Will it run after 19 years 1964 HA viva 

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This was the first car I remember. I'm from '66 and my dad got one of these. I remember how pleased he was with it... and standing between the seats as he drove. It broke down fairly regularly, once on the ramp of the calais-dover ferry.. We blocked the exit. That's when I learned all the swear words I still use today.

I wish more mechanics were like Chris, they are a dying breed these days. Fantastic stuff!

Bloody brilliant! It does make me think how ancient I am but there you go.

Got the biggest smile on my face. It was my first ever car and all the great excitement came rushing back into my head. Thanks guys.

Love it! She wants to live!!

From a time when most people could and did fix their own cars. Very enjoyable

Love your videos from here in New Zealand. I was born in England 1965 and all these old English cars bring back so many good memories, keep up the good work guys.

My first ever car. It was 1966 model but I didnt get it until 1975 when I just turned 19 but I loved it. Who wouldst be proud of their first car. Really enjoyed watching.

After all that time the HA sounds really sweet, well done both on another miracle!

The most satisfaction I get from restoring cars is hearing them run for the first time, well done guys 👍

Father in law had one of these. amazing old creature. I remember well the days of points and plugs. Thanks guys for the memories.

A Vauxhall Viva HA was my first car I ever owned, I served my time as an Auto Electrician for a main Vauxhall dealership in Sunderland, Adams & Gibbon. Very easy cars to work on with the exception of the front suspension leaf spring which were a pain in the arse, Happy memories.

Great work lads defiantly more of the same. We’re all never to old to learn. There’s only one thing for it now you’ve woken her up from a deep sleep you’ve gotta restore it to some sort of usable level would be ashame not to. My old dad had one in the early 70’s a grey one with a white stripe I always remember him saying how well it drove and what a slick little gearbox it had. In the end it went rotten he had to scrap it off I’m sure I saw a tear in his eye that long off day in 74. Keep up the good work there’s plenty of us out here who love this stuff👍👍

Rob and Chris thank you so much for this one , I had. a HA van .brings back memory's. And the days of plugs and points and setting up the dwell angle . Stood for 19 years and with a bit of work it starts and runs , you would not get that with a modern car that's been sat for 19 years .. One word for this upload " brilliant "! Keep thease coming All the best Paul .

If only cars were that simple now! Very entertaining. Thanks for doing it.

fantastic video and lovely memories as i used to have a H A van and worked on them in the post office over 40 yrs ago many thanks

We see so many of this type of video from the US, but hardly ever see any from the UK. I suppose that nearly any car left lying around for that long here would have just disintegrated from rust. The HA has done so well not to have fallen apart, even if it does have some corrosion issues. What a great video, I was just so willing for her to start! I know that she is beyond economic restoration, but please try to find someone willing to take her on. More please!

Here's to your old dad god bless him; wherever he may be, he cheered as his old car rolled forward! And so did I!

saturday night viva, now thats something to sing and dance about. nice one guys.

This video took me down memory lane to the year 1966 when our dad brought this wonderful machine home.

Part 2. Detailing

That body will buff out. Well done lads, very nostalgic.

Absolutely fantastic. It was fabulous to watch. Excellent work Gentlemen.

Full restoration PLEASE! I drove one of these for work many years ago. You revived a lot of good memories. Thank you.

Rob and Chris RU-vidrs of the year 2019. Go on the lads

Really enjoyed watching that come to life again. Your doing great things.

Great video thanks, this was my first car after passing my test over 50 years ago now. I bought it second hand and have great memories of driving it around and tinkering under the bonnet, and doing the brakes. It was my pride and joy for two years.

This is my era, right up my street got so involved with the engine checks that my hands were covered in oil and greese once it got started ...The point setting brought tears to me eyes!!!! more please Patrick

Imagine trying to make a quick ignition by pass on a new car just to start from the engine bay.

Brings back fond memories This was my first car The short gear stick was awesome The biggest issue was it used a clutch cable that after about a years use would snap because the clutch is mechanical with a metal fork that the cable would sit in so that each time you pressed the clutch pedal, the cable would rub slightly against the metal fork that was holding the inner clutch cable in a sleeve with a crimped on ball joint. After time this would wear through the clutch cable and it would snap You had to remove the parcel tray to get enough room to get at the clutch cable and to be able to feed it through from the inside to the outside engine bay. I used to be able to replace the clutch cable in about 15 mins because I got so good at it after owning the car for years The seat belts were fixed, with a pull tighten system, none of the good auto tensioners you have today It used to accelerate quickly and was a great car for speeding off against others at the lights, even beating the 850 mini gt if you drove it hard :-) The other issue was electrical faults, mostly traced back to the interior light in the front, the housing for the light would break resulting in the metal bracket touching the roof and shorting The engine bay had so much space it was easy to work on The front window was sealed in by a black tar like substance which would dry and crack over the years. Easy to replace It had the worst body roll though and cornered like a pig. The steering wheel was huge, somewhat oversized Heater was excellent and front screen viability was ok, not great but one trick you could do was turn the little triangle mirrors in the front windows right around as far as they could go which then directed the air towards the from sunscreen. They were not obviously designed to turn at that extreme angle but they could so it made for a cheap man's windscreen demister Great memories were had in that car and there was heaps of room in the back for you and the girlfriend 😁 It had a bit of a hum in the bum as they say, which was differential whine when the mileage and age of the vehicle increased but it never failed and the old wives tale was you fixed it using bananas! Fond memories indeed and thanks for uploading the video

Going to show this to my motor vehicle students, they never get to see old school mechanics anymore. Cheers 👍

Old school mechanics, takes me back . Nice one ....

The HA viva was my first car, nice to see the engine bay again, brings back memories, great to see you get it started

Evening guys What a video Loved the section on points Chris just seems to have everything just sitting about In my opinion use need to be snapped up by at channel and give us a show 7 days a week Who needs the soaps when we have these class videos

The HA Viva was the first car I worked on when I left school, that was in 1966. Such memories.

Gents this is the first video I viewed on this channel about 20 month ago and got hooked to it ever since.

the good old days when changing the points was part of the service

Amazing sitting 19yrs and she sounds brilliant Restore build after the range rover

This brought back memories, I used to drive an HA van at work. It was a great little workhorse.

This took me back more than 45 years to my first car - a 1964 Vauxhall Viva HA 1057cc. There were days when it didn't start as easily as yours! Thanks for the memories.

Brilliant! All took me back to the late 70s watching my dad working on Vivas, Cortinas and Escorts etc. Scraping the rotor arm on the concrete floor to clean it, using cigarette papers to set the gap on the points and holding a lead with a plug in it against the metal bodywork to check for a spark!!

Ahh bless it’s little heart...really enjoyed that! Never occurred to me that there are car people out there who genuinely don’t know how to Change/gap points! Essential road-side maintenance b in the d!

Great to see the work on the HA Viva. It was my first ever car and I remember doing all the little jobs on it. Points, Plugs, Dist Cap , Brakes, Rocker Cover Gasket, Choke cable etc. Mine was 1966 and I got it in 1974.

cars of this era were so simple to fix, you really have to restore this girl to her former glory guys, good luck from Canada,

Give it a full restoration. Not many about now.

Excellent effort - especially since many parts missing. Really enjoyed

Well done boys. Kia ora from Kiwi Land, New Zealand. This brought back some great memories of my childhood, as this model Viva was the first shopping basket my dad allowed my mum to buy for herself (and us kids) back in the 60s. The good old days! Keep up the awesome vids gentlemen, they are reaching us here at the 'ends of the earth.'

Brilliant - now that has certainly increased its value! As you said “runs and drives” - absolutely brilliant.

Runaround....NOW!!! Only those of us of a certain age will know 😉 I love "will it run?" videos!

My first ever car was a blue (light blue with dark blue side stripe) 1965 Viva (HA) SL. The SL was a little posher than your car with a nicer grille, fancier hubcaps and two-tone paint. It was a great car to drive. I owned it for a few years before it failed the MOT due to rust. It broke my heart to drive it to the scrapyard, it was still running beautifully.

Sitting watching this and having flashbacks to the late 70s. Spent many an hour setting up points, changing condensers etc only to have to redo it all a few days later. Thanks for the memories Rob and Chris.

Loved the old school start up vid. Thank you and a 👍up to seeing more of the old school start ups

Runs & drives, sold as seen! I was laughing too when Chris stalled it but he put the revs on and she pulled forward 😂

Wow this brought back memories I passed my test in a HA in 1972 ps lesson price was£1.50 test I think was around £3.00 well done lads .

Spent my youth keeping cars going ( this was when you COULD work on cars) Had a HA and a HB.. Hearing the engine turn I knew it was a starter. Made cars simple and to last back in the day.. Well done guys, brought back quite a few memories.

Good cars I had one of these in 1987 never missed a beat. Went for a 600 km trip up and back . not fast but made it no dramas.

Lol, I'm just old enough to remember these on the road at 53 years of age now.

We did this sort of thing in our sleep years ago.Today's cars, I wouldn't know where to start. Well done guys.

Had one of these as my first car . They were notoriously unreliable but all was needed was a vice grips and pliers. Watching Chris a proper old fashioned mechanic set the points brought back fond memories. Only softies wasted money on garages back then

It was the first car I ever owned after passing my driving test it sure brought back memories of my youth great to see the interest in age where you could tinker and sort things out.

That was absolutely wonderful - well done to both of you for getting that working.

My Grandad had one of these! It was twenty years old when it was scrapped with only 14,000 mile on the clock!. Unfortunately it was so rusty underneath it couldn’t be saved. And my first car was a HA van ( ex British Telecom) so it was brilliant to see under the bonnet of this great old classic as I spent many hour fixing my van, usually a sticky starter motor or leaky thermostat housing...cheers guys, keep up the hard work, it’s much appreciated. Mike.

WONDERFUL!!! This took me back to my days as an AA patrolman in the early 60's around Colchester. I went to an HA at Marks Tey, control told me it was a "non starter", when I arrived there were 3 adults & 3 kids, and a biggish dog! And they were loaded down with all there holiday stuff. When I'd given it a check over I found that the head gasket had blown, which meant it should be towed for a garage to fix. But I felt really sorry for them, and I didn't want it to spoil their holiday, so I managed to get a gasket set, rolled up my sleeves and 90mins later they were off on their way to Clacton and I got a 10 Bob tip for service above & beyond.

Good old Viva, from when cars were so simple to work on. Great fun!

Brilliant old car. Good old Luton engineering when Vauxhall was Vauxhall. Well done

Well done lads !

Loved doing that as a young man........ Oh the memories........ Love it......

Really appreciate your time getting that engine running. Enjoyed it.

I had one 50years ago in Canada. They were badged as the Envoy Epic. It was my first car. Great video it has brought back many fond memories. Thanks boys.

Than you for all the vlogs in 2019 - Merry Christmas.

Hi Guys, a gutsy little car for sure! Well done and thanks for uploading.

Oh yes please...I love old engine rebuilds, fascinating stuff...I remember Saturday mornings in the garage watching my dad pissing about under the bonnet of his Cortina and austin 1800...wonderful days

I remember when they were still on the road many years ago , would be good to see it restored to original, well done

Not an ecu in sight love it! Good old points.

Exactly the same as my first car. Plugs, points and feeler gauge. What memories!

Brilliant. My Dad had one of these. Same colour too. As a family of four we drove from Sussex down to the south of France in it in September 1964 on a belated summer holiday. It never gave us a problem. What memories this video brings back. Thanks loads.

Auto like before the video even starts because I know I’m gona love it

Love a bit of old Skool mechanics 👍

Very good video. Refreshing to watch as you just get on with the job, no music, no clowning around just an informative and relevant watch. Well done! Good to see the HA running and as smooth as a sewing machine.

Pleasing to follow the methodical way that Chris solves bringing this engine back to life. Everyone can learn from this.

Vauxhall Viva The buggers never started when they were new,!!!! Wish I knew then just to let it set for nineteen years

This was a real joy to watch. I would love to see more stuff like this, it really takes me back to when I was a teenager messing around with old engines. Liked.... great video

Takes me back to my teenage days in the 70s with my Morris Minor....every weekend spent tinkering, because you could diy fix every part of the car. Water gaskets made from a cereal box!!

Wow, points setup. Never thought I'd see that again. Excellent!

Such nice content rob keep it up😊

My first “new car” was a 1969 HA 8 cwt van, no purchase tax on vans in those far off days and before VAT .

Brilliant work guys Thank you! My first car was a HA Viva (MPG 18D)!..Brings back very happy memories! Thanks once again.. 👍👍👍

Thanks Guys, this one cracked me up. Takes me back to our backyard when I was a kid helping my Uncle work on cars for our family and people we knew, only 7 at the time so could offer a lot of insight into the proceedings . 😀😀

I can see the description on the for sale advert, 'runs and drives' 🤓.

😱memories my ol man had one of those and same colour 😳, quiet little engine ..... can’t believe you’ve not done points mate 🤣👍🏻

Top vid mate that mechanic has great knowledge of the older cars

More more old cars please. Really loved watching old style motor mechanics - just like the good old days. 👍

"It's a bit stiff" Rob 2019

Best vid ever

Perfect apprentice car, so easy to work on and understand back in the day!

Our first car was a 1965 Viva. Dad upgraded to a Ford Corsair and the power difference felt immense. That said, the Viva started every time, unlike the Ford Corsair p o s. Even with the plugs in the oven, damp days were a nightmare, the car hardly ever started. Viva la Viva. It's a good un.

Rob, your laugh when it started and then when Chris drove it out of its resting place was priceless, I've got man flu but that cheered me up no end. My Mrs thinks I've gone daft sat here laughing at you two. Great vid. Mick

I see this car has overriders. I’ll bet there’s a lot of younger viewers that will be wondering “what are overriders” ?

I love these will it run videos, brilliant stuff. You do know that now it runs you have to restore it!