VAUXHALL VIVA HA JACKING POINTS INFO PLEASE

[Mercury]

Good evening people,

The restoration of the little Viva HA SL is moving forward, my man who is a bit of a wizz with the welder and reproduction of panels for the floorpan, is performing to his usual great standard. I need information please on the exact location of where the jacking points should be please on the sides. At some point in the past, it has obviously been welded, perhaps not to a great standard, hence why my man has cut out most of it to replace, now we come to the point where we need to put back suitable jacking points. If anyone can PLEASE tell me the exact location and the size/shape of them that would be great please. I do not have the jack with it so no idea if it is meant to be a post of simply a square of some description. If you would be kind enough to drop me a line with some detail I would be very grateful. Kindest regards, Simon (Kent)

[Keith W]

Hi, I'm sure HA cars would be the same as my HA van, they do not have jacking points. You raise the vehicle by jacking under the suspension. It's a bit of a pain I know because you are compressing the spring before the vehicle lifts. I was advised never attempt to lift by the sill area as it's not designed and strong enough to be lifted there. Thats probably why you can't find any pre-existing jacking points.

[1972nail]

As Keith W says, there are no specific body mounted jacking points. Even the much later Viva HC was jacked up under the suspension and not the sill area as it was not strong enough.

[Mercury]

As Keith W says, there are no specific body mounted jacking points. Even the much later Viva HC was jacked up under the suspension and not the sill area as it was not strong enough.

Hi not sure I understand that, they came with a jack and a jack bag and wheelbrace, I can only recall seeing a while ago a jack for a HA model, that was a vertical type of screw jack that looked as if it had a pin or something on it to locate on a jacking point. I am not saying you are wrong as I have nothing to go on, but surely there must have been a provision for a jacking point on each side of the body. Perhaps someone out there has a superb condition one that still has a point on it. I suppose I could look in the handbook and see what it says in there for changing a wheel in the event of a puncture.............the search goes on for the definitive answer one way or the other. Kindest regards, Simon (Kent)

[droopsnoot]

Are you sure it was an original HA jack?

But yes, if all else fails, read the manual. The HC manual certainly covers jacking the car up, so I'd expect the HA one would probably do the same. Do you have one?

ETA - I've been having a bit of a look around Vauxpedia in case there's a clear photo or a scan of the handbook on there. There's one photo where it looks as if there might be a hole in the sill (covered with a grommet) towards the front corner of the door, but then there are many more where this isn't visible. There are lots of publicity photos that show the side of the car quite clearly without any kind of jacking point below the sill as on something like the MGB. But they're all quite low resolution / small photos, so it's hard to be conclusive, they could easily be hidden further under the car, though not too far unless it was a very long pin.

Here are the pages: http://vauxpedianet.uk2sitebuilder.com/ ... iva-part-2 and http://vauxpedianet.uk2sitebuilder.com/ ... road-tests

[Mercury]

No that is one problem, I do NOT have the original jack to go with it, so nothing to work from. I have a feeling I saw an original jack on eBay a while ago, that was a pillar-type jack with a large winding handle on it and I THINK a pin that located into the jacking point. It would seem logical that this would have been near to the rear edge of the door, so when it was in place you cannot open the door. Under this area is a chassis box section that it could have come from to extend out to the outside to put the pin of the jack into. I do have a handbook, so I am going to pop home in a moment to have a look and see what it says. Perhaps the gentleman who is in Norfolk somewhere who does Viva parts will know, cannot recall his name, however. Kindest regards, Simon (Kent)

[droopsnoot]

You could also have a word with @MauroV, he's just done a pretty comprehensive restoration of a HA in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=295&t=30345

[Mercury]

OK, the definitive answer is on page 38 of the Viva HA Owners Handbook, it shows an illustration of the jack and states "Insert the bracket of the jack into the jacking socket under the centre of the body" So, there should be a jacking point on them all, obviously corrosion over time had meant that people removed them or they fell off perhaps!!

Unfortunately as it is an illustration, you cannot see the exact location of the point on the body, so over to all you out there who do have jacking points still to let me have the exact location and what they look like PLEASE!! Kindest regards, Simon (Kent)

[chasviva]

Do you still need info about jacking points & the type of jack you need.
Regards Chas

[Mercury]

Do you still need info about jacking points & the type of jack you need.
Regards Chas

Good morning Chas,

It would be VERY helpful to have some pictures and dimensions PLEASE, you are the ONLY one to come back to me! As we finish the car off, it would be great to install the new jacking points where they SHOULD be. The jack that I purchased is a much more substantial one than the originals that were supplied with the car, but if we could PLEASE get from you some pictures of exactly where the jacking point is on the car, this would be a great help, and thank you!! Kindest regards, Simon