Hi i am fitting a rover v8 into my 1975 Vauxhall Viva. i have seen a lot of people do this but i have a few questions about how they did it. if any one has done this can they give some advice as would love to know how they upgraded the brakes and shocks. have been told alot of stories about using greman parts but have never seen any.
any advice would be great
thanks Dave
doing a V8 swap to my Viva
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Not a direct answer to your question, but have you considered a decent roll cage with door bars that ties into the front suspension and sills? might want to stiffen the transmission tunnel and engine bulk head aswell.
I once stopped to help someone who had hit a Golf Mk1 with a viva front right corner to front right corner, Golf was basically intact as far as the saftey cell was concerned, the front suspension was mashed but the driver was walking and OK (but shaken). the Viva however was a mess, the driver had a comopund break of the right feamur, with a bit sticking out, left leg trapped under the collapsed dash, their arm was another compound fracture but also impaled on the window winder mechanism which had been forced out through the inside of the door, the Viva looked like it had hit a JCB not the Golf with most of the front quarter occupying the space where the driver was, the engine was off its mounts and it too was headed for the footwell. All we could do was stop the blood and comfort her until the firebrigade arrived to cut her out the car
Sorry if this puts you off your Sunday lunch but. . . stiffening the chassis would also give any suspension mods you do a much better chance of working and seem a very good plan if you are going to give the car three times the power it was designed for.
Best regards
Mike
I once stopped to help someone who had hit a Golf Mk1 with a viva front right corner to front right corner, Golf was basically intact as far as the saftey cell was concerned, the front suspension was mashed but the driver was walking and OK (but shaken). the Viva however was a mess, the driver had a comopund break of the right feamur, with a bit sticking out, left leg trapped under the collapsed dash, their arm was another compound fracture but also impaled on the window winder mechanism which had been forced out through the inside of the door, the Viva looked like it had hit a JCB not the Golf with most of the front quarter occupying the space where the driver was, the engine was off its mounts and it too was headed for the footwell. All we could do was stop the blood and comfort her until the firebrigade arrived to cut her out the car
Sorry if this puts you off your Sunday lunch but. . . stiffening the chassis would also give any suspension mods you do a much better chance of working and seem a very good plan if you are going to give the car three times the power it was designed for.
Best regards
Mike
poppet valves rule!
Have you had a look at this Forumn >> http://www.vauxhallviva.com/vivaforum/
or hear
http://www.africanmusclecars.com/ChevFirenzaCanAm.html
or hear
http://www.africanmusclecars.com/ChevFirenzaCanAm.html
HI thanks for the reply
hi thanks fitting a roll cage was a must as i know what vivas are like as i grow up with my farther having 1.
my main interest is fitting the v8 engine as finding a original engine is proving hard.
I know fitting the v8 will be a big project but information on running gear would be a great help.
my main interest is fitting the v8 engine as finding a original engine is proving hard.
I know fitting the v8 will be a big project but information on running gear would be a great help.
thanks mate at the moment it has no engine. i got a rove v8 in garage i have toyed with using. i want to use it on the road build a mini muscle car.
just not sure what type of set up to use as found a few v8 vivas around but the owners have not done the work them selves. so limited information on the type of running gear on the cars. so if you know of anyone who has done such a swap I would love to get in touch with them.
just not sure what type of set up to use as found a few v8 vivas around but the owners have not done the work them selves. so limited information on the type of running gear on the cars. so if you know of anyone who has done such a swap I would love to get in touch with them.
