vivaspeed

Time for the new engine, has only been sitting for a couple of months but this was the first free weekend I've had for a while. Thought I'd get this in before the next Road and Track round in June. Made a start, pulled the old 4AGE out to make some space (and to give the workshop floor a nice oily, damp texture). Swapped over the relevant parts to the new engine, with many problems - first the knock sensor fell apart due to being brittle so a Pick A Part tripped followed - $4 and a greasy arm later we were back in business. Then the usual things not coming apart easily, not going together properly, etc Then the dizzy wouldn't fit because of a stupid bushing the last owner used with his 4K dizzy. I got frustrated and went home. I have 5 weeks to get it going... no rush. See this problem here: http://www.oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27276

Hi all, A quick engineering advice question - how the hell do I get this out... I have got this worked 4AGE that was run on carbs and had a 4K dizzy in it. Previous owner/builder put this steel bushing in the dizzy hole to take the 4K dizzy. Now I'm going back to injection I want it out to fit my dizzy back in. Of course I didn't realise this was there until just as I was swapping over everything from my old engine to this one. It's tight as hell, and I can't get anything in behind it to drive it out. Tried the basics to pull it out but it's not going anywhere in a hurry. There is a slight lip that can be accessed behind it. Engine is fully assembled / head with cams in it so I'm reluctant to do much that may involve disassembly or drilling and creating too much swarf. I could probably remove the exhaust cam and get behind it, but really don't want to. I'm thinking - 1. Internal bearing puller with a slide hammer (which I don't have) 2. Weld someting threaded on it and wind it out but it's an alloy head, not sure about heating and distortion etc. I think a bearing puller would do the trick, but I don't own one, and good kits cost many hundreds of dollars. Diameter might be a bit big for a puller though. Any ideas welcome.

Hey Alex, Those wheels look good tidied up and with the crome hub caps. Very 60s. What size rubber on them? The fronts look a bit small. The 205/60s I had on them looked quite different. Not far now from cert and road going?

Not sure TBH never done it myself but may be the same stub axle. Vauxhall were keen on recycling parts between models. Only thing might be the caliper mounts on the back of the upright. Easy enough to swap over the whole upright and leave your arms in place. No hen's teeth, but lots of rocking horse sh!t... playing with 30-40 year old cars that mostly rusted away 10 years ago can be fun. Luckily most of the bits are still floating around, if not too many whole cars left. The secret is to stockpile bits as they come up on Trademe or wreckers.

Didn't really need the big hole for doing a 16V but I mocked it up using a 20V and one day will build a turbo 20V engine for it. Gives heaps of clearance for getting engine in and out though. A1: Princess 4 pots will work with 1800 discs, same spacings, but you have to adjust it using a couple of flat washers between the caliper and the mounting point - nothing major. A2: Victor are much like 1800 viva brakes but thicker discs, they are harder to get lower ball joints for, but otherwise bolt up using Victor arms and Viva arms.

Nice project, 4AGE in the Viva is the best way to go... mine is the blue HB linked above. Some thoughts and experience below for ya. Suspension - easy Springs - LC/LJ Torana springs are the same - I've got low LC 6 cyls in mine, you could do low 4 cyls from Lovells and it will be a bit lower with the 4AGE and maybe better for the road. Rears are Torana as well. Shocks - front just use whatever, they are standard eye-eye shocks, and rears are, funnily enough, same as Torana. Bushes - you can find most bushes from Nolathane or Proflex. They are different to Toranas in some areas, but Proflex (Superflex) have a listing for most areas of the Viva - they are a bit pricey. Drop a grand at Stocks and you'll have everything you need... Engine mounts should be straighforward, I've got a notched sump so it sits further back but the std 4AGE RWD mounts don't reach the x-member so some light fabrication work and you'll be sweet. Mine sits pretty much upright, but as per the others I've also seen some on a lean. I've got a W gearbox and just modified the gearbox x-member slightly, drilled new holes and relocated the x-member along the chassis, but if you're going for road legal/cert then just weld an extension and bracing off the back of the x-member and leave it the oringal location. For a road going 4AGE Viva, standard 1800 discs are fine, but the calipers are rubbish. Go for a Cortina M16 caliper or Princess 4 pots both of which just bolt up. 4 pots don't fit under all 13" wheels but you can give the outer part of the caliper a light grind (*dodgy*) and ease it a bit without losing too much meat off the caliper. Keep up the good work.

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone can make some recommendations for "friendly" WOF shops, or just places that you've had good service from? And that are open on a Saturday... Usually take good road car to VTNZ becuase it's modern and never goes wrong, but now I have my trailer and old Celica in Wellington I need to find somewhere that isn't overly fussy (some WOF guys can be arseholes). Any recommendations? Cheers

Keep going Alex... don't give up! My Viva was banished to the back yard several times over the years when things didn't go well (or went catastrophically bad). Then I'd play with my Toyotas for a while, get bored, and haul the Viva back into the shed. Don't see it as a set back, see it as an opportunity to get a better, stronger, faster rotor... How about next weekend to ship that Yellow beast? I'll book the ferry if you can deliver it?

Nope, no spare SL or GT grills sorry. Up there with teeth for hens and rocking horse manure... Shane had some a while back from memory. I've gots heaps of standard grills, but nothing special about them.

Well Trademe has been getting a bit of abuse recently... some new goodies for my Viva that I have to share. A GT type grill - had to paint the area behind it matt black to make it look right, and also cut some space to fit an oil cooler behind it. I somehow suspect the car won't go any faster with this, but it does look good... ...and something that will make the car go faster, not from Trademe but something a mate built and I picked up at a favourable rate. It's a small port, got some ground cams, adjustable cam gears and is a nice fresh new motor. It will soon take the place of the tired old wrecker motor I've currently got doing the job.

Probably wasn't necessary, but had originally planned to run a 20 valve, and so cut the hole to give clearance for the dizzy and water lines that come out the back of the head. Getting the weight back was also key. Sure makes getting engine in and out very easy It was pretty straightforward, no rocket science here, but heaps of little mods and fabrication that took a lot of time. Mounts, notched sump to fit lower and further back, brake m/cyl, clutch m/cyl, gearbox x-member, driveshaft... everything needed some sort of custom bracket or alteration. Also rewired, ran new fuel and brake lines, fuel cell in boot with pumps etc - that all took time. To fit a carb'd 16 valve 4AGE in a Viva or Chevette would be really easy in the normal location, I just went a bit OTT.

Discussion about my Viva //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/29130-vivaspeeds-1969-hb-viva-racing-type-car/

Well, after lurking for ages, making some posts and now realising there needs to be more Vauxhalls on this forum I have decided to post my Viva. Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/29131-vivaspeeds-1969-hb-viva-racing-type-car-discussion Let me give you a brief history. While building a 4AGE Starlet in the beginning of last decade (some time around 2001-2002) I saw a very quick and interesting supercharged HB Viva at Ruapuna. First thoughts were "why a Viva..." - I thought that was cool and did some research - it has been downhill ever since... Take one $500 Viva with a 'worked' 1256cc, Weber 28/32 DCD carb and extractors, big bus wheel and Hillman Hunter seats. Went okay until one day it didn't - couldn't be bothered investigating so out came the old engine and it lived in the garden for a while. Add one $200 1800cc Magnum front brakes, crossmember motor and diff, a dirty old Link EMX running a mitsi single point injection unit and a nice new cage that I got in exchange for a 3SGE motor. I took that contraption to the track and had some slow fun, on a good run it would rev to at least 5000 but not happily. It was a bit front heavy and tended to oversteer in the wet. It was like this for a couple of years. Then it rusted, and the engine was crap so I pulled it apart, cut a big hole and put a better engine in it. That process took some 4-5 years. I painted it myself in the depths of winter when the steel was a bit cold (I'm an electrical engineer, not a tradesman painter, so can you imagine the quality???) and put it back together. Strangely I still had all of the parts despite moving several times. Since then it's been to Taupo a few times, done some club events, and most recently Manfield in the wet. For those who like to get carried away with details, it's got the following bits inside: Toytoa 4AGE smallport with std ECU W57 gearbox and Niteparts bellhousing Escort 'English' diff Magnum 1800 brakes front and rear Princess 4-pots (Front) Fibreglass bonnet, boot, bumpers and patches in many little rust areas Plastic glazing Cage, seats, harnesses, and all the lovely safety stuff Sits on 15" minilites with Dunlop Direzza targa/DOT legal tyres. Lots of 'custom' stuff made in my shed Many bits from pick-a-part. Lots of mods coming up now I've got some decent workshop space again.

Cool car, funny to see it turn up again... My uncle used to own it from the 80s until about 2000 when he sold it back to Weirs. Had a couple of good crashes and was completely re-shelled in 1992-3 after it fell over on a hillclimb. It used to have some good bits in it and was damn quick for what it was. It had a couple of HBCC championships to it's credit from memory. Need to build an angry new motor with some Webers on it!

I used to have two of these setups. Both were done by others before I got them. From memory, one used the Vauxhall/Bedford bellhousing with the gearbox end chopped and a new mating plate welded on (easy when using the steel 4-spd bellhousing) - quite a tidy job and made the gearbox input shaft the correct length. The other one was different, but can't recall how? One now lives in the white two-door HC advertised on Trademe with the 2.3 in it. Maybe ask Murray (the owner) for a picture?