1975 Viva DeLuxe - What Have I Done?

[oli8925]

9/10/2010

Got the white one back from the bodyshop today, with pics to show.




Was told by the body shop it was all fixed up and would drive better than it ever had, and that all the suspension parts and crossmember were still straight and true. As I unloaded it off the trailer and drove it down the drive I was therefore quite surprised to hear a knocking/clicking. Upon closer inspection it was clear at least some of the parts were in fact bent and I'm not completely happy that it was put back together well. There seems to be larger gaps between control rod/crossmember arm and crossmember arm/chassis than there should be but I will investigate that later. Don't want to say too much at this stage as I haven't had a chance to talk to them about it yet. As for the actual repair work, it looks quite good.

Nevertheless I have the new suspension parts nearly ready, crossmember needs paint and waxoyl, arms need ball joints replacing, paint and the whole lot needs rebushing. O/S Caliper is off to be rebuilt, hopefully N/S will be off tomorrow and I'll get on with dropping the crossmember off the body and engine. Still hoping for it to be done and back on the road in a few weeks.

N/S Before:


The N/S repairs:


N/S Control rod to crossmember:


Quite clearly bent here:


O/S straight (hopefully)


N/S bent


Pictures don't really show how bent it is, but it's clearly visible when you compare the two sides.

End of the day shot:

[oli8925]

16/10/2010

Got quite a bit done today.

Dropped the front set up off the body and engine, got the hubs off and stripped, and got the suspension arms and steering rack off too. All these bits are now awaiting strip down and painting to join the second hand parts I bought.

Unfortunately not many pictures, but will be continuing tomorrow with stripping and painting. With any luck the next session will see rebushing, joint and reassembling of parts, and then reattaching it to the car. Also coming tomorrow, those all important spring comparison pics

I will also have to get up early tomorrow to finally pickup the Red Viva! Won't be doing anything with it for a few weeks (other than a wash to see how well it comes up), but have bought a very cheap set of Polo steels to keep it rolling so I can get the Viva steels banded

Also more pics to show the bent parts:


O/S - Straight




N/S - Bent

[oli8925]

17/10/2010

Got the red Viva home today and gave it a wash. Paint is disgustingly flat but then it is red ::) did a T-cut and wax patch on the wing though and it came up pretty well. Engine also turns over however all the electrics need a clean and it needs a good service, so will see if I can fit that in in a couple of weeks.







More boring stuff for the white one at the moment, just stripping cleaning and painting. But do I strip and refurb the calipers myself or send them off to be done by Bigg Red for £80ish? One saves me much needed time and messing about trying to get old pistons out, the other saves me much needed money!
Future lows on the front

[oli8925]

30/10/2010

Shiny newly refurbed Calipers with many thanks to Bigg Red Ltd. Sent them off Tuesday and got them back on Friday, so I'm very happy!


Also got one upper arm re-jointed and polybushed, and on the new crossmember. Every other part is nearly finished drying from the paint. So it's getting close now which is exciting considering I havent had a car for over 6 months!


Frustrating as well that it's taking so long when it could easily be done in a couple of weeks max. At least at uni in Brighton I can take my mind off it by dreaming of buying this

[oli8925]

13/11/2010




Aim is to have the front all back on and 99% complete tomorrow finally some real progress

[oli8925]

14/11/2010

Been a disappointing day, thanks to bodged nuts and bolts, courtesy of one of the POs. And also thanks to my own disorganisation so now I can't find a washer and back nut for the brake lines.

I also found that I had drum brake hub oil seals instead of disc brake ones ??? so that's now been corrected. Took us a while to work it out though.

Nevertheless, both hubs are back together so next weekend it should definitely be back on the car [sub]*touches wood*[/sub]

[oli8925]

21/11/2010

Made some good progress this weekend! I'm hoping 2 weeks, maybe 3 until she's back on the road, but by then I'll be back from uni anyway so can work on her 7 days a week ;D

Trying to manoeuvre the crossmember back up and into place. Lining up the two chassis mounts, two engine mounts, and two rear leg-chassis mounts wasn't easy!


Rebuilt hubs on the car and Green Stuff pads fitted


Back on the car with the steering rack



new height at the front, and still yet to settle. Sits just how I wanted it so I'm chuffed. Although it's hard to see the drop in the pics

[oli8925]

27/11/2010

Another update.

Took the rear apart today and dropped the axel. All went pretty well. Although everything had it's fair share of surface rust, nuts came off alright.

...almost. N/S spring bottom mount...*Bleep* it


...double *Bleep* it!


So other than that all went well, and the studs have been drilled out of the spring mounts to be replaced with nut and bolt.

DIY bush removal


Wire brushing the rust off the arms



Few coats of hamerite


Out with the old, in with the new and low



Lots of pointless pictures because I was freezing and it was an excuse to stay inside the slightly warmer garage

More to come tomorrow

[hbpeter]

You have been busy, shame to break the SL if its in good condition.

Peter

[oli8925]

Sorry for any bits that don't make sense as they've been pasted across. Hope everything's there.

To update that list:

Parts I have:
New Shocks
-50mm Springs
New Ball joints
Stainless Braided Brake hoses
Weber 40 DCOE
Engine Mounts
Suspension bushes
SL grille with black slats
Front crossmember
N/S top and bottom arm
N/S control rod
2nd set of steelies to be banded
Another 1256 to rebuild
Pair of square 8's
Brake pads, discs, shoes etc
Heater valve and cable
Replace alternator

Parts I need/want:
Gearbox mount bush
4 branch manifold
Modified head
Door rubbers
RR stickers
Alarm/immobiliser
Ignition Barrel
Carpet dye

Jobs to do still:
Wire up reverse light
Wire up fog lights
Clean up appearance inside and out
Pull out/fill in the dents
Deal with the rust scabs
Do something with the battery tray and accompanied rust
Repair spare wheel well
Replace door rubbers
Waxoyl and protect
Give it a bloody good clean inside and out
Go to Ace Cafe
Band the steels
Rebuild 2nd engine with mods
Custom dash inserts made up
Speakers for the front
Dye carpets
Get Powerflow to remake exhaust so it sits less than a lightyear away from body
De-rust rear bumper
CB radio
Look into modifying G'box Xmember to use earlier mount
Look into AR bars
H4 Headlight conversion
Tidy engine bay


and probably a lot more I haven't thought of!