Feral Fabrications Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Hey, Discussion thread for the Viva setup. Drop your ideas below to incorporate into building this racecar. Cheers, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Polybushes have no place in a race car mate. I tried them and they failed very fast. You want rubber (if you can get it). You'll have better traction and more money at the end of each season. What year is the car?1969? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Hiya, Cool car!!! Nice wheels... In my opinion, based on having set up a 2.3 in a chevette, owning a FD victor wagon with one and having driven a fair few HBs with the slant fitted.. I would use something lighter and better then the slant 4. They are asthmatic heavy old lumps with a terribly designed oil system. Fine for a road car (although always bloody thirsty no matter how you drive) but horrid for anything you want to trash all day long on a race track plus be able to go around corners properly. Your car will never be as good as an HB can be with one of those. Now you'll get your slant 4 fan boys quipping in and saying things like " oh but they are torquey and strong and Gerry Marshell was a god behind one etc etc " Yeah fuck that shit- one fella who told me off sternly at a NZ Vauxhall nationals for having stuck a Japanese motor in my Viva ..." how dare you put that shit in there! " followed it up with "you should have fitted a 3.3 Cresta six instead! " Obviously not that keen on going around corners with grace that man.... You could look into loads of great engines that are lighter, stronger at high revs, will last longer. So many to choose from. If you want to keep it looking all period then I would fit a Ford crossflow (who cares about badges...its just a car). I fitted one and they are quite light, look cool, sound great and can go fucking hard. With enough money thrown at one you could get similar horse power to a worn out old toyota 4age.... or mx5 engine with a turbo. My choice, when I get around to it, for my HB wagon will still either be another v6..because I just love the sound and revs, or the Duratec/Mazda L series engine I have sitting here. Tough choice- the V6 is still a tad heavy for the best steering. If you insist on fitting the boat anchor then do the handling a favour, cut the firewall out and mount the engine back as far as you can. Then buy an Accusump for the oil system... I hope this doesn't sound all high and mighty. I just think you can do that car so much better then a slant 4. Looking forward to seeing another Viva thread on here !!! Alex 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feral Fabrications Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 I believe its 1969. I tell you what, I fitted whiteline bushes to my ford capri and they haven't been lasting on the track at all. The lower control arm bushes and the front sway bar bushes blew out after three days of racing! I always thought poly / nolethane bushes were the go for race cars to stiffen thing up but like you say they don't last.. As for the engine. Its already built so I figure I may as well test it's metal. I suspect any mods it needs to be reliable have been done. Its just been sitting a long time. I want it to comply with schedule T&C of the MSNZ manual so I can race in the Historic Saloon Car class. That means no jappa engines for now and factory placement. I'm pretty sure it comes with some Torana control arms or something to give the front end some camber. Anyone know what the trick is with that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 11 hours ago, yoeddynz said: owning a FD victor wagon with one (2.3 Bedford) Jesus. I had a wagon too. I fitted the 2.3 myself and it had great torque. You scare me sometimes. /Sorry for the Spam Feral Fabrications. Keep an eye on Pre65 Racing Saloon rules. They may allow a '69 body in there now. I dunno. They were talking about it when I retired from racing a long time ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 10 hours ago, Unclejake said: Jesus. I had a wagon too. I fitted the 2.3 myself and it had great torque, just like a good tractor engine should. Hey Feral - for adjusting the camber you can drill out the factory rivets that hold the top ball joint in place and bolt it in place as is usual for replacement of it anyway. By slotting the top arms and making an extra spreader plate to go above the arm you can then fine tune the camber. I can't quite fermenter but I think the 1.8 magnum and bigger engined firenza hc vivas have longer bottom control arms so giving you the preferred negative camber to start with. If you want period correct larger discs on the front, (abiding by pre 65 rules?) about a big as you can go then the fd 3.3 lower arms, ballhoints, hubs, discs and calipers are the way to go. But the ball joints and inner hub bearings are becoming unicorn like to locate new these days. I had them on my last viva and struggled to find bits. I'm fitting magnum brakes to the wagon this time as they are only a half inch smaller in diameter, much lighter in the hubs and easy to get bits for. There is a vented Renault 21 disc that can be adapted to fit and then widen the calipers to suit. As for bushes, like you've found out with your capri and what jake said, do avoid the poly bushes. They are too stiff and don't allow the movement that is factored into the rear end on vivas. The rear arms need to be able to twist a bit- especially the top arms. They just don't last. I fitted a factory harder/stiffer at of rubber bushes. A good compromise if you can find them. Rated at 65 seems to ring a bell.. One place I did for poly bushes was on the front control arms to chassis. They really improve the front braking under heavy use in the corners where sifter bushes will allow a lot of castor change and associated shimmy. Avoid superpro though--their listed item doesn't fit. Get superflex items. Spax make a full set of adjustable dampers that are period correct as they are an old company now. They are n nicely built, last well and offer a good range of damping adjustment. For road use I never needed to go further in them about 7clicks out of 20 each end. There were front sway bars available from factory, off the larger engined cars. But in an already stiff setup, especially if fitting the heavy engine, you'll lose vital grip on the front and it'll push even more. I ended up keeping mine off for better feel and grip at the expense of a little roll. Rear ones can be had but id had no luck finding any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feral Fabrications Posted March 30, 2020 Author Share Posted March 30, 2020 Hey All, 1st installment of the Viva project posted up to the tube. Now I can start figuring out how to make this thing fast(ish) Let me know what ya reckon. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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