will be adding how to fit a viva front suspension

 

started to fit the viva front i had it rienforced i wieded plates on the side to strengthen the sides and fitted a plate on top so the chassis will fit

 

then i put it into place were it is going to sit i measured 90inch from the rear wheels fitted strenghtening tubes in between the chassis so when i bolt it down it wont crush i also fitted a spreddar bar at the front

placed it were it should go and it was ridding to high even thou the viva front had pop browns lowering kit she still was to high for me even with two mates stood on the front to conpensate ie engine

so the only thing for it is to zed the chassis lowering it 2and half inches with my wielding skills i hope it goes well

 

Don't forget that z'ing the chassis will also move th eengine higher in the bay, could be an issue dependent on engine used. The simpler way than cutting the chassis is to notch crossmember and lower the chassis into it. You'll also need to c notch for the rack to clear underneath .


Also no way will 2 blokes stood in the engine bay lower it enough , even a fully built car but without interior glass and fluids will still sit 1-2 inches higher than the finished ride height. Plenty of Pops out there with Viva fronts that you can measure to find out the likely finished ride height

 

to late already committed to cutting the chassis i have a mate who zeded his chassis and fitted a zetec i think he shortened his mounts to compensate but dont hold me to that .i think its trial and error but keep coming your opinions every input would benefit my build as to which way to go forward thanks

 

i'll be keeping an eye on this build, body looks in great shape what engine you going to run? :tup:

 

dont know yet either 2.0 pinto or a zetec

 

My advice now is to make sure you box all the rails when you've finished .

 

thats in my plans after i tackle the rear suspension:|

 

:yeahthat:

 

well i did it i welded the front chassis using 3mm plate started at the front end of the chassis just to see what it entailed by this time i was confident to start the back of the chassis have a look

i then spot bolted it as well ensuring it to be strong boxed the chassis with long plates going across the legnth of the chassis

 

this is the end version after cleaning up my horrible welds and miging in some bits were i missed gonna give myself a pat on the back job well done me thinks

 

I have one question, have you taken into account what angle the chassis will be set at when the car is built to make sure you have the correct castor angle? With the HA front end the wishbone pivot points are in the wrong position from the factory, when the suspension is in bump mode the angles of the wishbones promote positive camber and when the suspension is in droop mode the suspension goes to negative camber which is the wrong way around for correct suspension angle design.
I know many many people have used this suspension over the last 35 years or so on Pops etc but it just makes it a little bit more important to make sure the castor is correct as if not the suspension seems to be more affected with this set up.
I did drive a Pop using this set-up that was not right a million years ago so I set about resetting and rebuilding the front end with special importance on the angles and it made a lot of difference to the steering feel and turn in characteristics of the car and it was far more stable at sensibly high speeds.

I am not knocking anything you are doing as building a car as you are is a mojor undertaking even fairly simple builds, but I thought I would just mention this just incase you were unaware of this situation with the HA front, and good luck with the build and keep at it.

John

 

if you find you need to alter the caster now its all welded just get some wedge plates machined up to go between the chassis and ifs. be much easier than cutting and rewelding the chassis again.
ps steve collected the wings today mate.

 

i have taken into account of the angle of the chassis also the hight of the rear end but untill i have the engine in time will really tell my next step is to refurb my 105e axle,single leaf spring to the rear just one question anti roll bars for the front and rear any suggestions please

 

Looking good Aky/Dave will "pop" round this weekend for a brew and drop off your wings, Don't know about anti roll bars but you could fit anti tramp bars to rear..Steve

 

no probs steve got a lot of questions see you at the weekend

 

One further thing on the front end, it would be prudent to weld in a brace from the top of the shock tower, to the chassis rail, to prevent flexing and possible eventual breakage.

See here for more info, (actually from Kapri!)

NSRA forum - Tech....Viva HA front....

Cheers
Ron

 

i have put in extra plates at the sides of the towers to stop them flexing but more strength to stop them twisting is a good idea will look into that but a bit more attractive if you know wat i mean lol

 

hi all got a question ...single leaf spring i have tried to fit them but iam going off the hole were the axle sits just cant get them far enough back to fit if i reverse the spring they sit to far forward does it matter if the hole in the leaf not centred on the axle only about a inch off any helpers:wtf:

 

hi every one sorry it took so long updating my thread i was waiting on parts to arrive and waiting on a moron who likes selling stuff taking your money and not sending your item waited 4 weeks finaly had to get ebay to sort it out any way ive had my moan on with the build first i bought a anglia 105e axle striped it down fitted new seals, gasket,nuts self lockers .ground of the saddle brackets but left about 10mm on one side just to give me a marker
to were the new saddle bracket are going.

 

 

then i started on making a new chassis to accomodate new brackets to hold the leaf spring

 

after that i started to box the chassis in to give it more strength then started on the rear now i tried different ways never try to over engineer something that is simple i made that mistake i boxed the rear chassis then drill a hole threw the chassis to fit a sleeve so that when i fit the brackets it wont tighten up on the chassis

i may be jumping a head of my self before i wielded any thing i fitted the axle in place to see were it fits then measured from the front wheels 91 inches back fitted the leaf spring the wrong way round as the right way wont fit on the chassis trust me i tried for a couple weekends then it hit me trail and error once i was happy then i wielded other wise its get the angle grinder out to undo wat you have done believe me its hard work. now for the rear brackets as the chassis is a lot thinner than the leaf spring you have the bend one side of the leaf spring bracket so it narrows it see pic

 

after welding all the brackets and boxing in i fitted 2inch lowering blocks as the car will be ridding high but its up to you what height you want then set the axle make sure you measure from front to back then side ways otherwise it will crab when you get it on the road also i fabricated the new chassis to allow for the propshaft to meet the gear box

so now my pop is rolling the next step is to fit the engine and gear box and to fit more chassis braces for the gear box,floor i hope you have a good read and please your comments will be very helpfull to my build

 

Cool, just a quick question, have you tried the rear wings on to see if the wheels are 'centred'...??

 

yes thats the first thing i did before i welded it all up make sure it was centered

 

I was thinking the same thing!

Original Pop wheelbase is 90", but on modified ones you usually need to move the axle back 1" - to 91"

Edit: just saw your post about measurements - 91" already done :tup:

 

nice one looking good body looks well tidy,keep us posted

 

Great build up. Keep posting updates! Love the colour, looks like it may be Shark Blue, my favourite, or possibly Ludlow Green :tup: