Help me i'm new

[Marc G]

Hi Ladies and gents! I'm new to the site so forgive me if i ask something that’s already been asked.

I was wondering if anybody could give me a rough estimate of cost to upgrade me Viva HC. My dad has given me his old Viva and I really want to get it rocking and rolling. The engine is the old 1.3 (rounding it up!) and only does 45-50MPH I want it to be able to hit 70MPH OR MORE then I don’t get down for Obstruction.

Any suggestions on what to do and a rough cost for parts? My dad is an old school mechanic so labour will be a brew and a chocolate biscuit.

I’ve had a couple of people mention the firenza engine and also getting the original bored out, any help would be much appreciated. Also a rough price on two wings.

Kind regards

Marc

[pbottomley]

Top speed of a HC is around 85 mph, and 70 mph should be comfy when serviced and maintained. If you are only getting 45 - 50 mph then its not service and or tuned correctly not out of its ability to maintain motorway speeds.

Having said that, if you want to go bigger there is not a lot to make them go faster, no one makes add on off the shelf parts like they do for fords. The engine is 1256cc and 1256cc only, there wasn't a bigger engine that just pops in on the same axles and gearbox unless you want a smaller engine ! 1256 was the largest of the push-rod engines.

The only real option if you are not able to fabricate your own mounts and a thousand other things to make it fit non vauxhall engine is the Firenza / magnum route like you suggest.

All you need do is find a donor car and move the entire running gear over, but find one for sale isn't easy, they are almost all gone and what remain and being kept as Firenza / Magnum.. not as donor cars for HC's.

The old saying if you want a fast car, then get a fast car, don't start with the slowest car on earth and expect easy options to make it faster

Parts such as wings look to spend £250-300 on n a pair of outer wings.... (if you can find any for sale!), although a viva was a popular car in the 60's and 70's they were so unloved in the following decades no one kept the tooling for new parts and what was made has nearly all dried up. So its pay the top price or be in the know...

[hbpeter]

Fibreglass wings are still available, but require a lot of work to fit. As Paul says the standard 1256 should do 85ish, if its only doing 50, then it needs a good service/tune or a rebuild. 1256 tunning parts are around but very few and far between and tend to be way overpriced. The Ford x-flow is a fairly easy swap if you must change engines. The Vauxhall OHC engine needs all the running gear, axles, brakes gearbox, suspension swapping as well. If your young and its your first car, get the 1256 running right, not fast, but will do 70 no problem. Keep in touch and ask away if you have any questions no matter how trivial.

Peter

[Marc G]

Top speed of a HC is around 85 mph, and 70 mph should be comfy when serviced and maintained. If you are only getting 45 - 50 mph then its not service and or tuned correctly not out of its ability to maintain motorway speeds.

Having said that, if you want to go bigger there is not a lot to make them go faster, no one makes add on off the shelf parts like they do for fords. The engine is 1256cc and 1256cc only, there wasn't a bigger engine that just pops in on the same axles and gearbox unless you want a smaller engine ! 1256 was the largest of the push-rod engines.

The only real option if you are not able to fabricate your own mounts and a thousand other things to make it fit non vauxhall engine is the Firenza / magnum route like you suggest.

All you need do is find a donor car and move the entire running gear over, but find one for sale isn't easy, they are almost all gone and what remain and being kept as Firenza / Magnum.. not as donor cars for HC's.

The old saying if you want a fast car, then get a fast car, don't start with the slowest car on earth and expect easy options to make it faster

Parts such as wings look to spend £250-300 on n a pair of outer wings.... (if you can find any for sale!), although a viva was a popular car in the 60's and 70's they were so unloved in the following decades no one kept the tooling for new parts and what was made has nearly all dried up. So its pay the top price or be in the know...

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I real didn’t expect the wings to be sooooo expensive everything else seems so cheap for them, don’t they make fibre glass ones or something???

I can live with the engine, maybe the performance is just down to the lack of use in the last 12mths

Ill keep looking before I make any decisions…. I might just let him sell it and think of something else

Decisions, decisions

Kind regards

Marc

[Marc G]

Fibreglass wings are still available, but require a lot of work to fit. As Paul says the standard 1256 should do 85ish, if its only doing 50, then it needs a good service/tune or a rebuild. 1256 tunning parts are around but very few and far between and tend to be way overpriced. The Ford x-flow is a fairly easy swap if you must change engines. The Vauxhall OHC engine needs all the running gear, axles, brakes gearbox, suspension swapping as well. If your young and its your first car, get the 1256 running right, not fast, but will do 70 no problem. Keep in touch and ask away if you have any questions no matter how trivial.

Peter

Thanks Peter,

Any ideas who does the wings?? The car will look well again once the front wings are done and completely re-sprayed.

I’m not so young now….. 32 with a baby and a company car. Feeling like I need a cheap toy to play with!

Thanks you both for the help, ill look into the ford route but will probably keep it standard if it runs right.