vauxhallviva.com

Thanks for allowing me into the group.
So for the first time since the late Eighties Yesterday was my first day of new to me ownership of a 71 SL1600 HC Viva ( for some reason pics won’t upload?). It’s been stood now for a few Years but I’m sure some of you will know the car and I’m hoping I won’t live to regret it as it’s already in pieces!
To be fair though it’s a problem I knew about when I picked it up and already repaired just needs reassembling now, hopefully you good folks won’t mind the subsequent questions and “brain picking” to come as I try to source a few spares and suppliers names from you all. First on the list will be service items such as timing belt, filters, gaskets and seals etc. After a visual inspection I’ve had it running but obviously it’s going nowhere now until the belts changed.
Next step is to become a paid up member, for the extra perks.

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the forum.

Timing belts are readily available and cheap enough if you search. Here's a link to one of the cheapest I've seen for a while.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155781772953 ... media=COPY
Oil filters are again easy enough to find. The original standard one doesn't have a non return valve but most of the alternatives now have one fitted, it's simply a rubber ring visible through the holes around the filter head.
The valve slows the drain back of the oil and can helps initial pump priming a bit.

1972nail wrote:Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the forum.

Timing belts are readily available and cheap enough if you search. Here's a link to one of the cheapest I've seen for a while.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155781772953 ... media=COPY
Oil filters are again easy enough to find. The original standard one doesn't have a non return valve but most of the alternatives now have one fitted, it's simply a rubber ring visible through the holes around the filter head.
The valve slows the drain back of the oil and can helps initial pump priming a bit.

Thanks for that I’m well into it now, having changed the cam box and cam cover gaskets as well as tightened up a multitude of loose bolts around the sump. Timing belt and oil and filter changed and running sweet as a nut, even managed to find a new old stock genuine filter although I’m wondering if that’s a good thing reading your info re the non return valve?
Although the Viva is new to me I was fortunate enough to have worked on these back in the day being in the motor trade since the early Seventies and repairing this has been a meander down memory lane and thoroughly enjoyable.