Hey...I hope you'll appreciate that this aint a Ford. I am not really one for sticking to just one manufacturer of cars. I like most things classic and modified :-)
But just before your blue blood starts to boil.... here's a photo or two of my Escort I loved dearly (sold for far too little because I was silly)..
Plus I spent two years living in a mk2 Transit van when I first moved to Oxford, UK.
Moving on from those days though. More recently I had bought a '68 Viva HB (actualy bought it in the UK and shipped it back to NZ) and it went through a few engines starting with a Ford xflo, then a Mazad 12a rotary and then a Mazda V6. Some photos of that one..
Build thread for that one is here...
https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/t...ck#entry750082
After having sort of getting that car to where I wanted it I had come across my dream car (well...within the Viva realm..) ..
An HB wagon !( yeah.. I know..it an estate...but I'm in NZ where they are all called wagons)....
I restored this wagon up to a good solid condition but with as much of the patina left as possible. I then sold the V6 Viva at the end of last year and the little wagon has been our trusty daily ever since. However, with it running just the standard 1159cc engine its all a bit too slow and hard work keeping ahead of moderns. Over the last few months I have been restoring a Hillman Imp with a Datsun 1200 engine and once that's on the road it will become our daily and the Viva wagon will get a new heart :-)
In its daily stride...
Swallows bikes and is a bloody fine hauler...
Hannah giving the bumper she just fitted a clean..
Oh..here's a restoration thread for the Viva wagon.
https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/t...ust%2B%2Bwagon
So my plan is to fit a Duratec with a Mx5 box bolted on the back. But sadly the NC boxes are expensive here and I dont really do expensive. I love doing jobs on a tight budget (because...well... that's my budget) so I may well adapt a NA box in place much like I did with the V6 engine. I have already bought a NA box and sized it up. I'll use a Rx7 FB bellhousing which is shorter and this will mean the input shaft sticks out a little further. Then I have space for an adaptor plate between bellhousing and the duratec.
But I am coming over to the UK in July so I might keep a look out for a NC box and ship it back if I can make the finances work out (by shipping and selling some other bits too)
Why not another V6 you might ask? Good question.. I actually have several sitting about including another 200bhp KLZE. Because as lovey as they are, and they are a fantastic engine, they are also about 30kg heavier than the duratec. This wagon has much lighter steering than the v6 car had and is nicer to throw about on twisty roads. I want to keep it that way. Plus I know the Duratec will be a fair bit more thrifty on the petrol- which is important on a daily! We dont have any 'modern' cars.
Hope you enjoy this thread (even though its Vauxhall....) :-)
Alex
Bookmarks