Jump to content

ABC, it's easy as 345... VOLVO CONTENT


cms206

Recommended Posts

So, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, it appears I've landed myself with a 1983 Volvo 345DL. A bit scabby but initial inspection reveals two bits of rust which are upsetting - one hole at the base of the offside B pillar and a small bleb in the door shut of the nearside rear door. Other issues include a broken door hinge, torn drivers seat base, very stiff gear selection and binding brakes. That said it has been sitting in a garage since 1997 so it has been off the road longer than it's been on it.

 

Mechanically it's a 68k mile mingebag 1.4DL with 4-speed manual transmission and it was supplied new by Westfield Volvo of Greenock on March 17th 1983.

 

It's been resident of a garage in Pollokshields since February 1997 when it was parked up. My neighbour who works in a local car breakers gave me the nod about it and negotiations took place, ultimately resulting in me being sent a photo of it sat outside my house this morning. It seems a pretty original old crate if giffered up and fingers crossed the sodding thing'll run again.

 

To recap on earlier, some shit phone pics to follow. My phone pics are about 8GB or something stupid so I'll keep those to a minimum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done that man.

What's the plans? get it running, bung it in for an MOT then make a start on the 4 page failure sheet?

More or less, yeah; will see how badly it fails and go from there. Sure it'll be fine* though.

It's the 1.4 renner.

They're slow but unkillable. And highly reliable.

Andy, I have some front floor trays and a HBOL if you like free things.

I love free things. You are easily my favourite Barry.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice, I rather like that, nice shade of blue!

It looks ok, just a bit dirty and worn. Get it an mot and drive it as is!

 

What's the tide mark hiding though? Is it cover sills for mot repair or giffer style rust preventative painting?

Mine was starting to go around the rear jacking points, and the chassis legs where they curve up over the rear axle. Caught it in time though before it rotted through and waxoyled the hell out of it.

 

I've never driven a 1.4, only the 1.7 and 2.0 versions, they seem a bit 'hefty' for such a small engine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sure it would come up amazingly well with a proper buffer for polishing. 

 

They weren't bad cars.  I had one and was amazed at how you could just drive over poor roads without feeling a thing.  Mine was yellow, and I had a friends who had a yellow one too.  Mine really was a bit rusty, edgy as they used to say.  We went to a specialist to get some parts and he looked at mine rather sadly, shook his head and said:

 

'them yella ones were never any good'.

 

I'm sorry but this story has stayed with me for 20 years!

 

I was tempted by a 5 speed conversion as it didn't look hard.

 

Well done and good luck.  I know where there is a Haynes manual, if you want it I can get it to you for post cost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...