Project Firenza
 

OK, so this is completely non-Scooby related but I thought some petrol-heads on here would appreciate this project so welcome to the first in an occasional series ;)

So far, I have a pair of rear wheel arches for my 1972 Vauxhall Firenza and I'm just waiting for a bodyshell to weld to them :D

I'm picking up a rolling shell in a couple of weeks that has loads of (standard) parts with it, but I have my own plans :norty:

1 - Make bodyshell solid (big job, new arches, sills, floorpans etc etc plus sorting out the mess the old vinyl roof left) and install roll cage

2 - Install narrowed and 5 linked Ford 8.8" rear axle assuming the old chasis rails aren't rusted to hell, uprate front suspenders and add brakes

3 - Install Chevrolet 350ci small block V8 mated to Toyota gearbox and a propshaft of some description

4 - Paint in suitably 70's colour, fit a set of Revolution 5 spokes

Sounds easy, doesn't it? :eek:

See you in 5 years time when it's running but not quite finished :cry:

With all that to do, it'll always be 'nearly' finished ... good luck!!!

350 Cubic Inch = 4000 CC producing around what 200 bhp ?

350 cubic inch = 5.7 litres, looking at around 385bhp for the motor I want or even up to 425bhp if I go a bit silly.

I'm also considering going for an LS1 motor, slightly less power as standard (about 350bhp) but lighter i.e. almost the same weight as the stock slant 4 plus loads of potential (look at Stevieturbo's Mk2 Granada running 11's with a supercharged LS1)

I reckon the whole thing should weigh in at around 1200kgs once built.

I was thinking maybe a baby bertha replica

https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/images/large/2361-3.jpg

Hmm, I wish but I'm aiming for pretty stock or at least period looking. Should be good for a bit of drifting, though ;)

Its a shame you cant source a nice HS/HSR lump.

We had a guy round here with a stroked (2.5?) one in a Firenza when we were still struggling with 1600 Crossflow fords in Escorts. :(

It had a a novell 'scaffold pole/Saab turbo back box' custom exhaust. :D

It did go well!

I prefer upsetting purists ;)

Anyway, there is provenance in fitting SBC's to Firenzas. In South Africa they made a version called the Chevrolet Firenza Can-Am which was fitted with a 5.0L Camaro Z28 motor. Very rare, very expensive.

As I started to read I thought 'I hope he's gonna put a V8 in there' and yup a few lines down there it was :D

The pic above, is that what yours will resemble when finished cos I don't know what a Firenza is?

For Firenza think Vauxhall Viva Coupe :D

Baby Bertha above did for British Super Saloon racing in the 70's what the Skyline did for Australian Touring Cars in the 90's i.e. destroyed the opposition, but she's a full on spaceframed race car.

Mine will look a lot more "standard" ;) Hopefully something like this:

http://www.tibsworld.co.uk/images/firenza-org.jpg

:cool:

Looks like a mki/i escort.

Will the V8 fit easily or will it be sticking outta the hood?

Should fit easily, the engine bay is huge! The original motor is a slant 4, so plenty of width. Probably have to do something about the steering column, though, but we'll see as I start to pull the parts together.

Think it was aimed to be the Vauxhall Capri of it's day.

Yep, that's right. Think of it as the Calibra's grandad, the Manta being the Calibra's dad ;)

How about this approach ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vauxhall-MAGNU...QQcmdZViewItem

My unclue used to have a tuned 2.3 magnum, that was a stonking motor, bright orange coupe with big wheels, stunning looking cars in my opinion, well the Coupe is, saloon a bit plain but the estate was quite a nice shape as well.

I saw a nice MK1 Manta at the local garage that would be suitable for this kind of malarkey, may be for sale, its tidy, pm me if you fancy a look and I can supply you with a phone no.

Went for the first look at the rolling shell I bought (sight unseen) last night. It was in a lock up garage that had a jungle growing outside it and didn't look like it had been opened in years and my first sight of the car was a bit disappointing

http://www.jimclarkeracing.co.uk/firenza/front.gif

Digging further, though revealed a very solid shell. The only problems are a hole in the roof where a Webasto sunroof was fitted plus a few ripples around the hole. The sunroof is still with the car but I'd prefer to try and weld another panel in (might be a bit ambitous, though). There's one or 2 holes in the floor and sills but it comes with all repair panels. The worst part is the lower part of the front bulk head/bottom of the a-pillar/ rear of the front wheelarch which is pretty rotten. I'm confident it can all be cut out and repaired, though.

http://www.jimclarkeracing.co.uk/firenza/side.gif

As you can see, it's going to be a big job just rescuing it from it's current resting place!

http://www.jimclarkeracing.co.uk/firenza/interior.gif

Loads of parts, it's completely stripped but all parts are with the car or lurking in the undergrowth and in good, if dusty, condition.

http://www.jimclarkeracing.co.uk/firenza/dash.gif

http://www.jimclarkeracing.co.uk/firenza/enginebay.gif

You can see how solid the car is in the engine bay, no rot in the inner arches and the crossmember is mint.

Looking forward to getting it home and getting started!

The wife, having seen the number plate has already nick-named it "The FOCker" :D

good luck with this matey !

Bet it wasn't FOC (free of charge) though!! ;)

Jesus, you must be keen. I suppose you could get a nicer looking example that isnt as solid so thats the main thing.

I'd feel guilty if I chopped up a decent one, plus I'd only end up stripping it so this way I have less work to do (believe it or not!)

Good luck with it, bud.

You need a mammoth amount of enthusiasm, for a job like that!

:cool:

There was a damaged 70's Viva race car on ebay the other day for not much money.

The add said it was to be broken if not sold as a whole, looked like an easy project.

Always loved these cars. Good luck with it mate and the V8 is a good choice. They sound awesome! There was one running at York Dragway a few years back with a big block Chevy in it. Went like stink and IIRC it ran 9's/10's

:eek: Cant wait to see progress on this!!!

:thumb:

aaahhhhhh the old vauxhalls,reminds me of when i started as a mechanic,chevettes were still current vauxhall sales numbers,vivas and viceroys were still worked on,and the hs/hsr rally cars were stuff of dreams to a 17 year old,in fact the first car i purchased was a 1800 magnum coupe ( very similar to the firenza) to which i fitted a droop snoot front end and baby bertha replica rear spoiler...looked good to me anyways,and id still purchase a gte manta now if a mint one without sunroof ever came up for sale.... no problems fitting a v8 into the firenza engine bay as ive seen a few v8 conversions before..good luck with this one,ill keep an eye on your progress with interest

Well, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, we couldn't pick up the rolling shell today but managed to get everything else. So far there's about 10 boxes of bits, 2 x complete 1800 engines, 1 x complete 2300 engine, loads of carbs, at least 1 cylinder head and 3 cam carriers, radiators everywhere and a couple of gearboxes.

Those slant 4 engines are frigging heavy. They must be 400lbs each! Now the fun of sorting out the bits and storing them properly begins. Should be going back for the shell in a few weeks.

Sweet :) my first motor was a Firenza, did the 'droop snoot' nose conversion then sold it and got a 'Sportshatch' which was a Magnum 2.3 estate with the HF Firenza nose cone, wheels and seats, finished in dark purple... only 190 odd made, can't be many left now..

There's a mean looking Firenza which has run at Santa Pod for years, matt black body, drag wheels, no idea what the motor is, presume yank, runs NOS to.. :) :)

this the one???? remember seeling it in the gallery section

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...marston013.jpg

^ yeh, that looks like the beast, although I dont remember the body looking quite so tatty ;)