viva E coupe !!

[don]

hello all , i amm new to the site and the vauxhall seen but love the old retro cars . been a ford man for many years but fanced a change so one drunken night on ebay landed me with this old gorl


should never drink and bid !! ha ha . anyway the advert said it was a solid shell and if it did not meet the reserve it was going to be crushed !!
here's a few pic's of the so called solid shell !




so not realy as advertised but i get a friend to collect it so she came home . after a few idears and viewing google for idears a plan was hatched ?!! ( might upset a few now but it was going to be scrapped !! so here go's )




400 bhp , 4x4 , aircon & abs . any idears yet !!



any idear at all !!


this might give it a way abit




yep this is the plan



this is a quick mock up of the car but we found a little problem when we measured the wheel base the scooby was only 40mm longer and about 40/45mm wider so thought it would be a easy thing to do but !! not



the back wheels where just to far back ! so this is what we did




and then this


ha ha problem fix . the next problem was the archies as i did not want the old nail look so john the welder came up with this


and made some with new inner and outer cills

now i have lots more pics to go up if you all like the project and if not i will not put any more pics up as i no it is not a true vauxhall build but as i said i got fed up with the ford seen as eveyone/thing was being done the same or had allready been done and i think a change sometimes is good

hope you all like and ta for now

[pbottomley]

Moved this to modifications section, as this is far from a restoration case.


On a technical note how are you dealing with BIVA requirements on this build?

[don]

ha ha oooops sorry about that and as for biva . the subaru has not had any macanical parts changed ( the viva shell is just a bodykit ) but if any problems i will take it for a sva test poss Q plate at the worst as the strength of the car is far stronger than the viva ever was and the machanic's of the subaru are 100% genuin.
when you think about it this is where the problems start
if you replace front & rearr floor pans / front wings / inner & oter cills with a set of rear archies on a restoration car is it legal ? as you would of changed the shell ( as not genuin ?)
fit a larger or smaller engine
4 speed gearbox to 5 speed
4 pot brakes
stronger back axle ?

all the machanics are 100% subaru on this but looks a far bigger job to build. it is only the same as the above mods really ?

now this will get a few tongues wagging

[pbottomley]

No problems I am sure you understand its not a restoration .

The subaru has not had any macanical parts changed ( the viva shell is just a bodykit )

Bad news for you , any changes in the monocoque of the original car means an instant IVA test. In your case you have cut the roof off so that a change without doubt. No matter if you keep all the original mechanical parts or not. The 8 point rule does allow you to change loads of things on a car within set guidelines, but any change to a chassis or monocoque of the original car (repair to original shells back to manufactures standards don't count) invalidate the identification of that car and therefore needs a VIC at minimum and as you say a Q plate possibility. Nothing wrong with a Q plate in my eyes, says to me its well built tested and legal.

There is a lot of talk about these sort of conversions where folks don't understand the problems of making a cool car and get caught out when they go to MOT it. There are lots of MOT stations out there that are happy to MOT anything they are presented with, but your essentially driving around in an illegally identified vehicle and that implies the old insurance company will wipe there hands of you if anything happens.

It all sounds negative but its not. All I am saying is get on with the build but make sure you realise the changes you will need to make in order to pass a IVA test.

Have a read of this to help. sorry the links in the page are out of date because the DVLA website keeps changing on a monthly basis these days making it near impossible to keep up:

http://www.the-ace.org.uk/chassis-and-monocoque-modification/

[don]

ye its not a problem iva , sva the car is 100% built correct but as fof a vic check it would pass straight away as the chassis number / engine number / reg number all match as a vic check only checks the id of the car and not the quality of the repair but that is all a long way of yet and if worst comes to worst i will just use it as a track car so no harm done and thanks for the link

[jpsmit]

Aside from the BIVA (which means nothing to me out here in the colonies) This project makes me feel all squishy inside. Please Please keep us posted with many many pictures! This will make winter pass more easily.

[Icedmunkie]

I'm not a fan of alot of Jap stuff and agree with you about the ford syndrome, please keep putting up pictures, as I am looking forward to seeing this take shape!!!
What have you done with the old axles,enginem,gearbox etc btw??

Chris

[don]

I'm not a fan of alot of Jap stuff and agree with you about the ford syndrome, please keep putting up pictures, as I am looking forward to seeing this take shape!!!
What have you done with the old axles,enginem,gearbox etc btw??

Chris

most of the parts went on ebay but still got loads of bits left as i bought a few other cars for parts . thanks

[hbpeter]

Looks excellent keep us informed. But sorry to say it has been done before.

Billing 2010.

Peter

[don]

yep i no i have spoke to the feller on dsg but it will not be the same or have the archies . that is the car that gave me the idear but i hope for mine to be a little different