john deere 340

i have never done a build thread before so i thought i would try piece on together for you here,

i now present to you my not very interesting volvo 340 project, the basic idea behind it was to re-live my days of being a 17 year old hooning around but with a little more skill. and the car was as cheap now as it was then 5 years ago.

we start this story around a year ago when i came across a volvo 340 for sale in rutland on RR and i basically told the guy if i got there and it started i would drive it home. which i did.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...B79AA8E709.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...A0D7B58685.jpg

i must say i drove absolutely horribly, so it suited me just fine. so i started stripping it down,

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...90B884247D.jpg

reviling this beauty where the battery once lived,

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...DE89EE79CD.jpg

so it was time to make some templates and cutting some metal,

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...F36B060D0A.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...C0EB73F79F.jpg

then chop chop

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...B7BEB6D10B.jpg

doing some certainly not weld porn on it, trying to figure out my first personal industrial welder.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...A2AC7B0BEF.jpg

the pictures are a bit hit and miss whether i actually took them at the time, so now we jump to making 2 wings into one

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...68A69D2958.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...33B89F389E.jpg

then for adding some power through badges lead to this

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...983F64BC47.jpg

it gets more interesting soon i promise, around this point i ripped the gearbox out to weld the diff so i made some solid mounts for the gearbox crossmember.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...5E0CE443E2.jpg

and i dont have a picture of them finished :D

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...B3E1B583B2.jpg

mocking up seat height for my super comfy lounge chair

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...9D5D519E90.jpg

made a rear valence out of a bit of sheet

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...661138C250.jpg

tried my paint, now when you see this guys don't expect any show car quality paint jobs this is genuine tractor enamel from ebay

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...419B13FF67.jpg

the welds got a little better

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...0A7CA93159.jpg

fitted a cheapo sill that fitted like one from a completely different car

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...2B20C58DBE.jpg

pssssssshhhhhhh

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...6075AACFA6.jpg

the ultimate 20 foot car

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...A80492653B.jpg

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you can see my seat mounts in this interior shot i braced the inner sill and trans tunnel with a bit of thick plate and the cross pieces are parts of an old road sign

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...6D6C3DB525.jpg

Nice to see Lawrence of Arabia helping out with the paint :)

Looking very interesting.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...CEDD14857F.jpg

opps, i hope you guys were not hoping for chronological order :/

i added some wings to the crossmember to push my bottom arm out 25mm and up 25mm (dont worry they got more bracing than that) this allows me to run a lower ride height and not have my bottom are go past parallel with the road surface, and also gain much needed camber so my wheels stand up straight when on lock,

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...CB3B053227.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...9BFDD78028.jpg

painted the bay with the local pound shops best paint

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...24C87AF44C.jpg

mounted my hydro for maaaaaaaaaaaddddddd skids

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...749A0D1804.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...1E8EDBD4BF.jpg

then i used the lathe i purchased to make some rack extenders as i couldnt seem to buy any with the right thread pitch

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...F4DAD81CCF.jpg

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and this is pretty much how it sits now

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...964F50721A.jpg

i have done alot more than this that i have failed to take pictures of including a short shifter among other things

i have actually confused myself with all this now so i shall fill more in when i am with the car and it all makes sense again,

until then follow this link for smokey goodness

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=3&theater

Looking good.....weldings coming along nicely, thats something I need to learn.

so what plans you got for the engine? Any swaps in the pipeline.

Very nice mate your welding looks like mine :D love the badge!

im just using this car as a practice for everything, its only staying as a drifty style car for this summer, i want to cut it all up again this winter and go drag racing, so i may try and keep the engine standard this year, maybe...

the engine i have planned in my head is a later 3.9 range rover v8 i know rover v8's dont make alot of power blah blah blah but there cheap so the plan is to use the low compression engine add a couple of turbo's have the exhausts run straight out the wings and fit some sort of standalone management. i've always wanted to go drag racing and it seems i should have more fun with some power in such a short car making it a handful at best :)