SteveP; PM back.

MCHUDD; I have no idea, how would I tell?

Hi mate.
Have a look at mine in the general disscusion section MK1 345DL. Early 1981 the front nose is still the early style.
Cheers Mark.

Yeah that's a late 81 car. Very nice, miss mine!

Hi Steve.
Have you had any luck in finding another motor.
Cheers Mark

Just had a look at yours MCHUDD, very smart. Love the early front end. Also leaves me with another model I did not know, the 345!

Back to my original question (which I had forgotten about. ) Are there any differences mechanically between a 343 1.4 and a 340 1.4?

Also, I could use some advice I have on a 'security' related question, if anyone can help can you send me a PM to discuss it further? (don't want to discuss it in an open forum. )

Cheers!

edit;

Already discussed the security matter and have come to a conclusion so no more PM's please, competition's closed.

Im ready to get shot down here man, but your 343 is a mark 2, and is identical to mark 2 340s.
DL, GL, it really dont make no nevermind. Same soup, different tins.
Or different labels anyway.

If it is the same I could not be happier. Makes life much easier.

I'll state my reputaion on it.
But my reputation currently carries a 19% suceessfull advice rate.

That's good enough for me I guess. haha.

exterior is allmost the same as an early mk2 (83) before they went to the new doors with no spile and 1 full window in 84.

interior is a different story when compared to 340; you have a 343 dash, oldskool doorpanels and so on..

mechanically it is in big lines the same as a 340 mk2 apart from a probably different engine code (this will most likely have a b14.2e engine) few bits around the engine have different places or shape; windscreen spray tank, coolant resevoir etc.
you also have the old cooling system with a solid visco cooling fan.

Will the brakes be teh early or late type on that age car?

new type; after 1980 they all had the same single piston calipers that went on all the 340's and 360's too

volvodspec; Thank you very much for the info!

Today I sorted the indicators, should be doing clutch tomorrow, and the starter as soon as it turns up in the week! Last question I had was about brakes, but you have already answered that one!

Only one more I guess, I seem to have an oil leak of some sort. I have not inspected so I guess I am asking on the off chance it is a common problem. It seems to have covered the bell housing in oil, which I fear is why the clutch is slipping (as there is a hole in the top of the bell housing!? ) I don't want to replace the clutch tomorrow and have it ruined by the same problem. I was thinking if I could not find the source of the leak tomorrow I could seal up the hole instead as a very temporary measure?

Cheers!

Just to get the nerdy stuff out of the way...

1980 model year is a "mk1" 343/345, with the nose-cone, with the "Im'a gonn' flatten yo ass" honking huge bumpers.
1981 model year is a "mk1" 343/345, with the nose-cone, but it has mk2-style bumpers.
1982 model year is a "mk2" 343/345...that's what you have.
1983 model year is a "mk2" 340...designation of the number of doors is dropped.

Note that model year doesn't mean when it was made or sold...it's the "spec" of the car. In practice, most of the cars you seem to find run a whole year behind, so your 82MY is 81 built and registered. Doesn't make much sense, but hey.

Mechanically, they're essentially identical. There are some subtle differences along the way, but it's reasonably safe to assume that things like alternators and starters are interchangeable...especially with yours being an 82MY. It does get a bit weird when you go 80MY or earlier. Those cars are rare as hell, though. Anything mk1 (81MY or earlier) is hard to find now. I have two of those, but I've waited a long time.

As a side-note, almost all 82MY cars made seem to have been in that bloody (awesome!) yellow colour

cheers

James

How many hands has that car changed in the last year? If its the one Im thinking of.