coldturkey Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 Discussion: http://www.oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23852 About a month ago I got the itch and went and had a look at this thing. Wasn't specifically what I was looking for but when I saw it I had to have it. It's a 1976 Vauxhall Viva Estate, with 1256cc's of inline 4 cylinder glory. Actually surprisingly zippy, but its main downfall is the ratio in top gear, which severly limits it's open road capabilities (actually the speed wobbles do a good job of limiting it's abilities too). This thing is in mint factory condition, couple supermarket dings and some Very minor rust at the bottom of one front guard and one rear guard. On the way home from picking it up the wing mirror unfortunately came off when I was FLYING down the road at 105km/h. I looked for it for ages but couldn't find it in the roadside Skinny wheels FTW: My two wagons, brothers in arms: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted August 22, 2010 Author Share Posted August 22, 2010 Plans are to keep it pretty factory and just work on making it a bit more reliable. Need to mess around with the suspension so it doesn't handle like a cloud so much. Got me some gauges so I can keep better tabs on its health, cause I really want to be able to drive this thing when where and how ever far I want. I'm not into all this ricey bs so I found a nice concealed spot for them under the centre of the dash where they wont stick out like dogs balls. Its not finished yet, (Im not going to leave the ground there, just testing!) Took damn near forever to get the wiring right. Had to get an adapter for the oil pressure (as it came with some bs metric sender!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted August 22, 2010 Author Share Posted August 22, 2010 So I went to start it the other day and it wasn't happy. It was running on 3 (or maybe even 2!) cylinders. Atleast 1 dodgy lead was the culprit, the connector had broken off and it was just jammed in the hole. Then I had a look at the dizzy cap, which was worn to all buggery. Out with the old and in with the new. Sorry about the crap photo - flash wasn't required. Heater hoses have been like that for a while, old owner reckons it was like that when he got it. Must have been a leak or something in the heater system so they bypassed it. Might have a look at it if I can be assed (a.k.a probably not). Not having a heater doesn't really worry me, plus not far till summer now right!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted August 22, 2010 Author Share Posted August 22, 2010 Since I wanna make it reliable, first thing is the cooling system. Call me fussy but I dont trust a car until it has a new water pump and cambelt/timing chain. Found a sweet NOS water pump and a new timing chain to suit which I'll chuck in when I get some spare time. Also plan on tracking down a new alternator and starter motor which I'll store in the boot incase of failure. (Paranoid I know). The alternator looks like its from WW1 and the starter motor solenoid is dodgy at the best of times. Lucas ACR Alternator I think? The starter does NOT look like its gonna be easy to swap out, you can see the top of it tucked in behind there. According to my manual you only need to take off the Alternator to get it out, but to me it looks like it'll hit on an engine mount and the exhaust first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 Minor update: It was sitting around for a few weeks and not driven, sold my other car planning to use this as a daily. Went to start it and ran on 3 for ages, after some suggestions changed plugs and it was right again (even though plugs didn't look bad really). Tested compression at same time and it was quite bad, and uneven between cylinders. After suggestions took it for italian tune up and then it was mint! Drove it up north over labour weekend 700+ kms, didnt miss a beat. Does tend to overheat a bit up hills/ in traffic. Plan to change thermostate and water pump and retrofit a bigger radiator to it (these are tiny). Also need new springs, mean sag on driver side. Need suggestions for springs - firmer with a bit of lowerage, anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Use this as my daily now! So Far have changed: Leads Plugs Dizzy Cap Dizzy Rotor Oil/Filter And soon, points. Runs pretty mint, though there is a miss when driving at open road speed that occurs every few mins or so. Any ideas? Maybe changing the points will fix it, I gave the points a clean and it helped but they are real worn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 So, I was driving doing the main road to get indian food on friday night and this happened: Yuck! Sounded mean... but the carbon monoxide leaking into the cabin wasnt. Plus somehow I dont think the WOF man would like it. $290 later, its all fixed with a new muffler (sounds way better now, better than before it broke even). The guy also welded up some cracks that were beginning to form on the front muffler for me, or it would have been a repeat in about a month. Really hate paying someone to fix stuff for me that I could fix with the right gear though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 Picked this up last night from Tauranga: Initial thoughts was part car...... but its actually in real good nick body wise, and its still registered.... No engine/gearbox in it, but it came with a spare 1256cc and 4 speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 18, 2010 Author Share Posted November 18, 2010 edit: given up on this idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 New Points: But it still has a damn miss at open road cruising speed! All thats left that I havent replaced is the coil, except the last owner replaced this less than a year ago (its a cheap coil though). Anyone have any other suggestions as to why it has the occasional miss? (every 1-2 min at open road cruising speed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted November 22, 2010 Author Share Posted November 22, 2010 And, added an inline fuel filter cause I dont think these have any sort of filter at all. Plus it makes it for much easier trouble shooting to see if there is petrol or not: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Time for an update! I drive this daily. Its only let me down a couple times; once the gearstick shifter snapped. I had a spare fortunately. The other time one of the wires on the coil shook itself loose, took me ages to track it down (thought it was carbie issues) but ended up all good. I've driven it on long trips up north (400kms plus) with no issues. Heres a photo of just some of the endless crap I cart around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 My timing chain was on the way out so I took a sick day at work to fix it. Success! Also changed the water pump as it was a bit leaky and fitted a radiator out of a 90's jap car with an electric fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 After some discussion in the tech article on radiator angles it was made apparent that having the top tank on the radiator higher than the thermostat was a must. I thought it was gonna be sweet but on the way up north this weekend I hit MASSIVE stop start traffic cause of the floods etc and the car started overheating when sitting there idling. Most likely due to the lack of flow. SO I took heed and positioned it a lot higher. Seems to be behaving now but time will tell. BTW: the whole reason for changing it was due to insufficient cooling for long hills etc. When I changed them it was sweet, but then started overheating while idling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Started to attack the suspension the other week. Got some springs out of a E36 BMW. They are pretty much perfect. As you can see they are a little bit heavier and slightly progressive at the ends. (BMW on left, Viva on right) Had to modify the rubber spring cups slightly to fit by trimming them. Modified ones on the right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 The car now sits about 5cm higher in the back then before, but this is all cool cause I needed to see how much to compress them. Ive got some toyota altezza front springs which I will put in the next few weeks. Also got some brand new shocks from a mate for $20. Score. They are for an 80's mazda 626 but fit perfectly! ( The fact that they are a bit longer doesnt matter cause the springs bolt in both ends anyway). Just had to swap over the rubber bushes cause the inner hole diameter was different. (Mazda on the bottom) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Don't know what these ugly damper things achieved so I took them off: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 BTW. If you need workshop shelving, Vauxhall Viva is an option: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Picked me up some BroStyles in the 4" stud pattern. Crazy thing - they are originally off my Green Viva! Turns out the guy I bought them off used to own the green viva many moons ago and took them off. He was a gc, old fella. Used to race HB's and HC's - crackup. Photo from the beach: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldturkey Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 edit: new page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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