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that moment you go to price a job and come home with another beetle.... so the midnight bug is most definitely up for sale now!

While Hannah and I were having a coffee yesterday morning we got out some old brochures for a read. I had bought this one from England ages ago as a bit of 'inspiration' while taking on the worst of the rust. I thought I would share the virtues of the mighty Viva HB Estate 'Space curve styling continues'.... 'Note the smooth, sleek line of the rear of the Estate with its fast-back tailgate'.... 'An exterior rear view mirror on the drivers side is regular equipment for all models'.... So many features... (btw..my Estate is a '90 de Luxe' model from which someone in the past has stolen its mighty 70bhp engine from) For those who want to win at the pub quizz when they ask about the specifications of a Viva HB Estate... Now I need to find a Triumph mk1 Estate brochure for Hannah so she can stay motivated on her quest to restore her rusty wagon!

So as mentioned in the discussion I made it to the wof garage with no major issues. I have learned to ignore the temp gauge.. it tells lies. Maybe wrong sender for the cluster I'm using that's the old one from Viva one. The fuel gauge ain't working. The alternator light randomly comes on ..I suspect a bad earth. The speedo cable has now snapped at the other end ! But I made it and it was in good hands.. After wowing the tester as he's never seen an HB wagon before I walked off to do some shopping. I was hungry as and had a nice pie while I waited for the result. Whilst going shopping I spotted this.. I chatted to the owner, an old boy who's very proud of his Viva. He actually has a Datsun engine with a 5 speed box, fitted by the fella doing my wof. Finished shopping, walked back to the garage. Car was moved inside... Did it pass???? It did! Yes One of my sidelight bulbs was out. I'd known about it but forgot. He chucked another bulb in and passed it! (I have to fix the speedo asap which I will do so tonight). Yay!!!! Straight to the post office for some rego. So I drove home happy, checked the ignition timing with a mates light and it was indeed probably 10-15 degrees to advanced! Its also running lean but damned if I can move the jet down. Might put a slightly smaller O ring in that wont jam up. Got home. Took photo of this... Hung these in place... and sat back for one of these... A very, very happy man I am ! So speedo cable to sort then tune the engine. Change the oil. Get radiator leak soldered. Then in between driving I want to sort out the boot floor with some plywood and make it all flat ready for bikes etc.

Hey everyone exciting times are ahead. After about 3 years of work, the old tina goes in for wof next week. I have been busy getting it ready, i have installed new seatbelts and stalks which add to the 4 star safety rating. I had a bit of trouble tuning the engine as i couldnt get it to run well but after weeks of google and buying a clear spark plug tuning thing it turned out to be a pipe on the intake manifold that needed to be blocked. Now it runs like a dream(well maybe a slight pop here and there) but better than no go. Drove it down the road the other day and it was awesome. Its a amazing feeling to finally drive it after so much time looking at it and working on it for this end goal. By the way i want to thank the peps on here for there help and even just random comments with inspiring words of wisdom. Heres the pics. I also would like to get me hands on a oldschool.co.nz sticker if i can. Let me now how i can get one on my disscussion page or pm me. Man the desktop computer did this post in 10mins compared to the tablet.Hail the old technology. cheers Cam

Woah mate. That's a very very very bad idea. The whole idea of a coil is for power in on the + side and a TIMED earthing on the - side. The test I described is only a way to check the coil is making a spark and not how it should be connected when it's in the car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All you will achieve with a full time earth on ether side is a fried coil or a wiring fire in the engine bay or under the dash. I think you need to start from the beginning. Hock up everything as it should be then test each stage in turn. You know the coil is capable of creating spark and you are seeing voltage drops at the coil so a signal of some sort from the distributor/ignitor is getting that far. Weather that signal is good enough to create a spark is another matter. Connect a spark plug to the coil and see if you're getting spark. If yes then it's all about timing, firing orders and HT parts to get it running. If no then there's a problem with the wiring, ignitor or sensor in the distributor. (this is where the checking each wire and component starts) With the dissy disconnected you should see 6v ish in the on position and 12v ish when cranking at the positive terminal on the coil. If the voltages are low start checking for broken wires or poor connections in those wires between the coil, ballast and ign switch. Once the basic power supplies are checked and repaired move on to the sensor and ignitor. Start by tracing and checking the wires between each bit and it's earthing. When you are sure all those connections and wires are good the easiest way to check the sensor and ignitor is by replacement or take them to a sparky and get them checked on an oscilloscope. There's any number of Oldschoolers here that can help with ether option if you ask. This strategy should get you going with as little drama as possible.

As sure as the Tararuas gets higher than Manu above the Foxton plains

I bless the rains down in Otaki

yeah cool. interesting to see the machine, i cant help but think of this

So I've been reading up about lowriders. Apparently wrapping the frame is common, not quite sure I'm on the same page though: Just kidding obviously, however the frame is now covered ready for the underseal to be done on the weekend. So far so good with the progress. All going to plan I'll be starting on the airbag install next week! Tell me how lame my dad jokes are here: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/53628-bens-61-belair-talky-talk/page-3#entry1773980

Putting the wife through fertility treatment so money has been tighter than usual but managing to do cheap shit occasionally. I removed the bent grille in top center of the dash (is it for a single speaker?) Sent some bits off for gold zinc plating Drilled some holes in my fuel tank mounting frame as it's way too sturdy/heavy. Will get this gold zinc plated too Also did some trading and bought some fiberglass front guards (need to get these north from invers somehow!) And also a fiberglass nosecone that was made locally.

SO A while agi, I mentioned I jammed some white walls into the tires on this thing, using the white walling machine at work. Was my first time, was fun but took me forever. Anyway. Heres some pic of how it does some shit Basicly has a grinder, with a alloy Disc on it with sand paper glued on the outside, Once you have lowered the car tire onto the roller on the bottom, you find where you want to run it, and cut a small line into the side wall, not very deep or anything crazy, just to give the paint something good to key to I think. Then, once you have that done, you fill up the little paint applicator, which has a roller on top and a plundger on the bottom to apply a little pressure to the paint. This is what I struggled with really, clean application of paint onto the side wall. Got better with each tire, but yeah, the over all effect is pretty good. As can be seen here So yeah, combined with the lowering and the chrome trims and painted steels, looks fucken rad If I do say so my self And have been having a bunch of fun with it too. Camping this weekend in it, which is going to be most radical as that was one of the main reasons for purchase haha And found another awesome feature. Turns out its also hand for transporting Scooters, while still retaining the bed! which means summer scooter missions in far away places! Not much else to report on this at the moment, but it does need a timing chain by the sounds, and I need the time to do the chain! Thanks for reading, until next time, have a good time.

Edit; oh thanks Tinypic..... FFS Well now... I have just gone and bought another Viva. This time its an HB wagon. YES!! I have been after one for ages and ummed and erred over the one that was for sale on Trade me up in Taupo about a month ago for quite some time. But factoring in transport to get it south put me off plus Hannah and I then ended up buying a MK1 Triumph wagon from Christchurch, a car we have always wanted for a long long time but had never seen one for sale at a sensible (read cheap) price. Then Shane, my viva HB mad friend in christchurch offered me his one. Its very rusty but with reg on hold plus a set of Cheviot Turbos I was keen. Hannah offered to go halves on it and that was it. So now we have two very rusty wagons, both circa 1969, to restore. The Triumph is still waiting for our collection. So this HB wagon eh?... yeah its pretty rusty. I had no real idea what it was like but for two photos. Shane brought it up from Chch today and we drove over to Blenheim in my Viva last night to meet him. He was unloading it when we got back from a walk in the hills this morning and my first impression when I slowed to a halt behind it was good. In fact great- it just looks so much cooler in the flesh than I thought it would. The shape is soooo choice. The turbo mags really set it off too. The back was filled up with the doors and the original tailgate. I grabbed some photos then we pushed it into my parents yard. Ha- the look on my parents face. 'FUCK' I had a quick look over it then we went for lunch. Shane and I just chatted Vivas and other old cars. He is a wealth of info on these Vivas having owned something like 40 of them and having done many engine conversions. Anything that is missing he'll sort me out with. After lunch they left to go pick up a Chevette wagon that he has had stashed away in the north island some where. I then took some time to go over the new toy with Hannah and see what we have let ourselves into. Yep- rust. It has rusted in the usual Viva places but is also solid in many of the places I would expect to see rust. Luckily the main chassis rails are not too bad. Drivers side has holes but passenger side solid. The boot floor boot and spare wheel well are great. Weird. The sills are shot, comically so with holes right through inside to out. A smear of filler and she'll be right... The floors are frilly along the inner sill edges. Head lamp areas not too bad luckily- these have welded on front wings so repairs are more time consuming there. Shane has supplied me with a spare whole right front wing cut as the car has a pretty dented one. The roof and gutters are good- just surface rust. Bulkhead good but holes in a few places closer to the inner wings. The very common spot for rust n these is behind the bonnet hinges but it looks to be solid there. Rear valence a bit thin. But it does have a stainless exhaust The engine apparantly runs but really I dont care as its most likely going to be swapped out with something more modern. Maybe I might get it going and driving with it first though. Luckily it has a disc brake front end and a servo. These will help haul back those 54 ponies. I have found a few pieces of the missing puzzle... I love these wheels. In fact I looked for a set ages ago for my Viva before I got the widened steels and couldn't fnd any in 4" pcd. Very rare. One of the few styles of alloys that I think suit these cars. So I am chuffed to bits to have these. two have quite bad curb scrapes so I will have to weld them up and machine them back but nothing major. Curves and sweet wheels.. It comes complete with ICE The dash needs a little bit of amourall... It is now safely parked in my parents carport- having relegatted one of thier manky modern cars out. I think it looks tiny next to what is meant to be a smallish suzuki. My parents think Im a bit nutty. But they know I'll sort it out... We wont start working on this for ages yet. The Triumph will be first in the queue and before that happens we have to get our shed up on the land and move out there. So for now the Viva will wait patiently. I am however quite keen to try out those alloys on my HB so I might fix them up soon. Bed time now as I am exhausted form so much excitement. I wont be back to view any responses (like "you idiot!" and "why that?!!!") from you lot till we get back from more gorse clearing on the bush block on monday night. Until then suggestions and mockery more than welcome Btw- we both love the colour so that will be its future shade- but maybe with a cream roof. Discussion

Hey ya. So recently I picked up a new project now my 52 Buick is complete – a 1949 Hudson Super. Story goes I was browsing auctions with no intention of buying anything just cyber tire kicking so to speak. “Hey a cool old barn find car has surfaced 45 mins away. Want go take a look?” i ask my better half. With a promise that we would go get something tasty for lunch we pile in the old 52. Walking up to it & seeing the fastback shape and roof that looks chopped straight from the factory the better half mutters “I wont say no if you want to buy it” ^^ what more can i say… talked the price down for cash & shook hands with plans to pick it up the following day. Next day swapped the fat wad of bills for the original registration papers, original ownership papers showing two owners (father then son), a few old photos from 1962 and a set of keys to a car that hadn’t been started for 47 years. Now I already have a Straight 8 in the Buick and not really interested in another inline. Fabulous Hudson Hornet NASCAR history or not. Saying this im not into chevy swaps. I do like Buick Nailheads… rare here in New Zealand and always catch my attention when dressed up. I look at the Husdon, scratch the ol chin and go “yus sir that would be mighty fine”. Nailheads have an old school look that would suit that engine bay mighty fine. Images from the Auction & First Look. So what the old timer said was wrong with it: Fuel tank out as he has had it patched n cleaned cus had a few small leaks. trunk floor has a split where fuel tank mounts. guessing due to weight & old NZ roads being not the best etc small patch rust on left rear skirt. patch rust on right front panel. front right door pillar has a split at bottom. apparently he use to chat to people leaning on the open door and thinks this might of been the issue. brake Master cylinder needs put back in as it and all the drums have been redone. Water pump is at a shop getting redone. Rats have nested in seats. All easy stuff really. the splits are clean stress splits with no rust or nasty stuff to be seen. Still trying to figure out my build. Any help or ideas are most welcome. I do know the history of Hudson and NASCAR etc but I already have a hotrod looking restored car and dont want another. im after a more custom look. I haven’t been in a Hudson moving under its own power so im unsure of many things like suspension etc. Plan so far: worked 401 Nailhead. (hard to get here so may need import) Worked 700R4 trans rewire using American Autowire highway 22kit. Wilwood disks all around. Media blast. Shave the handles. French the lights. and do all the normal custom shiz Change up the grill. Lower it. new interior. Thinking 9 inch in the rear to handle the Nailheads torque and power. Not sure what ratio. Not sure for front end. I read how great the near 70 year old front end was. Maybe new hubs for disk brakes and a thicker swaybar. But then i think why not just throw in a jag IFS. comes with disks, power steering etc and is cheap here in New Zealand (cheaper than reworking the old hudsons setup) Driveshaft – unsure. one or 2 piece… So ideas? Suggestions? This will be an expensive project for me. Being at the bottom of the world/New Zealand means expensive shipping. We have a lot of Holdens here and a fair few Euro cars. after a old school look & sound with if possible a more modern handling. Thanks guys Alex

I was yarning to my boss about whether he might know of an CB's >300cc for sale and long story short he had this and I have this now As you can see, it has a skull and the tank is ugly and so is just about everything about it. However, it's a Honda and they can be made to look quite neat. I'm hoping for an end result in this kind of area. Top two of those pictures courtesy of TheBikeShed.cc, some neat stuff on there to stare at. I had also planned to pic up my brother's MC18 NSR today but he wouldn't answer his phone so none of that then. One day I'll have this on the road again also: ..but that's another story..

Stuff all to report really 2 months later. Not painted yet but hopefully it'll be underway shortly. Disappointing news is that the colour I wanted to go isn't going to work. Was hoping the Windsor Blue would be gray enough to not look silly with the red interior...but it looks silly with the red interior. So a real left field colour choice going on - a VW colour is now the plan. Anyway, pics for awesomeness. It looks like this now except all masked up to spray the door jambs etc. I bought some mens speciality rubber products. And the garage has gone downhill since the car is missing. Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/53947-shifters-51-pontiac-chieftain-talky-stuff/

So lock in 1pm at Plimmerton weigh station tomorrow, rain or shine, or just rock up to Otaki Forks whenever and we will see you there! If you get there early and pick a shit spot, Ill get Niki to ridicule you. If its raining, im sure there will be enough tarps, marquees, tail gates, and vans to keep us dry.

The area I'm working in is only temporary anyway as my brothers CNC Machine will be in that spot. Exciting.

cool setup. the flooring makes me think there is an out of tune piano in one corner.

Lol Engines.

Just read whole build thread. Bloody well done, love seeing interesting old cars rescued. Cool shape wag too...

Will be able to christen my new marquee!

I'm really glad we've timed this perfectly to turn up just in time for rain. Walked home in the rain yesterday, it was lovely.

oi neal whataya doin with the mk1

Still thinking about the tailgate approach. Need to acquire a spot weld drill before doing much more. Topped up the shocks slightly - interesting suspension design, the shock arms are the upper link and the armstrong shock sits horizontally. Disconnected the arms on this side to work it up and down. Both shocks look to have been replaced, maybe not long before this was parked up? Checked/cleaned the brakes on both sides and had a grease gun session on the front suspension. Wheels are back on now as I need to move it off the lift soon for suspension work on my daily (WOF issues pfft) Next little job is to get the cruddy thermostat housing off - going to be a hacksaw mission it seems.

As often is the way~ life and work are getting in the way of what i really want to be doing: saving this heap of steel from restoration. Time of the year i guess with Christmas fast approaching and clients suddenly deciding its the end of the world if XYZ isn’t done like yesterday. i just stand there baffled as there mouth is moving wondering to myself “yes all very good and nice but come on surely they must agree the old car is more important… LEADSLED GOD DAMN IT!!!!” Its really starting to get out of control. I take it for granted its completely normal and sane if not even healthy for a guy to dream of cars n shift like that. But my dearest the other morning commented she is dreaming of cars. Cool i think to my self but whats that say about us o.0 – should note here we do live in a Bogan town so this may be common with in the local female populace..(you yanks think redneck i guess just dont youtube Bogan please) Anyways with said working life getting in the way i haven’t done sweet jack all. Popped on the Trans adapter, ordered a few small parts i needed is about all. Dropped more stuff off to Flockies Chassis Shop. Some of the projects the maestro is tinkering away on: Not much room at the moment but with luck he will have some of the projects cleared soon and the Hudson chassis etc on its way.

Still haven't pulled motor for bottom end check, and considering it's running and nearly xmas I'll prob use it as-is till next year. No fuel gauge is a pain in the arse tho so killed some lawn today popping the sender unit out... I'd assumed the rheostat was koozed but it checked out fine, 10 to 100 ohms over full movement of the float, and all looked good... Then I realised the float was bloody heavy, yep holed - and so full of fuel it didn't slosh when shook. Put the hot air gun on it and had a cool fine jet of fuel spray out the very tiny pinhole. I SO wanted to light this... And rather than piss around all day trying to re-solder it I ordered a new one. Tried to find something I could rig at the wreckers but nothing really suitable. I'm still gonna pull the gubbins out and sort a few issues and lower the front etc (found puddle of fluid under trans today) but if I have a working fuel gauge I can just keep an eye on the oil and use it for a while while weather is good...

better get round to it eh. puhuhuhu

I still have; one 12a sump, Nikki manifold, 12a starter, one 12a housing, Almost everything I need to build a up a typical 'fully rebuilt' 12a.....

Oh my, must have been some genius who built than bed to allow bikes to roll in beside it

Sweet wooden floor workshop!

Tick'n away

This is what screwed me at superlap! Filter bag on the fuel pump looking like a tea bag haha, damnit. Big thanks for Stu to get me a new fuel pump in time for drags, and Dave Sentra for helping me fit the new pump. Cant wait for the weekend!

The factory orange for the 1300 is a different orange. I'd call it more a blood orange, uh, orange, if that makes any sense. The Rx2 orange as above is far lighter in colour. Normally I'm not a red car guy (even though I have red cars) but I think the red works better with the black flares, etc.

A very exciting evening was had for us. We drove the wagon for the first time. In fact it’s the first time its been on the road since around 1999. I had been intending to have it ready to put through a Wof test on Thursday so we can hopefully take both Vivas to the Nelson area Oldschool meet in the weekend. But it turned out that my wof fella was booked out then. So I booked it for tomorrow and with that little carrot dangling in front of us we both set to work pronto to finish lots of little jobs. We almost had the list checked off but for fitting the bonnet, a side mirror and getting the windscreen washers sorted. The mirror will have to be a little purse mirror taped into the empty side mirror shell that I nicked from the Datsun 120y sitting out back. The windscreen washer is the original old push button type that I just need a reservoir for and the bonnet is now on in place after some quick rust repairs… I also pinched a filter from Hannahs Triumph wagon. It fits well enough and will do until I get something nicer.. Before it got too late in the day I thought I’d better take it for a drive. Its not idling right and shakes about a bit. My timing light bulb is blown so I cant check the timing. I can’t do it statically with a bulb and some wire as it now has electronic ignition. So I just twisted the dizzy until it sounded about right. The carb jet height is set at two turns down since I stripped it, as per Mr Haynes advice . I have no idea what’s going on but it runs. I jumped in and left the shed. I drove down the slope from the shed and heard a loud sound. Ha..I forgot that I had not cut the front lower corner of the front arches away to clear the wider wheels (a standard mod needed for Vivas) . Back into the shed again and out with the angle grinder. Then back out again and this time a little drive just up our driveway to start with. Brakes needed a good application to scuff off the rust on the discs but otherwise it was OK. Took some photos when it was at the top of our drive… I really like this next photo I took from our field with all its spring growth.. ( I have given up on mowing up here).. Hannah walked down and got the recycling bin and tried out the wesome useful load space.. Then back to the shed. I grabbed my tool box, phone and a shirt to stay warm for a possible walk home. First drive on the road here we go. OK not a biggy.. just 3km down the road to the beach. Hey wow.. it goes well! It wanders a little bit and needs and alignment but peppier than I expected. Steering is very light and the clutch is fine. Pretty quiet for a car with no bonnet and no carpets etc. It fun. Excited. Happy! Wow.. I did it. Yay. Down at the beach some old lady remarked how she used to own a Viva when she spotted it as I snapped some photos. I was sort of in an elated but slightly nervous, excited mood and didn’t really concentrate too much on what photos to take. I just snapped away and was happy to be there in the sun after all this time working on it. Drove home and showed the neighbour over the road. We spotted a weeping header tank seam on the radiator… Oh well.. hopefully it’ll hold for a trip to town and the test and I’ll get it sorted out later on. Water pump leaks too but I have 3 spares so will swap one in. Hopefully tomorrow I will also get the bulb for my timing light and properly have a crack at tuning it better. Next to Viva one and getting Kevins approval.. Please wish me luck with the test tomorrow!

Front is now the correct colour and done for now (bar reassembly, I'll let it set for a few days first). Refitted the swaybar and links with some new bushes. Bit of a mission getting those crushed enough to get the nuts back on. Went hunting for some grease nipples behind the brake backing plate. Found plenty of crud - maybe 50 years worth? I reckon there is a least a kilo of grease and dirt on the paper. There seems to be quite a bit of vertical movement of the hub on the swivel pin. Will ignore for now I think as addressing it means quite a bit of dismantling and probably new thrust washers. Pulled the tailgate off. Hmm.

I'm an absolute sucker for originality, so I vote a respray in the original red!!

Ahh shit, my car's been vandalised:

so most of the cert process is finished now.. a few weeks ago I attended Drag wars for my first try since the rejig of the engine. first Run was a 14.3 @ 108mph Second run was 13.7 @ 106.8mph then the night was called off... Video here Picture here

Works been flat out this week so haven’t had time to get in the garage much. Engine is sitting waiting for me to pull my finger out and hook the trans up to it. And talking of the Trans. Its a 700R4 from Monster Transmissions worked up to handle 650HP & 600ft/lbs torque. Medium firm shift kit. Wasnt happy with the service from Monster trans. Order took 6 weeks to build, test and ship. During that time they didnt answer a single email and only a few Facecrack messages. Still it was very well packaged on the crate and looks to be of decent build quality. Time will tell though how it shifts and handles. They have discounts every day from 5-20% off with free shipping USA wide along with cash discounts. I was able stack like 3 discounts to get it at a reduced price by just checking back every day for a few weeks. Package Link: 700R4 SuperStreet master conversion package. Comes with pretty much everything needed to install other than fluids, cross member and driveshaft. Kit contains: 700R4 SS Mega Monster Transmission, rated up to 650hp/600tq What’s Inside The Transmission: 5 PINION FRONT & REAR PLANETARYS PRECISION MASTER OVERHAUL KIT SUPERIOR HIGH PERFORMANCE REPROGRAMMING SHIFT KIT SUPER PUMP DIRECT/REVERSE INPUT DRUM TURBINE INPUT CLUTCH HOUSING MODIFIED SUNSHELL DRIVE GEAR TO INCREASE REAR PLANETARY LUBRICATION MODIFIED INPUT SUN GEAR TO INCREASE FORWARD PLANETARY LUBRICATION UPDATED/MODIFIED ACCUMULATORS RAYBESTOS PRO SERIES KEVLAR BAND UPDATED & MODIFIED GOVERNOR w/SPRING KIT & NYLON GEAR RECALIBRATED VALVEBODY w/UPDATE TV VALVE ASSEMBLY RECALIBRATED VALVE PLATE FOR SHIFT FIRMNESS NEW HIGH FLOW FILTER NEW LOW/REVERSE HEAVY DUTY SPRAG NEW 29 ELEMENT HEAVY DUTY FORWARD INPUT SPRAG NEW HIGH PERFORMANCE ALUMINUM SERVO What’s Included With Conversion Package: Performance Torque Converter, your choice from 1650-2500 Stall Universal Fillertube with updated Locking Dipstick Updated Universal Fit Throttle Cable with metric bolt Metric Linkage Nut 2 Brass Coolant Line Fittings Metric Torque Converter Bolts Universal Transmission Mount with bolts Speedometer Drive & Driven Gears Speedometer Housing & Support Bracket Speedometer Housing O-Ring External Lock-Up Kit 700R4 Chrome Throttle Cable Bracket Hayden Transmission Cooler Kit 700R4 Universal Dust Cover 700R4 Stock Depth Chrome Pan Unboxed: Painted up to match the engine: Using a trans adapter to mate the old Nailhead bolt pattern to the 700R4. Seems well made but the manufacturer ( Bendtsens ) is a jerk. Total ass hat and i wouldn’t ever go back to him. Once i get down to the shops to get some locktight i will get it all together. God i hate those annoying hold ups. already to go but cant find my locktight after ages of searching. frustrating to say the least. On a different note the Hudson is away at Flockies kustom chassis hotrod shop. Moving the car about is a breeze with the tractor. /Jealous. His boy is following close in dads footsteps it seems. Even though he is young he is out there helping wrenching along side his dad learning the skills. Till he gets to an age to use the welder seriously he is stuck with cardboard and making some serious customs and hotrod models from scratch. Kid has some great ideas and sure likes to chat about them to any who will listen. Exciting times i tells ya. just wish i had more time to tinker.

I'm in Dunners weekend of the 17th and mother is visiting this weekend. So, why don't we plan on all being in Cromwell on the 17? January for their big arse car show? It's on the lake and a short walk away from the VCC parts shed which we can snoop around?

so i welded the tube back in place gasless again. and its fixed perfect. went for a drive to stragglers hot rod and custom fundraiser and the beetle went like a champ. has a slight exhuast leak that i was going to repair while i was in chch at hogans but yeah scratch that idea. ive got some j pipes here so il get my ass into gear and put them before xmas hopefully. but here is a picture of it the other day after going to stragglers also picked up my other beetle. so il end up painting my together beetle and selling it early next year once ive cleaned it up and re done the upholstery to fund my new vw. so if some one wants it let me know keen on swaps for rotary engine. cheers

Happy update time.. it runs! After chasing around electrical gremlins which ended up in a instrument cluster swap among other things I finished yesterdays efforts by filling the carb with fuel, pulling the choke out and turning the key. Two seconds later and it fired up easily. I'll get a video later. Couldnt run it for long as Id not filled it with coolant yet. I'm so happy. I'll be happier when Ive taken it for a drive and confirmed it has not got any issues like BHG etc. So going back a few days here's some things that have been finished.. First off. I finished the wiring and mounted the solenoid, tucked out of the way under the servo.. Then I thought I'd better fit the speedo cable. But it didn't turn. It was seized solid in one spot. I tried so many things to free it up, lots of wd40, plusgas, twisting, wiggling, pulling, pushing etc and finally it freed up but only one half... Luckily I had a spare cable from when Viva one was swapped over from cable speedo to my home made electronic setup. But it was really long, made to suit the Mazda rx7 gearbox and how do I shorten the inner down? I tried years ago to grind a new square end and it doesn't work. So I looked it up and the square end is actually squeezed into shape! I made a little form tool from some steel and at 5mm a time I squeezed my new cut down inner into shape... It worked a treat!.. The sparkplug leads that came with the car are horrible old red Repco branded items. Not a chance they will get fitted... I priced up leads in NZ and the prices were stupidly high, even at trade. Plus most are coloured blue or red. So Ebay Uk and the nice people at.. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Green-Spark-Plug-Co?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 .. had just what I needed. 7 days later and I had a nice new set of good quality black leads for only $25.50 inc postage!!! Its great this weak Pound Sterling thing! Yesterday was finishing little things and sorting out why instruments didnt work. I found a defective circuit strip thing plus a broken plastic casing on the cluster so I swapped the parts across from a spare.. While I did that Hannah did some other jobs.. like clean the mucky sunvisors.. That is it really.. I'm hoping to do a bit more today and then take it for a drive to check it out. Very excited. It currently sits here waiting..

So got the old beast going today and went for a drive. handling is horrible but that was expected lol. Vid showing it running. Smoky as its exhaust pipe is only like 3 feet long and in the middle has a big hole. And a walk around the old Hudson. orgional colour was Blue. someone painted it mid 60s. a bit of surface rust but on the whole its in pretty good condition. So the engine and everything under the hood will be up for sale soon once i rip it on out. Heck pretty much everything under the car will be for sale. Any restoration guys after parts let me know i guess. Alex

Thanks Roman! Thoman

Ok , where was I. Well quite a few months ago I bought my car home for the great fitup but alot has happened between now and then. First I sold my house and then bought another and then coincidentally I moved from my old house to the new one belongings in hand. I moved car here also with hundreds of bits and bobs for the workshop and making said workshop and after it all finally getting back into the cortina. So we come to now. I have been poor at keeping a photo log mainly because I can see the end is nigh. Please let me share with you the images I do have....... Underlay Rear fitted up Interior shot.....sort of Rusty wheels Cool painted wheels Thats all I have. I have been running the car in and it runs well just some spongy brakes need fixing and its road test time. Cheers all

OK yeah.. so I have ended up getting a touch carried away with this little wagon and sort of going against my original mission statement of 'keeping it all manky looking and just scrape it through a wof'. The reason for the slight change of heart is because when I started cleaning out the engine bay and really noticed how deep and yucky the surface rust and crusty bits were I soon knew I would have to paint it. Then I pulled the last of the wiring out so I could clean it out and I thought to myself as I was feeding the wires through the bulkhead 'well that's an ugly bit of cable routing..I don’t really want to see that again’. Before I knew it I had Hannah inside watching for fires while I welded discs of steel into all the bulkhead holes from the outside. Rewinding back a couple of weeks, because this project has become glacial in its progress. First thing.. those wheels. I fitted them and rolled the car out the back while I used the hoist for a customers car. It looks great on the Turbos. They certainly do suit this car better than on Viva one. I had also noted that the Viva wagon is exactly the same colour as the water tank... I had been umming and erring about removing the battery tray from the engine bay. I knew if I did that I would have to fabricate a box down the back under the floor due to the wagon needing to be clear floored for max usefulness in earning its keep. I also knew the tray was hiding things. Bad things possibly. I removed it. Not easily either. It seem that the fella who spot welded it in place was either drunk, had too much coffee or was suffering from MS. There was no order to the spots and I couldn’t find them. I couldn’t just chisel it off because doing so would dent and wreak the inner wing. Took ages. Off with it and look at that. Yuck. Glad it was gone because no way would that stuff had rested from its metal eating duty. With it gone I looked over the general mankyness of the whole bay and realised it needed to be done properly. I removed the heart. It was only being held in place by two exhaust nuts and the two mounts. So tiny. With it out I whipped up a simple engine cradle/wheelie tray thingee to put it on so it can be moved about the workshop easily. Hannah is going to get paid in kind words, cups of tea and biscuits to clean the engine for me. I noticed that the frost plug on the back of the head looks very dodgy indeed so lucky it was out anyway. It could have spoiled the party later on… I filled up holes, cut our more rusty patches and generally cleared it all out for a nice clean bay look. I cut off all brackets to do with the ugly factory throttle linkage. I have instead been given a later Viva HC throttle pedal like I have fitted to Viva one. Big thanks to Andre yet again for having one in his stash of bits. Hannah laughs at my idea that if I have the same pedals then when jumping from car to car for daily driving they will feel the same to drive. I don’t think she realises the power of the mighty 1159cc Viva. I also dealt to the rust that was in the drivers side A pillar… Welded up the cut in the hinge bracket that had refused to let go of the pin ages ago at the very beginning. After welding up all the holes in the bulkhead leaving only the clutch cable and speedo cable holes I ground them all smooth. I then removed the now very scratched and sad looking screen. I think it might be the original. With it gone I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of rot in the well. Only one corner had succumbed and it was not bad at all. I cut it out, welded it up and moved around to the back where it was rotten in the pillar. With the screen out one can easily marvel at the beauty of such a mint dash top.. Now fixed and strong again I stepped back into the engine bay and continued grinding, sanding and smoothing the bay. To earn this episodes title of ‘getting carried away’ I even removed the fuse box and welded up the hole. I might have to do this mod to Viva one some day. Finally I applied some Brunox epoxy rust neutraliser. This is now where I am at with the bay… I had popped into Nelson last week for welding gas etc so while there I went to an automotive paint shop and bought some epoxy primer plus three cans of colour matched spray paint. Well they were colour matched at the time. I had forgotten to take in my little bit of steel which had un-faded paint on it. So instead me and the fella behind the till tried to match the colour off a internet photo of a Cactus green Viva off the nerdnet on my phone. Never easy. Once home I sprayed some on the car. Whoops. It’s a bit brighter. But its still nice and looks 60s so it’ll do. Anyway- any engine bay painted in one neat clean colour always looks better. So that is where I am at now. I have heaps of paid work on right now so Hannah having finished her current work in one days time will get some cleaning and painting jobs. This way she shall earn the privilege to hold up traffic in the mighty Viva wagon (hatch..) on the hills around us. I have been having many thoughts about engine swaps or sneaky turbos and simple injection systems don’t you worry. But really I have strayed far enough already. I will however be re-wiring the bay so to allow for really easy engine swap/changes in management etc for the future. Keeping all the lights/horn/starter/alternator etc separate to the engine loom. Ha..the current engine loom. All of 3 wires? Temp, oil, ignition feed. Old cars eh? Giggle

I am like, 90% sure that when you make a comment you are meant to make it in the Discussion section (Which I have in my signature) On another note, to not make this post obsolete once the mods will probably delete NZCarFreak's comment, here is my wagon with my friend's wagon: I personally prefer the look of mine, being more original and all. But I drove his yesterday and it's like new, which makes sense, because he did a complete restoration. It's so quiet inside, it's unbelievable. Better angle of his:

Photo time now I have showered off a heap of rust dust and grinding dust. Im pretty happy with how far I got today. First off, a photo of some of the patina I would really like to keep. I would like to treat the rusty scrapes and surface rust with something that keeps the colour but stops it getting worse? All the rust neutralisers I know of turn the rust black which wont look so good. Ideas? Clear coating it is an option. It doesnt have to last for ages because after a while Im sure I'll want to paint it but for at least first year or so would be good. I was going to remove the windscreen to avoid getting grinding sparks marking the glass on the inside. But I didnt. Three reasons; the rubber will disintegrate and I dont want to fork out $100 for new stuff right now, the glass is scratched already so might as well wait till later when the car is insured and then has a random stone hit it...., I like the moss. It adds character. I took on the worst area, the passenger floor and inner sill, which is also the area which dealt with first because it will put some strength back into the shell. The steel on these HB Vivas is actually quite good quality and quite thick. It certainly knocks cut off discs down quickly. I picked my way out to good steel and chopped away. First off this bit.. I am not really fussed about trying to piece this back together the way it was from the factory. If its strong and lasts Im happy. But I want to keep things like the channels in the floor because it will leak and they do help let water out. Plus they keep the flat bits of steel from being wobbly. So I whipped up a jig the right size and hammered the channels into the steel.. Now the nasty bit. The inner sill was beyond patching. But I am very very lucky that the top of the sill is rust free and solid which meant I could happily chop out this lot and not have the door aperture move on me. Also helped by the fact that Vivas have nice substantial chassis rails too. Not that the inner sill, or what was left, was doing much. It pretty much fell out. Next job was to cut out what I needed from the spare sill/floor pan I had been given. I think its about here that we should give a few seconds silence for the little Viva that sacrificed its life for this part. Not my choice- it was chopped up by a man in christchurch who insists that every Viva he kills makes his worth more. But at least I got something from it. Poor viva. The piece I required was cut out.. Then heatgun and scrape the underseal off.. Followed by lots of chopping, measuring, trimming, measuring and finally in place ready to be welded. Which is about where I finished off today. My bin of rust is filling up.. Tomorrow I'll weld that bit in place and start on the outer sill and sill ends. I'd love to put it up on the hoist to do that but then I think I would be risking things moving out of place. So I'll continue kneeling on my 5 layers of carpet off cuts and persevere.

Ok so I have started cracking into this today. Just having a coffee/rust break. I have done all the welding on Sams Celica and Hannah has left me for a few weeks for the lovely grey sky days of the UK summer. So while there is a gap between jobs coming in and my meals simply consist of toast, cheese on toast, cheese on toast with salami (my favourite, takes a bit more prep but worth it) or cereal this means I have ample time to chop out rust. The aim of the game with this wagon is to get it safe and road legal as cheaply as possible with no effort at all to tart it up. (Mainly because I am broke and it would also be a crying shame to lose any of that patina that has been carefully encouraged by years of nurturing from previous owners. I just want it to be a turn key hack wagon. I have spoken to my wof man and warned him that one hellish eyesore of a manky old Viva wagon will be heading his way in the near future. I have told him I want to push the boundaries of what non structural rust I can get away with and be legal/safe. His cars have rust so he understands anyway Photos of mess tonight. Back to grinding and welding...