1968 Vauxhall Viva with Mazda 24v V6- the Vivalution mk4
Discussion
Hello there. This is my sort of long term project I have been tinkering away with over the last few years. While living in the UK my wife Hannah and I had a '84 Chevette and we fitted a Mazda 12a Rotary into it. We really liked rotaries after having bought our first- a very cheap but very mint series 3 Rx7. So seemed like a neat idea. It drove really well but after a while we wanted something a bit older/got bored and wanted another project... We sold the Chevette to a fella in Ireland who sadly crashed it 5 days later :-(
I bought this Viva off Ebay and drove it from Norwich to Oxford where it used 4 litres of oil! The seller had failed to tell me about that little issue...
So the Viva sat around for a couple of years while I restored a one owner barn find '72 Mazda Rx3 which kept me occupied for a couple of years. Then finally back to the Viva. Into the shed and out with the 1100cc and in with a Ford 1600 x-flo. But not before I trial fitted another rotary in place...just to check an idea out..
The x-flo worked well and looked almost factory but after a few years of having had various Rotaries it felt so agricultural and rough.
Once the Viva was in NZ I pulled the x-flo out and set to fitting a Mazda 12a that I had bought cheap from an old dealership in Wales. It came fitted with a really neat English built carb fed turbo setup from Elford engineering in Bournmouth. This went really well. Only about 160bhp but very smooth and reliable.
I had also fitted some very nice red leather Momo seats from an Alfa gtv I bought off Ebay just before shipping the car. These match the rear seats perfectly and look the part.
I bought another Viva in NZ and it came with some uprated bits such as a Magnum 1800 axle and the larger ventora 3.3 hubs and discs.
But I grew bored again. We had been doing many miles in the Viva and both wanted better fuel economy along with a bit more power plus I could never get the carb to run as nice as I wanted it too without a lot of carb needle swaps. I pondered many different engines and then found these Mazda V6s while surfing the net. At this point only handful of people have used them in rwd applications because there are no rwd boxes that bolt straight up nor does the inlet manifold work well as such. But what a gem of an engine. All alloy, split crankcase with the bootom half having steel inserts for a super stiff casing, forged crank, very compact, very light (around 120kg bare) great revving engines- 7500 rpm all day long. All capacities, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.5 share the same external measurements and can be swapped about. The outputs are, depending on spec as some are JDM ; 1.8=135~ 150 bhp, 2.0= 144~165 bhp, 2.5 = 175~200 plus.
So I looked into them more, went to a wreckers and measured one up. I then bought a complete running Mazda Eunos 500 sedan with a 1.8 litre V6 for $200. I also bought a bargain lot of 2.5 JDM V6 engines including a very light chromoly flywheel and a one off fabricated inlet manifold for lotus 7 fitment from a seller on Trademe (NZs ebay..) who had listed it badly- I only paid $120.I then sold the manifold for $500 :-) These are the KLZE and the JDM hot version. They have better cams, bigger valves and higher compression = 200bhp standard. Such a bargain!
I borrowed a spare Rx7 box and it looked good to go. I made an adaptor plate from 10mm thick alloy and machined up steel inserts. Now the rx7 box would bolt up to the V6. So close are the bolt patterns and with the amount cast in bolt hole points on the block for engine mounting its almost as if Mazda designed this engine to go RWD.
I had to space the flywheel back slightly to suit and offset machine the v6 starter motor to suit the rx7 box. All worked well so we pulled the rotary out and started the swap.
With the V6 now slung in place I was not happy with it sitting too far forward. I moved the box back 60mm relocating the gearstick, moved the brake servo closer to the wing with a new bracket, made a new brake pedal to suit. The clutch was already converted over to hydrulic setup to suit the rotary fitment and luckily the cam cover just clears the clutch master. Much happier now as I had room for a decent radiator. In the future I will fit a slimmer radiator as will need room for a intercooler :-)
I made my own inlet manifold design to suit Rwd re-learning how to Tig weld alloy in the process. I cut the original Mazda ugly heavy (15kg) variable length inlet manifold down till I had some flanges with about 1" sticking up. I machined up some runners and bellmouths. It has quite short runners and a slotted tapered tube down the inside of the plenum box similar to Audis rally derived setup for evenly spreading boosted pressure - Turbo friendly.....
To run the engine I decided to have a crack at Megasquirt. I only knew the very basics of fuel injection so this was a steep learning curve! But very fun. Hannah helped me build the ms2 and she does most of the tuning having really caught the bug. It runs wasted spark with a home made 36-1 trigger wheel. No more carbs for us...!
picture hosting
For the past 1.5 years we have been driving about with a 2.0litre 150 bhp Its proven to be very economical for a V6 with long runs returning 35mpg plus and never seeing any worse than 27mpg even round town. We recently built up another 2.5 version and swapped that in. Its now got a very easy 210~220 plus bhp and is just so much fun! More low end punch than the 2 litre with more of a growl.
Other things done since installing the V6 are making a new dash instrument setup. I loved the strip speedo but there was no room to have a rev counter except under the dash. I couldnt read it there easily when giving the car some stick in the twisties so I started fresh. I used an electronic speedo from a toymota sillycar and the sender that came with has the same thread as the mazda box...which was nice. The rev counter is from that eunos 500. I machined up housings from alloy and cobbled it together. I also made a centre console fitting the fuel and wideband gauges into that. Its still not quite the look I want but its getting there - I think I will make new faces with an older classic font. But now at least the speedo only reads 10% out and I can adjust that in the future with a little electronic kit from Jaycar.
Next plans are a shortened Mx5 rear suspension setup as the magnum axles are apparently be good for around 200bhp. I also I want better traction on bumpy twisty roads. Possibly I'd fit a Corsa electric powersteering column and a quick rack as the current steering is a bit slow. Better ventilated brakes for long downhills/trackday fade issues. When that's all done I'll be fitting two tiny turbos. There is so much room in the engine bay that it really just makes sense :-) Low boost on a engine with 10:1 CR should make for a sweet road car. We are hopefully getting a race track in next few years near where I live. I see a Chevette on the horizon - stripped out with one of these engines.
Here is a link to the entire build thread on Oldschool.co.nz. Please excuse some missing photos due to Imageshack problems.
Yoeddynz's 1968 Viva mazda V6. The Smoking tire video is up now :-) - Projects and Build Ups - oldschool.co.nz
The car has recently been filmed by the crew from The smoking tire channel. They were over in NZ to film the NZ car scene. They loved the Viva- having not ever seen one before. The video has just been released and so far the response has been great. Im obviously very proud of the build but have many ideas for future projects so no time to put down my tools yet 8-)
Here is the video...
http://youtu.be/BwpJmIvSfDs
Cheers
Alex
I bought this Viva off Ebay and drove it from Norwich to Oxford where it used 4 litres of oil! The seller had failed to tell me about that little issue...
So the Viva sat around for a couple of years while I restored a one owner barn find '72 Mazda Rx3 which kept me occupied for a couple of years. Then finally back to the Viva. Into the shed and out with the 1100cc and in with a Ford 1600 x-flo. But not before I trial fitted another rotary in place...just to check an idea out..
The x-flo worked well and looked almost factory but after a few years of having had various Rotaries it felt so agricultural and rough.
Once the Viva was in NZ I pulled the x-flo out and set to fitting a Mazda 12a that I had bought cheap from an old dealership in Wales. It came fitted with a really neat English built carb fed turbo setup from Elford engineering in Bournmouth. This went really well. Only about 160bhp but very smooth and reliable.
I had also fitted some very nice red leather Momo seats from an Alfa gtv I bought off Ebay just before shipping the car. These match the rear seats perfectly and look the part.
I bought another Viva in NZ and it came with some uprated bits such as a Magnum 1800 axle and the larger ventora 3.3 hubs and discs.
But I grew bored again. We had been doing many miles in the Viva and both wanted better fuel economy along with a bit more power plus I could never get the carb to run as nice as I wanted it too without a lot of carb needle swaps. I pondered many different engines and then found these Mazda V6s while surfing the net. At this point only handful of people have used them in rwd applications because there are no rwd boxes that bolt straight up nor does the inlet manifold work well as such. But what a gem of an engine. All alloy, split crankcase with the bootom half having steel inserts for a super stiff casing, forged crank, very compact, very light (around 120kg bare) great revving engines- 7500 rpm all day long. All capacities, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.5 share the same external measurements and can be swapped about. The outputs are, depending on spec as some are JDM ; 1.8=135~ 150 bhp, 2.0= 144~165 bhp, 2.5 = 175~200 plus.
So I looked into them more, went to a wreckers and measured one up. I then bought a complete running Mazda Eunos 500 sedan with a 1.8 litre V6 for $200. I also bought a bargain lot of 2.5 JDM V6 engines including a very light chromoly flywheel and a one off fabricated inlet manifold for lotus 7 fitment from a seller on Trademe (NZs ebay..) who had listed it badly- I only paid $120.I then sold the manifold for $500 :-) These are the KLZE and the JDM hot version. They have better cams, bigger valves and higher compression = 200bhp standard. Such a bargain!
I borrowed a spare Rx7 box and it looked good to go. I made an adaptor plate from 10mm thick alloy and machined up steel inserts. Now the rx7 box would bolt up to the V6. So close are the bolt patterns and with the amount cast in bolt hole points on the block for engine mounting its almost as if Mazda designed this engine to go RWD.
I had to space the flywheel back slightly to suit and offset machine the v6 starter motor to suit the rx7 box. All worked well so we pulled the rotary out and started the swap.
With the V6 now slung in place I was not happy with it sitting too far forward. I moved the box back 60mm relocating the gearstick, moved the brake servo closer to the wing with a new bracket, made a new brake pedal to suit. The clutch was already converted over to hydrulic setup to suit the rotary fitment and luckily the cam cover just clears the clutch master. Much happier now as I had room for a decent radiator. In the future I will fit a slimmer radiator as will need room for a intercooler :-)
I made my own inlet manifold design to suit Rwd re-learning how to Tig weld alloy in the process. I cut the original Mazda ugly heavy (15kg) variable length inlet manifold down till I had some flanges with about 1" sticking up. I machined up some runners and bellmouths. It has quite short runners and a slotted tapered tube down the inside of the plenum box similar to Audis rally derived setup for evenly spreading boosted pressure - Turbo friendly.....
To run the engine I decided to have a crack at Megasquirt. I only knew the very basics of fuel injection so this was a steep learning curve! But very fun. Hannah helped me build the ms2 and she does most of the tuning having really caught the bug. It runs wasted spark with a home made 36-1 trigger wheel. No more carbs for us...!
picture hosting
For the past 1.5 years we have been driving about with a 2.0litre 150 bhp Its proven to be very economical for a V6 with long runs returning 35mpg plus and never seeing any worse than 27mpg even round town. We recently built up another 2.5 version and swapped that in. Its now got a very easy 210~220 plus bhp and is just so much fun! More low end punch than the 2 litre with more of a growl.
Other things done since installing the V6 are making a new dash instrument setup. I loved the strip speedo but there was no room to have a rev counter except under the dash. I couldnt read it there easily when giving the car some stick in the twisties so I started fresh. I used an electronic speedo from a toymota sillycar and the sender that came with has the same thread as the mazda box...which was nice. The rev counter is from that eunos 500. I machined up housings from alloy and cobbled it together. I also made a centre console fitting the fuel and wideband gauges into that. Its still not quite the look I want but its getting there - I think I will make new faces with an older classic font. But now at least the speedo only reads 10% out and I can adjust that in the future with a little electronic kit from Jaycar.
Next plans are a shortened Mx5 rear suspension setup as the magnum axles are apparently be good for around 200bhp. I also I want better traction on bumpy twisty roads. Possibly I'd fit a Corsa electric powersteering column and a quick rack as the current steering is a bit slow. Better ventilated brakes for long downhills/trackday fade issues. When that's all done I'll be fitting two tiny turbos. There is so much room in the engine bay that it really just makes sense :-) Low boost on a engine with 10:1 CR should make for a sweet road car. We are hopefully getting a race track in next few years near where I live. I see a Chevette on the horizon - stripped out with one of these engines.
Here is a link to the entire build thread on Oldschool.co.nz. Please excuse some missing photos due to Imageshack problems.
Yoeddynz's 1968 Viva mazda V6. The Smoking tire video is up now :-) - Projects and Build Ups - oldschool.co.nz
The car has recently been filmed by the crew from The smoking tire channel. They were over in NZ to film the NZ car scene. They loved the Viva- having not ever seen one before. The video has just been released and so far the response has been great. Im obviously very proud of the build but have many ideas for future projects so no time to put down my tools yet 8-)
Here is the video...
http://youtu.be/BwpJmIvSfDs
Cheers
Alex
Magic
Ian- I think they are going to do a feature on our housetruck too. Looking forward to it because I have always intended to do a vid myself but never got round to it. It will be nice for people to see it in video format because photos are hard to make portray the size.
AWW999 - yeah I think the police are a bit easier here. Certainly we have a much much easier time when it comes to modifying cars and getting them road legal compared to Oz. But still nothing compares to how easy it is in the UK!
Two smokin barrels- your photo.. was that engine coming out or going in. Not bad little engines the standard ones for pootling about town but not very tough if thrashed on the open road.
AWW999 - yeah I think the police are a bit easier here. Certainly we have a much much easier time when it comes to modifying cars and getting them road legal compared to Oz. But still nothing compares to how easy it is in the UK!
Two smokin barrels- your photo.. was that engine coming out or going in. Not bad little engines the standard ones for pootling about town but not very tough if thrashed on the open road.
There's a few over the years. The rotary chevette, rx3 restoration were the other biggys. This viva has been my main one but more things plannned. Hannah has bough herself a very rare mk1 triumph estate. Once she has repaired the rust it will either get a bmw m50 or a toyota 1jz.
Ive bough a very rare very rusty Viva HB estate. That was going to be saab powered but while at the oldschool.co.nz nationals last weekend I drove a friends 850i and loved the sound. I am tempted to go all out and fit a V12. It will be a mission but good fun. I'll see how things go with the triumh as that is the one we need to finish first.
This Viva I plan to fit a IRS setup in the back and beef up the brakes in prep for twin turbos but no rush on that.
Ive bough a very rare very rusty Viva HB estate. That was going to be saab powered but while at the oldschool.co.nz nationals last weekend I drove a friends 850i and loved the sound. I am tempted to go all out and fit a V12. It will be a mission but good fun. I'll see how things go with the triumh as that is the one we need to finish first.
This Viva I plan to fit a IRS setup in the back and beef up the brakes in prep for twin turbos but no rush on that.
Hey Greg- yeah lake Rotoiti ! That was on the way to oldschool.co.nz Hanmer meet.
Britishracingrin Rotaries are so small and easy to fit into anything. So the smallest car possible for maximum grins and efficiency. There was a fella in Scotland who was on exile-rotorsport- he fitted one in the back of an imp. Looks really neat and goes really well! Then he supercharged it!
Britishracingrin Rotaries are so small and easy to fit into anything. So the smallest car possible for maximum grins and efficiency. There was a fella in Scotland who was on exile-rotorsport- he fitted one in the back of an imp. Looks really neat and goes really well! Then he supercharged it!
Updates on this car... it now has a stablemate. I have spent a couple of years restoring a 1969 Viva HB Estate (wagons here in NZ) and finally got it back on the road just before xmas. I'd always wanted an HB wagon but they are very very rare especially in NZ. So when this rusty old thing popped up for grabs I had to take it! Its been a fair old haul to make safe and solid. I have let in a lot of new steel and most probably spent more time than the car is worth working on it.. but hey.. its a hobby.
Ive been using it a lot, in fact more often than the V6 one. Its only got the standard 1156cc 4 pot but it drives way better than I expected and has turned out to be a much more enjoyable car to pootle about in than I ever imagined. Cheap to run, great load bay and turns heads.... because it looks like it couldnt possibly be legal :-)
Here's some photos for ya and you can read about my resto from the start here...
http://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/44198-1968...
Starting with stuff like this...
I toiled until this came out at the other end...
The current collection. (Bedford housetruck is actually a job that came in but I had to get a Vauxhall themed photo)...
Ive been using it a lot, in fact more often than the V6 one. Its only got the standard 1156cc 4 pot but it drives way better than I expected and has turned out to be a much more enjoyable car to pootle about in than I ever imagined. Cheap to run, great load bay and turns heads.... because it looks like it couldnt possibly be legal :-)
Here's some photos for ya and you can read about my resto from the start here...
http://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/44198-1968...
Starting with stuff like this...
I toiled until this came out at the other end...
The current collection. (Bedford housetruck is actually a job that came in but I had to get a Vauxhall themed photo)...
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff