Ricky the variomatic

[classicswede]

I had been looking for another 340 for a while but had some criteria that had to be met.
1.4
5 doors
prefer no sunroof,
not white or red
solid body
cheap.

Then came along Ricky that fitted all of the above but was a Vario! I do like Autos but was looking to build a nice fast road car again so manual would have been preferred. Swapping transmission would not have been to big a job so I had some thinking to do.

This how Ricky arrived after my dad had a nice long 960mile day trip picking up a 1.7 for Bogbasic and then collecting Ricky.






Bonnet earth strap broken as usual


Body needs a very good clean


Rear wheel arch needs treating before it gets any worse


As does the door below the mirror


Front wing is a bit flakey but can be saved

[claymore]

I like, looks in very good nick

[stribo]

Different, so what have you got planned?

[classicswede]

For £200 it was hard to go wrong. There are some minor rust issues that need to be addressed. I had to replace the washer jet and refit an earth wire for the head lights to secure the MOT.

The clutch was way off adjustment and with the limited shims I had I managed to adjust to just above the top clearance limit. I need to get some more shims to reduce the clearance down to where it needs to be. The belts were very slack and took a lot of adjustment to get enough tension. The diaphrams in the primary transmission have perished and need replacing, at the moment it is running with the vacuum system not functioning. I have a complete spare primary unit ready to fit, just a case of doing it.

[classicswede]

The other week doing some "local" sight seeing



On the way to Scotland last week



and outside Sweetheart Abbey



I've put a few thousand miles on the clock in the past month or so.

[classicswede]

One of things that had been bugging me about Ricky is the soggy front springs that had gone very soft to the point that hit any little bump and its on the bumpstops. This is a very common problem on the 300 series and the can drop anything upto 4 inches from original height!

The best option was to start rebuilding a replacement set of struts (thanks madseb)

The spring cups were in a bad way and the bearing were totally past it and worn through







As I have changed to a bearing top mount that I had knocking about the cups were welded up and a thick washer welded in to strengthen them up.





There was also a fair bit of grot around the lower spring cup that had to be cleaned out and some welding to build it back up. While I was at it I decided to brace up the struts.







The bracing pieces were trimmed down for tyre clearance and everything given a goog coat of underseal. It might not look pretty but I am only interested in stopping things from rusting not winning a BKV







I will get some pictures showing Ricky sitting back at the correct ride height.

next job to complete the strut rebuild will be the brake upgrade and that is why the calipers were not done at the same time.

[V70 Graham]

Nice project thread, different to what we normally get.

[classicswede]

Future plans are to deal with all the rust issues and sort the transmission out properly. I would like to sort out gearing it up a little as 5000 RPM to do 72MPH is a bit of a joke. My thoughts are to graft a overdrive from a 740 turbo gearbox into the drive line to give a motorway high gear.

It will be built for road driving and looking close to original. I like to modify but will try and keep Ricky as close to standard look as I can deal with.

[AndysR]

Nice little project, will be checking back to see your updates

5,000 @ 70 though!!

[Biff]

A local lad had one of these that was really tatty. He put a Clio Williams engine in, relatively straight forward & 150bhp.
Tramp drifting as he put it. Lol
My dad used to have a 340. He loved it.

[classicswede]

My previous 340 was a 1.7 but I swapped to a 2ltr 460 engine. That car is what all me 300 series suspension stuff was built on and everything had to be custom made. The only think you could buy off the shelf was some soggy 40mm lowering springs.
The 300 is a very popular drift car