Would anyone know any specs on the vauxhall viva uprights as a possible replace to the cortina?

I have a found a local firm that build autograss cars and he makes these viva uprights from steel and wondered if its possible to use instead of the cortina.

Any info will be of interest...

jools

so long as you can get disk, bearing etc. easily, why not? though the sierra ones with the bush adaptor are quite good and will have stronger breaking in the end. Cortina brakes were never very good anyway, at least mine wasn't and my falcon which also uses them can't stop either.





[Edited on 13/12/07 by Mr Whippy]

GB Engineering do the uprights (and get a lot of mentions on here) but ... i bet they are for race use only. Use on the road at your own risk etc etc.

(i've wondered the same)

I thought along the same lines but the chap I spoke to explained that a autograss "special" has to withstand far more stresses and strain than a road/track car and that the strength of the upright would not factor compared to some aluminium uprights which are available.

The cortina brake calliper can be replaced with the sierra or another after market item a different bracket would be needed.

Looking for info that will effect the handling between the two uprights if that's known.

My Olde Sylva uses viva uprights.

Not some fancy schmancy fabricated job that has Viva geometry - actual viva uprights. And wishbones. And front subframe.

Light.


Not.

As long as they are 1800 ones with the bigger brakes .
Mitsubishi L200 LHS rod end fits the top taper. You'll find with the steering arm being so low, the rack comes very close to the bottom arm, may need to use asymetrical bottom arms to avoid issues. Less scrub radius, however the wheel centerline is closer to the bottom BJ so the lower arm piiots need to be something like 3 inches up from the bottom chassis rail.
All workable however.

Viva HB uprights are a non-starter the brakes are tiny a warp very easily. The Viva HC discs are thicker (although the part number didn't change) but unless you get them off a 1600/1800/2000/2300 they are still tiny.

The discs from the bigger engined models are the same as the Vauxhall Victor FD and are right on the top limit of size to fit in a 13" wheel.

Wheel PCD is 4" with 7/16" unf wheel studs.

[Edited on 13/12/07 by britishtrident]

The GB engineering welded steel uprights are indeed very strong, they will rip the wishbones to bits long before anything cracks on the upright.

Is the viva the same as the Opel Kadett/ Vauxhall chevette?
been looking the chevette or manta ones are usable and look like the cortina.

Also big brakes from a Opel Rekord can be mounted.

Only the wheels are different so you need also do the rear imo....

Yep, standard Viva discs are tiny - my Striker used to have them before I changed to Mk2 Escort. The calipers are the same as Mini, so getting decent pads isn't a problem, or better calipers (Willwoods etc.).

With the greatest respect to all of you, my old Sylva Leader hillclimb car used standard Viva discs and calipers, and absolutely didn't need anything else. I could stand it on it's nose, and lock the front end even with sticky slicks. For a lightweight car you don't NEED anything else, although you may think that you WANT something better....

And it doesn't sound so good down the pub.

Well said that man

iirc the Viva was imperial and the Chevette/Kadette/Gemini (GM "world car" was metric - not sure if anything beyond the engine and gearbox was the same. Not sure how the uprights compare dimensionally, but the Chevette/Gemini uprights have been used widely in 7's (with suitable changes to the front geometry).

Being a former Vauxhall owner I went into this in some great depth before seeing the light (as it were).

If you can find a Ventora in a scrappy any where and the front end is complete then you would have although probably slightly larger than normal uprights, you would also have 10 1/4 inch vented discs plus 4 pot calipers and i believe the geometry for these if set right was 5.45 degrees castor and a camber of 0.5 degres negative.

Now although these may be heavy if anybody is thinking of using these I dont think there more than about 4 pounds heavier than the Sierra ones.

But as they say to each his own.

I used this setup with a HB GT X meber on a viva HB SL90 and after swapping the back end for said same car, once the 3.5 rover engine was installed i stepped on the anchors and the back end lifted (according to my mates about 18 inches off the ground.

I know cause I can still rememner the pain in my back and own rear end when it stopped (BIG OUCH)

By the way I think you will also find that the Viva uprights are slightly smaller then cortina ones due to the fact that cortinas had 13 inch wheels and Vivas had 12 inch wheels. And Ventoras had 14 inch to 15 inch wheels depending on model etc etc etc

[Edited on 20/12/07 by Blakey_boy]

[Edited on 20/12/07 by Blakey_boy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Memphis Twin
With the greatest respect to all of you, my old Sylva Leader hillclimb car used standard Viva discs and calipers, and absolutely didn't need anything else. I could stand it on it's nose, and lock the front end even with sticky slicks. For a lightweight car you don't NEED anything else, although you may think that you WANT something better....

And it doesn't sound so good down the pub.

---

Basically your OHC viva/victor brakes are the same size as cortina, with M16 calipers, the 1256 brakes are type 14 8.75" like on Mk1 escorts. Chevette brakes are bigger than the std viva brakes, the uprights are a bit different, with the steering arm bring part of the upright, while the viva is bolt on.
If you have victor uprights, the viva steering arms bolt on and are 10mm shorter to give you faster steering.

Use manta uprights, they are ten a penny!

In fact, I'll count up how many I have this afternoon when i am shifting a load of stuff and if I have any spare I will put them on sale on here.