Replacment Hubs/Axles/Brakes on a Star

[MaRkStar]

All

I need some advice and suggestions please.

In short it looks like I need to replace everything that holds the wheels onto my Star both front and back, oh and the alloys too . So I would very much appreciate any advice and suggestion as to what I could use (I fancy a bit more then just replacing viva for viva) Please bear in mind that I make a good mechanics mate but not such good a mechanic so please keep the questions and suggestions to an idiot proof level.

Long story.
1) Always listen to advice . I seem to remember many moons ago when I first joined the club and posted pics on the chat list that someone (DP I think) questioned whether the PCD on my wheels was correct. I checked with the previous owner who had fitted the wheels etc and he assured me that it was etc and they had been checked by a professional fitter etc.
2) Never trust the advice if it sounds too good. I am now reaping the consequences of having a wrong PCD so adding to the various threads that have been through the chat list I can confirm that it does matter, even if it is out by a fraction. The rear near side stubs are bent in to the point that removing the hubs was very difficult. The pressure has also meant that the alloys have been damaged and there is a very remote possibility that they could fail.
So am I looking at replacing the lot? and if so seeing that it is a clean sheet what should I get?, from the hubs to breaks to wheels etc, any and all advice very much appreciated.

FYI I do not intend to race the car, road only, these things are too rare to risk breaking on the track, although saying that I dare say the odds of breaking it on the road is actually higher.

I've posted on both Forums for max coverage

Whilst thinking about it the engine and gearbox will also need swapping in the next couple of years, what would you suggest. Again road use, yea I am serious when I say road use only for the Star.

Huge thanks in advance its all most appreciated.

MaRk

[zilspeed]

Mark

As you know, this is a subject fairly close to my heart as my car is also a Star (mostly).

In the last year or so, my chassis has beeen down to the bare metal at the front with the crossmember and everything attached to it being off and refurbished. This was due to my wish to fit another engine, which is now mostly done.
Becuase the Star uses the Viva crossmember, the car is fundamentally designed around the use of this very major component. Now don't get me wrong, whilst it would be technically possible to replace these parts, I see only one way of doing it. This would involve building a jig to locate the wheel hub mounting faces, subsequently removing the hubs, wishbones and crossmember and leaving the jig in situ. This wouls allow your choice of hubs to be mounted in position and fabrication of a new sub assembly and wishbones to the front end. I hope I dodn't make that sound too trivial an enterprise because I really don't think it would be - not even slightly.
I also must add that the use of the front crossmember seriously restricts the shape of the engine bay and strongly influences what you can do regarding different engines. My Kawasaki ZX10 installation has been pretty trying so far, but I'm getting there...

Rear axle is a different kettle of fish, it might use the Viva trailing arms, but so long as you chose an axle width to suit the car, making up trailing arms and a panhard rod would be relatively straightforward. There woudl still be the issue of axle location as the Viva uses two trailing arms, not the usual four found elsewhere and the chassis would again need to be modified to suit.

Now, having said all of the above, would I change the suspension ?
Certainly, the wheel PCD is not hugely available being 4 x 4", but this is by no means unheard of and I personally have my compomotives, and a total of 7 allycats available. I also know of some Revolutions for sale in the correct PCD if required.
There is also the suitability of the front upright itself, which I think is pretty much spot on with the Viva, having compared it to the the godawful but widely available Sierra hub. The front crossmember may look ugly and heavy, but it's not actually that heavy, I can lift mine very easily with one hand.

I think what i'm saying here is that unless you have a genuine and utterly overwhelming reason to change the Viva bits, I can honestly see no reason for doing so. Add the fact that the doing so, especially at the front end, amounts to something very close to a re design, kind of seals it for me.

I've rambled on enough now.

Cheers

John F - Leadstar hybrid thing owner...

[Strikerxe]

Mark

Sounds like you've unearthed a bit of a mess

What exactly is knackered ?

For the easiest solution can't you just knock out the bent studs and replace them with news straight ones ? Get a set of the correct PCD wheels and away you go ready for the MOT tomorrow

If it is only the studs then another option could be to get all the hubs redrilled to a Ford PCD and fit Ford studs, gives you the chance to use Ford wheels

As John F has said above changing to anything other than Viva suspension is not going to easy although it should be possible to fabricate something and you could make the front suspension adjustable but for purely road use I'm not sure you would see any benefit from this . I'm not sure how many variations of rear suspension there were on the Star but mine had the Viva four trailing links although Jeremey did cut and relocate two of these when I picked the kit up . Plenty of people have four linked an axle on their Escort , the brackets are easily sourced, but I'm not sure how the width compares with the Viva ? I vaguely remember that DTV used to use an axle from the Reliant Scimiter ( or something similar ) for their rallying Vivas as these could take a salisbury LSD so presumably they are the same width .

I personally would stick with the Viva suspension if possible , its what the car was designed around and it would imo be nice to keep it as Jeremey designed it .

As for engines I guess anything could be made to fit with a big enough shoe horn If it was mine I'd probably look at something like a Zetec which you can pick up cheap enough , if you keep it fairly standard internally then if it goes pop just buy another one a swap it over . There's plenty places selling shallow sumps and water rails and bits to enable the engines to fit longitudinally . As you know I had the 2300 Vauxhall lump in mine so I'm guessing most engines will fit .

John

[zilspeed]

John

Mark already has a Zetec in his car - if I remember correctly
A Star suits the Zetec fairly well - my first one had a Zetec around about 1995 - 1996 or thereabouts.

Personally, I would stick with that if road use is what the car will be for.

Of course, of you want a whole world of grief, go for a bike engine...

See sig. for details.

[Strikerxe]

John

I thought Mark had got a Fiat engine and gearbox in his ?

I have looked at your web site in the past but can't find it anymore has it gone ?

Interesting project though

John

[beemer]

Mark
I posted this Viva axle up on the google group
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=63991

Its not mine, its not a million miles from me, If its any use to you I could pick it up alternatively I could post you just the hubs?

Assuming its still available?

EDIT :- John F I am looking for a single 13" Revolution as a spare for the Leader if you or anyone knows of one

[MaRkStar]

Evening chaps

Huge thanks for your invaluable advice.

Having re-read my post and spoken to Gary late this avo when I picked the car up, I think the red wine and cheese took over last night and I've been a bit of a drama queen, just not in drag! and my terminology was sloppy, apologies.

"what is knackered" The OSR studs are bent and the threads worn, the nuts were also incorrect and so all the forces has contributed to the alloys beginning to fail and the studs are in fact too short as there is a spacer fitted. Talk about a shoddy job. The other three are similar, without the spacer and not as bad. So simply replacing the studs initially and getting some rims looks a good option.

Two further questions.
1) If I had the hubs re-drilled how does this effect their strength?
2) On the brake side of things would you also keep things as is? I know some have fitted twin pots etc? IF uprating the brakes is possible any suggestions? Simply pad compound etc.

I certainly take on board and agree with keeping things as they are, I certainly didn't have the idea of replacing the axles, although I gave that impression. JohnR I know you mentioned once about a way of telling which rear axle I have, maybe at the next meet I could use your expertise? Also the idea of simply replacing the stud initially and using some stock rims appeals. My bro has seven 4 spoke revolutions for his Star with the correct PCD, seeing his will be off the road for another winter, he'll not notice that I've nicked them now the car will be in London!

Regarding engines, mine currently has the Fiat 2ltr twincam from a 1978 132. Mark Whiter had the Star with the Zetec, he sold it to a chap in Holland who has since sold it on and I no longer know where it is. The mechanic who did the conversion on that replaced the trailing arms with bars he fabricated himself, looked very neat, as well as the aluminium doors.

FYI I access JohnF's blog here http://zilspeed.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html

Beemer, I too saw those hubs etc, didn't they go through fleabay soon after?

I have also unearthed something of another nail, that being coolant is squirted everywhere, the inlet manifold gasket and head gaskets clearly failing. hohum, the joys of old kitcars.

If Mr MOT is happy then I will still get the car up to Enfield and the meets, must remember to keep the olde trusty yellow card on me, although they once took 24 hours to get me home after being unable to trace a fault on my old 110 landy which later cost £5 to fix. Stupid thing is I don't know why I hadn't spotted the duff ignition cable either.

Once again hugs thanks!

Mark

[Strikerxe]

Mark

The evils of red wine

Looks like new studs and your brothers wheels it is then

Its years since I've seen a Viva hub so can't remember how much 'meat' there is on the hubs to say if its even possible to re-drill the hubs but it used to be standard practice when various kit manufactures used to use Truimph front suspension and Ford rear axles . If you e-mail me a picture of what they look like I'll see what they look like . I think the front wouldn't be a problem but seem to remember a hole in the half shaft flange, thats there for access the bearing bolts, which be cause problems at the rear .

Depending on the offset of the wheels fit you've got at the moment and the wheels you want to something like these may be an option

http://www.srbpower.com/hr/spacer-adapters.php

Could always get some custom ones made if they don't do any with a 4" pcd

For the brakes the easiest option assuming you've got 1256 Viva brakes and you can source the parts would be to fit a set of discs and caliphers from a 2300 variant. You may need the hubs and uprights as well though . Unfortunately its along time since I was into modifying Vivas and can't remember what parts you'd need to change . I've still got my tuning Viva'a and Firenza's book somewhere ( sad b******d ) I'll hunt it out and see what it says .

Look like a Zetec conversion for this winter then !! Shame the other Zetec Stars gone 'missing' as it would have helped knowing what sump etc fitted . I take it you've got twin Webbers or Dellorto's on the Fiat ? Could re-jet them and fit them to the Zetec on a new manifold, that'll save you a chunk of money ,Ford T9 gearboxes are ten a penny .

Cheers for the link for Zilspeed

Let us know how the MOT goes

John

[zilspeed]

Lads

Couple of extra bits of info for this thread.

Regarding brakes, grassers have used Viva front uprights for years and I know that Berrisford engineering used to do a hub drilled to Ford PCD which frees up your choice of wheels and brakes. Personally, I see no need to go to bigger brakes. It's a light car, so not something I would see myself needing to do.

Regarding the Zetec. On mine , it was an ex Escort engine which I used. With the engine mounted high enough that the front of the cam cover just grazed the underside of the bonnet, the standard escort alloy sump was fine. If that should prove a bit tight, you can use a CVH steel sump and cut it or a two part alloy / steel zetec unit.
My car, we mounted the whole setup so that the type 9 gearlever came through the same hole in the transmission tunnel as the viva one had done. This proved to be perfect. We had to modify the small tube under the front end of the transmission tunnel.

It proved to be a quick and easy conversion, I think it took 6 weeks start to finish and we had never done such a thing before.

One last thing, I promise to update the blog thingy soon.

Cheers

John F / Zil

[beemer]

We have Vauxhall Magnum Calipers and 9.25" discs up front on the Leader std Viva hubs on the rears