vivaspeed Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 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-discussionLet 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 ECUW57 gearbox and Niteparts bellhousingEscort 'English' diffMagnum 1800 brakes front and rearPrincess 4-pots (Front)Fibreglass bonnet, boot, bumpers and patches in many little rust areasPlastic glazingCage, seats, harnesses, and all the lovely safety stuffSits on 15" minilites with Dunlop Direzza targa/DOT legal tyres.Lots of 'custom' stuff made in my shedMany bits from pick-a-part.Lots of mods coming up now I've got some decent workshop space again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 While uploading photos I thought I would also give an update on my diff... Bought a Quaife ATB from the UK, and a 4.7 ratio CWP from Burton Power and had them fitted into a diff head at Howat's, then fitted it to the car. Makes a huge difference compared with the old 4.4 locked diff I had. Aiming to get out to a few events from now on - have been super slack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post vivaspeed Posted August 16, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 16, 2014 Long time, no progress. So I took the car out last in November 2013 at Manfeild and it was not playing nicely. The new diff setup was whining, and the cooling system kept getting hot. I put it in the shed and tried to ignore it. After much procrastination I decided the sort the cooling out. Originally I had done a reasonably dodgy FWD water line setup into the car and used a Pick a Part radiator that once removed appeared to be too small and reasonably blocked. The POS Tridon thermostat which I had installed before the last track day also wasn't opening - 2/2 failed Tridon thermostats for me. That wouldn't have helped the temperature problem. China's finest alloy radiator was obtained and installed, along with a new fan and the water lines rerouted. Had to cut and reweld some of the pipes for the correct outlet angles. New OEM thermostat and some other bits and it's all back together. Ran it up to temp today for the first time and there are a few very tiny beads of coolant around the welds on water lines (mostly where I ground the welds back), not quite dripping spec so will just keep an eye on them and reweld if necessary - probably will reweld them as they'll annoy me, but didn't have a problem under pressure. Got some massive foam and really small bubbles when bleeding the system, a bit like a cavitation issue until the thermostat opened was quite concerned about having a potential head gasket failure on my hands. Had also pulled the diff out again and taken back to Howat's for a checkup. Turns out it wasn't meshing nicely between the crown wheel and pinion and like the teeth had 'stretched' since it was set up. I was asked if I had big torque running through it - I laughed and said it was a 4AGE. Slapped it back together with some tasty Redline diff oil. The final thing that I checked off the list was to sort out the front spring height. Originally I had some uprated LC Torana springs in the front from the days of it being 'slant four' powered (i.e. 2 tonnes of engine), but with the 4AGE in it, it was now as high as a kite. Some lowered LC Torana springs came up on Trademe almost new, so on a roadtrip with KK and Shaz I fetched these. (below, compared with original height ones). Approximately the same spring rate, just quite a bit shorter. With them installed makes a huge difference, but had a problem keeping them captive so it was time for some new shocks, and why not splash out on something interesting - Koni adjustables. Super short shock needed - 290mm extended length. Not much listed that can do that, so the nice man at Stocks took the standard listing for LC Torana and shortened them by ~30mm for me. Finished product - much better, and not such much nose in the air. Diff still whines but I guess it will with the dodgy CWP, seems to manage it's coolant temperature now, so might have to take it to an event to give it a stress test. Edit: and I had a set of old Ward alloys straightened and polished up. Need some new semi slicks so will grab some Toyo R888s in 205/60/13 and give those a whirl. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 Wow, I haven't updated this thread for 2 years. Things I've done - new tyres, new fuel pump, routine servicing, replaced the harness because it expired. That's about it. I have done a few events, but not a lot. Pretty happy with how it's going at the moment so the turbo 7A has gone on hold. Also there's not a lot running in the 0-1600cc class these days so it's reasonably competitive. OS Drag Day 2015 - here's a video from Markku "Battle of the Titans" (that grin...) Golden Cross Hillclimb 2016 Matahi Rd Hillclimb 2016 Got a 3rd in class (only 1.2 secs spread between 1st and 3rd so it was close) and 11th overall. Even beat a WRX and an Evo on a damp hillclimb which made my day. Have to sort out the sloppy linkages in the wipers, had to use them a few times and they didn't park nicely and they drift up the screen at speed. Not to mention that they are utterly crap at being windscreen wipers. This video is poor quality because I couldn't be bothered waiting for Youtube to upload 1.3 GB of decent quality video. Next update in 2 years time. Here's the discussion bit -> //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/29131-vivaspeeds-1969-hb-viva-racing-type-car-discussion 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 Time for the annual thread update. Haven't done anything to this. Pumped up the tyres and went for a skid out at Pukekohe. You will note I've done nothing about fixing the windscreen wipers. At one point the drivers side one overshot and went past the A-pillar but came back again. Maybe I'll fix that next year. For some reason they ran the old track at Puke with the long back straight. Top end of 5th gear got a bit interesting, and not particularly reassuring that the only thing preventing overshoot and possible death was brake calipers off a 1970s Austin Princess. Listen the the symphony of thrashing a 4AGE and a diff with slightly the wrong clearances (sorry, it's not straight cut gears). 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 Time for more videos. I took this out to a hillclimb in November 2017 and beat @mjrstar by a very small margin. Here's some clips. Clip 1 - how to make some poo come out Clip 2 - the full version of my last run 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post vivaspeed Posted April 25, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 25, 2018 I didn't manage my third run of that hillclimb because the rag joint in the steering broke and I had no steering. Luckily it was in the paddock while at low speed, not during a run. Replaced it with a new Nolathane part. Lucky. Anyway, having not crashed it I decided to put a new ECU in it, something I'd been meaning to do for ages. Bought a Link Atom with easy mount kit from NZEFI. I also splashed out on new connectors so the wiring was easy and everything is nice and new. Decided to go to a wasted spark setup as well. It runs! Just need to get it tuned up. I also replaced a headlight with a mesh grill and made a really quick and dirty cold air intake. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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