DanP
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 04:28 PM |
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Viento finally on the road
Hi Guys,
Well I've finally got the car all taxed and registered, after collecting the kit a little over 3 and a half years ago, having initially thought
it wold only take 6 months!
I couldn't be more pleased with the car, it still has a few niggles like the engine splutters a little right after putting your foot down (i
think it may be the accelerator pump on the carb or the old dizzy) and I need a new water pump. But on the whole it was brilliant to finally be able
to get the car out on the road this weekend, and a very chuffed feeling at having put the whole thing together myself. I am trying to be careful with
it to start with but it is a little scary how easy it is to get the wrong side of the speed limit in a light car.
On the subject of building it, I probably could have got it done a lot sooner if I had built it to the manual and hadn't made the entire exhaust
system and all of the guages myself, or trimmed out the interior. Or if I was single and hadn't bought a house to re-decorate. etc etc. I am
absolutely in awe of anyone that can build one of these types of car when they have kids etc too.
But I guess life isn't all about doing just one thing, and I wanted to do the car my way. Had it not been for this forum giving me the confidence
to try to do a few things differently then I suspect I would have ended up with something a little closer to the build manual tho, so thanks to
everyone (whether they realise or not) who helped.
On the whole I've found the build very satisfying but found myself very frustrated at times with some of the gaping holes in the build manual and
parts list or poor design, there were quite a few times when i found myself cursing myself for not choosing the westfield seight kit (the initial kit
price wasn't far off that of the viento).
But i must admit driving it over the hill behind portsmouth yesterday took away any doubt or frustration that I ever had about the car, it was just
pure engrossing fun! And the noise it makes at 3000rpm is just fantastic.
Even though the car is finished there is still plently left to do, I'm sure in the next weeks and months I will find little things to fix and
things to improve, like the cold starting. I also intend to get a windscreen fitted and probably a tonneau or hood to make the car a little more
practical for trips.
For those that are interested here are a few pics of building of my car:
Summer 2005, Purchased Xr4x4 donor car to strip (mainly for the guaranteed LSD diff), ended up only really using the back axle and steering column, as
I bought all new/refurbed brakes and needed different front stub axles anyway.
 
Donor Xr4x4
Sept 2005, collected the kit from (old) luego (thanks to my mate graeme and his towball), slight snafu was luego thought I was coming on a different
day (no idea who's fault but my own for not ringing to confirm the day before) so we had a small parts and powder coat issue, all sorted out tho!
 
kit collection day
Spring 2006. The engine had mainly been rebuilt before the kit had even been bought, but it was the fitting of the engine/gearbox that i found one of
the main let-downs of the car design, I must have had the engine/gearbox out of the car 10 time before it fitted properly becase of clearance problems
in the tunnel despite the car apparently being designed to take the standard RV8 box.
 
inserting engine
 
inserting engine
Autumn 2006. I started to run into cash issues at this point and really couldn't bring myself to spend the 1300 quid for a full luego st/st
exhaust system, so after much reading up on here bought some flanges from ebay, lots of st/steel from milner/hpe and metal supermarket and had a go at
building a set of headers based on the dax style. The primary and secondary lengths were calculated using an online calculator that put the primary
length at 1metre to get power at ~5000rpm!
 
tacking headers together
 
completed headers
Summer 2007. Had to move house, the place I was moving to had no garage so the car had to live in my mums garage 15 miles away, was great to have some
where to work on it but it did make nipping out to work on it somewhat difficult.
 
moving house
Summer 2008. House redecoration and busy work meant not much progress but i did manage to take a whole week off work and get practically everything
finished off.
 
silencer ingredients
 
silencer construction
 
completed silencers
Spring 2009. Finally managed to get all of the last jobs tidied up and get it in for SVA and then retest in feb and april.
 
SVA retest
 
waiting for sva retest
Summer 2009. Finally registered in June 09, managed to get it out for a drive the day after getting the plate athorisation in the post.
 
Finished and on the road
Parked next to my other slightly impractical car...
 
Next to my corvette
Sorry for the long waffle, writing this I can't beleive its taken me so long to build the car, but I'm sure most people can understand how
it happens!
Cheers,
Dan
[Edited on 7/6/09 by DanP]
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pinto
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 04:57 PM |
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Car looks great
bet you've got one hell of a big smile across your face  
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Danozeman
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 05:07 PM |
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Car looks good mate. We'll see you at newark then!!!
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 05:20 PM |
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well done, reading stories like yours really helps with the encouragment. 
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tomgregory2000
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 05:23 PM |
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Well done dan
I will keep my out for you
Tommy
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DanP
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 05:42 PM |
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Thanks guys, I probably wont make it to newark as I want to get a tonneau and a few more miles on it before i attempt any big trips.
I hopefully will make some of the local meets tho. Tom, you mentioned one on tuesday night, whereabouts is it? how often are they? Anyone know of any
other local meets planned?
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speedyxjs
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 06:04 PM |
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Well done
How long can i resist the temptation to drop a V8 in?
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austin man
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 06:07 PM |
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Get some RAC cover and wing it up to Newark, I drove to Beualiue in my little 1958 Austin from Rotherham no problems at all oh and I was giving it
some hammer. took me 3hrs 20mins. Why do you need a tonneau buy a fishing brolley from Argos for £15.00 they can be pegged down
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 7/6/09 at 10:43 PM |
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Well done Dan, nice looking car. Dont go puting any black stripes on yours or we will get you and Paul(notts) confused.
I'm sure that if Tom could have made it to Stoneleigh, Newark will be a peice of cake, why don't the pair of you come up in convoy.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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Paul (Notts)
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| posted on 8/6/09 at 05:19 AM |
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Nice colour
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Scotty
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| posted on 8/6/09 at 06:22 AM |
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well done, look forward to seeing it
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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Jackaroo
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| posted on 9/6/09 at 08:43 PM |
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Congratz Dan
From the photos looks like another stunning Viento will be running in the UK. Hey don't worry about your 3 1/2 years building time, I collected
mine from the importer 3 years 2 months ago and still not finished but hoping to have it finished by Oct this year! I also like ur colour mine
is orange, had no choice
Cheers
Gerrie
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DanP
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| posted on 9/6/09 at 09:52 PM |
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Thanks guys,
I'm still thinking about newark, will have a look at the distance.. and the argos catalogue.
Paul: I think i mentioned it at the time but seeing yours part-built is what helped me make up my mind about the colour! Grant at Luego thought i was
a bit mad, and GF thinks it looks a bit like a bathroom suite but I think it is a great colour!
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stevegough
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| posted on 10/6/09 at 08:26 AM |
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Brilliantly illustrated story with a happy ending - very encouraging to us 'newbies' - but your girlfriend is right - 16 cylinders are
too much for one big boy - get the 'vette flogged, buy some wet weather gear for the Viento, and get you and said viento to newark!
- YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO ! 
Luego Locost C20XE.
Build start: October 6th 2008.
IVA passed Jan 28th 2011.
First drive Feb 10th 2011.
First show: Stoneleigh 1st/2nd May 2011.
'Used up' first engine may 3rd 2011!
Back on the road with 2nd engine may 24th
First PASA mad drive 26/7/11
Sold to Mike in Methyr Tydvil 19/03/14
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wilkingj
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| posted on 10/6/09 at 09:00 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Paul (Notts)
Nice colour
Keep your eyes off his bonnet
Damn... The number of blue cars is catching up with the Black ones
Looks a good car, Hope we will be seeing it parked next to Pauls at Newark.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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wilkingj
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| posted on 10/6/09 at 09:07 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by DanP
Thanks guys,
I'm still thinking about newark, will have a look at the distance.. and the argos catalogue.
Get a cheap full face Bike helmet and a good waterproof jacket and some cheapo waterproof trousers. Its well worth it for any distance drive. Small
files in the face at 70mph HURT
Its a fair distance, but an easy one.
once you get past London its A1 all the way.
Just Plan ahead for your petrol stops.
A V8 will pass everything on the road except a petrol Station.
I have a 6 gallon tank, and fill up every 90-100 miles Max. Or Keep a Gallon can in the car (approx 20+ miles worth).
Tesco did some nice 1 gallon versions of a Jerry can. Just right for a kit car.
Hope to see you at Newark.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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Daddylonglegs
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| posted on 10/6/09 at 09:13 AM |
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Nice job, congrats!
As already said, it inspires us yet to finish to see success stories like this.
Enjoy,
It looks like the Midget is winning at the moment......
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repper
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| posted on 10/6/09 at 03:56 PM |
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well done mate looks good
i best get my finger out
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