Volvo 360 GLS

[leeds_182]

I’ve always liked 300 series Volvos. My first was a 340 which I ended up doing a 1.8 16v Clio swap on amongst other things. I sold it and it was crashed in a tragic drift accident.



I had a couple of 940s but always fancied getting back into a 300. This time I decided to go for the 360 as it came with the b19 (not fast) but a genuine volvo engine and also the stronger prop shaft. I saw this one near Boston and went and drove it back. Here are a few pics from the day;



Check out those seats!



The car drove great on the way back - certainly not fast but a nice cruiser all the same. The following day I gave the car a good clean and a bit of a polish and wax and it came up nice.



As tidy as the car was I couldn’t deal with the ride height and also the wheels. The wheels just weren’t wide enough and looked TOO retro. I managed to find a set of weller steelies near me that we’re 7j wide.



They came from a micra and I wasn’t happy with the black paint so went for a diy refurb in silver.



I was happy with the results for £10 worth of paint so smashed them on the car.





Next up was to address the ride height. The rear of the 360 is on leaf springs so I ordered 45mm blocks from classic swede and a set of his custom front coilovers.



I also ordered the mk1 golf front lip as had that on my old 340. The fitting was quite straightforward with no major issues.





And how it sits now. I’m really happy with the look and it’s amazing how many people’s mum and dad of grandma and grandad has them in the 80s and 90s. Future plans are possibly a twin Weber conversion and then enjoy it at some shows.









And parked up with the paxo.

[dandam]

Love the wheels and the ride height, not sure about the mk1 spoiler but a cool little car.

Are you on retro rides ?

[leeds_182]

dandam said:

Love the wheels and the ride height, not sure about the mk1 spoiler but a cool little car.

Are you on retro rides ?

I’m not, that’s one forum that’s passed me by.

[hyphen]

Wheels look great, car looks in great condition.

Whats the history behind it?

[leeds_182]

Some old boy had it, he died and it sat for a while in his garage and then someone bought it (probably for £100) and recommissioned it. It’s only done 52k from new.

[0a]

The car looks great. A little low for my personal liking, but what does that matter.

You should definitely be proud of it as it is now!

I remember my dad had a 3 door in the same colour with the Renault 1.7 engine. It was reasonably quick when it worked. However due to a previous accident (that you could see the results of under the bonnet), and poor tyres, it was a totally untrustworthy handler in the wet.

I’d like to drive one now just to check though!

Edited by 0a on Saturday 29th December 23:05

[leeds_182]

It’s kind of like the early 90s in school. It was let fashionable to have big feet in my school so kids would shoe horn themselves into a shoe size down as they felt it looked better.

[M4CK 1]

I hate it when I read people being hostile about other people's cars. If you don't like move on
Mum and Dad had one of these. Never thought it was cool and was slow as fook. But looking at yours is changing my mind, although I'm not convinced about the stretch, the choice of tyres is a bit suspect, mind you if you have drifting in mind there perfect
Have you thought about an F4RT engine from a Mégane should bolt up to the gearbox, now that would give it some go

[leeds_182]

With regards to the tyres I bought them on the wheels and they were brand new. I guess it’s the Yorkshire man in me but I wants to get some wear out of them. It’s not a car for spirited driving, it gets me to work and back and looks cool (IMO of course), I’ve got the paxo for when I want to drive like a loon.

[Challo]

Old volvos just seem to look so much better once they have been lowered.

My dad bought my mum a green 3dr with the 1.7 engine. Met its demise when an electrical wire shorted on and made the car catch on fire.

[1Toomanycars]

Love this and love what you've done!

For those of us that are more open minded and less ignorant, we get it.

Bought a few of these back in the day and were always dirt cheap but easy to turn around and make a few quid on, and always drove lovely, although the 1.4's were a bit lethargic.

Different story nowadays as everyone who has a car that's over about 15 years old seem to think it commands "classic status".

As has been said, get over to the Retro Rides forum!!

[Custard400]

M4CK 1 said:

Have you thought about an F4RT engine from a Mégane should bolt up to the gearbox, now that would give it some go

The 340 he had before in the first post was f4r engined, this has got the proper Volvo engine and box with it being a 360 so no Renault bits and if the mood takes him a whole host of hot Volvo lumps will drop in.

[dontlookdown]

My Mum had exactly this model, Y reg. Same colour and interior too. I drove it all over the place and have fond memories despite the awful gearchange - rear mounted box with front mounted clutch equals way too much inertia in the shift mechanism.

The engine is classic Volvo - unburstable and good natured if pretty wheezy above 4k rpm. It was utterly reliable and a comfy and reassuring car to drive. Not a great handler although good fun drifting it in snow.

They do like to rust so watch out for that. And if the lumbar adjusters on the front seats aren't bust yet they soon will be.

Yours looks like a real time warp car, not seen one in such good nick for years and years. Look after it!

[civicduty]

Had a 440 GLT as my second car, wish I had kept it (wish I had kept most of my old cars). Would have looked good on some wide Wellers, plus I could have turbo’d it, fun times.

Enjoy the 360, lovely car, ignore the narrow minded people (do you have heated seats?)

[civicduty]

Had a 440 GLT as my second car, wish I had kept it (wish I had kept most of my old cars). Would have looked good on some wide Wellers, plus I could have turbo’d it, fun times.

Enjoy the 360, lovely car, ignore the narrow minded people (do you have heated seats?)

Edited by civicduty on Sunday 30th December 12:58

[leeds_182]

No heater seats unfortunately!

[dontlookdown]

Oh yeah heated seats! In the late 80s that was still quite something. I forgot about them.

My Mum also had a 340 with the 1.7 Renault lump. A tinny sounding and troublesome engine, the B19 Volvo unit is so much better in every single way (except maybe fuel consumption).

Although I generally prefer to see cars like this in original condition, I really like what you have done here. It is subtle but distinctive.

[DJP]

This was mine, a 1979 model, owned in the early 1990s. It was meant to be a stop-gap car, bought for cheap, but was so reliable that I ended up keeping it for 5 years. Rust eventually killed it but it was 20 years old by then.

[M4CK 1]

Custard400 said:

M4CK 1 said:

Have you thought about an F4RT engine from a Mégane should bolt up to the gearbox, now that would give it some go

The 340 he had before in the first post was f4r engined, this has got the proper Volvo engine and box with it being a 360 so no Renault bits and if the mood takes him a whole host of hot Volvo lumps will drop in.

quote=leeds_182]I’ve always liked 300 series Volvos. My first was a 340 which I ended up doing a 1.8 16v Clio swap on amongst other things. I sold it and it was crashed in a tragic drift accident.

The 1.8 16v was the f7p engine from a MK1 Clio 16v.

[Doofus]

DJP said:

This was mine, a 1979 model, owned in the early 1990s. It was meant to be a stop-gap car, bought for cheap, but was so reliable that I ended up keeping it for 5 years. Rust eventually killed it but it was 20 years old by then.

A '79 car on an '82 plate?