Carmad Jr’s Rare Vauxhall Viva Ha SL

carmad.

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carmad.
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so with everything else going on at home we have had very little time to get at the wee viva

but on the up side lots off parts have arrived

we have a 2nd hand starter motor away getting refurbished before we install it

timing belt water pump new pullies all arrived

brake drums on there way from a good mate

oil cooler banjo bolts that where missing from the vx200 engine that we bought

full gasket sets have arrived

so flat out over the next few weekends should see a big difference

and the cherry on top we now have a contact in the Viva owners club who is helping us with our fight with the dva to get this thing a historic V5 👍


it’s amazing the hassle these wee buggers have cost 😂

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carmad.

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carmad.
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i also am struggling for time ect during the day with hospital visits ect that i lost the part number for the cosworth spark plugs that i have used in vxr astra engines for years

so i told carmad jr when he was finished school today to pull them out off our gsi turbo and get the part number off them

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2 stages colder than a vxr with a 0.6 gap 😜 for those who know 😂
 

carmad.

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Moving on new spark plugs are in as is the new water pump timing belt and pully kit

we removed the front off it to make access easier but maintaining it would mean the same

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and we also have a cooling fan in position not much clearance between the timing belt and fan

or alternator and slam panel

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rad back in just to check clearances

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and thank god the oil filter cleared the lower part off the road

next up is the sump

we need the engine in position so we can pull the front suspension subframe in and out to make sure it clears everything

it would be to risky to work under the car with the engine hanging off ot so we need to make a temp solution

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once i had this set up i welded the wee brackets in place and lowered the subframe out off the way

then we bolted up the balance shaft removal kit and water jetted flange to the block

with a bit off help from the jack and a piece off wood we positioned the bowl off the sump and tacked it in place

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dropped it all back out once we checked that it cleared the subframe steering rack oil filter boost pipes ect

now just to get it cleaned up and fully welded

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😉
 

Rigger

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Moving on new spark plugs are in as is the new water pump timing belt and pully kit

we removed the front off it to make access easier but maintaining it would mean the same

View attachment 426208

View attachment 426209

and we also have a cooling fan in position not much clearance between the timing belt and fan

or alternator and slam panel

View attachment 426210

rad back in just to check clearances

View attachment 426211

and thank god the oil filter cleared the lower part off the road

next up is the sump

we need the engine in position so we can pull the front suspension subframe in and out to make sure it clears everything

it would be to risky to work under the car with the engine hanging off ot so we need to make a temp solution

View attachment 426214

View attachment 426213

View attachment 426212

once i had this set up i welded the wee brackets in place and lowered the subframe out off the way

then we bolted up the balance shaft removal kit and water jetted flange to the block

with a bit off help from the jack and a piece off wood we positioned the bowl off the sump and tacked it in place

View attachment 426215

dropped it all back out once we checked that it cleared the subframe steering rack oil filter boost pipes ect

now just to get it cleaned up and fully welded

View attachment 426216

😉
Just caught up with this thread.

Good news on the support from the Viva club mate!!

Seems to be coming on alright!
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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well we thought it cleared the subframe 🤦🏻‍♂️

but it doesn’t it’s hitting the steering rack brackets so this required another two wee notches in the sump

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it took me ages to see what it was hitting

more welding required
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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ok so the viva ha front sub frame is an odd bit off kit i can see why lots off old hot rod guys used to use them it’s your whole front suspension and steering ect and just 4 big bolts takes the whole lot out

now with the subframe on the floor to can see the two steering rack mounts and they sit up quite high

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and now it’s all back in you can see what tight clearances we are working on

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this is the view from the back and you can see why it took me so long to find what it was hitting

now we have sump clearances i know it’s gonna work 🤞

up next oil pick up pipe 😛
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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ok so i didn’t think it was gonna take that much modifying this is what we started with

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but it has ended up at a really weird angle

ugly but it’s air tight so hopefully oil tight

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need to make a few supporting brackets to the crank shaft / cradle bolts
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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so the sump is having some internal clearance issues and i just couldn’t see what it was hitting

so as they say up the west i’ll put your windys in 😂 so we made a window to see what’s going on

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now we can see clearances off the pick up pipe and i was actually spot on and with a 1.6mm sump gasket still to be fitted the pick up pipe should float just above the bottom off the sump

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this also gave me an opportunity to peek in and see what way i should do the support brackets

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tack them in position and then take it out and weld them up

now we have a completed rear wheel drive front bowl pick up pipe for a vx220 / vxr engine

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and now a small bulged bit off metal to fill and clearance the pick up pipe welded on

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next up see how many pin holes are in my welding 😂
 

carmad.

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todays adventure is the wheels 😂

so we are short a centre cap and with people on ebay selling them for sill money we decided to come up with a bit of a twist to them

so this is how the are originally when they are on a manta

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and they have a silly springy retainer

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so we measure the centre holes on the 4 wheels and they where all different sizes ( possibly why one was missing ) so with a bit more work we discovered that if we used the wheel itself as a centre from behind we could use a 57mm holesaw which worked out perfect

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taking the rough off the rim and installing the new style but black and chrome centres

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and finally we have a sump that doesn’t leak

so in primer

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then paint

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and we had some magnets to stick inside beside the baffles ( i know this is a home made sump and metal fillings will totally destroy an engine ) we have 6/7 carefully placed inside the sump

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then gasket time i hope all the welding hasn’t warped it to much 😂🤞

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beer time 👍
 

carmad.

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so today we where only up for a few hours

our custom wheel spacers have arrived and we had to try them on

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while he was doing that i decided to fight with the broken studs on the turbo manifold and down pipe A LOT off swearing went on here 😂

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carmad.

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the turbo fight continues @southsky sunrise ya dodged a bullet there 😂 even this this is brand new turbo it’s been trial fitted to a few other mates projects and it’s had a few broken stud and stripped threads ect

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after a bit off a fight i ended up drilling and threading in the next size off bolt up

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then a rub down to make sure the flat surfaces are still flat

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then retap all the turbine houseing bolts

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up next is a custom job for a change lol

the penny valve / actuator doesn’t work in it old position as the inlet side has been clocked almost 180 degrees so we had to make a mount to carry it and extend the arm with the right amount off preload

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welded up and in again

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now to get this turbo to clearance everything i had to cut the plate that was welded on and extend part off the manifold

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patch welded in

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and a lick off vht silver 😜

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carmad.

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up next is the boot

non off this was completed by me 😳

we need to form a battery box an mount for the main air tank and the compressor with out destroying a totally original boot floor

so what he came up with was to weld a cross brace in and bolt every thing to it meaning that it is substantial but technically removable

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so using a corsa B battery box

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then he moved on to duel rear brake flexible pipe work due to the air backs and abs pump

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carmad.

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carmad.
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so small update finally got a hold off my mate

i was just up to collect drums off him but i huffed and puffed and out side with what limited tools i had i could not get em off

so i ended up buying the whole diff off him incase i damaged something

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now in the work van 🤫

😂

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tomorrow wd40 and a blow torch
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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new diff in the shed and boy did those drums put up a fight

glad i purchased it because i did end up cutting the brake shoe retaining pins from behind

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now get the wee man to wire brush them while i work on something else

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😉
 

carmad.

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so next up is we need a custom breather to suit our air intake

i have been doing a bit off head scratching as usual as to how to do this and what i came up with is to use a plumbing fitting for a cold water storage tank 😂

so first off i measured the size off the original engine oil breather

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this is how the tank connector is supposed to look
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now in an ideal world i would have a lathe but i don’t so jamming the drill on and using the flap wheel in the grinder i was able to turn down the fitting

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before and after

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it now fits snuggley on an after market silicone breather pipe

drill the side off the air flow meter housing after the sensor bit before the turbo inlet

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and we now have an oil breather / plumbing fitting that no one will ever see 😜
 

carmad.

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next up is the fuel tank

originally when i started building this i was going to run a 1.6 engine that only has a single fuel line

now with the 2.0 turbo it needs two fuel lines a flow and a return

so how do you turn a 60 year old fuel tank in to a fuel injected tank ?

add a return line to the filler neck turning the whole tank in to a swirl pot 😂

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and moving on most off the brake lines are in now time to look at the down pipe / fuse box / start the wiring 🤦🏻‍♂️

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😉
 

carmad.

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so we have had a few clearance issues with the coil pack plug and the original heater box / motor

so i moved the motor in the housing about 5mm up and 5mm to the right and it works but it’s leaving a gap in the heater box

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cardboard template

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and then welded in and flattened down

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doesn’t look like much but now it’s not hitting the plug 😜

then i had to figure out a way of feeding a clutch master cylinder and mounting it

after a bit off interneting i discovered that honda use small easy mounted reservoirs as do isuzu 😂 so we nicked the one from the piazza and set about mounting it

the viva uses a skuttle panel cover over the wiper motor but it comes with a hole in it to originally route the speedo cable ect through it

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if that hole in the middle was filled it would actually be quite strong and look factory ish

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should work alright 👍
 

JH86

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Love it mate 💪

Was that a corsa B battery try I seen whilst I was wafting through the progress? Where would in get one these days? Used them for years and then corsas got hard come by 🤣

Keep up the good work, and more importantly.. the memories 🙌
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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Love it mate 💪

Was that a corsa B battery try I seen whilst I was wafting through the progress? Where would in get one these days? Used them for years and then corsas got hard come by 🤣

Keep up the good work, and more importantly.. the memories 🙌

funny enough that was that last one my brother had that was not rotten

try @southsky sunrise he had a corsa b for breaking recently
 

carmad.

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carmad.
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good old bird
working away at this any chance we get now

and today we had to weld up the old steering shaft hole and start to get the main battery cables in

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here you can see the modern collapsable steering shaft with the classic steering wheel

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and here he is flat out as usual 😂

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time to start the wiring to see if we are going to get oil pressure 😳
 
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