yoeddynz

Cool- oh by brake line I mean the vacuum hose going into the servo/booster. I need it to come off at 90 degree as the turbo heat shield is in the way now so it cant come straight out.

My first question is- I will have to mount my seats in following the LVVTA rules thingee. I will use the right sized surface area steel plate on top of the floor but on the underside can I use big washers between floor skin and nuts or will I have to sandwich the floor with two plates of the same size? And it mentions that welding of seat brackets must be done by a certified welder or the certifier has to be shown relevant proof that I can weld to those standards? Come again? Photos of certed seat mounts would be great to get some ideas. The seats are like most Recaro style rails- just 4 bolts straight down. Rails sit flat on floor at front but I need to build something about 50mm high at back as floor is that much lower.

I built a new turbo manifold ;D Very happy with it as its solid and turbo is in a great position. Firstly I had to work out roughly how to piece it together in the space I had... It was a mission as to start with I had to make the flanges myself out of 10mm plate. This is a budget build, because I have no money to spare, so I couldn't just buy them. Anyway the rear flange for the down pipe is unusual or so my local exhaust bloke said. But I have time so while Hannah is out working I'll play.. I mean work..on the Viva. I was lucky to have bought a cheap $15 rx7 exhaust manifold from a bloke in chch which I robbed the main exhaust flange from. So with my trusty $60 pillar drill and new blades in my hacksaw I set to work. How else could I easily put a big hole through 10mm plate without a lathe or gas set.... Due to positioning constraints in an RX7 the cast iron Elford manifold is flawed where the WG is mounted at one end in the wrong direction to the flow and the runners are uneven. I wanted this one to be even so the pulses hit the turbo evenly. Plus I wanted to mount the waste gate in the middle near the turbo. I discovered I would be able to continue to use the Elford made WG but I left the design open for possible future upgrades to the more common (but out of budget at this point) 38mm Tial style WG's. Once flanges were made I made a little jig to hold the turbo where I wanted it. I used 3mm thick pipe and 3mm plate to build between the flanges, with 5mm plate for where the WG would mount. I will still space the WG away with a spacer to stop as much heat soak- if it matters. Then I slowly pieced it together. My poor little welder was having a hard time - its a bit moody almost as if the power supply is irregular. It didn't like all the tick plate- too much heat sap and it has a crap duty cycle so it was a long process. 1 min on and 10 off... Finished with some high temp paint (how long will that last?...) Then I discovered a small crack on the WG plate, I wondered how far it went through so I did what most would do and hit it with a hammer. It went almost all the way through so that was a another plate to make. Elford had fitted a drain for any fuel that collects in the bottom of the turbo scroll. I couldn't believe my luck when I discovered I already had the appropriate 1/8th bsp tap for tapping its new location. I also cleaned up the inlet manifold- it had unneeded castings on it for RX7 fitment so these came off. Then a good wire brushing with a wire wheel on the drill cleaned it up nicely. Its all in place. Luckily the Elford WG pipe will work too- it should meet up nicely with the down pipe out the back of turbo. I need to find or make a 90 outlet for the servo as the turbo heat shield is just in the way. I tacked this together this on xmas eve. Cheap welders bends. Will last an aeon..

So about 3 months ago I did this... No going back now- I dropped the front crossmember out...nice and easy on a Viva- 2 bolts, 2 nuts and steering coupling. Once off and on the floor I drilled out the spot welds holding the engine mount brackets. Off they came and now its all set to properly drop the rotary in place and see if the turbo fits... The turbo setup will fit BUT... no way can I fit standard brake servo etc. I would have to go remote servo. The steering column doesn't need moving which is nice. The rubber coupling just fouls the manifold and would not last long- so a metal joint here would sort that... The sump needs some chopping about the steering column on one side. There is enough room for the mazda clutch master with turbo in place- just ;D The SU carb on turbo setup just touches the battery tray so the tray would go and battery in boot. And once I shorten gearstick remote the gearstick will pop out in a nice handy place.... I'm gonna take the top off the tunnel anyway to give a touch more clearance on box. The bottom arms didn't have sway bar mounts on them- well they do now. The same guy has lent me some spares to copy so I cut some 3mm steel to shape and bent in the vice- hey presto- factory mounts. Welded them in and now all they need is a wire brush with a lick of paint. One day when I have a lot of money I would love to get some lightweight calipers. I could machine my own hubs if I had a lathe (one day) and then have a nice light brake set up because these ones are very heavy. Oh- and i have some new wheels. These ones are 13" off a vauxhall victor. They still not wide enough but that will get sorted one day. I reckon they look wicked with the 185/60 toyos (not so stretched...) fitted( cheer Chris) They came with quite nice flat faced s/s hubcaps but i was well happy to discover the shiny chrome dome caps off my 12" snap in place perfect. The car is still looking old man style but for the seats it is getting dropped too! That's what I want. To be almost completely original on outside at first glance. I will have a really quiet exhaust too. Marked the sump for some cutting where it sits next to the steering rack/column junction. It possibly wont touch but I'd rather not risk it. I'll also remove the oil level warning gubbins and add a baffle. Then removed the engine/box so i can cut the top of tunnel off- it only needs to be about an inch higher. Luckily the tunnel is really easy to get too as there is no heater in the way on Vivas, the heater being mounted up on the firewall in the bay. We took out the front suspension and little discs etc. Hannah found some rust behind the bumper mount so I cut it out... There were two skins leading to a water trap. I cut one thick piece of steel to replace it with. nuts welded on back.. Its been really good to be finally working on a classic again. After doing the engine swap in the hiace this is so easy to work on!!! A friend told me that there a load of guys in town planning to all have the their project cars on the road for around christmas and do some runs. Plus lots of shows to go in 2011. Next the axle. I had got my hands on a nice strong 1800 magnum jobbie. With big drums. Gave it a good scrub in the evening sun. Painted black now and sitting under the vivas bum where it should be. I also scored a pair of shorter springs- this is a bonus as Viva's have funny shaped coils that you cant just chop down. So now my Viva sits about 2" lower I think they are stiffer too- certainly were way less rusty! I have cut the tunnel top off. Luckily it only needed the very top whipped off. With gearbox lifted, sump sitting on some thin blocks of wood on the viva cross member a spirit level sat on top of Nikki carb manifold is almost level. While engine was sat in place I marked the sump where it was touch the steering rack. Off with the sump and I chopped out a notch then welded in new steel. Back on and it fits perfectly. I then bought some steel from my old work and started on the engine crossmember. I was all set to have to make a breast plate too.( This is engine mount thing mounted to the front cover that sit on top of the engine mounts) I was positive that I had brought one over from the UK with me but I looked and looked and just couldn't find it! But just as I was about to start making one whilst searching for something else I found it sitting in a box right at the back under the bench! I was so happy to find it as it would have been a pain to make. I started off by drilling two holes a side through each chassis rail. I used a bigger bit on the inside face and welded in some tube so the rails wont crush when the bolts are done up tight. Then I hung 80 x 6mm plate down from each side and lined up a length of 50 x 25 x 3mm rhs between them. Nice hefty welds and some reinforcing plates on each side to stop sideways movement. The N/S reinforcing plate has a hole through it for the oil cooler pipes. The cross member has to drop quite far as the viva has quite high chassis rails. Once it was all bolted up it is nice and strong- if slightly over built. The gearbox was easy- just some 35 mm box section bolted in between the mazda g/box mount and the Viva g/box support. Simple. It was great to step back and see the lot sitting there on its own mounts! Out with the engine again- which is very easy to hoist in and out. Next job was the clutch master cylinder placement and modifications to the pedal box. As the Viva is originally a cable operated clutch I had to do a redesign of the whole lot. I started by chopping off the clutch pedal from the viva pedal box and fitting in its place a RX7 clutch pedal - with its fulcrum mounted higher up. I made an adjustable stop for it too so I can set the pedal heights. Then I filled in all the various holes on the firewall that were not to be used and made an extra big hole for the new rx7 master cylinder I had bought to go through. This was the longest part of the mods as my smallest hole saw was broken and I wasn't about to buy a new one for just one job. To fill in the smaller 5/16 bolts holes I cut little thin discs off a long bolt and held them in place with a magnet so they sat flush before tacking in place. Beats my old way of just filling in the hole from the edge with tonnes of weld! Bolts are welded onto the back and protrude through the firewall. The master cylinder mounting holes were threaded- I drilled them out and it now slides in place onto the studs easily. I chopped the bottom off the Viva brake pedal and the bottom rx7 pedal fitted in place perfect for good strong welds. Now both pedals match. I set them both a bit lower too as I always found the Viva pedals to high off the floor. I will use an HC accelerator pedal assembly as its all one unit that bolts to the floor and is bottom hinged which I prefer. The clutch pedal works perfect so I am well happy with it. On friday I removed the battery tray. It looked at first like it was hiding rust but luckily after a good wire brush session it was deemed solid. I welded up a load of old screw holes and cut off any tabs or bits I didn't need then ground the lot smooth. I also cut out the stamped profile on the front valance for extra cooling that the GTs have. This will be needed as standard airflow is not great at all. It was an easy neat job to do with my jigsaw. I will put some mesh behind it to stop stones etc. I shortened the gearbox remote. I'm sure many of you know how to do this but for those who don't then this might be useful.. First undo the 4 bolts holding cover plate on remote then undo the bolt holding the hub thing for the gearstick ball end thing- GSBE- ( techy terms I know). Then undo the 4 bolts holding the remote in place. There are two pins locating it so it has to be lifted up with large persuasive flat blade screwdrivers. Then hammer it off backwards. The GSBE will come off shaft with it. Remove the pins - they wont be needed and wont line up anyway once remote is shortened. Mark on shaft a centre 103mm forwards of existing hole. Set up and drill 5mm hole- taking much care to keep it lined up straight with the existing hole. If its out it makes getting reverse a pig. Then drill halfway in with 6mm. then tap hole M6 x 1 Now cut off remaining shaft. Also cut down remote housing and shorten shaft tube by 103mm. Make a new seal at one end with electrical tape wrapped round it till its a tight fit. Reassemble and hey presto- a gear stick 100 mm further forwards- which pops it up nicely to hand in chevettes, vivas plus older 4speed rotary mazdas. I then spent some time out in the afternoon sun cleaning up the outside and giving it a quick polish - i can think of worse things to do with a beer in hand... I followed this with a bit of sanding of in the engine bay. I put one coat of paint on but ran out- I got more colour matched paint in a can from Resene- they sent away my empty can to the nelson branch who do matched paint for $27 a can. Then I tidied up the engine some more- ground down any casting marks in the iron plates- not so much for look but because the paint will go on better/smoother. Whatever colour I choose it won't be sprayed on this time - I will brush paint it on in enamel as it will stick better. I was forever touching up flakey paint on the chevette and rx3 engine plates. Time will tell as to how long it lasts. I checked the sump mods for any leaks- one tiny one which weeped out after over an hour of sump sitting full of water. welded it up and checked again- seems ok now.. I have also decided to paint in behind grill black. I want to make my own grill later on and with black behind it should look better. It will also be easier to keep looking tidy. Looks cool so far- do cars really need lights? I have also made a bolt on drain into sump for the turbo oil outlet. I don't want to be taking sump off again later on if I decide to run a carb in the future. It bolts through sump wall into a captive ring with m5 nuts welded to it. I can remove it and have made a plate to bolt in place if I do. I will make a canister to weld onto pipe into sump- the canister will sit above oil line for turbo drain to run into. I made sure that the drain into sump is same size and no smaller then pipe off bottom of turbo. I don't want a smoky turbo.

Edit; It seems to be that many images I had hosted by Imageshack are missing. I have tried to retrieve them back but they are gone gone.. curse word. Plus Imageshack now want monies to host photos. Then Photofuckit decided that after years of free hosting service it will start charging $400. So please excuse the missing photos as I slowly swap in replacements Hello! I have owned this little Viva for a while but only finally got around to actually working on it. I have finally started getting a proper move on with it in the last month or so. Getting excited about having it ready for summer shows. Last year while still living in England I bought an old rusty Rx7 from a friend who owns the oldest Mazda dealership in the UK. It was a rare Elford Turbo series 2 rx7. The Elford Turbo was a Mazda approved conversions by a dealership in Bournemouth. It only runs at 5psi- enough though to add 40 ponies and a load more torque. Which is nice. The Rx7 behind our faithful old BMW 525tds wagon, the rust, the engine... Here is some info on it... not a lot out there really. http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=UDHl8kXiaccC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=elford+turbo&source=bl&ots=QcnD4WApUs&sig=FgrchpIzSVOqfgOqTtjaP1GsDDM&hl=en&ei=KlDES9HbK47AMtWs5K4O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAUQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=elford turbo&f=false He had rebuilt the engine fully using all new parts (handy when you own a dealership eh) a few years back but the body work had become tired so I got the car at a very nice price. Engine is barely run in. By the time I had sold loads of other bits and pieces from the rx7 (koni shocks, springs, interior bits) I made back enough money that all the parts I needed only cost me £50!!! £50 for a rebuilt engine...I was very happy. So all the parts went in a container back to NZ. I had also got some spax shocks before leaving- spax were just 5 miles up the road from where I lived so it was rude not to. My Viva started off as a standard deluxe with the little 1100 engine. This just had to go. It was burning a lot of oil (about a pint every 100 miles) and was no fun at all. I then fitted a 1660 ford xflo from an escort. I rebuilt it with a sport cam, brand new weber32/36, brand new 'Bestek' electronic ignition setup. Ford engine going in... Engine mounts lined up nicely.. It ran very well indeed but still felt a tad agricultural compared to the rotary engines I had become used to. While I was fitting the xflo and the engine bay was empty I slung a rotary in there just for a look. I knew as soon as I slung the 12A into the bay that a rotary would be a nice conversion. The gearbox mount sat bang in the middle of the original g/box support and there seemed plenty enough room in the bay for exhaust building etc. Good clearance around the tunnel. So after a while of driving around with the xflo I decided to crack on with the conversion to rotary. I sold the ford engine to a fella with an escort looking for an engine. Got really good money for it too! He came round and after seeing the engine run helped me pull it out... I bought some goodies from a fellow Vauxhall nutter here in NZ including an 1800 axle, big 3.3 Vauxhall Ventora front discs on modified lower arms, a brake servo. I got these seats as I just couldn't get along with the originals. I don't really like the idea of losing my neck from someone rear ending me. It does and probably will happen so head rests are a must for me. So out with these old seats... Then in with these Momo seats. They are out of an Alfa GTV and match almost perfectly!- I'm really happy because its not often I see modern seats with the 'fluted?' style of cover to match the rear seat. Colour match is almost spot on too! I have now removed the seats and my original mounts as I will have to redo the mountings for when it comes to being certified. I have also had to deal with some rust. Just a bit on one arch. I cut it out and welded fresh steel in. As always it turned out to be worse than I first thought so I'm glad I've done it now!!! Its all painted now. There is one little bit on the offside wing, a little bubble, that I am going to leave. I'll paint behind it with epoxy paint and see how long it takes before the skin breaks. I don't want to touch it now because I'll never get a decent match on the paint for that area. I shall treat it as a little experiment as interested to see how long it stays confined/encapsulated by the paint.

I couldn't find weet a bix (could get some imported) and dont like coco pops. Sainsburys wheat puffs cardboard I have used in the past but again its a supply thing. I whimped out and while in Basis in Renwick looking at rubber I bought some 'real' gasket paper. $3 for a big enough piece to do all I need. Great place BTW- lots of goodies.

That certainly looks like the car. Didn't see it for long as it was shifting! sounded nice too! I was heading the other way. How the hell did you manage to load up a triumph without the rear wheels going all negative camber? Airshocks? That's what I had in mine. That is awesome.

with bike frames the old school fillet brazed frames are immensely strong- in fact the joins wont break- the tubes will. I would have thought it would be strong enough for pillars etc but yeah the testers dont like it- here or in blighty. But would they know anyway once its covered in paint. Bronze is expensive though. I'm sure my rx3 had brazed together sections- near the windows?

Sweet cheer for offer - i'll pop in tomorrow and see how much bnt want to take from my wallet... How much should I expect to pay for the copper nickel bundy tube? Is it sold in like 10m rolls or by the metre? What is the stuff that is double walled... Is that bundy? And according to both AA wof guy in blenheim and a certifier I spoke to 'rated' copper is still fine- but a grey area I cant be arsed to have to argue it out every time I go for a warrant.

I need to put new brake lines throughtout on the viva. I have always used the copper stuff in England and I brought some over with me. I checked with my local AA man and he looked through his wof rules book thing and he couldn't find anything that said I couldn't use copper so long as it is rated for the task. But it seems to be a grey area- many seem to dispute it? Anyway- to save future hassles I may well just use bundy tube (if that's what its called) If its not too much. Would BNT be the cheap place to buy it? If I do then I reckon my old flaring kit may not be up to it - any suggestions on where I can get a nice flaring kit at nice price...or anyone in Blenheim I can borrow one from?

Looking nice- so glad your keeping it. We saw a white trumpet whanging its way through the buller gorge last week- It was shifting! And it had a roofrack filled to the brim of holiday crap. Fuck it was awesome!

Then there are all the oil additives that are supposed to increase economy. I was amazed at how cheap to run my friends old 1600 crx was - it was quick enough but boy was it thrifty!

Repco one was too small...and at $8 a small square I walked out. Will weetbix (inferior btw to weet a bix) cardboard work? I thought it had to be special impregnated card so fuel wont just soak into it and drip out the bottom?

This was in our diesel hiace.... I pulled it out as I want in in my Viva for old school periodness.. Anyway- it wouldn't work in a diesel would it as a diesel engine has no throttle plate/butterfly thingee- its speed is dictated by how much diesel is injected? Im I right? And my turbo bolted on to the standard (9.5) compression 12A running at low boost- will this help economy? I understand that having 40 more ponies may make me use them more often and use more fuel but if I am just cruising and dont have to rev so hard as the turbo has increased torque (from 110lbft to 150) surely this will help. Is an engine at its most efficient when its at or around peak torque?

oh yeah- heres what I built... No photos of it inplace as I have not mounted inlet manifold back in place. I need a sheet of gasket card - 1mm thick ish. Any recommendations on where to get? needs to be at least 280mm wide.

I'm interested in fuel economy. Must be from my dad who used to run his morris minor about Surrey till it ran out and had little fuel economy notes. He missed my sisters christening- he was taking her to the church (we ain't godly btw!!!- its just what they did back then eh) and the minor ran out of fuel- he actually left her in the back seat while he walked to the nearest farmer for more petrol. good ol' days.... I used to keep all fuel receipts for my Rx3 - on long runs it would get 30mpg which is great. Did a big trip about Belgium and Luxembourg with some very fast driving thrown in and it still did 30mpg. But many people especially rotary owners scoff at my interest in in economy saying things like if you own rotaries that's the last thing you worry about. Fuck them. I like the idea that I can drive a car somewhere on a long trip not break the piggy bank open and then when I want to go fast I can give it a good thrashing on the twisty bits. So I'm interested in economy- especially as fuel has gone up again. On my Viva- it will have the turbo running low boost on a high comp 12A. does that mean that if I just cruise along with out giving it much stick it should be as economical as a normal 12A? I know that old school 70's turbos with really low CR were thirsty. I understand that my rotaries will never be proper economical due to inherent bad combustion from the large surface areas involved cooling the burn. But there is the challenge..

all sorted now- made a steel pipe out of welders bends - simple, cheap, smooth, heavy.. Just need one more little hose join - will use a short section of rad hose.

That is a bloody cool looking wagon!

rad hose it is then! I wasn't going to do the whole section in hose- just two bits at each end of a piece of tube. Tractor place- good idea as plenty of them about here is sunny hicksville.

cool- cheers. Those black ones are ideal....but.... this is the budget build. I'll need two bends I think and its hard to stomach spending $80 on two bits of pipe. It is so easy to access and remove the bends I reckon i'll try rad hose first- maybe take them off every so often to check if they are going cheesy. Trouble is 50mm is quite big hose for a radiator? That evo setup looks like it could have bits that could be bodged to work. I'll try local wreckers and see what bits they have as well. what is the material that OE manufacturers use on cars? is it some blend halfway between silicone and radiator hose material?

I need two 50mm ID 90 degree bends to route my output from the turbo to the inlet manifold. I was thinking I could use radiator hose but as its a fuel charged mix, not just air, this could be a bit dodgy if I had a back fire etc. I went to super cheap (oooohhhhh the shame it it all) but all the silicone hoses are blue- I aint wearing that! I want black. Can I use rad hose? Any ideas? this is the setup..

cheers for that! - i found that picture too- turbosmart? I've built it all now and well happy with it- the Elford WG is almost bang in the middle just after the primarys meet and just before turbo. i think it should be fine but i have allowed for easy fitting of a 38mm wg if needed in future. I actually trust this oldschool flappy style one more than a cheap tial ripoff. like on internal flappy style WGs there isn't really any thing to seize under heat. i'll see how it goes. will post up a photo or two soon.

Nice car and good on ya man for saving it! There is one on retro-rides in the uk that a yound fella is rescuing too- like yours it has suffered a bit with the tinworm. Are they quite rare cars these?

wicked! Now go put it through for a wof just for shits and giggles!

Didn't realise he has already been on here- top bloke anyway. Feet firmly planted.