Hello!

My name is João Vale and I found this very interesting and usefull forum when a friend of mine asked me to help him returning his mothers 1981 Volvo 345 1.4 back to the road (and in the future, pushing it to the track ).

We got it to work this month and the project is the following:

- Get it to work reliably and take it to the Portuguese equivalent of the MOT;
- Overhaul the suspension and uprate it (I'm thinking on a front coil over conversion);
- After the car proves it self reliable suspension and brake wise, start gathering parts to make an engine swap (2 liter from the Volvo 244 I think...).

The Renault 16v engine is and expensive engine here in Portugal and this project is on a tight budget. We want a car that is fast enough to have fun. We don't need massive power under the hood.
That's why we turned to the B19 engine that the 345 also had.

I would apreciate any info you could give me on this conversion. I have to make this conversion on this car because it's a car with history in my friends family and he doesn't want to part with it. The structure is very sound and it only needs a bit of maintenance to be roadworthy.
When I get good pictures of the car I will post them here.

For what I've been reading over here I have to swap the cross member to fit the B19 engine right? I would like to see pictures fo the B19 cross member so I could understand the diferences and, if I'm lucky, recognize one on a junk yard.

What is the potencial tunning on these engines? We were thinking in buying one and port and polish the head and fit a pair of twin weber DCO carbs to get 100+ bhp. What do you guys think?

Regards!

To fit the "redblock" engines from a 2/7/900 series (B19/B200 etc) you'll need to take the running gear from a B19 340 or a 360. The prop shaft your 345 has is replaced with a torque tube, and the fitment onto the gearbox is different.

Might be worth looking for a 2.0 laguna engine? I think these fit onto the 1.7 300 sump, though I havn't looked. The 2.0 440 series engine certainly does, but I don't know how rare these are in your area. 340cbr lives in Portugual (I know its a large place ) and is selling parts from his 1.8T conversion from a 480

Oh... I didn't know about that... thanks for the info.

I'm still gathering info about these cars and the learning curve is steep.

Does the laguna engine has a distributor? I don't want to complicate (cost wise) the engine swap. If I could run the new engine on carbs would be great...

Funny. I'm very familiar with Alfa Romeos as you can see on my website.

One of the alfas I have worked on is the 75 (which is also a trans axle). The 75 setup has a problem due to the lack of the torque tube: during flat out aceleration and braking the gearbox misalings with the engine and body and the gear stick becomes difficult to handle.

My porsche 924 (also trans axle) doesn't suffer from this problem. Does the non torque tube 300 suffers the same?

I guess I going back to the drawing board... What about the 2 liter from a Renault 25?

Sorry, but I have to make this question.

Can anyboby post pictures of the cross member for the 1,4 and 1,7 engines?
There should be a lot a pictures on the forum but I can't find any...

I've been analyzing the pictures of Adam's 16V 340 and I guess that the missalignment of the 1.7 engine and 1.4 cross member should be small...

I took the radiator out of my friends car and I could see both front supports. Adam has a picture of his 16V engine before it went to the car and it looked like they would bolt on to the 1.4 cross member.

This is an assumption because I guess the 1.7 engine should be longer than the 1.4 and therefore the 1.7 pulled (a little) back supports would lign in on the 1.4 cross member supports...

I guess I'm trying to make an impossible thing work but I haven't been able to find a Volvo 300 1.7 on a junk yard yet...

What can you guys tell me? Thanks!

The 1.7 and 1..4 have the same supports/mounts, so there is nothing to change there! The redblock is slightly different, but I don't have any pictures I'm afraid!

The 1.7 and 1..4 have the same supports/mounts, so there is nothing to change there!

There isn't? But Adam has stated otherwise here:

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... 5ce6a49400

I don't get it...

The mounts on the car are the same, I have a 1.7T from a 480 (same block as the 1.7 (340/440) and 2.0 (440 NOT 360) engines) sat on the mounts in my 1.4 atm

You'll need sump/bellhousing/brackets from a 1.7 340 to do it though.

Thanks for the info! It's a lot easier that way... Now were will I find a sump and an oil pick up from a 1.7?... Does anybody has some to sell?

Regards!

For your info the 2ltr 8 valve lump will bolt directly in. I used one from a volvo 440. The oly slight issue with the 2ltr is the 1.7 exhaust manifold is restrictive and gets very hot. This can be overcome by fitting a exhaust manifold from a 1.8 440

Another matter:

What is the poundage of the 340 springs? and what is the free lenght they have?

I've read that the 1.7 cars have stiffer springs. What poundage have they?

Thanks!

std springs are only about 100lbs if you are going for coil overs you will need about 220 - 240 lbs with renault engine

Here are some photos of the work done this saturday.

The engine needs new crankshaft oil retainers. We replaced the front one and everything was OK.

We bled the brake system and went for a ride. The car behaved OK but when we got back the oil pressure light was lit at idle... When we checked the engine bay the engine was leaking oil by the back oil retainer... Bummer...

It's not a big problem... It's needs desperatly a new clutch so we'll replace the retainer as well...





These photos were taken during the washing part...

Does anybody have anybody the 1981 345GL Wiring Diagram?

I'm haveng some niggles on the electrics of the car. The Temperature Gauge doesn't work and I the Fuel reserve light doesn't light up...

I haven't tested the temp sender but it I shunt the two wires that connect to the sender the gauge doesn't go to the max position wich is strange...

Thanks!

PS: I should be receiving more photos of the car. When I get them I will post the here...

a couple of photos during the works...

Hey!

Last week we've dismantled a 1989 Volvo 340 1.4 for it's engine and front suspension.

This week this engine is going in the 345. There are some diferences between the engine: Water pump, ignition and some hoses... The water temp sensor is in another place.

When the original engine is out of the 345 we'll compare them thoroughly for diferences so nothing inexpected comes up during the assemblage...

Will be posting pics soon!

PS: I've been investigating the instalation of an F7P in Renault 8S. It's basicly the same procedure of the swap to the 340. Ihave one doubt, is the bolt pattern of the F7P the same as the B14?