Carmad Jr’s Rare Vauxhall Viva Ha SL

[carmad.]

next up we have a real problem with clearance for a brake servo it’s just too big and doesn’t fit in between the inlet manifold and bulk head

so we have adapted the astra abs master cylinder to the pedal box to run with out the servo

now before you panic we have been looking in to remote servos and possibly hiding it somewhere but i have ran cars like vw polos and fiat x19s and they don’t have servo assisted brakes

how this will work with the abs sensors we will find out

next up was header tank and placement

in the bedford it was always a compromise as i might or might not run a heater

so we started work on the heater and it’s quite high

so the original fan and seals back in we have a heater and fan assembly

 

[svensktoppen]

Have no servo in the Lotus and it's all the better for it. The Viva probably doesn't weigh much more. No abs either, no need for it. Just keep it simple.

 

[carmad.]

Have no servo in the Lotus and it's all the better for it. The Viva probably doesn't weigh much more. No abs either, no need for it. Just keep it simple.

i have to run the abs pump as there is no way around the immobiliser with out it

 

[carmad.]

so next up

Tesla parts

 

[cauld1]

so next up

Tesla parts

Servo?

 

[southsky sunrise]

Servo?

Fire extinguisher

 

[carmad.]

Fire extinguisher

close

 

[natogreen16v]

so next up

Tesla parts

if its what i think I've also been looking at them. Other EVs run the same too if you want to buy it without Tesla tax

 

[carmad.]

if its what i think I've also been looking at them. Other EVs run the same too if you want to buy it without Tesla tax

now ya have me drooling ?

i bought what i thought was cheap compaired to others on line didn’t seam to have tesla tax on it

 

[carmad.]

so i think i have kept yas waiting enough

@southsky sunrise was the closest guess

they are actually Tesla air suspension tanks

they fit what we are trying to do and they are bare aluminium so we might polish them up a bit

as you can see they come with a shrader valve so they can be manually pumped up worst case with a bicycle pump or tyre pump

also most come with a neat mounting bracket

 

[lennyd]

So down to halfords for 2 12v compressors, 1 for front and 1 for back, and jobs a good'n. Air suspension.... done

 

[natogreen16v]

as you can see they come with a shrader valve so they can be manually pumped up worst case with a bicycle pump or tyre pump

i fit a valve to mine too incase the compressor ever quits. its got me home once so well worth it

 

[HCviva]

Just read this entire thread and absolutely loving the work that has went into this project !

 

[carmad.]

so something that has been bugging me for a while is the rear parcel shelf and what to do with it do we cut in some old retro 6x9 s ???

i would be gutted cutting holes in it to be honest

any way we started off locating the old parcel shelf and it has faired quite well considering it’s from 1965 and 3 garage moves since i stripped the car

we also found the original button type fasteners which are a brass pop in type rather than plastic

so with a lick off red lead / red oxide paint

it matched it really well with the matt sun bleached colour

 

[carmad.]

then we moved on to the fuse box location / mounts

again we didn’t want to do anything that cannot be removed

so we knocked up a couple off brackets and welded them to the inner wing

and now we have a fuse box location and mounted

hoping to get a few more hours at it over the weekend as i am back to work full time on Monday

 

[carmad.]

so with the fuse box located and now clear routes for brake pipes and wiring

we need to weld on some earth points for the loom hope to get at that over the next couple off days

we were down in Halfords looking at some smaller universal cone filters

as much as i like on line shopping for some things still being able to go to the shop and open the box and measure things lol goes a long way

not bad for £20

so next was getting the vxr airflow meter housing to fit in it it came with adaptors but we are 2mm larger than the largest one

so with a bit off heat and some swearing and a smoothed lip on the air flow meter we managed to get it in

now we have to make a flange to go from the garrett turbo to our airflow meter

so we started with a masking tape template on the turbo

a few cardboard templates and bending a strip off 3 mm steel to make the flange we ended up with a turbo starter peice that looks like this

a bit more work required but we will get there

 

[avsd]

You and your son have the 'hearts of lions'

 

[carmad.]

You and your son have the 'hearts of lions'

i don’t like things beating me and he is worse

moving on the inlet is now finished and we may have to make a small bracket to hold the airfilter up a bit but you get the idea

next up in my attempts to keep him busy while i figure out some other stuff i set him on to the two tesla air tanks

mask up the sticker for a few tesla bragging points lol

some wd40 and 1000 grit

and let him loose for a couple off hours

then on to the autosol

masked up so the plastic mountings do not scrape his hard work

next up was to measure and mark up all the mounts to make sure they are all parallel

then on to the parcel shelf

now in position

hopefully they will hold enough air for the whole lot

 

[carmad.]

as you can see in the last picture there is two bits off copper pipe jammed in between the rear seat floor and the roof off the car

this is an attempt to hold up the 60 year old sound proofing that has started to sag

we hope that a ball off silicone and some pressure over the next few days will hold it up for our next little experiment

 

[pablo]

Love the tanks on the parcel shelf. Looks great that!

 

[carmad.]

so i ordered some 6mm air line fittings off ebay

close but no cigar

because they sit so close to the rear window we have to come out off the tank and have a 90 degree turn straight away

off course i ordered 2-3 different type and none fitted

so we just drilled and retapped the tanks to suit the fittings that i bought

and now all in position and piped up

seats clear and with the masking tape off i think it looks the part

 

[carmad.]

so moving on and we have been quite busy with work over the last few weeks we have been able to get stuck in with the head lining and the interior rear quarter panels

our plan is rather than spend £4/5 hundred quid on the original white head lining is to move to a grey breathable sub woofer box carpet

so we started with the stupid glue / sponge that they came with and got them cleaned down to this

i also started plumbing the abs lines to the master cylinder

we have quite a few parts on order including getting the sump gasket used as a template out to get a copy from a water jet machine

but i have fell down the air suspension management pit and i am unsure what systems to run

 

[Rigger]

so moving on and we have been quite busy with work over the last few weeks we have been able to get stuck in with the head lining and the interior rear quarter panels

our plan is rather than spend £4/5 hundred quid on the original white head lining is to move to a grey breathable sub woofer box carpet

so we started with the stupid glue / sponge that they came with and got them cleaned down to this

View attachment 423567

i also started plumbing the abs lines to the master cylinder

View attachment 423568


we have quite a few parts on order including getting the sump gasket used as a template out to get a copy from a water jet machine

but i have fell down the air suspension management pit and i am unsure what systems to run

Seen this last weekend. It's looking like it's gonna be some job, and go some! Looking forward to hearing it blatting about the west

 

[carmad.]

Seen this last weekend. It's looking like it's gonna be some job, and go some! Looking forward to hearing it blatting about the west

me too mate but we have a bit to go yet

we finally got an alternator sorted and the we had to get a custom adjustable bracket and spacer made which will do away with the standard tensioner and air con pump

and we still had to shim it to get the belt to run straight

now we can move on with cooling fan and heater pipes

all we are really stuck for now is the sump gasket water jet thingy

 

[carmad.]

at long last the water jet sump gasket template has been cut out and is now ready to go

i collected it during the week and now we can move on with the sump and oil pick up pipe

we also have a few other parts on order hopefully they come soon