Quote:
Originally Posted by Laird Scooby
Holy thread revival Batman!
My experience (FWIW) from about 25 years ago when i owned a 360GLT and about 35 ish years ago when i had a 360GLT company car, the 85-86 models are better built but afterwards go downhill. On occasion i also used a 340 1.4 or a 240GL estate as a company car but not often.
The 1.4 even in manual form is vastly underpowered, thirsty, heavy steering and very prone to HGF. The 1.7 (slightly larger version of the same Renault engine) is also prone to HGF and often the liners can shift in the block rendering it either scrap or in need of specialist machine shop work to realign them and even then it's a gamble. Repeat HGF is about an 80/20 chance.
Contrary to what was said above, the rear brake shoes do wear out, had to renew them on my 360GLT and Mk2 Escort items are the same.
The B19E (as it was in my 360) or B200E (86/87 on) are the better engines to go for, especially if you're not considering any sort of engine upgrade. They not only have better performance as standard than the 1.4/1.7 but are much less stressed so will last longer. They're also not inherently prone to HGF like almost all Renault engines of the time were.
Many of the steering components (manual not PAS) were also shared with the Mk2 Escort so a lot of things are cheap and easy to find.
If i was looking for one now i'd go for the saloon 2.0, either GLE injection or GLT spec, some GLE models had carbs so weren't quite so lively and then there was the manual choke which if you've never used one can be a pain. Second choice would be the hatchback but the saloon will be quieter and the bodyshell stiffer.
Good luck in your search, better to wait a while and view several to make sure you have the best one for your needs.
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Very good advice there Dave! It took me a while to get used to starting the engine when warm (not hot but warm) on my 1984 carb 360 but I learnt that it needed no choke just a slightly open throttle and away it would go.