343 Want to play with the big bricks

[Halvar]

Soo, where to start..

I bought a lil 343 this summer, low mileage, pretty much no tyst to speak of.
I also got sick of my 940 around the same time with a built engine, megasquirt, torsen differential and so on

One thing med to another, and now im swapping everything out for big boy toys.
Engine, subframe, front suspension, gearbox, rear axle and suspension.. yup, everything
I also went for a longer wheelbase and moved the engine further back.

It will be ridiciously wide, weight close to nothing and run ~400whp

So, lets look at some photos from the last 6 months

The day i bought it

And a day or so after

Nothing but a shell

Making some room for all the goodies

Rear axle in place, decided to go 4 link tho, but you can see how wide it will be

Modded 940 subframe to fit 340 beams

Fun stuff making its way down the nugget

240 strut mounts will fit stock Tower great

Firewall and trans tunnel in the making

And thats how far i have gotten to this date, hope you will find interest in this stupid project

 

[Swedbrick]

Nice saw your post on the 300 mania page, what turbo is that?

 

[Halvar]

Nice saw your post on the 300 mania page, what turbo is that?

It's a Holser HY35W, pretty much ha HX35 with a little smaller turbine housing for spool

Should be plenty to start out with.

But i must install a small turbo like 15t first, im gonna register it as a modified vehicle, and the power limit is 15kw/100kg.
Worth the hustle do be able to drive it legally tho

 

[DaleGribble]

Dude bro guy, this 343 is certified BADASS. Please post more updates as I'd love to see them. This is real bolbo work right here

 

[RAPTOR479]

Always love seeing big power 340s, crazy seeing how much space the transmission takes up in the front since these little guys usually have the transaxle setup or the weird early DAF CVT

 

[Halvar]

Dude bro guy, this 343 is certified BADASS. Please post more updates as I'd love to see them. This is real bolbo work right here.

Much appreciated ill keep yo up to spec!
My main goal is when people see it, their first thought should be "holy fuck, thats unnecessary"

Winter months will be a little slower, the garage is unisolated and i just became a father for the 3rd time.

Oh yeah, i forgot one thing.
I got this for my birthday from a friend, glad i got support from my surroundings

 

[Halvar]

Always love seeing big power 340s, crazy seeing how much space the transmission takes up in the front since these little guys usually have the transaxle setup or the weird early DAF CVT

Well, i did move the engine back quite far for better balance, so i really made the space issue worse

But yeah, m90 and no small trans, and 340 ain't spacious!

 

[Halvar]

Trans bracket and mount welded up and test fitted, might have to redesign some later on for exhaust clearance, but it will do for now

 

[nordmaschine]

Following. I have a 364 that I was thinking od using as a donor when a 343 chassis comes up, but this approach makes more sense, I have more than enough dead 95+ 940's in my backyard anyway.

Just need to find a 343 body, I guess...

 

[Halvar]

Following. I have a 364 that I was thinking od using as a donor when a 343 chassis comes up, but this approach makes more sense, I have more than enough dead 95+ 940's in my backyard anyway.

Just need to find a 343 body, I guess...

Well, the 360 route is way easier, my way is wackier

If you are willing to put in the work and are decent with the welder, go for it

 

[nordmaschine]

Thing I'm not good with is time. Especially since I've got 10-ish project cars and 50-ish cars in general already... Which should tell you enough how sane I am, lol.


Your approach actually makes more sense anyway, since torque tube/driveshaft thingies are all dead for decades now, and have died at stock power levels, M47 are, at any power level that makes sense when putting all that work, granade waiting to happen, and stock 360 diffs are one tyre fore deals anyway, so M90 in the front and 1041, or even a E39 IRS (because they're everywhere and obtainable with just a prybar since the rest of an E39 is usually rotten into oblivion) + a sensible driveshaft without a wrapper are a logical way to go.

 

[Halvar]

Removed the last bits and pieces and flipped her over, lets get grinding
Thankfully she's in good shape in the rust department so no big repairs needed

 

[Halvar]

Busy day! Test fitted suspension with the old 940 damper and spring, just to see how off it would be.. And as suspected it was high as a kite
Also, it gives a nice perspective on how wide it will be.
This is just stock steelies

The strut tower was a tad to small, especially with the angle the leg will be in, so i took to the grinder!
Will make some reinforcements while in at it..

Other than that, the control arm pushed against the beams underneath the car so i will have to shorten them a few centimeters. Thinking about making some tubular adjustable controlarms if i gonna mod them anyway

Ended it all with some good ol' grinding, its gonna take a while to get it 100% clean

 

[Halvar]

Done some more grinding, sooo glad its "rust free"
People who restore rusty cars must be some kind of superheroes, what i do is nothing in comparison and i hate every second lol

Also welded the trans tunnel in place for good

My daughter, and who loves cars and to skid around in the snow with the family car turns 4 on Sunday.
Of course dad got her a vehicle of her own, pimped with almost 400 pink stickers for the right look ofc

Soundcheck:

 

[Halvar]

Sorry for the lack of updates, not that fun showing grinding process, and morale is pretty low cus i hate this part so i'm not working very effective..

Anyhow, got a wheel well done and started fixing some of that nasty rust behind the front bumper, at least its something

 

[Halvar]

The updates have been absent lately, sorry about that! I've had a bit of a motivation drop, and most of my salary has gone to savings for vacation plans.

Anyway, today I actually got some things done!
Welded a plate in the front wheel well to prevent future rust in the front, applied some underbody coating in the wheel well. I need to add a reinforcement between the beam and the strut tower before I can finish.

I started grinding the rear half and decided to tear out the floor. Since I'm going to rebuild for a aftermarket fuel tank anyway, I might as well do it from the ground up.. I also got to skip some scraping as a bonus