1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby BobbyMel » Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:40 am

Doing a great job there...
HB 368

1970 - Vauxhall HB Viva Estate....114 BOB
1969 - Vauxhall HB Viva Estate....BDH819G
1968 - Vauxhall HB Viva Estate....BOB 33E
1968 - Vauxhall HB Viva Estate....NHA 764F
1987 - Austin Montego 1.6L....E375 JRV
1995 - Rover 216 Coupe....N622 VOA
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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:38 pm

Thanks Bob :D

While waiting for a new set of fibreglass wings to arrive, I thought I would have a crack at making a few new panels. First off, the viva was missing the top radiator panel. To do this, I got a piece of galvanised steel that I found lying about, cut it to shape and bent some flanges into it.



This fits onto the car like this:



I’m really happy with how this panel turned out :)
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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:42 pm

The next panel that needed to be made was the bottom front chipguard panel (I can't remember what this is called, scuttle panel?) that protects the engine from water, stones etc. As you can see below the original panel was in a very bad way.



I used the same material as in my earlier post, and as before cut the panel to size, then added the features. As on the original panel, I added the bulge at the bottom to accommodate the fan belt, and flanged the sides to be able to secure it to the car. I also added the radiator drain hole to this, in a similar style to the original. For all of this, I was lucky enough to have use of a plasma cutter, which definitely helped a ton with the cutting.



The panel fits as so:




Again, I’m really happy with this panel. This also helped bring the lower valence panel back in line, as over time it had bent and twisted all over the place.

I was initially a bit apprehensive about omitting the structural channels in the panels, but having done it I must say they look a lot nicer without them.
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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby droopsnoot » Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:45 pm

They've come out well, and look good. There's nothing quite so satisfying as making something like this if you have the time and ability to do it.

I'm not sure the strengthening ribs are all that vital, it's not as if there's any structure other than the top panel helping to make the sides into a box section. I'm sure they will make a difference to the strength of the panels, but it probably won't matter. Maybe there might be a drumming or vibrating issue in operation, but then again, maybe not.
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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:57 am

Thanks Droopsnoot, I had a lot of fun with these panels.

I agree with you on the strengthening ribs. Thinking about it there might be a vibration issue with the lower panel, I guess we won't find out though until it's on the road. There could also be a problem with the lower panel hitting the fan belt, but looking back through some pictures it looks like there is more than plenty of space.

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Sat Dec 05, 2020 4:29 pm

Dear it’s been a while since ive updated this. A lot has happened and I’ll see if I can get this post up to date (I’ve made this promise before!). It should help that I’m stuck inside on this rainy day down south. This was the sorry state it was in before fitting the wings.

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Next job on order was to fit the fibreglass wings. These were an absolute pain in the *Bleep* to get right, a lot of fettling with the inner wing and surrounding area. The first thing done was to create a lip on the front edge to connect the wing to.

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Sat Dec 05, 2020 4:39 pm

I was planning on riveting the wings to the body, to get the ability to remove them if needed. I wanted rivets over bolts as at the time it was easier and had a lower profile on the lips. I might go back and use bolts and rivnuts if I ever decide differently later.

Trial fitting of the wings was a success and were then ready to be bolted down.

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Sat Dec 05, 2020 4:54 pm

Before I laid the wings into their final resting place I wanted a set of splash guards fitted to prevent more rot and dirt getting trapped inside the wings. Since these are neigh on impossible to find, I set about creating these using a handy bit of thin sheet ply I had lying about, which I then transferred to steel to bend and attach to the inner wing. This gave the added benefit of strengthening up the fibreglass wing.

I believe I still have a stencil of this somewhere, but I imagine other wings probably sit differently to mine. Would it be of any help to anyone if I were to get more made?

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby OllieParkes » Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:10 pm

Inner wings were undersealed and the wings were finally attached. I filler'd the wing to A piller seam to make the join a bit more clean (the usual rot had got to that bit), but after a year of driving have cracked because of the movement of the wings, so i'll separate the sections as per factory spec in the future.

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Re: 1973 Viva SL [NOV 226M]

Postby cooperman » Sat Dec 05, 2020 10:21 pm

great work, especially like the strengthener / splash panel. Keep up the good work
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