Starting the Old Engine

As i still have not yet found my perfect donor. I decided that i should get the old engine a runner so that if anyone needs one they could have it.

Firstly i notice that the car would not drive under load(this means when you put your foot down).
So i set out and took out the Stromberg 150cd Carb. I took the carb apart to check the condition of the float and the pin. They all looked good. Justed needed a good clean with IPA and a quick oil on the pin. Always work changing the diaphram as you can never tell. it only costs about a £1. All Set. If you are going to do this be careful not to damage it, get a Stromberg book(£1.50 from a charity shop - cheers dad).So now the carb is all cleaned i moved onto the fuel filter this is a mesh in the fuel line. Just take out and clean mesh.

After that i moved onto the coil, i decided to replace these as to test they is not economical. Only £10 from a local shop. just unscrew bracket and fit new one and change over leads for new ones(always best to do) and put new spark plugs in remembering that spark plugs need to be spaced on older cars. Job, Jobbed.

So working down the line. I checked the distributor by cleaning all the points as they where pretty new ones. But normally just replace them, only about £0.30.

Since i noticed when I drove it that the oil light was on and there was spitting from the top at the rockers i replaced the oil pressure switch. Some garages do stock these but still they are not hard to get.

And finaly as a safety measure I thought I might aswell change the fan belt. Why not ay!

The gear box was still all good was not worried anyway since I have a spare.

Cleaning the Contacts for the Wiring

Knowing the exterior was all fixed up i moved onto the interior/wiring.
So i started taking apart the interior i took out the steering surrounds and half the dash board so that i could get to all the wiring. I cleaned up all the contacts for the lights and steering as the lights were not functioning properly. Cleaning all the contacts with I.P.A. and an old toothbrush(not mine) seemed to fix them all up good. Things get old and contacts corrode.

Knowing that the interior wiring was good I move onto the earthing to the straps to the car. This was simple, just unbolt clean if can be used again -bolt back on, if they cant be used just fix on a new one(can be bought from any good car shop). The key here is to recycle everything.

Fixing up the exterior

since i am waiting for a donor i decided that i should do some of the minor things with the car.
So i pushed it into one my garages (where it plans to stay) and started by fixing up the outside.
this was a list of minor things firstly i scanned the car for rust, thankfully the car has been well looked after so rust areas were very minor. I did this by sanding out the ares of surface rust and putting a protective coat of paint over it to protect it till the body spray stage(which will be a long time from now).

After i was happy that all the rust areas where grinned out and protected I move onto the wing mirror that was broken. This was a simple five minute job. dont know why but the wing mirror was broken off at the base. so i took the whole thing apart and it was as simple as putting a screw through a spring and into mirror stalk. Job, Jobbed.

Looking For A Donor

I am currently looking for a donor car to use for parts for my VIVA.
The cars I have got my eye out for are models with the C20XE engine in it.
Such as;
Calibra 1990-1995
Cavalier gsi or sri 1992-1995
Astra gsi 1995-1997
Vectra 1995-2000

Also as a back-up plan i am looking for a Vauxhall V6 engine
The car with this engine in ti is the Omega 2.5 v6. It has all the things I am looking for and its RWD.

If anyone knows of where i can get one from in the cornwall area please say.

Car Release Dates Of Vauxhall

These are the cars that Vauxhall produced in year Order:

  • Albany (unsure)
  • Envoy (unsure)
  • Epic (unsure)
  • A-type (1911–1914)
  • B-type (1911–1914)
  • C-type "prince henry" (1911–1913)
  • D-type (1912–1922)
  • 30/98 E-type (1913–1922)
  • 23/60 (1922–1926)
  • 14 & 14/40 (1922–1927)
  • 20/60 (1927–1930)
  • 25/70 (1926–1928)
  • Six (1933–1938)
  • T & T80 (1930–1932)
  • Cadet (1931-1933)
  • 10-4 (1937–1947)
  • 12-4 (1937–1946)
  • 25 (1937–1940)
  • 14-6 (1939–1948)
  • Velox (1948–1965)
  • Wyvern (1948–1957)
  • Cresta (1954–1972)
  • Victor (1957–1972)
  • VX4/90 (1961–1972)
  • Viva (1963–1979)
  • Viscount (1966–1972)
  • Ventora (1968–1972)
  • Firenza (1970–1975)
  • Manta (1970-1987)
  • SRV (1970 concept)
  • Magnum (1973-1978)
  • Chevette (1975–1983)
  • Cavalier (1976–1994)
  • Silver Bullet (1976 concept)
  • Viceory (1978-1982)
  • Royal (1978-1986)
  • Senator (1978-1994)
  • Carlton (1978–1994)
  • Equus (1978 concept)
  • Astra (1979-present)
  • Nova (1983-1993)
  • Silver Aero (1983 concept)
  • Belmont (1984-1991)
  • Calibra (1989-1997)
  • Frontera (1991–2004)
  • Corsa (1993-present)
  • Monterey (1994–1999)
  • Omega (1994-2003)
  • Tigra (1994-present)
  • Vectra (1995-present)
  • Zafira (1999-present)
  • Agila (2000-present)
  • VX220 (2001-2005)
  • Monaro (2001–present)
  • Meriva (2002-present)
  • VX Lightning (2003 concept)
  • Signum (2004-present)
  • Vauxhall VXR8 (2007-present)
  • Trixx (Not yet released)
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WISH TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT VIV OR ANY OF THE WORK CARRIED OUT?

EMAIL:
thevauxhallviva@hotmail.com
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