Motorways driving

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Re: Motorways driving

Postby hbr341 » Mon Sep 26, 2016 7:19 pm

Hi
Best and easiest way is to fit a 2300 rear axle i did it on my HB GT made a big difference 3,4 ratio i had standard mk1 GT that was 3.9 i do have overdrive box as well thats a bit more involved to fit and find a good one.

Regards Chris.
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby Deakin1988 » Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:46 pm

Sound good where did u get your parts from and what overdrive gearbox did you use

Thanks
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby hbr341 » Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:36 pm

Hi
Sorry for the delay to reply to your question the overdrive gearbox is from a victor overdrive was standard fitment on fd victor vx490 from mid 1970 and on fe vx490s so there were a few around its an easy fit but you have to have your prop shaft shortend and balanced the problem is finding a good one until you fit and try it you dont know i have bought a few that they said were good and after fitting they were worn out ive lost count of how many times ive had
gearboxes in and out of my viva all good now so good luck i hope you find a good.


Regards Chris.
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby dann01 » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:45 am

All you need to do is make it more drive-able and reliable, which is easily done with the addition of just 2 things.

Electronic ignition
The largest electric fan you can fit

I also have an aux electric water pump which keeps things lovely and cool when in traffic, but if you go this route you will forgo a tad fuel economy as you need to either drill some holes in, or remove the thermostat entirely to allow unfettered water circulation.

I have also found that IF you do some mileage in your Viva, use a GOOD quality 20w/50... Do not go cheap. Castrol XL or the Millers are good.

Dan
Sometimes, I wonder why I bother, and then for one fleeting moment things will go right for a change.
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby droopsnoot » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:19 am

All good modifications, but none of them will help reduce noise in the cabin on motorways. :wink:

The main thing I've found in terms of noise on my car is down to wind noise. First thing I noticed was that there was a gap between the inner edge of the door seal and the bodyshell, so the wind noise around the top of the door was quite bad. For a temporary solution, just getting some self-adhesive foam tape (draught excluder, basically, but closed-cell foam is best as it doesn't take on water) and sticking it around the door aperture is enough to fill the gap and reduce the noise. Proper solution is to find and fit new door seals.

The other thing I've thought about is making some clip-in "deflectors" to sit in the windscreen pillar and smooth out airflow around there. If you look at Silver Bullet (and I think the HC saloon that Vauxhall Motorist modified for aerodynamic testing), that has filled-in pillars so the rain channel isn't as distinct as it is on normal HCs, for that reason. I don't want to make a permanent change to my car, but I thought that maybe a bit of firm plastic that could clip between the edge of the drip rail and under the side of the windscreen rubber might do the trick, and can be removed when not on the move.

Failing that, a better stereo perhaps? :wink:

I'm not making light of it, though. Some people are more prepared to put up with a noisier car, either because they're used to it, or because they embrace the feel of a classic, or whatever reason. I agree with the OP though, if I'm going to go any kind of distance I'd like to try to improve the experience as much as I can. I spent a bit of time trying to make my car nicer to drive in the hope that I might drive it more, I've got a bit more sound-deadening on the bulkhead for example. But you have to remember that these are old cars, designed in the late sixties (or even the mid-sixties as most of the suspension is effectively HB) and they're never going to be the comfortable mile-eaters that a modern car is.

Dan, on the aux water pump, is that fitted in one of the hoses? My modern has something like that, to keep coolant pumping around the turbo up to fifteen minutes after the engine is switched off.
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby dann01 » Thu Oct 06, 2016 11:27 am

"Dan, on the aux water pump, is that fitted in one of the hoses? My modern has something like that, to keep coolant pumping around the turbo up to fifteen minutes after the engine is switched off."

Mine has a manual over-ride and is plumbed in with a take off the radiator outlet that goes to the mechanical water pump, and then feeds back into the system at a T section I spliced into the pipe that comes FROM the heater matrix to a brass inlet in the top of the mechanical water pump.

Sit in traffic all day long with that running, and the car won't boil.

Dan
Sometimes, I wonder why I bother, and then for one fleeting moment things will go right for a change.
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby chrismc » Thu Oct 06, 2016 1:40 pm

Dan what spec is your engine to produce so much heat? Wouldn't a more efficient radiator be simpler?
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Re: Motorways driving

Postby dann01 » Tue Oct 11, 2016 4:58 pm

Big valve head
Stainless steel Griffon headers and system
GT3X cam
Twin 48 Delortos
Home spec air filters 5 x 7 x 4 inch
2 core rad (Yeah, used to have a 3 core but don't need it now)
H&S electronic ignition and Coil
High pres oil pump

The heat from the headers is quite something, but when cruising the temp of the engine is fine... I do quite a bit of mileage in Darth. Covered 10k miles last year doing trips up to Fred's and elswhere, (Darth is no show piece. He is my working car) and when you get stuck in stop start, solid traffic, even a nicely tuned and well cooled standard will get hotter than is good for it, hence the cooling mods on Darth.

Just for info, the water in Darth is always distilled, and the cooling system is as clean as I think anyone could make it. The aux water pump is for traffic only, not for normal running.

Dan
Sometimes, I wonder why I bother, and then for one fleeting moment things will go right for a change.
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