Viva HA Brabham Project

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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby MauroV » Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:56 am

A holiday in Italy is always good 8)
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby MauroV » Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:05 pm

I've had a chance to clean up the Swiss 'Parts Car' and I must say I think it is too good to break for spares. There is lots of surface rust but it seems very solid and only has 2 actual holes around the RH rear wheel arch where it has rusted through from the spare wheel well. The car is mostly complete just missing the water pump and some of the lights are not connected, but at least some of them are in a box in the boot. The boot capping also needs replacing but the wings beneath are mostly pretty good.

Note the extra rear lights that were fitted to the Swiss version. Halfway between a deluxe and an SL. And, of course, its LHD.

The problem is that these cars were always extremely rare in Italy and no-one here is interested. Also, I can't get it registered in Italy because I don't have the original Swiss paperwork. There is probably not enough value in the car to transport it to UK. So my only hope to save it is to sell it in Switzerland. I've been in touch with the Swiss Vauxhall Viva Owners Club who seem quite active but I haven't heard back yet.

If any of you are interested in the car, in spite of the long distance between Tuscany and UK, please let me know and I'll send you more photos.
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby Bob perry » Sat May 01, 2021 12:03 am

You are right Mauro, it does look too good to scrap. Shame I am so far away, or we might be able to do a deal!
The rear caps have always been a problem, and very scarce. There were some fibre glass ones on e bay a while back, but haven't seen any for some time now! It might mean patching the old ones or fabricating new ones, if you can find a good metal fabricator?
Good luck and keep the pictures coming.
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby jpsmit » Sat May 01, 2021 1:42 am

You may want to poke around a bit - here is the MG club of Italy - there may be other british car clubs that might have some leads - Even some money is better than none and if the alternative is scrapping it.

https://www.facebook.com/MG-Car-Club-dI ... 140547906/
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby MauroV » Sat May 01, 2021 3:58 pm

Hmm, just a few interesting points on the Braham paperwork and service history:

29 Oct 1965 - The Service Book lists Kingston Hill Motor Works (KHMW) as owner and the car as 'Demo'.
26 Jan 1966 - Service Book - KHMW 3,232 Miles
28 Feb 1966 - Purchase agreement for Mr Signorini (Waiter) for Vauxhall Viva Brabham GT
18 Apr 1966 - Service Book KHMW 5,664 Miles

then, the tear off portions are missing but nothing written in the Service Book until:

12 Apr 1967 - Jack Brabham Motors Ltd 15,543 Miles. No stamp but there is a signature.

Take a look at the picture, could that be hastily signed by Jack Brabham?

I've included a couple of Jack Brabham signatures I found on the internet.

Pretty inconclusive really, some of the loops are the same but it is not a perfect match. If you compare the way he writes the 'J' or the 'B' between the printed 'Jack Brabham' and the signature in the service book and the sample signatures, possibly the same hand? I guess I would need an expert to take a look. It's intriguing though, perhaps it was a joke signature put there by Mr Signorini, or perhaps it was signed by Jack Brabham. :? 8)
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Red Engine

Postby MauroV » Thu May 06, 2021 10:51 am

I went to see the Brabham at the garage this morning, I haven't had a chance to have a good look until now. They are hopefully starting work on getting it running next week.

I was pleased to see the car is complete, nothing is missing. I was also pleased to see that it has it's original engine, the same engine number as listed on the purchase invoice.

But surprisingly, the engine is painted red. Both the block and the cylinder head but not the rocker cover. It's a 20/HA not a 21/HA so I guess it was either painted at the Braham factory or perhaps the owner had it painted at some point. But it wasn't painted recently, so if the owner did the work the engine must have been out of the car fairly early in it's life.

I am assuming that the engine will need to come out again as part of the current work to get it running. What do you think, should I get them to clean up the engine but leave the old damaged red paint or get them to put a fresh coat of red paint on?
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby jpsmit » Thu May 06, 2021 1:20 pm

I think you will really need to decide how much patina you want. I know at least one fellow on another forum who not only kept ALL the patina but even refuses to wash the car from when he found it - to the point that he covers the seats to drive and uncovers them at shows rather than vacuum. A little over the top but hey...

I would not assume the engine needs to come out. I took the engine out of my MG and refreshed it but, I have always wondered if it was overkill.

Take a look at this article (again MG - sorry forum moderators - for swearing in public by mentioning that other marque :mrgreen: )

https://www.mgexp.com/article/awakening ... ing-mg.360

you might be (probably will be) lucky. Oh and for inspiration watch a show out of New Zealand called Start Me Up - where the hosts go and start cars that haven't started in decades - it is amazing how often they are successful and the show is a delight.

Very excited to watch this!

JP

PS The more I look the less I think it is Jack Brabham's signature - his letters are round while the signature on your document are very pointed. (look at the 'J') Would be nice though.
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Re: Viva HA Brabham Project

Postby MauroV » Thu May 06, 2021 2:38 pm

Thanks JP. I agree, its a bit of a long shot on the signature. To me, the bottom curve of the lower example of his signature 'J' matches the printed 'J' in 'JACK BRABHAM MOTORS' and the 'J' in signature on the service book, without the lower curve matches the other example signature. I am certain that it wasn't the original Italian owner, I have some samples of his handwriting and he crosses the 7s in the Italian way. Perhaps it was a workshop mechanic who signed.

I'm worried about getting the engine running because the vendor, a local dealership, had already tried with no success. But I don't know how hard they tried.

I'm still undecided on repainting the engine. It would look great with a fresh coat of red paint but it would be a shame to hurt the originality. Any more opinions on this? :D
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The Swiss Viva

Postby MauroV » Thu May 13, 2021 2:11 pm

I managed to get the engine to turn over on the Swiss 'parts car' today. Probably for the first time in at least 30 years.

The fuel line is disconnected, there is no water pump or dynamo and the starter motor was seized. However, after removing, lubricating and re-fitting the starter it cranked very convincingly using jump leads from another car.

So it looks like the engine is good. I thought it might be. The car was bought by the original owner of the Brabham from a local scrap yard in the 1990s. It was Swiss registered and what turned out to be the original 1965 engine was in the boot and an earlier 1964 engine was fitted. Whether the 1964 engine was reconditioned or taken from a crashed car is impossible to tell but the oil even now looks new and it turned over easily with a spanner on the crank. My guess is that someone brought the car down to Italy on holiday in the 1980s then had some engine trouble so arranged the repair and never picked it up. The car would have sat in the garage for years, unusable because it was on Swiss number plates. Eventually the keys would have been lost, the dynamo, water pump and some of the lights were removed for other projects and once everyone had forgotten it had a good engine it was moved to a scrap yard. I know this is just a theory, but who drives to Italy from Switzerland with the old engine from the car in the boot!

Anyway, that all makes it much less like a parts car and a lot more like a car that needs saving.

I know it is a long way from UK, and there is still a pandemic going on, but if anyone is interested in taking over this project please let me know.

Mauro
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Swiss Viva Continued

Postby MauroV » Mon May 31, 2021 8:44 am

The Brabham is still at my local garage. Unfortunately, most of the guys there are off work recovering from Covid so the car hasn't been touched yet.

Meanwhile the Swiss Viva has scrubbed up really well. In many ways, however, I should have carried out a more thorough inspection underneath. It looks horrible under there but it's all very solid except for the middle section of the chassis on the left hand side. Please see the photo.

What does anyone think? Is this repairable or does it kill the Swiss Viva?

Thanks

Mauro
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