got some help if need be. I prefer to do stuff myself though so I'll be asking around this forum a lot, you'll probably get tired of me really soon Hope the Haynes manual will take some of the load for you guys though..

Well now i gotta go read up on carburetors, i plan to clean up and refurbish the carb and replace the gasket between the manifold and the carb, hope it will fix the whistling sounds and get me some performance back. Right now I'm spending about 30 seconds from 0-60 when the engine's cold, since the car almost dies when I give it full throttle. I suspect i might not be using the choke correctly, but i dunno. I have a motorcycle which is the same way, when the engine's cold you can't give it gas cause it will die. Gotta wait patiently for it to heat up before driving..

[sven360]

Excellent post-keep 'em coming

[Pappa]

Thanks! I can recommend this article on wikipedia if anybody wants to learn about carburetors. I figured out i need to replace the seals on the accelerator pump if that makes any sense My 340 runs slower if i give full throttle, i gotta push it in very slow in order for it to work.

Here's a nice sketch of the Weber 32 DIR used in my 1.4:


Looks like a total nightmare to fix

Edit: Just bought this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... Y.m238.lVI

Gonna be a fun project. The above kit includes just about everything i need right?

[Pappa]

Smashed front

Closeup


Aftermarket rev counter installed


Radio

Badass stock speakers


Quick fix for the window, kills a lot of noise

[Pappa]

Hey guys I found a really strange problem, does anyone know what this might be? The car's been running shaky at idle, and sometimes stutters when driving.

Anyway I was checking the plugs out today, and when i pull the HT lead off a plug, the engine runs a lot worse.. as is to be expected.

However, when i pull the lead on plug #3 (number three from the windshield side), nothing really seems to happen. It doens't seem to make it run worse. If i put the plug lead cap against the engine block it does make a spark. I replaced the plug but it didn't make a difference Can this be due to the spark not being good enough? The distributor cap looks good though

Also, i suspect the petrol hose to the carb might be leaking, it's a little wet and the enigne revs up when i spray coldstart gas on it, but this should't make cylinder #3 misfire should it?

[jtbo]

New HT lead and fix hose should be done, at least it should make some effect.

You can also measure resistance of HT leads, those should be near to each others.

[Pappa]

Slight update

It's been sitting still since i wrote the last post in this thread, since it was lost in the snow and i couldn't find it.

However, the snow's thawed up and i found the Volvo again. Battery was totally dead and i tried to tow it to make it start but couldn't. Even released the clutch going 20mph in first gear. Abusive, yes - Starts, no.

Anyway recharged battery and gave it a gallon of 98 octane on the tank - three chugs on the starter and it runs smooth as ever Brake calipers had rusted in place so couldn't make it move but my buddy just hammered the brake like a madman and surely enough the rust came off and it was going stonger than ever. Carb problems totally gone probably due to the warmer weather.

That drive was pretty rewarding, but after half an hour the rust had finally eaten through the exhaust pipe and it broke off in the downpipe junction resulting in massive manly engine sound and a hoarde of pissed off neighbors and loads of clingy 16 year old girls in the back seat. Stopped to change drivers so i could take the volvo back home but the throttle wire snapped.

I dunno how to fix the throttle wire, but I'll try soldering in something neat and see how it goes.. or maybe a wire clamp and an extender.