vivaspeed

If you buy Mitutoyo ones then they are awesome and moneybags spec. I got a set but rarely use them / they're stashed away to avoid damage. For 99% of work a pair of cheap Mitre 10 spec ones are just fine. I've got a few for home / car / pick-a-part toolbox etc. You don't need digital, just learn how to read a vernier scale

Is it a big port or small port? To set it at 10 deg you need to bridge out at test connector (T/E1) and set at 10 deg. If you've not done this then the true timing might be quite different. Sounds a bit like a vacuum leak - map or airflow meter? Does it run rough? I once left the map sensor unplugged after fiddling and it ran like a sack of shit. Also, had one (smallport motor/dizzy with bluetop ecu) than would never run at an indicated 10deg and sat at an indicated timing of about 30deg or something stupid, never figured out why, but ran mint. Haven't bumped something else while playing around like a plug, vacuum line, map sensor, etc?

Define can't pull the skin off a rice pudding haha, its cheep to run and rugged, would probley go better than the Viva motor.

Been done... but not sure how that necessarily meets the "economical" criteria. V8s in Vivas generally need a lot of shagging around to clear the steering column, and often a firewall chop. Would be awesome though

How tall is a 3SGE? I went and measured my engine bay and it's approx 620mm from the crossmember to the top of the aircleaner in the 1159 HB Viva. I imagine the aircleaner is a bit off the bonnet so there is quite a bit of room to play with. Problem is the rack sits in front of the crossmember so you'll either need to mount something quite forward, or best to either get a rear sump motor or make a custom / modified sump. Measured a 4AGE I had lying around and it's just under 500mm tall (measurements were a bit wonky due to placement of engine amongst pile of crap ). 4AGE is a good choice for weight, size, balance etc. Could be quite "top heavy" though if you go for a tall engine, rotary is nice and low centre of G. Not sure if it's been said on here yet but Datsun A-series fit really well...

Van motor is yuck, 3S-GE isn't though... Nice 1256 will make around 80hp...

Alex, Clearly spending time in the northern hemisphere has somehow affected your judgement. Leave this one alone and buy a tiny economical car! All up reg/wof/insurance on another car would only be $500 a year so not a big deal really. In my completely un-biassed opinion, 4AGE is the only way to go, light, powerful, economical. You can make them fit nicely in an HB without any structural mods. Mine has the firewall chop because I was going to run 20 valve and I set it back quite a distance, you wouldn't need to do that. In more practical terms, a 16V 4AGE is quite old now, getting RWD bits is getting harder and gearboxes seem expensive. You could get a Mazda B-series RWD motor (ex-MX5) or a Nissan CA18 / SR20 which are meant to be RWD and parts seems plentiful (not to mention a lot of tuning bits around). If you do swap engine, then sell me the rotary setup thanks ta. I have plenty of spare Vivas to install it in.

After advocating for a Hutt meet I guess I should come to this one. Alas, no OS car is functioning this month either

I knew a guy that converted a 1UZ auto to manual shifting using a tiptronic shifter for +/- up down. He built a basic circuit using a PIC micro and spent a long time fiddling to make it shift correctly IIRC (not only correct gear, but also timing etc). Microcontroller took the +/- instruction from the shifter and knowing the gear it was in it would output to the correct solenoid to make it go up/down, etc Get Ned to build one? Oh, and I think you have to lock up/switch the torque converter or something?

Who owns this car? I see it was at the Kaikoura Hop. Looks great! Not sure exactly who owns it now, think it's the brother of a guy in ChCh I know. Was originally built with a supercharged 4AGE in it, then the owner changed to 1UZ but never quite finished it and sold it on. In 4AGZE spec it was what inspired me to buy and start building my blue one in 2002 and ended up donating sump/extractors/mounts etc for mine.

KK, you sir, are a champion! I finally got a replacement valve, fitted it and hey presto, we have idle... It also runs smoother, isn't as rich (you could smell the fuel vapour), and doesn't run on anymore. Frosty cold beer next time I see you (unless for whatever reason drinking isn't appropriate at that time...)

Cool project, had a LOL at the safety measures on the Sunny whilst playing with wheels. What's the load rating of a lump of wood?

With all those extras, this mighty 1.0 litre made exactly 1 hp more than a Holden Starfire motor

haha, technically they are called zoom-stripes. They are a copy of the Brabham Viva stripes. This add is LOL

Yeah it was ex-Nelson area two owners ago - one family since 1973 or something crazy. I got it off a guy up north. I picked it up as soon as it went on TM. Have been looking for a tidy road going one for ages and they all disappear pretty quick so jumped on this one.

Yeah it's a Viva one. But an early HB rack which is a bit different to the later ones which I have several of...

Right, after a disappointing day of working on cars, it seems like I'm going to have to get a rack rebuilt because none of my spares are quite right. I've heard PG Hydraulics in Auckland do rebuilds on P/S racks but need to see if they do normal racks. Beaver also got one rebuild somewhere recently on his trump but can't find the name of it. Any recommendations?

So I took it for a WOF check during the week at a local place which seemed like a reasonable place but not somewhere I'd been before. Came back with 17 things to fix, a variety of lighting, steering, suspension, wheels (had original ones on it), seating, right down to a door hinge being worn (it's still one of the better ones on Vivas I've owned!). First things, I chucked on the new wheels to make it look good (also addressed 3 of the WOF issues). Then I took them off to fix stuff underneath. Steering rack is shocking - rough and the bearings are worn - it had to come out and I thought I could swap in a good HC one I have as a spare but the shaft to the steering column is about half an inch too short and I can't bodge it up. Decided to open up the rack and have a look at the inner workings. Was filled with brown rust water grease... not really grease at all Will send it away for reconditioning. Name of the place escapes me at the moment. Some bushes were no good, but everything is available for replacements (this particular one is common with Torana). Might also upgrade the radius arms to HC parts which are gruntier and have a kink in them to clear wider wheels. Next steps, needs a new wheel bearing, attack the rear brakes to make better and improve handbrake, sort seats and and door hinge.

Don't be so lazy, polish your wheels... I did mine on the weekend *smugface*

Yeah OHV/pushrod. Sweet will wait until I get my parts engine and measure the stock profile then come chat to you (well, via internet) about what you can do.

Oooh, let me also hijack this thread. Do you guys have any cam profiles on file for a 1256cc Vauxhall motor (Viva, Chevette, etc - lame huh)? Had a good Kelford grind on a 2300 Bedford cam once which still had a spec sheet on file. Have read some old tuning books about those engines and they reckon increase cam overlap by 10 degrees and add about 0.02in lift - how much could you get out of a stock single cam in terms in increased lift/duration/overlap? I would think you could only get lift and duration on a stock cam by changing profile of the lobe and decreasing base circle? Sad how I have 2x 4AGE and 1x 2JZ twin cam powered cars but want to play with tuning Vauxhalls

An update, (and KK I may have to buy you a beer for your awesome armchair diagnosis) Pulled the stupid thing apart on the weekend and would seem that the green and black valve is at fault. Didn't seem to operate correctly at all, i.e. no valve action whatsoever when vacuum applied to it. Also seemed to be a bit of petrol in it, so not sure if vapour mixture is being sucked back up into it, or what? Is running like a sack of shit at the moment so will get a new valve and see how it goes.

I'll grab a couple of the white ones please, if I turn up. It may be written elsewhere, but what are the dimensions of the different sizes?

In case anybody wants to say something about my No.2 Viva... //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/33889-vivaspeeds-no2-viva-1967-hb-sl90/