Streepje and Lijntje (Stripe and line)

[T_I]

After reacting to an add it's not very nice to refuse an introduction, so here it is.

I'm Jan Huijsmans, living in the netherlands and owner of:

• 1 volvo 740
• 1 volvo 760
• 2 volvo 780s
• 5 toyota celicas
• 2 motorbikes
• 0 volvo 340/360s

So why am i here... my girlfriend got a 1985 volvo 340 RAI special...



She found it this way and preferred it over the almost perfect volvo 345 we looked at just before. (as the body panels were available and it was less rare...) She discovered this being a RAI special (750 made) after the decision .

I was looking for a '83 340 till we found the budget to be less then expected. We still have to wait for a price for the car, but we suspect it to be to expensive. (which is not hard, as both 780's need to be fixed before our wedding in august)

[trabitom99]

Welcome Jan, and congrats on your wedding plans

What's the story with the RAI special? Some kind of NL motor show special edition?

Cheers

Tom

[volvosneverdie]

Welcome welcome.
oooooh. what else lies under that tarp.
From the bit peeping out, it looks interesting!

[T_I]

Welcome Jan, and congrats on your wedding plans

Thanks

What's the story with the RAI special? Some kind of NL motor show special edition?

Indeed, it was a special with tinted glass, electric windows (when I see it correctly), externel temp, seat heater for the driver and special paint and striping,

How it really looks... we haven't got a clue. We haven't seen much more then what's on the pics. (just click on the picture for the story and all the pics) This sunday we're going to dig it out and give it a closer inspection.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Ook welkom hier

[filthyjohn]

Welcome! Any pictures of the 780s? We weren't lucky enough to get them here in the UK.

[T_I]

The first year only the italians were lucky enough to be able to buy them... which didn't stop the previous owner of my diesel to import it:



When you're lucky overhere, you can get your hands on one of the 56 780's initially sold here... when you're very, very lucky, you stumble upon the first licensed...



and after cleaning...




but this is not a 340... Last weekend we went to take a better look, clean it up, fix some minor problems... we found the car already pushed outside:



It wouldn't run, but this was fixed by replasing the part the rotor for the distributor cap is mounted on. (Don't know the name of the axle it's mounted on, in dutch or english, so guys... help?)

For added safety we wanted rear seatbelts, but they still had to be removed from a yunker, so Tabitha went to get them out.


(it's her car, she wanted to do something... and liked it... except for the cold wind )

We also replaced the busted left mirror



and refitted the leaver for the windows...



(I must say, it's been to long reporting this kind of work on an english list/forum...)

All in all, it was a big success...



at least, that's my conclusion, when I see the big smile of the owner of "streepje" (stripe)

[volvosneverdie]

looks great!

Well worth all the work.

Very well done indeed.

[T_I]

Ok, it's been a while, but we were a bit busy. Since the last post the owner of streepje celebrated her birthday, so I could give her my little 'secret project' or at least the result of it.



Last Sunday we went back to adjust the clutch and give the car an oil change... or at least, that's what we planned.
Anjo showed a few bits and pieces of the clutch plate. Not good.



One clutch replacement was in order. After removing the drive shaft and the housing we found this:



When removing the clutch, we were flabbergasted.





This is not how a clutch assembly should look. Nobody within V3C had ever seen this much damage within the clutch assembly with a vario.
It was replaced by a used set. Even the housing was replaced, as the bearings were showing way to much play. Ah well, as long as she would run the damage wasn't to bad. To bad she didn't want to fire, which was strange, as she would run after the previous fix.

Now we've decided to replace the engine as well. There is almost no rust on the car, but the gearbox, clutch and engine are a total write off after just 80.000 km.

[jtbo]

That is really odd, must have been stuck or something similar for long time?

But very good to hear you are giving new life to car

BTW, that smaller version of car looks ace

[T_I]

That is really odd, must have been stuck or something similar for long time?

Don't know, the seller got it from someone who stated the gearbox was shot. He replaced the gearbox and now we found the clutch shot. Now we replaced the clutch... guess what's next in the drive line. With 80.000 km on it it's pretty amazing how they managed to completely wreck the engine and drive line.

But very good to hear you are giving new life to car

You try telling the misses her newly bought car is a write-off, without having driving it for 1 inch. It's probably one of the very, very few 1985 RAI specials left. Today they spotted 1 other. I can admit freely here, as the misses isn't reading (isn't to good in english), I like the car to much to abandon it.

BTW, that smaller version of car looks ace

Thanks, I know I can do better with the striping and the windshield, but overall I'm very pleased with the result. (But I'm ordering one extra soon, so I can give it a go after learning how to do the striping correctly) You can find all pics of the complete process overhere. It started with a special, only 340 made.



I can't help it. This was the only light colored neo (based) model with the correct wheels. (and € 5,= cheaper )

[T_I]

We've been very busy lately with 'Streepje', as we had to fix lots of problems, some minor, some major.

The biggest challenge was replacing the engine. It was totalled in just 80.000 km.



After this the car was offered for the MOT, which it passed. When collecting it we filled the gastank for the first time in years. (probably)



After this the altenator desided to only charge in high revs... we concluded from the chargelight that was lit only in low revs. After 175 km the first muffler exploded, after the engine died. (so it didn't charge at all )



After the car was home, we had a week of, so we could nurture her back to health. While visiting several junkyards we found lots of parts we needed, including a fresh hood in the correct color.



Thursday we were tipped on the V3C site and pointed to an add for another RAI special. It's a nice donor for body parts, so we called. After talking a bit with the seller we struck a deal and tomorrow we're going to collect the car. (It's not running, only 50.000 km on it and she won't go... we suspect the clutch)



It was lisenced the same day as 'Streepje' so we desided they would be twins. She'll be called 'Lijntje' (Line).

Together they'll be known as 'The Green Sisters'.

[Chris_C]

Great progress! Good to see that amount of work being put into the cars, it must have been a great feeling to get the MOT!

[T_I]

I have to admit at being a bit disapointed with the car after it had passed it's MOT. It wasn't deserved. Especially the fuel leakage was a bit of a disapointment. (but everything is fixed now, except for the leakage)

It was fun to finally work on a car and learn at the same time. We were even prouder after we found and agreed upon the purchace of 'Lijntje'. I hope we won't have to replace everything from engine to vario to get that car running, the budget is very slim. (but licensed on the same day and being the same special, we just couldn't let her slip)

[trabitom99]

Congratulations on the MOT. I have 3x300s coming up for that in the next two months - I fear not all will make it

I'm not entirely sure, maybe your special edition was badged "340 DL Club" in Germany? That had the same green colour. I'll dig the brochure out ...

Tom