An old car restoring starting.

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apollo11, Aug 8, 9:56pm
And the Toranas go for big money now.

apollo11, Aug 8, 10:02pm
I used to spray with just a dust mask, so got a few highs from the dulon thinners. I've done a couple of small jobs with 2k, paranoid about their toxicity so ended up wearing my dive tank lol. I'd have to invest in a decent mask if I was to do more of it. I had issues with orange peel doing the 2k and it's not as easy to fix as dulon.

yz490, Aug 8, 10:21pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v5YIBCf-ME
This guy is onto it--doing the basics to get it running albeit maybe minus a cylinder or one dirty plug trying sometimes. I doubled the youtube speed as falling asleep but slowed it to normal near the end when it fired up--great to hear that sound even if its reluctant at first.

Ha, now i know what car it is--i had two of them in the "80's. One was a white two door & went better than the 4 door. Think it had a freeflow or an original better setup. Towed my light trailer with mx bikes good but not sure if it stopped very well lol. pulling the handbrake & pushing the pedal. Couldn't get away with half those things noways.

socram, Aug 8, 10:23pm
Getting an old car running may be effectively stage 1.

From then on, it depends entirely what you then want to do with it.

Number 1 in a case like the Viva, even if running, is whether or not the rego is on hold or lapsed. If the rego has lapsed and there is any structural rust that needs doing, unless you are a certified welder, you are facing an uphill and expensive battle.

If the rego is on hold, much, much easier and if you want a hobby project, go for it. If you expect to make money out of it, sell as is.

gunhand, Aug 8, 10:34pm
Same process, sand and polish. Good thing is you are less likely to burn or cut through the 2K

mrfxit, Aug 9, 10:20am
Yep, I have a son currently on that path .
He's good on the paint & panel bog work.
Never used a welder of any sort
He's learning fast but it's all cosmetic
Total opposite from me

mrfxit, Aug 9, 10:24am
Back then & on a tight budget, you just "did it" anyway.
If you truly screwed up, the pro's were fairly cheap to fix it for you.
Pro engine shops prices & attitudes now, have resulted in engines being scrapped just for a leaking headgasket or simply high kms

ash4561, Aug 9, 3:06pm
So are the toranas and escort $70,000 done up and the Vauxhall under $10,000 that's what it looks like. Does it cost $70,000 to get the car up to that that price standard.

socram, Aug 9, 6:27pm
Take it from me. If you are having extensive remedial bodywork done and a professional paint job, you can probably kiss goodbye to $35k plus, whether it is a Viva or something any larger.

mrfxit is correct in that with even the cheapest pro charging about $75 an hour, any farmed out work is now going to cost a small fortune.

If you elect to modify the car in any way, needing LVVTA input, then be prepared for an even bigger battle (and bill) plus even more frustration.

gunna-1, Aug 14, 3:13pm
Take the plugs out and get some oil in the barrels is the first thing i do, give it a good spraying through the plugholes and crank it with the plugs out and the coil dissconected untill you have oil pressure, so you dont load up a bone dry crank with any compression, then hook up a separate fule source to the carb, hook the coil back up, clean the points and give it a go, make sure it has some good oil in it, and then drain the tank and see how bad it is, if its empty it might be ok, pump some gas out of the tank line to make sure no crud is comeing out before you hook it up again.

cattleshed, Aug 15, 7:30am
You have not really analysed what intrade has said. Basically he is saying BEFORE you think of getting into one of these projects you have a lot of weighing up to do. Hint, the list might fill a page with notes because otherwise you will probably / may end up regretting it once reality hits home.

richardmayes, Aug 17, 12:40pm
And plenty of people put out a recycling bin full of empty beer & wine bottles every week that will NEVER repay the owner what it "owes" him.

As a British Leyland Triumph fan/victim the HC Vivas look cheap and cheerful but a lot more cheerful than many other cars of that era. I can definitely see the appeal. I'm sure somebody with $80k worth of restomodded classic V8 will be along in a minute to tell us how fast his V8 is.

If an old classic car speaks to you, and you can make a realistic costed plan to do what you want to do with it, then do it! It would be a boring old world if nobody ever did anything.

richardmayes, Aug 17, 1:01pm
Escorts and Toranas have motorsport heritage in spades and that always seems to add at least one zero to the market value.

Plenty of people own, restore and drive cars like Morris Minors, VW Beetles, Rover 90s, so there are plenty of valid reasons besides performance and speed (and the envy of other people) to want to own an old car.

I had a 1971 Triumph PI in my 20s and it got lots of positive comments from people when it was running. Someday soon it will be running again. I doubt I will ever recoup what restoration will cost, but I'm not planning a cheque book restoration that will financially cripple me or come at the expense of the mortgage or holidays for my kids. Sure there are more beautiful, faster classics out there, but that isn't the point. I have family history with Triumphs, and it would cost me a LOT more to get into anything else with round lights and chrome bumpers that would go any faster or feel any better. So I'm going to stick with the classic I do have and can afford.

Meanwhile, recently I followed a pink V8 Torana over the Rimutaka hill in my wife's unmodified 1986 1300cc Laser GL. He was much faster than me on the straights, I was much faster than him thru the turns, on a road that was more turns than straights. I suspect we were both having a lot of fun, but my fun came at a much better price.

mrfxit, Aug 17, 2:05pm
LOL, I find that most ppl that own a flash old/ new fast car, can only do it in a straight line.
Corners share the rust out of them.

Tailed a 4.2 XJ jag up the Kaimai's one day.
Me in my trusty old 1725 Hunter catching him on the corners, him getting away till the next corner

gunna-1, Aug 17, 2:22pm
My old hunter use to fly, and would drag any similar car of that wasnt tuned, it beat some toyota starlet with a fart can on it easily, and that was before it got twin carbs, it only had a hot cam, extractors and a diff out of an auto, wich makes the manual ones drive heaps better, it didnt scream as much on the open road after putting the camshaft in it, its a pitty warrent issues got the better of it in the end.

socram, Aug 17, 7:07pm
On the public roads, I never get into the chase mode as it it is all very academic. Going quickly round corners is OK for the race track, where brake and tyre wear is to be expected, but on the public road, I'm in preservation mode and economy mode.

I don't have to prove anything and if with passengers, I drive. like a chauffeur. As briskly as I can, but without heavy braking or on the limit cornering.

sr2, Aug 17, 10:04pm
Having owned both, the concept of a "grunter" (love 'em - by the way), out cornering an XJ6 is a long bow to draw?

gunna-1, Aug 18, 9:08am
The billy grunta

richardmayes, Aug 18, 1:08pm
Would it make a difference if we are talking 100km/h corners or 40km/h corners?

harm_less, Aug 18, 1:24pm
Back when they were new the Viva was considered as being the wife's or daughter's car but the teenage son wouldn't be seen dead in one with an Escort being their weapon of choice. As a result the Viva is more likely to be in better nick than a similarly aged Escort.

sr2, Aug 18, 5:15pm
LOL; sadly the much loved 'grunter handled with the poise and precision of a lead brick on a roller-skate at any speed!

sw20, Aug 18, 6:20pm
Indeed. My late father had an Armstrong Siddeley, it's my mothers now. Never a hugely popular car. One of three in the country.

sr2, Aug 18, 6:43pm
Great cars - what year and model?

alowishes, Aug 18, 8:27pm
.

‘Herman Grunter‘ they were known as when I was a boy

mrfxit, Aug 18, 9:49pm
Easy when you have a driver thats frightened of tight corners in front of you.
I have done this sort of thing a lot in various vehicles over the decades.
The average driver can go reasonably fast on straight wide roads but can't maintain a reasonable speed through corners, never mind up or down hill corners.
Passing lanes are clear proof of that.