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Ahem - the prefix demands this is either a Corsa A, B, C, D - or a traitor. Since the Viva is the last car produced by Vauxhall (all later cars are actually Opel-Vauxhall-GM) I'm a bit miffed at having to label it as a "Traitor Car" 
About 18 months ago I was talking to some guys about the old fashioned parking lights motorists were required to display when parked on a street at night. Like this
So having found (and repaired) a light I needed a car to go with it, I'd rebuilt a Mk1 Escort which I think is one of the prettiest cars ever built, but they're silly money these days, so I began looking for a Viva.
This came my way, it was laid up in a farmyard having just run out of MOT having been driven on the road until about two months previously, so you'd expect it to be reasonably roadworthy - alas such hopes were soon dashed when it became clear that the MOT guy wasn't too clear about the rules. Just one example, the previous MOT had no advisories, but the sills where corroded right through and that hadn't happened in 12 months. You'll see the rest of the story as we go on.....
Vauxhall Viva 1256cc engine, registered 1st January 1972, built at Ellesmere Port.
The wooden beam is holding the clutch pedal down as the clutch was seized. Two hours on idle and it freed off.
First glance showed both outer sills perforated and the o/s/r wheelarch was rotten. The inner wings were like crispy tissue paper and crumbled as soon as you touched them. The front wings had been replaced previously with later version flat top wings. This car would originally have had the high top wings fitted.
A quick poke and that hole got a lot bigger
Further inspection showed that the steering was vague, the suspension seized solid and the brakes were useless. No footbrake operation at all, and the handbrake had only minor effect on the n/s/r - you'll see why below.
So I trailered it home on the back of trusty Vectra
First job was to check out the brakes, steering and suspension. The car has drums all round and no servo. There are two cylinders on both front wheels and a single sliding cylinder on the rears. None of them worked. The brake shoes were mostly in good condition because they'd never been used to touch the drums. Only on the n/s/r was anything happening, and there the shoes were down to the rivets. That drum was badly scored and the rest were seriously corroded. Which was a bit of a headache as they stopped making Viva brake drums years ago.
This one bolt took me a whole day to get out. The top shocker bolt runs through the upper suspension arm and through a steel sleeve. The bolt rusts solid into the sleeve and has to be drilled out - but access is tricky.
Lower front suspension arms - one bearing needed replacing
Upper front suspension arms - one bearing good, one not so good.
The results of many hours scavenging and speaking to the right people:
Four new drums
(and a couple of waterpumps)
Some bits! (Spot the odd parts out?)
Mmmmm - Rostyles
Technically they're off an MG, so the centre hole is smaller, but they'll fit
Shiny!
More shiny!!
NOS front brake cylinders - all needed the bores cleaning and greasing (NB use the red rubber stuff on brake cylinders) Whisky helps.
More scavenging - some inner wing repair panels there - hard to find
The back end next....
n/s/r brake shoe - this passed a MOT less than 1000 miles before
It's partner has bags of meat left on it so I'll re-use this one
PlusGas is a wonderful thing! Not a single nut & bolt resisted it. Here's the entire rear suspension.
This bit fell off - but looking underneath my Vectra it doesn't have one so I don't think it's that important.
It's flipping heavy though.
On the other hand now there's nothing to bolt the back wheels to :facepalm:
WD40 couldn't fix this
With the rear suspension and axle removed time to get at the rust. To be fair the underside was pretty solid. I think the first owner had coated it with Denso tape and painted bitumen over the top. It seems to have done the job on the main chassis sections.
Angle grinder with a wire cup and a powerfile fitted with ceramic belts do the job - but it's messy and noisy. If you leave the door between the garage and the kitchen open the missus will express some displeasure and may question your right to be outside of a clinical institution.
For some reason this reminds me of Darth Vader's space fighter.
About 18 months ago I was talking to some guys about the old fashioned parking lights motorists were required to display when parked on a street at night. Like this
So having found (and repaired) a light I needed a car to go with it, I'd rebuilt a Mk1 Escort which I think is one of the prettiest cars ever built, but they're silly money these days, so I began looking for a Viva.
This came my way, it was laid up in a farmyard having just run out of MOT having been driven on the road until about two months previously, so you'd expect it to be reasonably roadworthy - alas such hopes were soon dashed when it became clear that the MOT guy wasn't too clear about the rules. Just one example, the previous MOT had no advisories, but the sills where corroded right through and that hadn't happened in 12 months. You'll see the rest of the story as we go on.....
Vauxhall Viva 1256cc engine, registered 1st January 1972, built at Ellesmere Port.
The wooden beam is holding the clutch pedal down as the clutch was seized. Two hours on idle and it freed off.
First glance showed both outer sills perforated and the o/s/r wheelarch was rotten. The inner wings were like crispy tissue paper and crumbled as soon as you touched them. The front wings had been replaced previously with later version flat top wings. This car would originally have had the high top wings fitted.
A quick poke and that hole got a lot bigger
Further inspection showed that the steering was vague, the suspension seized solid and the brakes were useless. No footbrake operation at all, and the handbrake had only minor effect on the n/s/r - you'll see why below.
So I trailered it home on the back of trusty Vectra
First job was to check out the brakes, steering and suspension. The car has drums all round and no servo. There are two cylinders on both front wheels and a single sliding cylinder on the rears. None of them worked. The brake shoes were mostly in good condition because they'd never been used to touch the drums. Only on the n/s/r was anything happening, and there the shoes were down to the rivets. That drum was badly scored and the rest were seriously corroded. Which was a bit of a headache as they stopped making Viva brake drums years ago.
This one bolt took me a whole day to get out. The top shocker bolt runs through the upper suspension arm and through a steel sleeve. The bolt rusts solid into the sleeve and has to be drilled out - but access is tricky.
Lower front suspension arms - one bearing needed replacing
Upper front suspension arms - one bearing good, one not so good.
The results of many hours scavenging and speaking to the right people:
Four new drums
(and a couple of waterpumps)Some bits! (Spot the odd parts out?)
Mmmmm - Rostyles
Technically they're off an MG, so the centre hole is smaller, but they'll fit
Shiny!
More shiny!!
NOS front brake cylinders - all needed the bores cleaning and greasing (NB use the red rubber stuff on brake cylinders) Whisky helps.
More scavenging - some inner wing repair panels there - hard to find
The back end next....
n/s/r brake shoe - this passed a MOT less than 1000 miles before
It's partner has bags of meat left on it so I'll re-use this one
PlusGas is a wonderful thing! Not a single nut & bolt resisted it. Here's the entire rear suspension.
This bit fell off - but looking underneath my Vectra it doesn't have one so I don't think it's that important.
It's flipping heavy though.
On the other hand now there's nothing to bolt the back wheels to :facepalm:
WD40 couldn't fix this
With the rear suspension and axle removed time to get at the rust. To be fair the underside was pretty solid. I think the first owner had coated it with Denso tape and painted bitumen over the top. It seems to have done the job on the main chassis sections.
Angle grinder with a wire cup and a powerfile fitted with ceramic belts do the job - but it's messy and noisy. If you leave the door between the garage and the kitchen open the missus will express some displeasure and may question your right to be outside of a clinical institution.
For some reason this reminds me of Darth Vader's space fighter.
, done some cracking work there
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