Paul's '77 343 16v DL special!

[pistonpen paultje]

Hellow fellas!

Im making big progress on my project car, so i'd love to show you all my little (not so) shiny 343!



Bought it from Jack vd Bergh, the guy that started the V3C with some help of other people. It was a 77 with all sorts of gadgets. B14.0S motor on LPG, variomatic offcourse.

Then I had the Idea to put a 16v in this car. Hadn't been done a lot back then. And started with a donor clio. Due too being a student ($$$) and having little time, this project has taken some time...! Last summer I made the time to put the engine in the car, and only till now I have the time to finish this project. During time I switched from making it a fast daily into a trackday/drift car...

It was not quite the Ideal base to start with due to:

- Wiring -> Total mess, Ive put a '91 loom in there last week. The original one wasn't saveble
- Being a 77 -> manual 343's still had to be discovered, so I only have a straight slot where the CVT lever goes thrue in the body.
-> Smaller radiator
-> 1.4 base
- Rust -> Its not rust free, but it was better then I expected...Well see...
- LHD -> No room for Maste brake cylinder!!



Originally I made a wireloom for injection and so on...but after I had put in the engine, and mounted the inlet manifold, I knew this wasn't gonna work. Even with the manifold rewelded, it was still going to hit big-time.

Last week I found some nice Dellorto 40mm DHLA's. 75 euro's I got them. Really nice ones, and perfect for the car (good chokes and stuff)! Also I found a inletmanifold on the net. This was a lucky shot, as they are quite rare!



**BLING BLING **



Now this is a problem!

Solution: 2 seperate Master brake cylinders, with a Bias bar, and without a booster



Now this is another problem!

It works now, but hasnt got the correct switches and stuff...Get this sorted in a later state...

What's up next?

engine:
- Collecting rev-limiter (tomorrow)
- Buying+installing a fuel pump for the dello's
- fitting a 1.7 radiator and hoses (won't fit directly I think)
- Remove engine, for fitting new clutch
- Make an exhaust

interior:
- Cutting the floor, for fitting the gearstick
- redo all the buttons and stuff (needs some serious wiring)
- Buying Red MOMO bucket seats (tomorrow)
- Rollcage (that's in a couple of months, when i got the money...)

Brakes:
- Collecting 240 4pods tomorrow
- fitting those 4pods
- Finding the right discs
- Ordering 2 MBC's, an Hydraulic hand brake and a balance bar
- Redoing all the cupperlining I think....
- Discbrakes on the rear(think I'll use the original front ones, 2pod girlings. But thats when I have the money for this)

When I get this all sorted I still want coilovers, and have the hole car resprayed and redone (engine rebuild, and so on)...Lot's to do really

[volvosneverdie]

wow dude. Looks really cool.
Theres a lot still to do there, but a great deal already completed too.
Good call putting a rev limiter it too!

Good luck with the finishing off man.
Hope it all goes without a hitch.

[pistonpen paultje]

Rev limiter, yeah well. I thought of it before. I know Frits blew his GTT engine because of not having one, and so did Filthyjohn...The main reason is that I can get one cheap...

On the carbs:

I downloaded Jetting.exe. A well known jetting (look on jetting.exe) program for dello's or Webbies. Nice for a basic setting. This is what I got:

Engine size in Cubic Centimetres 1800
RPM at which peak power i made 6000 (I guess)
Tune for best (P)ower or (F)lexibility F

outcome:

Dellorto Settings
Ideal carb size 40DHLA
Choke size 32
Main jets 135
Emulsion tubes 7772.6
Air correctors 180
Idle jets 45/7850.2
Pump jets 35/40
Aux venturis 7848.2

40mm with 32 chokes would be Ideal -> That's what i got!!

[trabitom99]

Very interesting stuff - looks like you have the earliest 300 project car anyone will ever have Will it be street legal or are you intending it to be just for track use?

I'm sure you already know there are people desperately searching for all early 300 stuff - so try not to chuck anything away that might be useable for someone else

Keep us updated!

Tom

BTW love those early style headlamp wipers

[pistonpen paultje]

I know really well this is the earliest 343 proje$ct car...I got a lot of angry replies of some people...Even people who said I wasn't club worthy, and even bigger things than that. That got me a little disappointed...So I said to them all: If youre so against it: Get another 343 for me, or give me some good money for it... But an offer never came.

All parts I don't need, go to other enthausiasts. And Im surely not cutting early 343 parts up

[filthyjohn]

That car is so cool that I am currently suffering a massive seizure and will have to comment later.

[SteveP]

Very very cool! What a great base for some modification

[trabitom99]

I know really well this is the earliest 343 proje$ct car...I got a lot of angry replies of some people...Even people who said I wasn't club worthy, and even bigger things than that. That got me a little disappointed...So I said to them all: If youre so against it: Get another 343 for me, or give me some good money for it... But an offer never came.

Yes, I remember Jos telling me about that when he was in Bonn ... I can imagine your car causing quite a discussion in the V3C

On the one hand the earliest 300s ('76 to '78 with the DAF style interior) are all but extinct now, my instinctive feeling is to wrap them in cotton wool and lock them away somewhere dry and dark, in case too much sunlight cracks the dash, or the morning dew causes the paintwork to get wet or something . On the other hand, so many other classics are modified too, and are still desirable cars, try and find an air-cooled VW or a US muscle car with it's original engine in it for example, they've all had changes carried out at some point. Many DAF owners think nothing of scrapping a 1980 343 to put its B14 in their 66, so why not put an F ... erm .. P (?) in a 343?

If it's nicely done, why not? I'm looking forward to the finished product!

Tom

[Chris_C]

I know really well this is the earliest 343 proje$ct car...I got a lot of angry replies of some people...Even people who said I wasn't club worthy, and even bigger things than that. That got me a little disappointed...So I said to them all: If youre so against it: Get another 343 for me, or give me some good money for it... But an offer never came.

It's not like you have a track record for ruining cars Paul, and as Tom says, loads of 343's were scrapped for parts. You are keeping the car going ffs. Something tells me V3C wouldn't like most of the cars on this forum... I've not frequented their forum very often.

[pistonpen paultje]

LOL @ filthyjohn!

@ tom: If this car was in perfect shape to begin with, I wouldn't even have thought about it...Fact is: If I didnt buy the car back than, it would probably already have been scrapped. Every nut and bolt has been lose so far. I replaced áll suspension parts, cause most were badly rusted, All wiring cause it was a mess, not to start about the engine...I may not restore it to its former glory, just another kind of glory!

@ Chris,

Most of the V3C love it, some would rather see an original one, but still like it...and then there are like 5 or 10 hardcore purist who dont even like a modern radio in a car...

I understand all of them. Every one has there own way of loving a car or model. So respect them all..

[Chris_C]

Fair point mate. I'm really looking forward to seeing videos of it running, it looks a lovely car!

[volvosneverdie]

Fair point mate. I'm really looking forward to seeing videos of it running, it looks a lovely car!

Agreed!
Vids please!

[trabitom99]

...and then there are like 5 or 10 hardcore purist who dont even like a modern radio in a car...

NO! I draw the line with modern radios. Unthinkable I'd sooner fit a hybrid engine

BTW, does anyone have an 80's stereo spare? Mine are all knackered ...

Tom

[pistonpen paultje]

`Collected 240 4pods...Seems to be a direct fit. (don't know if a bigger disc would be possible without bracket yet)

[pistonpen paultje]

Long time no update...Busy times...

Bought some parts:

- Fuelpump Facet red top
- Regulator Filter king (with glass bowl and filter)
- fuel-gauge
- master brake cylinders
- reservoirs
- bias-bar
- some suspension parts (pics will follow)

Monday I made the radiator to fit (with the grinderrrr!), fitted the gearstick (again with the grinder), fitted the water reservoir's (yes, grinder again...) and fitted the fuelpump+ regulator.

I made an appointment to get the wheels welded. But the money is gone...So these are Fritses rims now...I WANT THEM! (make new appointment:+)

Before:


After: