Volvo 340

[arceye]

Ok, I've put it here as I'm not sure it fits in the other catergories Just thinking out loud after a daft conversation with my lad.....

If someone had a cheapo £80 Volvo 340 and a spare Rover V8 engine could they be made to match up?
Could the engine be fitted to the Volvo's bell housing in someway in order to utilise the transaxle type set up, or would it have to be V8 engine and box + a different axle. I know the clio 172 engine would be much easier, but the said someone doesn't happen to have easy access to one of those, and well, it doesn't have the V8's sound.

Anyways... just wondering, me thinks we need a whistling innocent smiley to go here please Terry

[JPB]

This could work, but o/e Volvo (Kevlar reinforced) transmission belts would probably be a bit feeble with the V8's torque so you'd need to spend a fair chunk of money on a pair of the steel reinforced belts and - as I found with F163JGT - they make the car so noisy that when you pull away from a cold start, the interior of the 340 gives a good impression of what it must be like to take a ride in a tumble drier!
That said, if you do build such an animal, the characteristics of the Van Doorne transmission would make a blisteringly rapid projectile of the 340. Mine had its original, bog-stock 1400cc Renault OHV engine and could outdrag Audi TTs along the standing quarter.

I believe the advice here should be "sook it & see!"

[arceye]

Cheers John, this 340 I think has a "normal" gearbox bolted to the diff ( should have been clearer shouldn't I ) Its the 1.7 renault engine powered beast of '88 vintage.

Just seems like a weird project I could get involved in with my lad who wants to build something daft and possibly take it to the sprints for a giggle.

[JPB]

Ah right, I'd forgotten that they built some with manual 'boxes.

You may be best off sourcing the propshaft and gearbox from a 360, I believe that they were stronger and that the front prop bearing on the 360s didn't share the 340's habit of falling off and digging into the road as you travel.
V3M is the place where all of the specialist knowledge of the cars is found, my old mate Richard "Mac" Plaxton posts there and has probably fathomed out more solutions to V340/360 problems than most, plus he has a contact in the middle of the country, just north of Stirling, who has a vast collection of 340s including the Diesels - in various states of disassembly - which may yield some tougher bits that would help in transplant operations.

A quick trawl of the interwebs has thrown up a few of these cars to which the PRV V6 has been fitted and if that big old (90 degree) lump of mixed scrap will go in there, then at least you'll be OK for width in which to plonk a V8.

Make it happen, please!

[arceye]

Cheers John, yes, the prop is the weakest link in the transmission but that should be possible to get round, perhaps with the 360 one as you say, and if need be with the 360 gearbox. I believe there are clio 172 powered variants out there, and I'm also led to believe they are running the standard transmission as its supposedly pretty much a straight swap engine wise (wheres the fun in that ) so am hoping the rest can stand the pain.

Cheers for the pointer to V3M, I've book marked it and will get a good look later,

and yes, I think it will be a case of suck it and see but would be a long term project anyway, as to it happening, if I can get my lad to keep his head in one place for above five minutes it stands a chance only trouble being he's still at that age where seeing it all through to the end often doesn't happen, but if it is started I'll do my best to make sure it's taken to completion.

[rich.]

have you considered an rx7 engine?

[arceye]

Nah Rich, it just doesn't have the same noise, there is just something about that V8 roar