as title i have a 1.4 340 gl and im bored and skint but i wanna make my car faster any ideas how i could ????

put a 16valve renner in it.


Or only drive downhill.

A difficult task if you have a tight budget...

The Volvo 300 is a heavy car so you need displacement to move it around faster. The 1.4 engine isn't up to the task.

The only way to make the 1.4 faster is making it more efficient.
Bigger carbs and a more un-restricted exhaust work but aren't enough to make the car faster.

You can port and polish the head and fit bigger valves but for that money you can consider changing the head for a hemispheric arrengement. These heads are found in the Renault 8 Gordini and the Renault 5 Alpine or Alpine Turbo.
In these cars the 1.4 engine putted out between 90 to 110 bhp.

But we're talking big money here. The most cheap solution is an complete engine swap:

You can fit a 1.7 engine from other volvos 340.
Or you can do best. Get some parts of the Volvo 340 1.7 and use them to fit a Renault F7P 16V engine from the Renault Clio or 19. You'll get 136bhp as standard.

Make a search on this forum for more info...

well i have twin choke weber carbs on it and im hopefully getting a new exaust system soon but hmmm so best i change the engine but im not THAT mechanically minded so which engine would be cheapest if i were to get one i heard of a mate thats selling a 1600 pinto for like £90 would that work with my car if so is it a straight or simple swap??

Renault F7P 16V engine from the Renault Clio or 19. You'll get 136bhp as standard.

^^^^^^ as the man says dude. Thats your best bet.
Youll need a 1.7 bellhousing, clutch, pipes, engine mounts etc for the conversion too, so its not exactly cheap.
But its the best road to more powers.

Pintos no good to you at all im afraid.

dub loon wrote:well i have twin choke weber carbs on it and im hopefully getting a new exaust system soon but hmmm so best i change the engine but im not THAT mechanically minded so which engine would be cheapest if i were to get one i heard of a mate thats selling a 1600 pinto for like £90 would that work with my car if so is it a straight or simple swap??

Pinto and other ford engines dont fit volvo...

jpv wrote:A difficult task if you have a tight budget...

The Volvo 300 is a heavy car so you need displacement to move it around faster. The 1.4 engine isn't up to the task.

The only way to make the 1.4 faster is making it more efficient.
Bigger carbs and a more un-restricted exhaust work but aren't enough to make the car faster.

So how can they 'work' and not make the car faster? True the different is small, cam changes and bigger valves, and gas flowing the head are standard tuning methods, but not a lot of space in the head of these for that.

In my younger days I simply put on straight through exhaust, and the sound was enough for me, it certainly sounds fast when reved. The remainder of enjoyment came from suspension upgrades, you'll be embarrassed at the lights if you try to take on fast cars, but you can still enjoy the car.

If you really want 'fast' you need to start with a faster car like a 360.

Ride_on wrote:If you really want 'fast' you need to start with a faster car like a 360.

Too late. He has a 340 1.4... We're talking about tuning a 340 1.4 not a 360...

jpv wrote:

Ride_on wrote:If you really want 'fast' you need to start with a faster car like a 360.

Too late. He has a 340 1.4... We're talking about tuning a 340 1.4 not a 360...

Then we come back round to an engine change really.

Its the most cost effective power increasing measure available really.
If you can find the conversion parts, and can afford the new engine.

I think the easiest swap has to be a Renault 16v on carbs or using the original Renault ECU

making a NA b14 faster is VERY expensive, 4000 euro's will put you at a 110/120bhp engine with a lovely setup; if you're going turbo (c1j engine from renault 5gtt) you can get the same power for that kind of money with a fully refurbished engine, throw in a couple of thousand euro's extra (like me ) and that engine WILL produce slightly over 200bhp with not too many dramatic changes

throw in a couple of thousand euro's multiplyed by 2 and you can convert the gtt engine with renault 5 alpine head + pistons, create a custom injection system, proper intake and exhaust manifold + a bigger turbo (t3) and 350bhp is possible, seen that on a few french renault 5 gtt's.

for the last bit i have a alpine turbo engine lying around but i don't know if i can start on that on a short notice. still doubting between a max tuned alpine 1.4 turbo for a 340 or a tuned redblock 2.3 turbo in a 360 for a next project..

however you look at it going from 1.4 to a renault 16v is allways easyer/cheaper, especially on rhd cars. sorting out the conversion parts might be a headache but in the end it's the easyest as said above

Why not put good suspension and brakes on (i.e. ovrhaul whats already there) and go with not so great tyres. Huge amounts of fun, hardly ever fast enough to break the speed limit

yeah im gonna do the exhaust system already got bmw 3 series brakes and suspension is in the pipeline at present and i do defo have shit tyres lol but re the engine ive just made a right mint just got another 340 1.4 3door (ok condition)for £100 off a guy at my dads work lol so either that'll be a engine project or spares not too sure just gotta see how it goes lol will get some pics up of my "beasts" lol soon