Suspended in time.

Take the engine out of a Vauxhall Viva and you are left with a large black hole through which a large oily  chunk of metal that is the 'cross-member' can be seen.

With the engine in place it is largely forgotten...... being 'out of sight – out of mind' . After gazing contemplatively at this dark study in oil and rust for some while I began to realise how neglected it all was.

Most of the life-saving bits of a car are hung onto this old bit of Vauxhall engineering. Inconsequential parts like brakes, steering, and suspension are all to be found lurking here. Brake pads and hoses had been replaced over the years together with the steering rack, but the shock absorbers are original, so are the discs. Top ball-joints were the same as they left the factory (a swine to replace in the car as they are riveted into the wishbone) and the inner top wishbone bushes looked very sad indeed.

Amazingly the top ball-joints still worked well after over forty years, but this was a sorry state of affairs that obviously could not continue........

Engine was out making the job 'easy' and so I embarked  on a re-build of the cross-member with all it's important little bits. A rare sunny day had prompted a start on this part of the restoration that was to prove more of a challenge than the engine.

Over the next few days I started to release bolts that had not been moved for nearly forty years. My first problem was how to actually support the car whilst the cross-member and suspension was dropped downwards. My drive has an incline so the chance of introducing some instability as the car was put onto stands is always present so care was needed. Andrew helped with a bit of psychological support and suggestions as I supported the body shell and rested the (unbolted) cross-member on a hydraulic jack.

With the shell firmly supported on a variety of stands, I lowered the cross-member down complete with brakes and suspension. Looking very sorry for itself it now rested on the drive blinking in the sunshine. This luxury of sun-bathing was not to last as I dragged this lump of rust into the dark cold garage, dumping it unceremoniously onto the floor.

'Sorry state of affairs'...........Viva cross-member

 Right......where to start?   Steering rack ? why not.......off with the track rod ends and bolts holding it to the cross-member, 'et voila!' steering rack is consigned to the corner of the garage, as if in disgrace ( it is actually in good condition, having been on the vehicle only 4000 miles )

Brake pads out.....brake calipers off together with a mental note to replace the grooved brake discs with new ( I already have some new calipers)  Spring  compressors were used to keep the suspension springs from going 'Boing! whilst the lower wishbone arms and shock-absorbers were removed .

Eventually the cross member became lighter and lighter as everything was taken off. Top wishbone arms still remained held onto the cross-member with a ten-inch long 'fulcrum bolt' which then goes through bushes in the arms of the wishbone. It was these bushes that were obviously 'cream-crackered' and would have failed an MOT test. So first replace the bushes.

O.K ......hmmmmmm......what does the manual say ?  oh yes.....remove the fulcrum bolt.  Large nut holding it was removed after a lot of persuasion and a large extension on the arm of the socket wrench ( a piece of strong steel tube)

Right......that is it then. Just remove the bolt, easy peasy.  A slight tap with the 'Manchester Screwdriver'
 ( hammer) did not move it.  A large smack with the hammer did not move it.

" Pass the BIG hammer please" I asked Andrew

A 2 1/2 lbs 'lump' hammer was passed over.  This is a real  'persuader' and I took a real standing swing at this recalcitrant bolt. In fact I took at least a  dozen full blooded swings before making a tactical retreat to consider further action.

This lady was not for moving........stubborn upper wishbone pivot bolt.

This lady was not for moving !!!!!
 

Vauxhall Viva cross-member awaits sympathetic attention ( with a lump hammer). Re-built engine is pictured right.

Both fulcrum bolts refused to move despite use of the 'big' hammer.  Repeated attempts over the next few days produced no progress in moving the bolts.  A neighbour who is a retired garage owner suggested heating it to a red heat heat with an Oxyacetylene torch......
" I have never known that to fail " he suggested
Not having the luxury of such equipment in my garage, I approached a local classic car restoration business called 'Merlin' and they agreed to have a go with their Oxy' gear.

With the cross member on the bench and the outer tube heated to a red heat further attempts to free the bolts were made with a large hammer without success.

Owner of 'Merlin' suggested that the tubes and pivot bolts were cut off and new ones made. He knew a local engineer called 'Sefton' who wrestled old traction engines for a hobby and was sure he could do the job.

A phone call a week later brought the bad news that 'Sefton' was busy for a month. I waited a month and  after a few phones calls I realized that for whatever reason their was no enthusiasm to take on the job. Wanting to move some progress I decided that my favourite old maxim stills holds true......

'If you want a job doing....... do it yourself !'

Whilst waiting to see if the Traction Engine enthusiast could do the job I filled in the time with removing both bottom and upper ball joints in readiness for new ones.  I had replaced the bottom ones some years ago and after removing the circlips I found that I had the same problem as the pivot bolt.....they just would not move!

Repeated smacks with the hammer was useless.  Chatting with a friend who used to own a HB Viva many years go he offered to help by bringing his father's home made 'pullers' from his garage.

His father like so many in the north of England had served apprenticeships in engineering during the 1940s
and learned skills that have now sadly died with them. One of the skills was to make their own tools and this set of  sixty-year-old 'pullers' was just one of them.  A modern equivalent with cost you £60 - £70.

It was almost with a sense of history that my mate 'Phil' put the claws of the puller around the wishbone and I realised that his father could not have foreseen that seventy years after he had skillfully made them that they would be still being used on a forty-year-old Vauxhall Viva !!!!

Phil told me he had used these before for this exact same job on a friends car in the 1970s after the balljoints had refused to move after weeks of trying by his friend with sheer brute strength.

He went into his garage and came out a few minutes late saying....

" These just fell into my hand "  he said with a mischievous smile .

Back to the present day - a few taps with the a hammer - a few extra turns of the screw and one balljoint started to move. A five minutes or so later we had both joints on the floor and the job sorted.  The hand-made pullers that were produced so many years ago will be put away and hopefully helping to repair Vauxhall Vivas in a hundred years time !!!!

Top balljoints have to drilled out as they were riveted to the upper wishbone during manufacture. I took the upper rivet heads off with an angle-grinder and tried to drift the rivets out from the top.  This did not produce any movement. I then tried drilling through the bottom 'head' and drifting it with a few hard smacks from the top, the drill-hole then gives you a guide to where the rivet is . It is important to drill dead centre as it is easy to carve up the original holes if you drill at an angle. Rivets are replaced by 5/16" bolts  supplied with the new joints.

Vauxhall HC  upper balljoint removal & replacement

Vauxhall Viva balljoint rivets drifted-out with a punch ( right) after drilling.

Replacing the top ball joints had almost been a a diversion away from addressing the real problem.......how to remove the rusted in top fulcrum/pivot bolts. During an idle glance through 'Ebay' for Vauxhall Viva parts I noticed a a cross member or 'suspension cradle' as it was described for sale exactly the same as our problem one.......without the problems.....seek and you shall find !!!!!!!!!

An email to the owner confirmed that it came complete with pivot bolts (removed) and had been grit blasted, primed and painted !!!!!! As these things are a heavy bit of metal it was naturally 'collect only' - 160 miles away in Sunderland!

I mentioned the problem I had with the seized top wishbone pivot bolts and he related a story about another cross-member he was stripping down and found exactly the same problem. He used a power-hammer or something like that bending the tube !!!!!  It seems these bolts either almost drop out or you have big time problems only cured by new tubes and bolts. ( I had bought some EN8 1/2" steel round bar to make new 10" bolts)

Original rust-seized HC Viva cross-member pivot bolt. I had even tried drilling holes into the outer tube to inject oil - this proving a waste of time.

A day or so later saw Andrew and myself  speeding over the snow-covered Yorkshire Moors to collect our rare find. It was as good as the owner had described being part of a project he had changed direction on  and been restored to an almost new condition.

After a day in sunny Sunderland we could not believe our luck as it sat gleaming on the garage floor...........................

Vauxhall HC Viva cross member / suspension cradle.

With both top and bottom wishbones off the cross-member I have replaced both top and bottom ball-joints and replaced the top wishbone bushes with 'Superpro' poly bushes.  I had cut the original seized pivot bolt
as it entered the bushes ( I had planned to drill out the old bolts) enabling me to remove wishbones from the cross member.

I had purchased some poly-bushes from the Vauxhall Viva Owner's Club. These were half the price of 'Superpro' because they came without the outer tube and were designed to be used with the original outer steel tube that goes through the wishbone.

On close inspection I realised that there was some serious corrosion on the original outer bush tubes and the purchase of 'Superpro' was the only way to go ( they come with new alloy outer and inner tubes)

Old and new.........Viva HC top wishbone 'Superpro' bush next to the cream-crackered outer steel tube of the original.

I removed the old rubber bush material which was in surprisingly good condition although cracked and rotten on the surface.  Drilling through the material and then prizing out of the tube with a large screwdriver. Removal of the outer tube from the wishbone looked problematic as it was seriously rusted in. I decided to cut the bush tube wall from top to bottom with a small hacksaw and them bent the tube inwards away from the wishbone with a cold chisel.

Removing original top wishbone bush

Removing HC Viva top wishbone bush. Outer 'tube' has been cut with small hacksaw and bent inwards with a chisel.

New bushes are an interference fit and really need to be pressed in with a bush press.  I do not posses such a luxury so a vice and hammer ( protecting the bush with a piece of wood) eventually found them in place.

'Superpro' bush eventually fitted to my Vauxhall HC Viva top wishbone

Completed top wishbones with new 'Superpro' Poly' bushes and ball joints on my 1974 Vauxhall HC Viva.

Pivot bolts that came with the 'new' cross-member/suspension cradle. I have not gold-plated them..........they have been blasted with copper anti-seize grease prior to fitting.  Vauxhall HC Viva

Progress was now actually being made :)      New bottom wishbone ball joints were now fitted being fairly straightforward apart from the circlips. I had bought new ones from 'Vauxhall greenparts' as the old ones were rusty and possibly brittle.  Even using circlip pliers you seem to need four pairs of hands to snap them in. It is important that the joint is pressed well and truly 'home' or the groove for the ring is not fully exposed and the all-important circlip will not fit.

I had bought some Quinton Hazel new 'old stock' ball-joints.  Quinton Hazell was once a large successful company founded in 1947 by a Mr Eric Quinton Hazell.  A U.K company based in North Wales selling quality automotive parts to 160 countries in their 1950s/60s heyday, but they went into administration last year.
Obviously there are many economic factors for their demise, but certainly one of them is that modern cars
are just so reliable compared to those of the 60s and 70s. A retired motor mechanic acquaintance recently made this observation to me .....

" They don,t make cars like they used to........ thank God! "

Certainly in the 1960s and 70s many car owners worth their salt could be found every Sunday morning on drives in front of houses replacing water-pumps/ ball-joints/suspension parts, etc. Ask a local motor accessory shop if he sells many parts like that anymore and he will reply with a wistful negative.

New bottom ball-joint fitted.  Lower wishbone.   HC Viva

Quinton Hazell  - went into administration during 2012

'Made in Great Britain ' A proud boast stamped on old Quinton Hazell parts.

With the 'new' cross-member we were starting to make some real progress as we could now start to reassemble everything. We began to swap the old control-arms over onto the outriggers and realised that it would be sensible to replace the original rubber bushes at this point as one of the bushes was looking tired and brittle. Finding a new set of original rubber bushes is like searching for rocking-horse droppings and a new set of Polyurethane bushes is the only way to go.

Searching for the correct Poly' bush set is not easy either.  'Superpro' who make them are an Australian company and like our American cousins we seem to separated by a common language!  Australian automotive descriptions certainly seem to differ from the U.K and sometimes the only way to find the correct bush is to compare photographs in their on-line parts lists visually with your original.........

Suppliers are not much help either as they have just 'copy and paste' from the original Australian text.
I spotted a 'possible' match  on an Ebay supplier shop site and managed to actually phone the supplier who was as uncertain as myself if this was the correct bush as it was described by 'Superpro' as.......'Front strut bar to chassis mount bush'

Vauxhall described the 'front strut' as a 'control arm' and 'chassis mount' could be misunderstood for a separate bush that is used to connect the cross-member to er......well....would you believe the chassis !
So buyer beware !!!!  I mentioned that it seemed to visually match the original, being four separate bushes and two tubes..... it should read " Control arm to outrigger" in my humble opinion.

" Not always the case as sometimes 'Superpro' change the design into one single bush " replied Mr Supplier.

He promised to change it if it was not the correct one, fortunately it was.  So in conclusion if you are doing this job 'Superpro' SPF1429K bush set is the correct one !!!!!!!!!

see pic............

Vauxhall HC Viva outrigger bush set compared to originals

......and fitted to the cross-member outrigger. Second mating bush is hidden in the outrigger arm.  HC Viva

Time had come to replace the front suspension springs and new shock absorbers. This proved to be.......er, well awkward........is perhaps the most polite description.  Spring compressors were used, but it seemed much more difficult than when we removed them. Perseverance, as with most things in life eventually won the day as we moved closer to a completely restored front suspension/ brakes and steering assembly.

Spring compressors used during front suspension reassembly.  HC Viva

Nearing completion .....Vauxhall Viva front suspension restoration.

More to follow...........

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A winter's tale

A seized engine is no good to anyone ( read ' problems, problems') so I psyched myself up for some heavy work.

Last time I had removed an engine on this car was twenty years ago and I used some chain lifting gear hung from an RSJ girder in the comfort of the garage. This was different as poor old 'ANA' was now stuck out in the open and try as I might I could not purchase a 'sky-hook' 
to help with lifting the engine out of the car.

'Pist 'n broke'......sorry cheap old joke. Viva 'ANA' engine before removal

An engine crane was the only answer to the alternative of selling 'ANA'  as a failed 'project' :(     Hiring one was considered but the engine removal was now very weather dependent and the U.K weather is almost guaranteed .......guaranteed to rain followed by more rain together with rain showers in between.  Hire charges at different times was much the same as buying one outright with the added hassle of collecting and returning to the hire base.

A trip to the local 'Machine-Mart' and I was the owner of a bright red hydraulic engine crane.  Unfortunately even the best engine crane will not undo the all the engine bearers/exhaust/gearbox bolts and seemingly endless bits needing removing before actually lifting the engine......wish I could watch day-time TV like some other  (sensible) retirees .........

Engine removal..........

After engine removal we decided on our next move.  A chance search on Ebay found a 'new' reconditioned re-bored engine block
 with new (oversized) pistons and crankshaft and even a new oil pump.  This seemed like a good way to go.  An examination of the old block seemed to indicate a jammed ring in one of the pistons so we replaced all the rings with new.  We had removed the main bearings for inspection and as they seemed O.K we put everything back and found that the engine would not move easily when one of the connecting rods was tightened to the correct torque on the shells....just below torque was O.K....everything moved.  Tightened to the correct torque and it seized solid.

As we had a 'new' block we decided to abandon the old one to puzzle over for another time and rebuild the engine based on the 'new' one.

Old 1256 Viva block.......abandoned for reconditioning at a later time

Old cylinder head..........about to be married up with a reconditioned block.

A small blower heater was installed in the garage as this was becoming a very cold winter up in t'north of England. Thick jumpers padded out my overalls as I rapidly became a cross between Michelin man and 'Wesley' from the old TV series 'Last of the Summer Wine.

We had manged to smash the (plastic) oil pic-up when moving the old block. This is a difficult part to replace so we were glad we had the new block complete with oil pipe and pic-up connected to a new oil pump. Everything went together O.K apart from putting on the timing chain assembly incorrectly. We realized our mistake after looking at the pictures in the 1970s 'Haynes Manual' more closely and a sort of mechanical 'spot the difference' competition began with the pictures differing from our clumsy effort.  

That sorted, we checked everything and made sure pistons, camshaft, etc was moving freely before fitting the cylinder head.  Head torqued down with with my newly acquired torque wrench and things began to progress.

I have naturally glossed over all the little problems we amateur grease monkeys had.  Problems like shearing a bolt on the fly-wheel after fitting a new clutch plate. I actually used the torque wrench on the small bolts and was just fitting the last one as my son Andrew shouted ....
"Careful ..not too much!......did you not here the click? " 
I had indeed heard the tell-tale 'click' from the torque wrench, but of course added a soupcon more 'Newton metres' of my own and 'snap' the small bolt sheared leaving the body flush in the hole.

"oh, bums...damn, damn and double damn !!"
 were just a few of my utterances.  

Andrew just shook is head and said
"I don,t believe you have just done that"

We both looked at the sheared bolt, shook our heads again as a tap on the window announced that 'tea' was ready. So like good British workers we left things as they were to ponder what to do next. Tomorrow was another day and  as night had fallen the garage was like an ice-box.

" Let's jack it in for to-day" I announced as I did not feel like giving battle with bolt extractors after 'tea'

In my experience removing a sheared bolt is always a tricky job. Drilling the bolt and using bolt extractors 
is better when rested, so off we went to clean-up for a welcome hot meal.

Following day we drilled the centre of the bolt and a small extractor was struggling to move it. Snapping the extractor is always a potential disaster waiting to happen - they are hardened steel and are impossible to drill-out. So we were being extra careful. It is possible to 'collapse' the walls of the bolt after drilling, but this assumes you are drilling dead-centre with a bench drill. No, this not 'Wheeler Dealers' on Discovery channel with a fully equipped workshop and unlimited funds...this is just me using my trusty hand-drill.

Andrew tried turning the end of a screwdriver in the drilled hole and the bolt started to move.....phew !

We decided to fit everything onto the engine, manifold; distributor; carburettor; fuel pump, etc.  They can be a fiddle to fit when the engine in the engine bay. So we will just have to be very careful that the lifting shackles do not damage anything when lifting the engine into the car 

Looking good...........but will it run????

Will it actually run ? We will have to see............



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Problems, problems

After nearly twenty years sat in the garage it really was time to finish the project !!!!!
A blowing exhaust-box became a problem difficult to resolve. Original system had been fitted many years ago by 'Kwik-Fit' together with a 'life-time' guarantee and it would have been something of a laugh to try and hold them to the guarantee after some twenty years !!!   Without an MOT certificate it would have been physically difficult getting the car to the nearest depot and I am sure that there would have been some small print for them to get out of the promise as most people sell the car before claiming ( had to be in the same ownership to claim) but it would have been a hoot to try after all that time :)

This had to resolved and I really did not fancy trying to source a mild steel system and fit it myself so I decided to 'give the cat a gold-fish' and get a local company to design and fit a stainless steel system.  A car-transporter had to hired to take 'ANA' the three miles or so becoming a milestone moment as she actually moved to another location for the first time since 1994 !!!!! 

Moving for the first time in nearly twenty years.......Vauxhall Viva 'ANA 78M'

Moving .....if only by 'Motor Move'

  

Shiny new stainless steel exhaust.

Mission completed and exhaust fitted this was at least some progress towards 'ANA' passing an MOT test and the long-winded restoration moving towards being finished. As with most things in life ( at least mine) this early confidence  was to prove ill-founded. Current engine   (fitted in 1994) had only done some 4000 miles and I had recently added an electronic ignition converted distributor together with a new coil.....what could go wrong ???

Full of confidence........Vauxhall Viva 'ANA' restoration team........what could go wrong?

We had started 'ANA's engine many times after the fitting of the new distributor and everything seemed to be O.K apart from a marked reluctance to start again after reaching operation temperature. We adjusted the timing without much success and decided that it must be the Stromberg 150 Carburetor.

After moving it from the garage to the drive on one occasion without problem, she just refused to start again.  We began to suspect the carb' and after checking the diaphragm, etc, I made the classic mistake of dropping the metering needle which naturally bent like a banana. After attempting to fix this fuel started to leak from the bottom of the carb'

"Damn, damn, and double damn"
       .... were just a few of the expletives  expressed.

I managed to source a re-built unit and we tried again.  Nothing.........well worse than nothing, something additionally seemed be wrong as the 1256 engine now stated to turn over very,very slowly on the starter motor. Battery was fully charged so why?..........why indeed?

I tried to turn the engine over by hand with a socket wrench after taking the plugs out to try and get a clue to the problem.  The 'clue' was that the engine had all but seized, despite the fact that without the plugs it should have been easy to turn with no compression to act against.

"Oh dear"  as they say..........what to do now????

'This looks like an engine rebuild' was the annoying dark whisper from deep in my thought processes....and the dark whisper is always right !!


Follow our next blog post.......A winter's tale ( rebuilding an engine in a freezing garage)  



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Viva La Viva.......

Surprisingly for a Vauxhall Viva enthusiast and owner, my first car was a Ford - a Ford Consul Mk1. We all make mistakes during youthful car purchase exuberance and many cars of the 1950,s and 60,s had so many inherent 'mistakes' in their design, especially the amazing ability to return to their original state of iron oxide particles within a remarkably short period of time. Many young innocents on a limited budget bought into this era of rust buckets and I was certainly no exception.

Fifteen pounds in cash money was handed over in 1963 and I was the proud owner of 'KDM 158' - a light blue 1954 Mk1 Ford Consul complete with American design influences like front bench seat and column gear change. Perfect from this particular child of the sixties.

Fifteen pounds? I here you think. Not a lot of money...true, even in 1963 when this particular Consul was nine years old. After a few days of ownership a closer inspection of this Ford product of the brave new world of 1954 revealed serious corrosion in the floor beneath the bench seat. Yes, oh yes, I know I hear you all say, “why did you not check before buying?”

Youth is often impetuous and I certainly fell into that category with my rushed ambition to be a car owner which was still a big deal ( for me at least )in the early sixties.

A local garage welded the worst of the rot so that I (and any passengers) would not collapse through the floor complete with that front bench seat onto road. Price for the job? More than the car cost me....I was learning fast !

This rapidly became my first attempt with car 'restoration' but there is only so much can you do with a newfangled idea called 'fibre-glass' and my efforts were nothing more than cosmetic. Poor old Mk1 Consul showed other serious nasty traits other than rusting before my eyes.......... it held the road like a drunken sailor on its cross-ply tyres. If you tried any country bend with something beyond 'sedate' she would bite you big time and go into a blood curling sideways slide with your knuckles showing pure white as you hung onto opposite lock, showing a religious fervour you never thought you had by praying for the bonnet to return to a straight and level direction parallel with the road, not at ninety degrees to the hedgerow flashing past (like my short life) the chromed 'rocket' bonnet emblem.

I have had other Fords...Anglia; Sierra; Fiesta and Escort for example,so I am certainly not anti-Ford, despite my early inexperienced adventures with the Mk1 Consul.

Everything of that period seemed to have serious tin-worm. I bought a second-hand 1962 VW Caravanette and that was just a nightmare of rust ( I wish I had kept it they are worth £20 – £30.000 now!!!

So you seem there is a common factor here – RUST – and a convenient link to the our main subject …. the Vauxhall Viva.

I had owned a couple of Vauxhall 'HA' Viva vans and they were fairly problem free actually lasting a reasonable time before the tin-worm began to show. So in 1978 I invested £1100 in a 1974 Viva HC saloon in bright 'Yellow-Gold' … a Vauxhall colour of the 1970,s that I liked – and still do !!!!!

'ANA'....... summer 2012

'ANA 78M' had been well prepared by the car dealer and highly polished both inside and out, with the interior exuding a pleasant furniture-wax aroma. A careful mechanical 'once-over' and test drive showed no obvious problems, so the deal was struck and a relationship with this particular Vauxhall Viva started that still exists.

The dreaded 'tin-worm' began to show after a year or so.....like most Vivas. Vauxhall had included some protection inside the wheel arch half-way up the wing, but the rust bug chomped inside this and the dreaded corrosion line eventually showed on the exterior of both wings.

'ANA' was very much a working girl during the late 1970s and early 1980s transporting me on assignments as a press photographer. Family holidays to the Scottish Highlands and even the South of France were all taken in her stride. Driving from the north of England via the French Autoroutes with two young children in a Vauxhall Viva could have been problematic. Thankfully 'ANA' never missed a beat with her brand new yellow tinted headlamp covers ( then required sur la continent ) and was the cause of much puzzled stares and glances when parked near St Tropez harbour overlooking the super-yachts of the uber-rich.

Vauxhall Vivas are a rarity in St Tropez (even then).......if you want a 'head-turner' in that beautiful sun-kissed locality, forget your Lamborghini or Ferrari .....cruise the sea-front in a bright golden yellow Vauxhall Viva !

Face to Face with a Citroen GS Club.........South of France 1979

Loch Ness..........1980

Surviving into the late 1980s 'ANA' had been relegated to a second-car role

with upstart Fords taking pole position. Commuting a few miles everyday with my wife Denise became the norm and even becoming a hack transport for my teenage children was now fast becoming her last duties before she went to the scrapyard to rust in peace.

Serious structural problems were now beginning to show in sills and inner wings. The brave little 1256cc engine was very tired so it was decision time and a heartbreaking last drive to the nearest car-breaker seemed to be the only way to go.

Early 1990s before restoration..........

Cars do not have a soul, they are just made of metal by people to transport other people for a few years and then melted down to make more cars that transport people, etc and so on........

Cars may not have a soul, but it is suggested that humans do. I hesitated from turning the ignition key for the last time and a family conference decided that she should stay and be re-built. Rebuild a humble Vauxhall Viva ? Why? I am not sure why. Perhaps it was all the memories that were invested in her now rusting body.

I am still not really sure 'why' some twenty years later.

A Vauxhall Viva that has seen many years of British weather and winter salted roads is not a pretty thing. 'ANA' was certainly not one of those cars that was purchased from new and then left in a garage to be found many years later with 5,000 miles on the clock and an auction price to match. Poor old ANA had seen much better days as she sat forlorn in our single garage with almost every panel and structural component tainted by serious rust.

I did not have any of the required skills to take on this challenge. My world had been newspapers and my mechanical ability hardly stretched to changing a type-writer ribbon ( remember those?) I went to a secondary school that seemed to have only one ambition for it's pupils who lived near local heavy-engineering companies (remember those) and that was to join these companies with some basic knowledge of metal-work and engineering science. I actually had an O-level GCE in 'Engineering workshop theory and practice' but making a steel fire-poker or brass tankard was not sufficient skills for the job at hand. I must have been away when they covered 'how to build a car from the ground up with a MIG welder'

Right......where to start ?.......buy a MIG welder ! An acquaintance who was actually a real welder taught me how to write my name with the 'MIG' . An easy exercise if your name is 'HILL'

A trip to a steel stockist to purchase ( oh, yes, you guessed it )........steel sheets suitable for car repair use. I naturally over-ordered and still have one sheet propped up in the garage with bits of 'new' Viva shapes cut from it.

Some of the rot found after removal of the front wings

Serious corrosion in the inner wing had to cut be out and a repair panel welded in.

Car restoration seems to be influenced by a strange natural law. This manifests itself as work undertaken reveals even more work to be done. Repairing one part reveals another rotten part. This is cut out and reveals even more problems.

'Why did I start this?' must be muttered by most people faced with attempting restore an old car that has near terminal corrosion.

Old rotten wings were taken off to reveal old rotten inner wings. Old rotten outer sills were taken off to reveal old rotten inner sills, and so on.

Driver's side new wing is spot welded on as original on the upper flange. Inner wing ( flitch ) repair panel can also be seen in background

Rusted rear wheel arch is cut-out and a repair panel fitted. 1993.

Confidence began to grow as metal cutting and welding skills were improving and I managed to replace rotten metal on the inner sills and replace the outer ones with new parts. This revealed some rot in both front floor-pans. A few pokes with a 'Manchester Screwdriver' (hammer) found that 'some rot' was actually 'all rot' This nearly defeated me as my heart sank, realising that I would have to fabricate these intricate shapes. It is easy to think that the bit you put your feet on in a car is just a flat bit of metal – it certainly is not!!!!!

I used to think that - until I cut them out and realised that the angles changed constantly together complicated by strengthening corrugations stamped into the metal. I set too with a wooden metal-working mallet and did some real 'tin-bashing' checking progress at intervals with the originals. This was a long job which fortunately I could do outside during one sunny summer ( remember those ?)

Rotten rear valance chopped out and a new panel ready for welding.

New rear valance panel being welded in

'ANA' almost became a 'new' Viva as most things were slowly replaced with newly purchased body parts or fabricated bits of metal. Rotten box-sections, wheel arches,etc, were all repaired. During the 1990,s scrap-yards were full of old Vauxhall Vivas and health and safety rules in these yards were a thing for the future. I would spend my days off wandering these glorious palaces of fallen metal.

“Any Viva,s ?” I would ask ?

“Sure, what yer after ?”

“Oh just about everything” I would truthfully reply.

“Help yourself, just bring 'em to the office after”

I was happy as a pig in muck as I wandered through these old cars piled three or even four high. Morris 1000,s, Jaguar Saloons, Ford Capri,s etc. You name it they were all here together in one large automotive geriatric old folks club, swapping yarns of former glory years whilst awaiting their turn to be recycled into something shiny bright and new.

For some reason old Viva,s were always at the top of the pile and I would have to climb up to see what was worth saving. Doors, bumpers, seats, lights, etc were all detached and lowered down until a pile of Viva treasure trove was ready to taken to the 'office' to haggle a good price.

Sometimes entering the 'office' was more of a dangerous task than climbing to the top of the car-pile. They always had the proverbial 'junk-yard dog' chained nearby who would rush to the end of the chain and become a blur of fangs and noise.

“Come in.....he's O.K” said the scrap-yard man.

“All bark and no trousers” he quipped

“What yer got ? He asked casting an experienced eye glance at the pile of Viva bits.

“Give me twenty quid for that lot and yer can 'ave the rest for free” he suggested a deal I could not refuse.

“ O.K.....I've only 18 quid in cash, will that do?” I asked stroking the junk-yard mutt who really only wanted to be loved.

“ Cheeky sod.....O.K....... nobody wants Viva stuff any more. I got one o 'dem silver droop snooty things coming tomorrow if you are interested?

“Nobody wants 'em and nothing really fits my Viva” said the guy who sold a 1962 VW Caravanette for 100 quid and restored a Vauxhall Viva instead.

So, my dear reader the lesson is now crystal clear ….... always view the future with perfect 20/20 vision and buy the modern equivalent of Split-screen VW Caravanettes (and HPF Droop snoot Viva,s) by the dozen and your old age is financially secure. A few modern E-type equivalents will not go amiss either. A note of caution here the 'Classic car' press always seems to be full of pictures of old barns chock full of old cars that are beyond saving and only worth the scrap value. Investing in old motors is not without many cautionary tales of woe.

So I would go back to work with my new found Viva bits. Most ended in the wooden frame-work at the top of my garage 'just in case'. Tons of 'spares' that threatened to fall on my 'project' below were stored until the invention of E-bay and a lot of the surplus was sold off.

Cars sold as 'spares only' always amuse me, as the 'spares' everybody wants are the ones that always fall to bits and you are only left with the parts on an old motor that everybody has, and nobody wants. I recently saw an interior light cover for a Viva on Ebay. They were made of a special Vauxhall plastic that were designed to self-destruct after 10 years and fall to bits. It was possible to buy these as a spare during production for about £1.20p ….....the Ebay example was surprisingly pristine and must have been stored on cotton wool in a dark cupboard for forty years and it sold for £50 - all for a piece of plastic about three inches long!!!!

So when I was removing Viva spares I never realised that if I had slipped a few dozen of these in my pocket I would be up by a few thousand by now. I would of course be very careful and not to flood the Ebay market all at one time :)

I did have plans to put these back into production but after a few hundred sales the price will obviously come back down to £1.20 with production costs at £2.00 so perhaps it would be better to invest in my old favourite - brewery products. I always lose money on my brewery investments, but for some strange reason I am always happy with the dividends.

I digress.........'ANA' restoration progressed through the early 1990,s and all the body panels were replaced including the bonnet that had been bent by exuberant No1 son

has he tried to 'help'

A refurbished engine replaced the original and 'ANA' was re-sprayed in her original 'Yellow Gold' As the project neared completion in the mid-1990s I started to lose

interest, mainly because most of the serious challenges had been overcome.

Re-conditioned 1256cc engine being fitted as part of the 1993 restoraion

Without the challenge I turned to other interests and she languished in the garage until recently buried in bits of wood and things in a house that need a convenient home just in case you need them. New Vauxhall products came and went …..several Astra,s and a brand new company Vectra for example, until disaster struck and I was made redundant. Gleaming new Vectra was taken back by the remains of the company and I was left with old faithful.......a Vauxhall Viva that seemed to say..........

“New girl gone then?” In a patient sort of way.

I was now 'retired' with time on my hands and no excuses to finish the project I had started many years ago.......more to follow........soon !  :)