yoeddynz Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 what's the width, offset and centre bore of those alloys ?......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 i will have to let you know, seems like you may be keen to aquire them, ill have to have a long hard think about whether i want to store them or not, on one hand i hate them, on the other hand, they were a bespoke, and original alloy produced for the chevron (to my understanding) and it appears most chevrons have lost them. *probably due to how badly they fit and how shit they look* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locost_bryan Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Viva/Torana upper column bush $69.95 https://www.speedspares.net/7800269_p/7800269.htm Could be worth finding out if these guys have one. They list one for a late HA Viva. http://vauxhallgreenparts.com/viva.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 man is that really what they want to charge for something like that? its not even a good bearing. if its gonna be anymore than 20 bucks for an oem bearing ill just make an off the shelf skf fit/never gonna wear out again. edit - i do ofcourse appreciate the help and sourcing of other options! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Yeah bugger spending $80 on a bearing like that. Ask about on the vauxhall viva facebook group or the nz vauxhall group. Someone will have a spare i bet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 went to saeco but nothing off the shelf (though increasingly ive found saeco to be unable to help with things that arnt direct replacements) so have taken that with a grain of salt and having a look online myself. it sure would help if i could find my vernier calipers, or even my streel rule. keep ya garages clean yo, its a pain in the ass, 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 i repacked the bearing with grease and it made it heaps better, but there's still a little play unfortunately enough that i probably do need to source a new bearing to fit in there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Isn't it a type of angular bearing? Its much like a oldschool wheel bearing in a pushbike. So if you machine up or find a thin shim to go between the end of the column tube and the bearing flange you'll squeeze the bearing that bit tighter to take up the slack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 its appears to be a double row ball bearing type. its not tapered, but it might be like an old pushbike? ive never played with them. unfortunately the play is between the shells and balls. so the inner race has some movement in it that it shouldnt do. its a 16mm shaft, which is weird because i thought it would have been imperial. but 16mm bearings arnt very common. the amount of play left with the grease, id probably be happy to run with (knowing that the bearings not going to collapse or anything) but i dont think the wof man should have to accept a half fixed solution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.H. Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 8 hours ago, BlownCorona said: its a 16mm shaft, which is weird because i thought it would have been imperial. but 16mm bearings arnt very common Not a 5/8" shaft? Pretty close to 16mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 you know youre probably right there, i was only going 16mm cause thats what the guy at saeco measured, but id better buy a battery for my verniers (or get some OG ones) and check for myself. id be much less surprised if it was 5/8ths be a bunch more options at 5/8ths too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivaspeed Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 @BlownCorona there should be plenty of castor adjustment in the standard Viva subframe set up. The lower arm is on a rubber bush so will happily move back and forth on adjustment (and if the bushes are flogged out it will move back and forth while driving too!) and the top arm is fixed by it's two mounting points. Just undo the big nuts on the castor arm and wind it out. Maybe also replace the bushes on the castor arm too. You can get a Nolathane part for it (Torana). Looking in some of my reference manuals they recommend 2.5 to 4 degrees. I'd wind heaps into it for sporty driving. The upside of using a Viva front end is the whole thing is self contained. The body/chassis mounting points don't make any difference to any of it, they only hold the body to the suspension. Of course would pay to make sure the subframe is mounted square to the chassis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 oh fantastic, i was hoping there would be something easy. and i did look at those arms and wondered. im picking its got fuck all castor since with the car on the ground and the steering disconnected i can swivel the wheel through its full movement no problems when it should be trying to lift the car. thanks for the angle spec too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Yeah what the geoffman said. plus one for getting nolothane bushes on the castor arms. Under really heavy braking the standard old squidgy bushes can flex quite a bit so allowing that arm to move backwards - in turn leads to less castor right when you need it most and you'll get a 'squirrelly' * front end with less stability. It can be really quite bad in a Viva if you brake fucking hard for a corner from high speed and the front end can wander a little right when all you want is directness. This might not be so bad in a lighter car but its still worth changing them. The ones I got listed for Toranas needed machining in the lathe to suit the cup it locates in. The company claimed they have sorted this now but do check. * maybe not the right terminology I just like the idea of lots of squirrels appearing under heavy braking.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 Awesome insight. Much appreciated, I'll definitely look at getting nolothane bushes in there. The rubber ones fitted look to be somewhat new (albeit it was a 14 year old barn find) so this could also explain why it's got approximately 1 degree of caster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty360 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Saeco are hopeless 4 anything outa the box. I spend about $70k on bearings a year and deal with a great company that can find almost anything! If you get the Id and od and pic of the bearing ill see what I can find for ya. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 will do, cheers mate. agree on saeco.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleRous Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Hi mate. I found this thread last night and read with interest. I also have an 18rg powered chevron that I've had for 4 years. It's a 1989 build. It seems we've come up against some of the same issues! Did you ever sort out your steering not centering properly? The previous owner of my car kept a book of notes for his 17 years of ownership, he sorted his steering not centering with an alignment. I could dig them out for you if you'd like them? My car is the same build, viva front end and holden HR/HQ rear end so the specs should be helpful. Did you ever sort your overheating on the track? I had the same original radiator as yours (it also had the heater matrix hooked up as an additional rad) but it sprung a leak 3 years ago. I also changed to civic half rad, 48mm thick, 2 core, fan mounted to pull through and I got rid of the secondary heater matrix/rad. I did work to create a shroud at the front (between rad and nosecone) to channel air into the rad. It was fine on the street though I felt was marginal. Took it on track and got 4 sessions in before it was overheating. I don't think the gauge is very accurate. The head gasket is now blown...engine is hooked up to the hoist as we speak and engine will come out for a rebuild. If you sorted your overheating problems and could share what you did, that would be awesome! Cheers, Dale 021645352 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 Hey mate. i did sort the steering centering by winding in some more caster (mine was set at 0 degrees) that said id be keen to see your alignment numbers. As for the overheating, I've not done too much on that front while ive been trying to buy a house and all my stuff is in storage. i pulled the waterpump hoping to find missing fins, it was rough but not too bad but it could have been causing cavitation so ill still replace it. the radiator was not blocked either. my assumption was that the heater bypass which runs very high nearly above the valve cover was struggling with air bubbles and ill reroute it lower and with a bleed point. your experience worries me to a degree though. i may look to get a larger radiator for it. also, on this forum we do things slightly different with separate discussion threads so keep the build threads nice and tidy, you will find the discussion for this project here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleRous Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Hi mate, I just posted this in your build thread. Sorry, think this is the right place. I also have an 18rg powered chevron that I've had for 4 years. It's a 1989 build. It seems we've come up against some of the same issues! Did you ever sort out your steering not centering properly? The previous owner of my car kept a book of notes for his 17 years of ownership, he sorted his steering not centering with an alignment. I could dig them out for you if you'd like them? My car is the same build, viva front end and holden HR/HQ rear end so the specs should be helpful. Did you ever sort your overheating on the track? I had the same original radiator as yours (it also had the heater matrix hooked up as an additional rad) but it sprung a leak 3 years ago. I also changed to civic half rad, 48mm thick, 2 core, fan mounted to pull through and I got rid of the secondary heater matrix/rad. I did work to create a shroud at the front (between rad and nosecone) to channel air into the rad. It was fine on the street though I felt was marginal. Took it on track and got 4 sessions in before it was overheating. I don't think the gauge is very accurate. The head gasket is now blown...engine is hooked up to the hoist as we speak and engine will come out for a rebuild. If you sorted your overheating problems and could share what you did, that would be awesome! Cheers, Dale 021645352 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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