Chris has been Busy on his Latest Classic Car Project

[@CaptainGimp]

Chris could put humpty dumpty back together again. Great work.

[@frederickbowdler1509]

Yes golden fingers. both. Lads have real talent.

[@iandyson2176]

Chris working his magic again thoroughly entertaining watching this talented modest man in action

[@Pete1975]

I think a huge thank you is required from all of us to yourselves Rob and Chris for all the hard work you obviously put in to making these videos, I and many others absolutely can’t wait for the next one, hope you can keep them coming. Take care guys and Thank you for the entertainment 🔨⚙️💰

[@birdman4274]

Rob & Chris are perfectionists. Always do a good job on all the cars they've done. This is gonna look amazing when finished. 👍

[@dongraham1559]

I remember driving HA Viva vans for British Telecom (BT) many years ago. They were governed to 50mph and had a special low tune engine fitted. They wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding! lol The previous Morris 1000 vans just had a restrictor washer fitted in the inlet manifold we used to take out! So good to see Chris doing a re-build on a car that used to be so common, but now we never see anymore. And what a rebuild it is going to be! Better than new as the original underbody parts were never painted as well as Chris has done them!

[@markmiwurdz202]

@Don Graham. I used to work for an engineering company who had a fleet of Viva HA service vans. When loaded with engineers tools, spares and (sometimes) large refurbished parts, these vans struggled! My dad always said that there was a design flaw in the HA and HB series Vivas.He reckoned that these vehicles had an undersized clutch - maybe only effectively 7 inches in diameter. I had a spell driving the Viva HA service van. Quite zippy around town but not for long journeys. After a trip on the motorway, you got out with your head drumming because the cab did not have any insulation or headlining. Very little in the way of creature comforts. Driving along at night in the rain was a bit hazardous. One dark winter night on an unlit road, I reached forward to the dashboard to switch on the wipers. As the light switch was just next to the wiper switch, I inadvertently switched off the lights. The next few seconds were frantically fumbling around to switch the lights on so I could see where I was going! And all this while wearing a fixed seatbelt. Happy days eh?

[@neilfairless4589]

Rob, when it comes to Chris we cannot expect anything else other than beautiful work. Pleasure to watch.

[@k42easy]

I love these videos on restoration of the viva cant wait to see it finished.Chris is a real craftsman such attention to detail.More videos like this please.

[@frederick777]

I have to say lads. I love watching this car come to life. Best projects always take the longest to build.

[@Andy-qo6rq]

OHV so much easier to work on seeing the cardboard with the numbers on it for the valves brought back memories. Chris hats off to you you have done a proper job. 👍👍👍👍

[@Shinysideup]

Loverly work, always good to see an old car being brought back to life

[@Retirement_Life]

Fancy doing a Q&A video with Chris? I’m sure his history would make amazing content!

[@gj2772]

This video is one of the reasons I subscribe to this channel.. brilliant stuff Chris, spot on.

[@mrwilliecowie]

Keep it up boys these videos are top draw, done a few cars in the past but the bones are now seizing up so watching this stuff is really appreciated.

[@bobsbits8562]

So good to see this old viva being saved and brought back to life . It makes a nice change to see a humble family saloon being restored instead of the usual performance versions.

[@johncattell5709]

Not just a good mechanic but problem solving engineering 👍👍

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

Nice little video.. surprising to see such love for the humble Viva down in Kent. I live about 4 miles from the Ellesmere Port Cheshire factory... what you need next is a Mk2 Astra GSi / GTE !

[@ringcrafts8546]

Just love seeing the start and the finished project, the satisfaction that you must feel after doing this must be great. Love it.

[@mickkemp1090]

Chris works his magic once again,Rob behind the camera and narrating ,great team,great vid thanks guys.

[@Smokeysbandit]

Chris is an absolute genius, no doubt about it. Keep up the great work guys.

[@fishhead1844]

Chris you should be teaching the future mechanics, ps when is the Discovery Channel going to give you a call what channel that will be Chris the master of the spanner👍🇬🇧🥃😎

[@stevencowles8419]

That subframe looks mint. Hopefully we will all be in a better situation come next summer as the finished car would look great at some shows.

[@GSKickel]

Lots of fantastic content contained in one video. The Viva was always going to be an interesting project and you can see how good and pristine this is going to look at the end. Also, just as you think you’ve ran out of superlatives for Chris’s approach to his art, he goes and makes the unserviceable, serviceable. Cap well and truly doffed sir! Another entertaining and informative video guys 👍🏻

[@thedannyboy64]

Love the Viva project, keep em coming 👍🏼👍🏼

[@DavidJohnston58]

I can feel the jealousy rising in my throat. Love an HA Viva, you never forget your first car. Parts and components looking better than new. Can't wait to see finished article.

[@cooltools007]

In 1982, after getting two pound notes , from returning three soda bottles ,and a massive bag of sweets, I ran out into the road to be knocked down by a viva..! I was 8 , how little the car looks today, Great insight, and such a petite car. Memories ehh. !! Those parts are mint ,.

[@colinnewlands743]

My favourite video without a doubt. My first ever car when I was 17 so really familiar car and I was so proud of it. I had to do a good bit of work on it because it was 9 years old. It cost me £90. Its where I learned how to do so much. Leads, Dist Cap, Plugs & Points, Timing, replace and bleed brakes, rocker cover gasket, Exhaust manifold gasket, struts, springs, leaf spring bushes, wheel bearings, clutch cable and so on. All done on the road outside our house. Even fitted (badly) a heated rear screen. I can see how Chris loves these HA Vivas. Wish I had a good one now.

[@llionellis]

These videos bring back memories. My second car was a HA Viva. Mine had disc brakes and a servo as well. I don't know how many miles I did in it but it was a fair few, driving up and down the country servicing gas turbines. Can't wait to see yours on the road.

[@MyMarlinman]

Hi, This takes me back to my first car 1970. Had two of these ha vivas.Converted the first one to the sl 90 spec. Stromberg carb. Threw the old solex away. It ran a treat.Still have the Haynes manual somewhere.Enjoyed this immensely. Memories.

[@adrianh765]

Still got my Haynes HA manual, I went all over western Europe in mid seventies in mine

[@LeArtisan]

Quality mechanical restoration thus far.

[@chrisbardell]

Great vid. Chris seems to have *every* skill. That subframe looks like a piece of mechanical artwork. Can’t have ever looked that good back in the day in Luton or Elly Port when it was new.

[@davydsmith2402]

Chris is gifted : what a skillset to have in life 👏👏 just brilliant.

[@andrewforeman5716]

Yet another amazing job by Chris will be a superb car when it's finished well done guy's

[@alexanderheath6662]

Good straightforward and simple engineering from a time when cars were a joy to work on. Most guys could service and repair them with just a tool box of basic spanners on a Sunday afternoon. No shops open on a Sunday back then!

[@edwardkennedy9919]

yeah and if you dropped a spanner you would see it on the tarmac under the engine .

[@bedclintred]

Chris passion & enthusiasm for is craft is second to none, just love watching him at work, A great project to see on the channel, roll on the next part.

[@davemundy7237]

Great work as always, it will be like a brand new car when finished

[@puntomk1uk64]

When I was a kid I remember my dad having a yellow Bedford HA van, which was based on these Viva's. Brings back some memories, so looking forward to seeing this one up an running in a future video 😃

[@nzilantemo]

Seeing the old become new is always a good look for car lovers . Cant wait to hear that engine running. Good memories seeing all those parts like the distributor . I bet chris has the Haynes manual handy.

[@mauriceleach3558]

great work, i had one as my first car back in the 90's (ex bt yellow). remember doing front bushes. mot each time was lots of welding. nice to see it being restored and brings back great memories.

[@davidclinch1358]

Hi. Love it !! I had a 1965 Viva Deluxe, bought at 12 months old when I was a teenager (with my mum's help !). I loved it, and thrashed the living daylights out of it (well, I was a teenager !) and it never missed a beat. When I sold it some years later it was still absolutely immaculate. You can see that some of them were really good. I remember giving an Anglia 1200 a very hard time on the Chichester by-pass one day. Unfortunately when servicing it at one point I stripped a thread in the carb. and had to then buy a new one. The performance was never the same on the new carb.

[@allancraig6102]

Fantastic Rob can't wait to see the finished article Chris is a star

[@chrischallis4240]

Who’d have thought an old viva recon would be so interesting, lads ?..this is a CAR, the shape off which we all, as young boys, would have drawn on paper and dreamt about. I can see the appeal to get it going again. Modern cars are so much different these days...Chris, NZ.

[@tonymaguire9877]

A man who loves what he's doing nice 1 Chris

[@philipbyron9627]

Another excellent video on a project which will result in a superb result and a piece of restored vehicle history .

[@struanrobertson3417]

Bloody fantastic. I used to love my HC. People used to beeb and chat at the petrol station all the time.

[@jbbumpkin]

So pleased to see you are NOT having parts powder coated! In my experience, you only need a tiny chip in the powder coat and moisture will creep in and the first you will know is when a huge sheet of powder coat falls off to reveal rust!

[@LC-km9kp]

Chris is there no end to your talent I for one applaud you 👏🏻

[@sruk]

Thank you 🙏

[@danbarnes4069]

Chris is an automotive beast

[@brianallen858]

Workmanship of the highest quality.

[@robwilliams7482]

I am loving your restoration of the viva HA I had several visa's as my early cars.cut my teeth on learning how to keep a car on the road Would buy one tomorrow if I could keep it up guys enjoy your video's

[@mikeyoakes180]

Chris is a fantastic engineer! What a talent! Love his attention to detail! Can’t wait to see you both in the next one...

[@bowycolt2132]

Lovely job Chris

[@peugeotdudeandson4485]

Totally amazed with what I have seen on the video. Very very informative video. The cars are going to look better than new when done. 😃 Thanks for the work you guys do. I feel like I can rebuild anything 😂 Top class as per usual

[@newmanzhouse]

Nice work Chris.

[@billsheehy1660]

Brilliant content as always Thank You

[@garethedwards2883]

Good to see a job being done with the upmost skill and professionalism 👌👌

[@niged]

Great work Chris. You are a star. Can't wait to see the finished car. Keep up the great work

[@Bongybill]

Chris is a mechanical magician.

[@johndavey72]

Cracking work by Chris ! Did you know that in the day the "Hot Rod " boys used to take those front subframes and stick them in the "Sit up and beg " E93 Fords with a 1500 GT motor or bigger ! Thanks Guys . Enjoyable as always .

[@sruk]

Chris did say that’s what they used 👍

[@ainteasybeingwheezy]

top notch restoration from Chris again, and yes to upgrading the dizzy to electronic making it way more reliable. viva is going to make a cracking series looking forward to seeing more

[@Jookboxhero]

Love this content it's a testament to Chris's skills as a mechanic and a brilliant narrative by yourself that makes this video so great. The viva will be an outstanding head turner when it's finished.

[@rsoppy735]

Fantastic, these cars are not your jags or MGs but we're the backbone of the motor industry and deserve their place.

[@heatherglen36]

I used to sell these brand new when I worked in my first job as a car salesman with a Vauxhall/Bedford dealer. I've still got brochures, colour charts and price lists from 1963. The basic Viva was £527/7/11 and the Viva De Luxe was £566/1/3 new, including purchase tax. The power disc brakes option was £15/2/1 extra. (Prices in pounds, shillings and pence). Nice to see one getting restored.

[@stuhukin5237]

Rob finds Viva love. Sweet! Another great video. Thanks Chris and Rob.

[@dereklaybourn9891]

That car is going to be a belter... Well done guys

[@leepearce5145]

Awesome job boys more people need to keep these classics on the road ........ just bags of character

[@davidhughes1634]

Great work Chris,the car is getting a new lease of life & will last many more years to come.👍

[@craigb4719]

Is there anything Chris can’t do man of many talents 👍🏻

[@markb9013]

Totally amazing... Chris you are a artist..

[@patrickburton6130]

Its amazing how you guys move your focus, from one job to the other and maintain excellence, well done once again.

[@jamie66916691]

Great job Chris ,if your going to do a job do it like Chris. Looks fantastic.

[@benevans3733]

Hi rob and Chris wow chris has worked really hard again and another brilliant video as always and hope you are both staying safe and well

[@deanwood2332]

the workmanship is second to none even down to the sub frame stand he made it was on

[@J15umm]

Love watching these. It’s brilliant to see how far Chris has come with it in the out of hours time. I loved the Morris commercial and can’t wait for that to come back. Brilliant effort again guys.

[@curlytheunacceptable.4298]

Love watching these rebuilds and seeing the components come together as they do is lovely to watch, my old pops was a carpenter and had the van version to lug his tools around for years.

[@bobkerrigan1860]

Chris is an absolute genius. Betcha he could rebuild the space shuttle🚀👍

[@gframe287]

Enjoyed this very much. I agree it is a work of art not to mention a shed load of work.

[@peterobrien3539]

I just love this project Chris and Rob. You’re doing amazing work, look forward to next Viva video.

[@maxwynne01]

I love watching people restore classic cars this is what I want to do with my 1992 subaru brat and those parts look amazing

[@wookiewookster1214]

Chris’s attention to detail and knowledge is second to none. Great content best channel for me on KZbin !!

[@donnageorge-henderson5419]

Ooooh a Brat ❤️

[@markharris7662]

You have good taste.

[@lucythemoggy1970]

chris has done an amazing job on that. gives me a boost to do my morris minor that good! you and chris plus all the other channels i watch have kept us all entertained during lockdowns, without all you people doing your videos, i think there would be a lot of people gone mad with boredom so thank you one and all!

[@1mic3]

The transformation of the parts from rusty to perfect is something I love watching , I take my hat off to Chris- I wish I had a fraction of his talent and know how. I can see this being a concourse winner already! Well done both of you, another great video which I always look forward to seeing 👍👍👍

[@johnpaton9578]

Chris has done a excellent job on the suffrage and can't wait to see it finished keep it up

[@johnpaton9578]

Meant to say sub frame

[@richardadriver]

Transverse leaf spring, reminds me of my old sit up and beg Ford Popular! Lovely job though guys, this will probably end up better than when it left the factory - can't wait to see the end result. P.S. Thanks to you for keeping us half sane :)

[@chrismoreton4954]

Just a per perfectionist Chris is absolute fair play to him!! 👍👍

[@paulbaggo9765]

Brilliant channel love it lads Chris what a perfectionist. Your dad would be really proud of you with this restoration.

[@alanparkinson5724]

Quality job Chris looks brand new

[@markmurphy3578]

This kind of reminds me of when my brother built a kit car in the very early 80’s. I used to really enjoy ripping old cars apart and refurb’ing brakes, suspension and such like. Not quite up to the standards of Chris though! Bloody brilliant job! And it will run better than the old Post Office Telecommunications van I had to drive!

[@philipyates7138]

Thats it, its official. Their is nothing that man cannot do! What a guy 👏

[@colonsines484]

My great uncle had a viva,must have been the hb one. I liked the long rectangular speedo,with the pointer going from left to right. Used to love going in it,as it saved us walking a mile when I was 5 lol

[@Ro32da72]

'what a work of art...' - exactly. I'm surprised you can still get the parts for these 'everyday classic' kind of cars, there can't be many left now. Lovely work Chris. Your outro sat in the car Rob was a nice piece :-)

[@josephmccullough6685]

In in awe and envy at Chris's skills. Definitely every guy needs a mate like Chris. 👍

[@jamesreeve9037]

Love it ...and bringing the electrics up to modern spec will be a massive help with reliability...

[@marksmithard7801]

Amazing work by Chris. Your commentary makes the subject interesting. I had a van version and stripped engine but put distributior drive in 180 degrees out. Had to whip the engine out again. Great content as ever. Thanks both👍

[@shaunmccauley5129]

Thank you both for such a enjoyable video clever guy Chris is

[@vernonmatthews181]

Thanks for the latest installment of the Viva HA rebuild, I feel I have been brought back into my element. 😎👍👌

[@jayacourt8282]

It’s going to be immaculate, great work on that Chris ⚒👌🏻

[@mandymoo7406]

I once bought a hc from the auctions but as usual the engine was worn out so I went down the scrappers found one in a car with a low mileage on the clock and pulled the engine out and fitted it all on my own ,this engine was worse than the one I took out,great video nice to see real enthusiasm

[@sruk]

Lol o dear 👍

[@davidbarnsley8486]

That little car will be a beauty when it’s finished 👍👍😍😍

[@charleskearney8475]

Great video that. I was only interested in the mordern cars but seeing the LSE and the sierra and now this i'm liking the older car content. 👌

[@richardbatty6520]

Loved this one guys. Chris is doing a terrific job on the HA. I watch all your output, keep them coming!

[@julianhawker7672]

Great job, Chris. Nice tip for blind bearings too, not thought of that myself. One I can share with you is: A rawl-bolt for concrete can sometimes be used to grip the center of a bearing thats buried in a blind casting, then you can use a puller to grab the rawl-bolt and pull the bearing, this has got me out of a hole a couple of times in the field. ;-)

[@paulbaggo9765]

Nice one for that advice with bolt ✅✅