Make sure to premix with your fuel!

 

Cheers fellas! Yep I always mix my fuel.

I'm bloody happy and excited about having a proper old car to drive again.

 

That's just awesome bruddah!

 

Glad ya like it Al. When you come over to visit you get to drive it!!! Swapped for a spot of canyon driving in your 3, or 2, or repu...

 

Sounds like a plan . The 2 is too much of a granny car though

 

OK- the Repu then!

 

I finally got my widened steel wheels sorted. I finished painting them the other day..



..and then got the tyres swapped across by a local tyre shop friend who has a lovely series 2 rx7 and admired my car I put the wheels on today and I reckon they look great. They just set the car off perfect. I'm very happy! To most people I think they'll almost look standard.







When I had the front wheels off I adjusted the camber as it was set with loads of negative. The top ball joint can be moved in or out via two sets of holes...



But I think now I could do it with a little negative camber back in as the wheels are close to the arches. I will slot out between the two sets of holes and make it so I can fine tune it. I will also roll the arches and do the mod to the front of the arch as per Vauxhall sports part manual as the now wider wheels just touch the front bottom corner when turning.

The carb started to flood again the other night. I checked the float bowl and there was some somall bits of metal in there- they must have come from the little fitting I had made to hold the gauge. I cleaned it out and put carb back in place. All good now. Must order a filter.
The little Jaycar 'electronic LCD temp gauge + adjustable switch' kit arrived. I will look to building that tomorrow night. Hopefully my soldering skills will be up to it! I can just see me building it then all the tellys in the neighbour hood change channel or something when I connect it.

 

nice bro

 

Cheers man! Just a few little things to sort, then certify it and drive it! It'll still handle like a old 60's/70's car... it'll be fun.

 

That's the fun part of these swaps you get that old time handling with all the extra power to push it around. Just be ready to buy rear tires often. I know the Austin I have with a 13B swap eat the rear tires up like nothing. But it is a blast to drive. Congrats on a great project it's been fun following it along.

 

very cool set up,i dont know of many, if any other rotary vivas in nz,my old flat mate had two piston vivas and he loved them,sounds like you have a lot of patience and its good that you didnt give up on this project,good old kiwi back yard builds, enjoy.....

 

Cheers guys. I know of one 12A Viva up north- its an old race car. But I cant think of any road cars. The Elford turbo setup is rare too- I think one other setup in NZ but I dont know if its been used or not. So yeah- I'm looking forwards to some surprised faces when I have the bonnet up at cars shows. Must get it on the road first!!!

I have ordered a wideband gauge setup- an innovate one. And have a filter on the way. so almost finished these little bits then!

 

Finally spent a little bit of time on the Viva while waiting for some parts to arrive for the housetruck. I have been very slack at working on this car. Just silly little jobs to do but I keep putting them off. I must just crack on with it!

After taking the car cover off I checked the fluid levels and both were spot on- which is really good as it means the engine water seals are all good. I started it up with the help of a jump start as the battery is really old and pretty much had it. Sounded good but is running rich. Must finish making my air filter. And once I have fitted the wideband gauge I get the mixtures better.

I started on fitting the rev counter, boost gauge and wideband gauge. When I pulled the wideband gauge out of its box and saw the massive plug on one end I panicked. Bugger I thought, i'm going to have to make another big hole in the bulkhead....



But luckily I remembered the big factory hole for the original loom was there to be used. Phew.



But what to seal the cable up with? I checked my supplies and had no grommets large enough to use. But wait, whats this? Hey, its the original grommet stashed away in a bin full of odds and ends. Cool.



I sliced the grommet so it would fit over the cable and squeezed it in place. Ahhhhhh. Bliss...



After all this rather exciting events I set to work making some little holders for the two gauges. I used the vinyl I had got in Chch and some 4mm ply. I'll fit them in place tomorrow. They will be tucked out of the way on each side of the steering column.



I really don't want to have lots of extra stuff going on. I want it to stay simple. Not even sure if i'll refit my parcel shelf as it doesn't really hold that much, makes it hard to get to wiring under the dash in the future and makes the footwells seem that much smaller. I decide later once car is all sorted. But I do want to have an centre armrest after having one in my Rx3. So good on long trips. I'll have to keep a look out for something that might work in the future.

 

I finished my filter. Made a little adaptor to suit the SU carb...



The filter just slides on in place via the rubber seal and a Jubilee clip holds it in place. It fits in perfect and has a nice cold air supply straight into it...



For winter I may well have to block that hole...although this car has more issues in winter..like being so old it doesnt have flow through ventilation out the back to extract condenstion. and the fan is weak. It'll mist up bad!
I need to get one of those oldschool after market rear window demisters. In fact some vivas had then standard as mine has a place for the switch.

The engine bay pretty much complete. Only thing to go in now is a water bottle on top of bulkhead for windscreen wash.



So the filter being done I made an extra heat sheild from stainless to protect the brake servo from exhaust heat...



Then I pulled out the wiper motor. So easy on this car- the heater matrix removes with about 8 screws. I love old cars like this. Then two nuts and the whole wiper assembly is out.



I stripped the motor to check all was right- like the brushes etc. I had removed this two speed wiper from the yellow Viva to replace my old one speed system (old cars eh?...) so I had to work out the wiring to run it using a spare headlight switch.



I managed to get it working right including the self parking and was chuffed!

While that lot was out I filled all the cavities behind the bulkhead and below the screen with wax- decent Bilt Hamber stuff I brought back from the UK.



With that back in I adapted the heater control surround to take a push button switch for the windscreen wash. My car originally had the standard basic model Viva manual push button wash, like a water pistol, that you had to keeping prodding in and out to squirt water (it was craaaap- old cars eh?)

I also fitted a little led that will light up when the cooling fans come on just so I know.



I now need to make a windscreen wash bottle and fit a pump I took from my brother scrap corolla.

 

Not a big update for now but just happy to post up that after almost 2 months since the car was last started I got back to my olds in Blenheim and finally started to do some more work on the Viva.
I blew the dust off the car and thought I'd try to start it. The battery is a bit knackered..in fact I can't even remember where I got it from. I checked its voltage, it was showing 12.5 and I thought nah that wont be enough. Flicked the pump on, pulled the choke out and gave it a whirr. Vrrrrrooooooommmmmm!!! :o ;D 8-)

Oh and the coolant level in the radiator was full which is great news too!

I found a tiny vacuum leak where the brake master meets the servo which could be enough to muck up the mixture. I could hear a hissing but could pin point it. I finally located it by using a piece of heater hose against my ear. Now sealed with a smear of rtv. I cant see one shown in my Haynes book but is there meant to be a paper gasket between the master and the servo? Or an O ring?

The car is now up in the air as I have the top wish bones removed in order to modify the adjustable camber for the top ball joints. Currently it has two positions which are either too much or too little negative camber. I've now slotted them so I can fine tune the camber. I'll put some photos up of the mod later.

I have also very carefully and precisely 'adjusted the lips' on my front wheel arches with my professional adjustment tool...



Now I wont be slicing my tyres.


I had to move viva out from carport last night so it didn't end up green from painting our van.

Woke this morning and what a lovely view from the bed....



Next job is to curve/clearance the front arches as the bottom front corners just about touch the tyres when the wheels are halfway through lock.

 

Back at the olds for a couple of days for some quality kitty cat time and Viva fettling.

Today I tested out the digital temp gauge and fan switch I built from the Jaycar kit...



It works OK but I'm not sure I want to fit it now. Its quite bulky and a bit complex for what is a simple job. But its has been a bloody good learning experience!!!! I'll have another look in the morning.
I would still rather a nice simple standard switch screwed into my radiator- but the problem with that is that with my switch location being at the bottom of the radiator I cant find a suitable temp switch. I want to keep this engine running at around 85 degrees. I would have to be sure of what the temperture drop of my radiator is before I work out what switch I get? I wish I had put the bloody insert at the top of the radiator now. But really cant be arsed removing it and de soldering/patching/drilling/resoldering to move it. Maybe a adjustable one from supercheap etc bunged in the top hose like on the previous chevette/rx3 projects. I feel like I'm going in circles. for now I just have a switch. I know damn right that if I don't fit something automatic then sods law will dictate that one day I will forget to switch the fan on, leave the car idling while I do something else, then come back to a very hot, very sad engine!

Tonight I pointed a timing light at the car- one I have just bought second hand off trademe. The timing was waaaaaaayyyyy advanced. like maybe 20 degrees? its now running much smoother and far less smoke from unburnt petrol- although that has me stumped as I thought to much a retarded ignition timing would cause unburnt fuel? Anyway now its better but it still bogs down ever so slightly as I try to pull away, like as if the hand brake were on. I think its maybe the SU carb dashpot oil is too thin so the needle rises to quick and leans it out. The same happen if I floor the throttle hard- it bogs. But if i give it loads, a little more slowly, it revs well, smooth and loud.
I took a short clip with my phone- its a bit noisy as the fan was on and well..its a phone video. It was on a slightly fast idle when I took vid too. But you can hear the right sounds in there at times ...


Still some adjustments to be made but overall I'm happy. I was just going to give it another tweek when the fuel ran out :roll: So that's that for the evening.

 

We just took the Viva for a drive Its very quick! Had to take it down to my local exhaust place. They will move a muffler across because where its been placed it may touch the prop shaft when it drops down with the axle if car leaves the road ie big jumps... 8-) Plus I'll get another muffler added as I want the car quieter.

Last night I made a new number plate up to replace my missing one. Turned out really nice- in fact its too mint so will need to be 'weathered' to make it look older.
I made it by carefully cutting the numerals out of thin alloy sheet. This took a while to get them neat. Lots of fine filing.



I then masked the front of each, etch primed the back side and then stuck them onto a primed peice of 3mm alloy sheet cut to size.



With the numbers stuck down in place I paint black over the whole lot with matt black enamel. Then this morning I peeled the masking tape off and hey presto- new plate! ;D



I wish I didn't have to go through all this but such is the way of NZ. It would be so cool if someone would make plates for classic car owners who are missing a plate or have one thats damaged etc. It would not harm anyone would it? I'm sure that, like in the UK, it could be done to avoid any criminal elements.

Anyway, this morning it was a little rush finish off some small things. For now I have wired the Rad fan to a spare switch on the dash. I'll add the thermo switch/digital readout later.
Went to fit the wipers and then discovered the motor is wired backwards! : So out with that later to sort it.

So out the driveway, up the road, no seat belts as I forgot to bolt the buckles back in, temp gauge reading fine, all good. choke still out on a fast idle as I was paranoid it might stall. First impression was 'ooooh its quite nippy' then on next street I gave it a bit more welly and thought 'crikey- its bloody fast- COOL!' I don't even think I went beyond 5000rpm and boy it gets up there quick! I was giggling. ;D

Steering wheel feels odd in the typical Viva offset to the left way. Handling on such a short drive? Doesn't roll as much as it used to but doesn't seem overly stiff either.

Arrived at Murrys Mufflers and was shaking with excitement. I just love the first drive of a cobbled together car.

Man I'm looking forwards to driving it home later! 8-) Will book the cert man next and take it for a wof.

 

Picked up car, now with extra muffler in the back. Just a longer coby under the boot. So much quieter now. Much better. Most wont know what engine it has.
I decided I had better get some go juice into the tank so stopped at Caltex. And there near Repco was a beautiful little Anglia with lotus steels in what I think is Ford olympic blue? I love Anglias!
So cool. So small too. My Viva is pretty small but next to the Anglia its large. I told the young fella who owns the Anglia about Oldschool and that he must get his car up on here.





Back to Vivas though. Still bogging down. Then I started to notice how bad the brakes were binding. I thought maybe heat from the turbo was affecting the master cylinder? Got home and jacked up rear. Backs were binding too. Pedal had no slack. I had wound the bloody brake light switch in too far so master cylinder was not able to fully release :roll: As soon as I wiund it out and got some free play into pedal the rear wheels unlocked! sweet. Now it doesnt bog down so bad. I guess I never noticed as it needed some heat in the system before the brake fluid needed somewhere to expand- and because the master cylinder wasn't returning it couldn't expand into the reservoir so it instead started to apply the brakes? Pedal now feels softer and more normal with out the built up pressure. Brakes work well.

Sorted the wipers out. I love old cars!!! It takes like only 10 minutes to have all the heater matrix/fan and then the whole wiper assembly out. It was the arm on the motor being 180 degrees out that had the wipers working backwards. 2 minutes later and they were working fine



I've installed a washer bottle, from a Mazda b2500 I think, in place. It fits perfectly and looks like an old bottle should But my little jet nozzle thing on the bonnet has broken! bugger.

 

Took car through wof today.



Apart from the items to be cert'd it failed on RH headlight aim too high, wheel bearings a touch too loose, speedo not working.

The wheel bearing were really loose! I have tightened them up and guess that after having packed the hubs and thinking I had them set right they have loosened off. Would loose wheels bearings cause a shimmer when braking?

The speedo cable inner is slightly too short and wasn't quite engaging into the square hole in back of speedo. I never even noticed it wasn't working yesterday as I was more concentrating on other things like revs, boost..oh and the road.
I'll sort it out by shortening the outer.

Headlight aim easy.

They really liked the car at Blenheim testing station which is cool. Was noted how quiet it was. Good!
They also mentioned that some Certifiers want to see widened steels X ray'd???? Apparently Don Hoff gets his knickers in a knot with them. Not sure what the law is there. I'm pretty sure they were built by elite wheels many moons ago but I have no receipt as I bought them second hand. They hold air and the tyre man who shod them noted how almost perfectly balanced they are.

After the test I took the long way home and hannah took this short clip on my phone of boost gauge. It goes up to 5psi and holds there. Sweet. Pulls really well and sort scared me in 3rd as its just an old Viva and I am only used to old diesel hiace speeds.

 

The passed its cert with flying colours.

Certification man Kendall Bradley from Nelson turned up this morning in a cool old hotrod and went over the car top to bottom. He was pretty impressed the the build and just made sure I had done the right things like fitted crush tubes were my engine crossmember was bolted through chassis. I had taken photos of that and showed him so he was happy.
Then we went for the drive. He loved it! After a good decent drive with some brake tests of course 'acceleration testing' we headed back into town. He then said " I'm really impressed with this car.. its so quiet and smooth that you would never guess its anything but a standard old Viva"

That was cool. Yep I'm a happy man. Car ran well and gets better every time its driven. I think months of rich cold starts are getting blown out and the engine is settling in too after being cobbled back together after the rebuild.

He also said "now dont go out and drive it till the plate turns up because you dont want to get a green sticker!" But thats cool because we are heading back to Nelson later anyway. When the plate arrives hopefully next week I'll come back over and do the wof recheck. Cant wait!

Oh yeah- its was all nice and sunny for the whole process and then just after he left it began bucketing it down. Lucky.

The only thing noted was the rear bushes are soft and under really hard acceleration the axle moves and self steers the back of the car across the road. He noted down that I need to replace the bushes so I'll get a set.

 

Yesterday we got back to Blenheim and took the Viva down for a WOF re-test with Cert plate in place. All good. Then bought some rego- I love old cars. $60 for 6 months. sweet.

Then took it for a spin here ther and every where- smiling at some police man in his cop car going the other way. Ha- I'm all legal and happy

Today I did some little jobs and the sun was shining. I was happy as. Love the fact the car is legal and all good. Just that I can hop in any time and go for a blast. Which is w wihat I did when I took various people who have helped me out with the build for a spin. Took Dad out for a spin tonight. Ha- he loves the seats. Thinks it'll be too easy to get caught for speeding.

It will still bog down if I try to accelerate out from an intersection with out enough revs. Hard to explain really but needs to be just a little bit richer right down low. I'll have a tinker with it. Otherwise it just flys along- too fast for me right now especially with the soft bushes. Gonna get a wheel alignment asap although its pretty good as it is. Does the front end lift thing at speed and the steering gets light. Really needs a little bib spoiler.

So today I lengthened the gearstick with a slight bend back and fitted a wicked old gear **** I got from a old UK truck wreckers years ago. Its off a really old ERF, is made from Bakelite and just looks the part. Forgot to get a photo of it. But heres a longer gearstick...



I also wanted more air flow over the oil cooler. Its holding the temp spot on with my driving so far but I want it to get as much air as possible for when ragging it up hill on a hot day. So I cut more from the valence and added a bigger mesh.



I hoping to go for a spin up the dashwood hills near home in the morning so Hannah can take some drive by vids. I have a feeling the turbo oil seals are a bit tired so will be watching for smoke and oil usage.

 

Yesterday morning Hannah took it for her first drive. We went out to the Dashwood pass about 10km from Blenheim. It was at about 9.30 the weather was already hot. The tarseal was just starting to get sticky. Sunday so little traffic. Good fun. It pops on the overrun (too rich at idle?...) and handles way way better than I thought! ;D
I have fitted Spax adjustable shocks all round with stiffer springs. The shocks are only clicked in 5 clicks out of 15 each so still quite soft but its pretty good. Very little roll. I wont fit the front sway bar for now till I know it better.

The big ol' 3.3 Ventura front discs and 1800 rear drums haul it up quickly too. Happy with them. The discs are a tiny bit warped with a run out of about 004"
I will get them skimmed at some point as they cause the pedal to pulse ever so slightly.

We swapped seats and I left Hannah on the side of the road to take some videos. Typically though that upon watching the videos back the car doesn't seem to look that quick. :


Then in the afternoon I drove it back to Nelson and Hannah followed in the van. I just cruised at about 60 mph and it flew up and over both passes on the way no worries.... 8-)
Filled the tank before leaving and filled it up again when we arrived- it returned 25 MPG which isn't to bad really for what it is...

Mum gave me this old blanket and hat...



Now cruising about Nelson and waiting for that perfect moment when I can surprise some **** in a posh car as they try to take out the old grandads car ;D

 

Absolutely love it! Enjoy your car, you have earned it!

 

Haha, when I seen the video I thought.. "What's that crazy bloke doing driving on the wrong side of the road!!" Then I noticed your in NZ.. haha :-)

Just read the whole thread, very nice build!! Keep up the good work mate!

Cheers!
-Alvaro

 

Cheers- yeah h I'm loving it so far. Its also the first rotary powered car I have owned or driven in NZ as I started out with them while living in the UK.