vauxhallviva.com

The reason why older engines appear to be more popular is that the majority of those conversions were done years ago when the necessary braking, transmission and suspension parts to make a safe and reliable conversion were more plentyful and cheap. Unfortunately doing similar conversions today are a lot more difficult with virtually nothing easily available.

ford pinto + type9 fits quite easily, points to watch out for are:
you'll have to mod gear lever hole but gear lever will foul handbrake - move handbrake or shorten handbrake ( i did the latter, wasn't great)
some bulkhead re- dressing required but not much
you won't have to enlarge the tunnel either, it all fits in

Ford xflow + standard 4spd ford box all fits in easily :
no bulkhead mods
no tunnel mods apart from gearlever hole which again means the gear lever problem, but if you fit an earlier 3 rail from an anglia or cortina then you wont have to sort the handbrake.

essex v6 + standard v6 box (2.3 = no bulkhead mods, 3.0 = not sure about bulkhead, but there cant be much difference between the deck height )
gearbox fits tunnel, but gear lever hole mod needs doing
steering column fouls oil filter so you'll need a remote housing, still tight though.

these are all mods i have done in the past ... with some overall success , xflow was by far the easiest, and the most fun. And where a xflow goes, a zetec will go ...but not the SE or sigma unit, that is a duratec and will not fit standard ford RWD boxes...although i believe it will fit an MX5 box ...which means you could fit a 6spd box yay
don't quote me on that though :/
zetecs are cheap and plentiful, and will run happily on carbs and aftermarket ignition boxes. The 2.0 will require some head scratching regarding the pumps and pulleys because they run backwards, and they all need a water rail/thermostat housing mod.

But, in mentioning a MX5, ,you could just buy a scrap one of those and chuck the lot in, good engine, nice box, all in one package....food for thought

I don't think the lower end of the St220 motor is good for this conversion. I'm not sure about a rwd sump conversion for this motor, or gearbox for that matter. The standard sump and lower end is no good for the cross member. There is on eBay at the moment a full 3ltr Essex engine and gearbox going with other new parts included for £500 I think. Just thought that might be a better option if you wanted the V growl.

Hi,have a look at this thread by a very talented( in my view) member in New Zealand which is one of my favourite engine swaps I've ever seen on here. It also gives you a great illustration of the large amount of work involved. There have been attempts in the past to fit the V6 Vauxhall engine but this threw up fitment issues that couldn't be overcome so maybe the same issues would appear with the ST220 motor.
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=14870
Regards, Dave.

I look in total admiration at everything this guy and his Mrs do. Not many have the skills this pair have. I have nothing but respect for the pair if them .

1972nail wrote:

I personally would like to build my self a 'more modern' Viva HC with something like a small turbo diesel engine producing about 80-100bhp. Should go well enough, be economical and the original axle, suspension and brakes should just about handle it OK with a few minor upgrades.

What engine are you thinking about?

Don't really know, there are a few that have been fitted before - one from a f@#d! ..... .......nooooooo!

nowt wrong with a Ford good strong engines mostly

Hi,you might be better sticking to a four banger with a turbo. Callibra and a lot of Saab turbo engines fit rwd Manta gear boxes without any trouble.And you would still have plenty of room in the engine bay