Hi, I'm Dan. If some of this doesnt make so much sense its copy+pasted from the thread i put up on Pistonheads, it should make sense but apologies if it doesnt 
I've owned various rubbish/semi interesting cars over the few years I've been driving.
My third car was a 1989 Volvo 340! It was awesome, had 40K Miles on the clock, two previous owners and was brilliant.
I sold it after a few months because i wanted to tinker with/modify it and i couldn't bring myself to do it to such a clean example, I'm glad i sold it for that reason but very much sad i don't own it now still!
I then owned various other cars over the last 3 or so years, nothing greatly noteworthy, a E46 328i Coupe, a Mk4 Escort Xr3, Two V6 Ford Cougars, An Mk1 MX-55 (Didnt like it, sorry PH!) And many other cheap cars to run about in.
Ever since owning that first 340 i've always had a keen eye on them on eBay and other sites, i came across one 10 minutes away from me in Bath, fresh new auction with 0 bids an no pictures, but described as a one owner car with low miles, I thought it's worth a look since it's so close and the advert probably put a few people off.
Went over to look, very nice chap selling it on behalf of his Father who'd past away a few years ago and wanted his garage back. Said he'd take £500 for it. Deal was done there and then, i went away and came back to pick it up, took it straight to work and it was sat in the yard for a few days while it got an MOT put on it and i taxed it.
26K Miles from new, one owner, lived it's whole life in Bath, GLE spec, top of the range, sunroof, heated leather, electric windows, central locking, the works
Pictures of when i got it back to the yard
After a week it was taxed, MOT'd and Serviced, took my trusty VW Bora workhorse off the road to put up for sale and starting using the Volvo daily
After about 2/3 weeks of using it every day i noticed a few things, it was rather bad on fuel compared to the old one and when i went round roundabouts or corners and got any sort of body-roll (Which is easy to do in these old boats) it would starve on fuel, after a bit of searching and research it would indicate the carb floats need replacing, not uncommon for them to wear out over time and absorb fuel.
So i decided to order some and get around to sorting it myself, how hard can it be?....
I took the car into work so i could use the workshop one Saturday, stripped it down and replaced the floats. Tip of the iceberg doesn't cover it First mistake i made was no just checking the carb over instead of replacing the floats, thinking 'job done' and bolting the curse word back on.
Got it back together and it ran like curse word, spent a few hours working it out and realised I'm an idiot, and there was now a huge air leak coming from the base... curse word. Common problem again with the Solex Z10 carbs, the bases warp due to over-tightened bolts. So i made the decision to strip it down myself and give it a bash..
I got the carb into bits, went ahead flatting the base out using wetted sandpaper taped to a flat metal surface, moving the carb in circular motions, behing ally it slowly flattened the base out.
Starting:
Better:
Better again:
Sorted:
Brilliant, right? The base was sorted and i was chuffed, i'd done it, all by myself! What i did next was an abortion. I put the carb back together in what i thought was the proper fashion, bolted it back on the car and it worked! For a day or so.
Then i spent a week or two diagnosing the million problems i'd caused, choke being terrible/not working, idle being iffy, overfueling etc etc.
I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasnt working!
I sought more help on the Volvo 340 forums, a chap on there by the name of Mac is a genius with the Solex Z10 and had written many a guide regarding it.
I sent Mac a PM asking him if he fancied taking a look at it if/when he had the time spare if i had it courier'd up to him, he said he'd be happy to, couldn't promise it would be quick but that was fine by me, having somebody such as him take a look and tell me what i went wrong with would be great and i could get it back on the road!
So Monday this week i packed the Carb up and sent it up to Mac, leaving my poor Volvo sat on my drive feeling sad!
Come Tuesday evening i had a reply: (PM copied from the Volvo forums edited as need be)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evening Dan,
Carb arrived today (no "from" or return address but I presume it's from you)
Not sure if you expected this - but here goes ---------
Initial examination shows a moderately clean carburettor but with the following noted defects,
1. Float chamber vent incorrectly adjusted (with a closed throttle the vent should be open by 3mm.
2. The base insulation block is cracked through (giving an air leak) and has been fitted without a gasket (only what seems to be Blue Hylomar). The secondary (thin) insulation block is not present.
3. The primary venturi throttle plate sticks partially open,
Dismantling revealed the further issues,
4. The choke cam tensioning spring is damaged,
5. The choke cam preload sprung ball is missing,
6. The float height is grossly maladjusted (abuts the roof of the float chamber before sealing needle valve (would cause gross over fueling)
7. Primary throttle shaft nut non standard.
8. Accelerator pump bleed off vent loose in housing,
9. Primary throttle plate screws loose,
10. Idle mixture CO% adjustment screw - missing - simply not fitted!
11. In-service upgrade never carried out on this carb (changes to float chamber venting, fitting dual spray Acc.pump jet, sealing pump vent).
I've fully dismantled the unit and passed all parts through my cleaning tank,
I have found replacements for the damaged and missing parts from my stock,
I shall carry out the rebuild over the next day or so and we can see what difference it all makes.
Could you let me have your postal name and address for returning.
Hope this makes interesting reading - best regards - Mac.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not thank him enough, what a brilliant bloke! I was shocked at my own mistakes but i guess that's what happens when you jump in with very limited knowledge on something, i don't regret it however, you learn as you go and I'm glad i attempted it.
Onto today, i get home from work to another message on the forums:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Dan,
Assembly completed today, missing parts replaced,
Float needle valve found to be a 1.6 - should be a 1.8 - correct 1.8 fitted.
Carried out service upgrade and fitted dual spray accelerator pump jet, sealed pump chamber vent and fitted a ZY185 primary air emulsion tube.
Using a gauge to set the float height,
I have correctly adjusted the pneumatic choke pull off servo and set the choke cam clearance to 2.0mm on closed throttle.
The (replaced) idle mixture screw has been set to a basic "fully in and 2 turns out".
I have supplied new gaskets, both insulation plates, and a carb top to sit cleaner housing gasket.
I have also provided the correct foam seals for the securing bolt heads in the carb top.
The finished item,
When fitting the carb make sure the CC breather restrictor is still in place in the pipe between the carb and the "T" piece (replacement sent with carb). If the restrictor is missing you will need to make one - simple plastic plug in pipe with a 1.0mm hole drilled through it (limits the amount of unmetered air the carb can draw from the crankcase.
If you have access to a CO% meter set the idle CO to 1.0 - 1.5% @ 900rpm - if you don't, with a warm engine set the idle to about 500rpm and use the idle CO screw to obtain the fastest, smoothest idle you can - reset the idle speed to 850-900rpm.
Carb will be collected by TNT tomorrow for delivery to you Monday.
Let me know how you get on.
Mac.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheered me up hugely, a genuinely brilliant human being. I'm very much excited to get it back and get it fitted when time permits.
I really cannot say enough to thank Mac, he's a brilliant person over on the 340 forums and always helps people out whether it be guides or going to what i consider to be a lot of effort for somebody like myself who he's never actually met!
Regardless of what he says, when i get his paypal he'll be receiving more than just the courier cost for his time and effort! And I'm very happy to see people like this are still about and are giving that sort of support to cars they enjoy driving, i would've lost all faith and energy and sold it otherwise more than likely and then who knows where it have ended up.
I plan to keep this thread updated as i go, my immediate plans for the future are get the carb back on and get it running well again, then continue to enjoy it daily and waft around in retro leathery goodness In the future the plans are to maintain it and keep it original.
If you've made it this far i congratulate you, it's a lot of text for an old box of sweedish metal, but i like it and that's what counts.
Dan.
I've owned various rubbish/semi interesting cars over the few years I've been driving.
My third car was a 1989 Volvo 340! It was awesome, had 40K Miles on the clock, two previous owners and was brilliant.
I sold it after a few months because i wanted to tinker with/modify it and i couldn't bring myself to do it to such a clean example, I'm glad i sold it for that reason but very much sad i don't own it now still!
I then owned various other cars over the last 3 or so years, nothing greatly noteworthy, a E46 328i Coupe, a Mk4 Escort Xr3, Two V6 Ford Cougars, An Mk1 MX-55 (Didnt like it, sorry PH!) And many other cheap cars to run about in.
Ever since owning that first 340 i've always had a keen eye on them on eBay and other sites, i came across one 10 minutes away from me in Bath, fresh new auction with 0 bids an no pictures, but described as a one owner car with low miles, I thought it's worth a look since it's so close and the advert probably put a few people off.
Went over to look, very nice chap selling it on behalf of his Father who'd past away a few years ago and wanted his garage back. Said he'd take £500 for it. Deal was done there and then, i went away and came back to pick it up, took it straight to work and it was sat in the yard for a few days while it got an MOT put on it and i taxed it.
26K Miles from new, one owner, lived it's whole life in Bath, GLE spec, top of the range, sunroof, heated leather, electric windows, central locking, the works
Pictures of when i got it back to the yard
After a week it was taxed, MOT'd and Serviced, took my trusty VW Bora workhorse off the road to put up for sale and starting using the Volvo daily
After about 2/3 weeks of using it every day i noticed a few things, it was rather bad on fuel compared to the old one and when i went round roundabouts or corners and got any sort of body-roll (Which is easy to do in these old boats) it would starve on fuel, after a bit of searching and research it would indicate the carb floats need replacing, not uncommon for them to wear out over time and absorb fuel.
So i decided to order some and get around to sorting it myself, how hard can it be?....
I took the car into work so i could use the workshop one Saturday, stripped it down and replaced the floats. Tip of the iceberg doesn't cover it First mistake i made was no just checking the carb over instead of replacing the floats, thinking 'job done' and bolting the curse word back on.
Got it back together and it ran like curse word, spent a few hours working it out and realised I'm an idiot, and there was now a huge air leak coming from the base... curse word. Common problem again with the Solex Z10 carbs, the bases warp due to over-tightened bolts. So i made the decision to strip it down myself and give it a bash..
I got the carb into bits, went ahead flatting the base out using wetted sandpaper taped to a flat metal surface, moving the carb in circular motions, behing ally it slowly flattened the base out.
Starting:
Better:
Better again:
Sorted:
Brilliant, right? The base was sorted and i was chuffed, i'd done it, all by myself! What i did next was an abortion. I put the carb back together in what i thought was the proper fashion, bolted it back on the car and it worked! For a day or so.
Then i spent a week or two diagnosing the million problems i'd caused, choke being terrible/not working, idle being iffy, overfueling etc etc.
I got frustrated in general with the car, decided to try and sell it, then decided that was a mistake and i liked the car i was just arsed off it wasnt working!
I sought more help on the Volvo 340 forums, a chap on there by the name of Mac is a genius with the Solex Z10 and had written many a guide regarding it.
I sent Mac a PM asking him if he fancied taking a look at it if/when he had the time spare if i had it courier'd up to him, he said he'd be happy to, couldn't promise it would be quick but that was fine by me, having somebody such as him take a look and tell me what i went wrong with would be great and i could get it back on the road!
So Monday this week i packed the Carb up and sent it up to Mac, leaving my poor Volvo sat on my drive feeling sad!
Come Tuesday evening i had a reply: (PM copied from the Volvo forums edited as need be)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evening Dan,
Carb arrived today (no "from" or return address but I presume it's from you)
Not sure if you expected this - but here goes ---------
Initial examination shows a moderately clean carburettor but with the following noted defects,
1. Float chamber vent incorrectly adjusted (with a closed throttle the vent should be open by 3mm.
2. The base insulation block is cracked through (giving an air leak) and has been fitted without a gasket (only what seems to be Blue Hylomar). The secondary (thin) insulation block is not present.
3. The primary venturi throttle plate sticks partially open,
Dismantling revealed the further issues,
4. The choke cam tensioning spring is damaged,
5. The choke cam preload sprung ball is missing,
6. The float height is grossly maladjusted (abuts the roof of the float chamber before sealing needle valve (would cause gross over fueling)
7. Primary throttle shaft nut non standard.
8. Accelerator pump bleed off vent loose in housing,
9. Primary throttle plate screws loose,
10. Idle mixture CO% adjustment screw - missing - simply not fitted!
11. In-service upgrade never carried out on this carb (changes to float chamber venting, fitting dual spray Acc.pump jet, sealing pump vent).
I've fully dismantled the unit and passed all parts through my cleaning tank,
I have found replacements for the damaged and missing parts from my stock,
I shall carry out the rebuild over the next day or so and we can see what difference it all makes.
Could you let me have your postal name and address for returning.
Hope this makes interesting reading - best regards - Mac.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Could not thank him enough, what a brilliant bloke! I was shocked at my own mistakes but i guess that's what happens when you jump in with very limited knowledge on something, i don't regret it however, you learn as you go and I'm glad i attempted it.
Onto today, i get home from work to another message on the forums:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Dan,
Assembly completed today, missing parts replaced,
Float needle valve found to be a 1.6 - should be a 1.8 - correct 1.8 fitted.
Carried out service upgrade and fitted dual spray accelerator pump jet, sealed pump chamber vent and fitted a ZY185 primary air emulsion tube.
Using a gauge to set the float height,
I have correctly adjusted the pneumatic choke pull off servo and set the choke cam clearance to 2.0mm on closed throttle.
The (replaced) idle mixture screw has been set to a basic "fully in and 2 turns out".
I have supplied new gaskets, both insulation plates, and a carb top to sit cleaner housing gasket.
I have also provided the correct foam seals for the securing bolt heads in the carb top.
The finished item,
When fitting the carb make sure the CC breather restrictor is still in place in the pipe between the carb and the "T" piece (replacement sent with carb). If the restrictor is missing you will need to make one - simple plastic plug in pipe with a 1.0mm hole drilled through it (limits the amount of unmetered air the carb can draw from the crankcase.
If you have access to a CO% meter set the idle CO to 1.0 - 1.5% @ 900rpm - if you don't, with a warm engine set the idle to about 500rpm and use the idle CO screw to obtain the fastest, smoothest idle you can - reset the idle speed to 850-900rpm.
Carb will be collected by TNT tomorrow for delivery to you Monday.
Let me know how you get on.
Mac.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheered me up hugely, a genuinely brilliant human being. I'm very much excited to get it back and get it fitted when time permits.
I really cannot say enough to thank Mac, he's a brilliant person over on the 340 forums and always helps people out whether it be guides or going to what i consider to be a lot of effort for somebody like myself who he's never actually met!
Regardless of what he says, when i get his paypal he'll be receiving more than just the courier cost for his time and effort! And I'm very happy to see people like this are still about and are giving that sort of support to cars they enjoy driving, i would've lost all faith and energy and sold it otherwise more than likely and then who knows where it have ended up.
I plan to keep this thread updated as i go, my immediate plans for the future are get the carb back on and get it running well again, then continue to enjoy it daily and waft around in retro leathery goodness
In the future the plans are to maintain it and keep it original.If you've made it this far i congratulate you, it's a lot of text for an old box of sweedish metal, but i like it and that's what counts.
Dan.
I can pretend!
It's not faded red, it's actually pink, and it had no front wheels 
