Do I keep my 340??!

Post by **Jimmer King** » 30 Mar 2007 07:39 pm

Hello all,

This is my first post - I've been using the forum for info for a while and it's a great resource, so thanks so far!

I'm in a quandry. I lie awake at night thinking about it: do I keep my 340? I had a 1.7 340 GLE as my first car, but it got scrapped. 6 years later, the girlfriend killed her Punto (cambelt failure) and I suddenly acquired a white 1.4, J reg 340GL from a friend. It needed some work, I've kept it going and I now love it!

The girlfriend went up the back of someone the other day - nothing serious but I need a new headlight and possibly a new bumper and bumper mounts (I've just bent them back into shape for the moment). But, the engine bay's rusting away, there's rust all over the bonnet leading edge and it looks a right mess. I keep putting my finger through bits in the engine bay, although it's mainly confined to the area around the battery and the bar across the front of the engine bay where the bonnet hinges are.

So the question is: do I spend some money and time on it and keep the 340??

Let me know what you think, (reckon I know what the answer's going to be..)

Jimmer

Post by **Stavros** » 30 Mar 2007 08:32 pm

Of course everyones going to say yes on here!

But think with YOUR mind, not others.

If you do decide to nob it off though, put it up for sale or whatnot on here rather than scrap it.

I did with my 1st one and nobody took it on here (though they made a fuss when i said i was gonna scrap it, lol) but its worth a go and makes everyone happy.

PS- mine is still alive, donated it to a mate whos spent some good money on it actually...

Post by **foggyjames** » 30 Mar 2007 08:47 pm

If it's a real rusty mess and you just want a cheap runaround, it might be wiser to swap it for another one. There are plenty around! It doesn't make much sense to prop up a shot body when good ones are getting crushed.

Selling or parting out the old one would be useful though, especially if it were mechanically sound.

cheers

James

Post by MJ » 30 Mar 2007 09:00 pm

Well obviously it's up to you, and we're all going to say keep it

I think the most important point is, is the rust structural, or just unimportant parts?

Although it'd be nice to save it, there are too many great condition cars, maybe with one problem like broken torque tube, being scrapped as not enough people want them. It may be better to get one of these, as it'll last you longer as long as the girlfriend looks after it

Just whatever you do, make it 300

Post by **petefarrell360** » 30 Mar 2007 09:28 pm

Welcome to V3M! If the car is one you know well mechanically, then it's always hard IMO to move onto another unknown one! Bodywork when it's rusty tend to be a losing battle, unless it is confined to one area, maybe a water trap, or started due to a scrape or accident, but if the car is generally rusty in several places, you'll be chasing it, unless you go all out and do it all and do it well! I'm all for saving a car if you can.

I'm in this situation with a 360 GLT at the moment, that overall is a nice car, but it appears to need a rear wheel bearing doing....... not a nice job that I'm aware, and two new sills, which I have the panels, but it's not going to be cheap to get them repaired, then painted. I don't need another GLT, so if I sell it, I'd be losing money when you look at how much they fetch!

If you've fixed a lot of the other problems, big or small and annoying, then you've made the car your own, and if it's not a brand new car you buy, you'll be starting again from scratch! But the others are right, if you can find a clean example, that's your best bet, as rust prevention is far better than cure!

foggyjames wrote:It doesn't make much sense to prop up a shot body when good ones are getting crushed.

Oh dear James, this coming from the man who resurrected the Nezzle! We all know you'd have been far better off with nearly any other 300 as a base to make a grand one out of, but hey, that wouldn't have been in keeping with the spirit of project Nessy!

Pete

Post by **Chris_C** » 30 Mar 2007 11:39 pm

Nessy is the same as my cars though, and pettaw's and Adams, and most hta thave had way more spent on them than they are worth, they have sentimental value. No two cars ever feel the same (well... ok, non of the 300's I've driven do, or the other makes of mates I've taken out, guess new stuff would do), which is why I can't swap them.

Stavros is right, we did give him some abuse for not keeping his car, but he had a good reason to get right, from his description it did need a LOT of work, I'm glad to here that someone has taken it on. I had to scrap a GLT when I found more rust than I expected, so I can't get on my high horse. If you have got a sentimental attachment, the decision is harder. If you want to learn bodywork, then you've got a good start, panels are all still availible.

If you want to make financial sense, and you have a bit of time to wait, then you can get a mint car for less than £500.

Swings and roundabouts tbh, if you need any help with parts, I'm sure a lot of us have them about if your local scrappy doesn't have them.

Post by **foggyjames** » 31 Mar 2007 12:21 am

Well I ought to say from the outset that if I'd known how much work was going to be involved in getting Nessy back on the road, I'd probably not have bothered. Had the car continued to be unreliable, I'd have felt pretty miserable about the whole thing. However, it all came good, and 20k and pretty much just an engine swap and a radiator later, it's given a couple of years of cheap motoring, once averaged out over the whole period.

The theory was to get something scruffy to practice bodywork on without wrecking my 360. Having some 'character' also helped. If I were starting from scratch, I'd have just chosen a straighter car to start with...but hindsight is a glorious thing! In fact, it's seen far more use than I expected (with the 360 relegated to 'toy' status), so the shortcomings have been more annoying than I thought they would be.

Only now with the arrival of the new daily driver is it being taken apart and attacked with a MIG, various power tools, and some paint....and doing what it was obtained for.

Thus ends chapter and verse on the subject of my Nessy-madness! With hindsight, I wouldn't do it again....but it was fun

Hopefully that means it's not too hypocritical of me to say "reshell" now

cheers

James

Post by **jtbo** » 31 Mar 2007 12:43 am

Something around 2000 euros and to get rust sorted at least 1000 euros more needed and it will probably not end there, if I sell it I can get perhaps 500 euros.

Well, neighbour is envy because his 8 year newer car looks over 10 years older than mine and runs much worse and not even closely as reliably, worth every penny I spent to this car

Besides I have jack that still lifts car up without problems after 19 years unlike some new Fords where jack brokes down before you get all 4 wheels changed, what kind of crap they make nowdays

Post by **redline** » 31 Mar 2007 08:21 am

Chris_C wrote:If you want to make financial sense, buy a golf.

fixed

Post by **SteveP** » 31 Mar 2007 09:26 am

foggyjames wrote:If it's a real rusty mess and you just want a cheap runaround

If you want a cheap run around - don't buy a 300, they're not *that* cheap to run.

Post by **foggyjames** » 31 Mar 2007 11:56 am

I dunno...if I'd bought a £300 version of Nessy which wasn't shafted, it'd have been pretty damn cheap motoring. Sure, something faceless would hvae been cheaper, but how cheap do you want? At least a 300 has personality....and RWD

cheers

James

Post by **SteveP** » 31 Mar 2007 11:59 am

foggyjames wrote:At least a 300 has personality....and RWD

True that!

But £300 aint that cheap for a nigh on 20 year old car which is likely to need some form of work where things wear out...

Best off buying a non-rusty example, badly listed on ebay for £16

Depends what you want really... if you just want transport then you'll not be bothered about character and rwd

Post by **foggyjames** » 31 Mar 2007 12:19 pm

I dunno, I'd expect a £300 340 1.4 (i.e. one that actually justifies that price-tag) to need minimal attention. It's the £50 cars you'd expect to give a little grief.

Having said that, a Nissan Sunny or something similar is more likely to be 'point and squirt' for longer....partly because £300 will buy a much newer car than even the latest 300s.

cheers

James

Post by **fume** » 31 Mar 2007 12:49 pm

Its a dilemma i faced about a year ago. My 340 had started to rust and was costing me a bit more to run than is sensible for a bloke with two kids and its not the main car. So i sold it and ended up with father in laws euro box. 1.3, 40mpg - the sensible option. My 340 in 18 months had cost me nothing apart from a new exhaust, the euro box cost me £800 to get it through its MOT!!!. I hated it and finally cut my losses and sold it. I had to go back to a 340 and thats now what i have, its broken but i am much happier. So i say stick to what you know!!!!!!