Learn me: Vega

First off, I'm a little offended by the whole 'Learn me' thing, but it's too amusing not to use.
(this is the part where I should turn in my Degree in Literature, sad day)

Anyway, what can y'all teach me about Vegas?
Search pulled up a couple of Monza references, but that's aboot it.
This is what prompts my question : http://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/2899294723.html

Other than standard rust issues and normal swap-done-by-a-stranger concerns, anything in particular I need to know?
The Monza swap seems pretty well documented, not too worried on that front.
Thanks in advance guys!

This may have had something to do with it as well.

all I can tell you.. the Pinto killed it in the Versus threads

Brakes are weak at best. IIRC a lot of Camaro stuff swaps over easily.

The car itself is not really light and the doors generally close with a solid thump, which is considered good, right? But fit and finish is typically 1970's.

The recirculating ball steering is as numb as your lips after going to the dentist's office. The SBC swap plops a LOT of extra weight on the nose which doesn't help handling.

That one should have the axle that a lot of S10 stuff swaps into for cheap upgrading.

My dad had a manual Vega for a first car. It had a giant spider on the hood, and he once stalled it on a hill and rolled backwards into an old man's USS Cadillac. That's all I know about them.

Oh, and also, they were shipped vertically in rail cars instead of horizontally as usual:

RexSeven wrote: My dad had a manual Vega for a first car. It had a giant spider on the hood, and he once stalled it on a hill and rolled backwards into an old man's USS Cadillac. That's all I know about them. Oh, and also, they were shipped vertically in rail cars instead of horizontally as usual:

WHY?

I'd never heard that before. Were they shipped totally dry?

I mean ZERO gas or oil? If so how'd they move them off & on?

carguy123 wrote:

RexSeven wrote: My dad had a manual Vega for a first car. It had a giant spider on the hood, and he once stalled it on a hill and rolled backwards into an old man's USS Cadillac. That's all I know about them. Oh, and also, they were shipped vertically in rail cars instead of horizontally as usual:

WHY? I'd never heard that before. Were they shipped totally dry? I mean ZERO gas or oil? If so how'd they move them off & on?

Read up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Vega#Vertical_rail_transport

Shipped wet, so cool!
Being able to do 30 a box instead of 18 was nice too.
he-says-as-if-he-was-even-sort-of-near-being-born-at-the-time

if you can afford it, get it.. swap a set of 78-88 G body spindles on the front and a 7.5 rear end out of a monza (the Vega has a tiny little cute 6.5" ring gear) with S10 axles and brakes in the rear. add some subframe connectors to stiffen it up, figure out some stiffer springs that fit, and have a ball.

as far as what to look for in the way of problem areas- my 76 Vega wagon rotted out where the rear lower control arms attach to the body and from what i've seen it's a pretty common thing. but the doors and hatch all opened and closed easily and the rest of the body looked good, which was weird for a 20 year old car that had been in MN it's whole life.

one other oddity that i remember about my car was that it didn't have a mechanical fuel pump, but rather a factory in tank fuel pump.. that was kinda high tech for a GM car from the mid 70's and it was actually good enough to keep up with the mild 350 that i swapped into the car. the Vega torque converter didn't like the torque of the 350.. it stalled nice and high like i was told it would, but the car always felt like a slug compared to the 76 Monte Carlo, 70 Nova, and 80 Malibu that the engine was installed in before it wound up in the Vega.

If GM hadn't screwed up the engine, they'd be remembered much more fondly than they are. They had pretty good handling for a live-axle car, but of course swapping in a heavier lump without changing the front spring rate would screw that up.

I still wonder why they just didn't import the Opel 1900 engine from their German plants, instead of unleashing that untested unsleeved aluminum POS upon the world.

Patrick Bedard once outran Don Knowles in an SCCA Showroom Stock challenge sponsored by Car and Driver magazine:

http://chevyvega.wikia.com/wiki/Car_and_Driver%27s_SS/Sedan_Challenge_1973_Vega_GT

EDIT: I don't know why that link doesn't work on the click, but for me it works if you copy & paste in the browser.

This Vega from FGC's link looks an awful lot like the one my aunt had when i was a kid:

The V8 Vega was once the king of Chevy V8 swaps. Back in the '70's to early '80's when they could still be found as a solid car they were cheap (especially with a dead or heavily smoking 4cyl still in the car) and the swap pretty straight forward.

I'm not sure what folks used for front springs. Probably a bunch used the stock ones. I believe the later Monza V8 springs swap in. Probably better aftermarket solutions now by cross referencing the size in a Moog catalog.

Look up Jeff Schwartz's '72:

Personal history is from way back in the late 70s early 80s. With a V8, these are fun cars.

I personally think the style is classic. They do rust. How well the swap is done will be a big factor. Ideally it has a hooker or other kit that provided a lot of the engineering.

If the small block fits, then an LS1 will also fit...food for thought.

Spend some time at Dave's Vega Village in Port Moody BC (if it's still there). Fascinating place.

Back in '95 I had a '75 Pontiac Astre (Vega wannabe) with a 4-bolt LT1, Offenhauser manifold, Isky Mega-Cam, and Saginaw 4-speed. Faded orange paint, whitewalls and hubcaps. Fun and cheap.

The left lower control arm on the axle ripped out of the floor, so I installed ladder bars - AWESOME for traction, not so good for cornering. Shortly afterward the doors didn't open properly. Succumbed to rust though.....

NOHOME wrote: Personal history is from way back in the late 70s early 80s. With a V8, these are fun cars. I personally think the style is classic. They do rust. How well the swap is done will be a big factor. Ideally it has a hooker or other kit that provided a lot of the engineering. If the small block fits, then an LS1 will also fit...food for thought.

and LS1 might not fit so easily- you need a special oil pan with even a small block..

that's cool how they designed it to be shipped.. just a shame the rest of the car was not designed to that level of detail.

I noticed they mentioned that the doors had to be opened by forklift.. I wonder how many got "dropped" by a careless forklift jockey?

NOHOME wrote: They do rust.

That's a bit of an understatement! Actually I think GM stamped the body panels from compressed rust.

I've always liked the darn things though. I think swapping in an LNF Ecotech and trans from a Solstice GXP along with some good brakes and finishing it off to look like the notchback Rob Mopar pictured above would make a great driver.

Jeff

One word...don't.

I had a monza coupe for 2 years came to me with busted clutch pedal. Drove it home to find the rad was plugged up to. Mine had the 4cyl alum block with cast iron head! yup back wards to the normal tech of the day... After welding the pedal back up and flushing the rad it went good but i blu the head gasket, at the time i was working at auto parts store / machine shop. Planed the head beat the snot out of it some more warped the head again.....So got a Trans-Dap kit from JC Whitney and a high dollar Milodon oil pan (x-mas gift) and a junk yard 350 out of a rear ended Monti for $150. Car was pure fun! until the lower control arms riped for the uni body....more welding. Lost the timing chain at red line one night down at an airfield F'in around...It busted the water pump and came out the hood scope. Next day traded it to the tow truck driver for a 70 Dart and a 440 (all assembly required) Tow truck drive had a Vega he was doing swap and wanted the oil pan and hand made headers. Miss that death trap still have side window with all the stickers from the parts, grabbed it when he junked the twisted body.

It was the first robot welded and assembled car with large gaps for fitment. It then had built in moisture traps. The engine bore technology was also used on 944, 928 and 968 aluminum blocks

All I know is what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Varkwso wrote: The engine bore technology was also used on 944, 928 and 968 aluminum blocks

And I believe Mercedes too.

Some folks consider the Vega to be a forerunner of the "Green Car" movement, since they would passively dissolve and self-recycle all components back to nature, thus completing the circle of life. ;)

It's only a vicious rumor that folks who parked them illegally in some cities would get two citations, one for parking, one for littering.

spitfirebill wrote:

Varkwso wrote: The engine bore technology was also used on 944, 928 and 968 aluminum blocks

And I believe Mercedes too.

There's world of difference between good technology and good implementation.

I once heard (but you would never get a GM engineer to confirm it) that the Vega engine was intended to replaced periodically. It wasn't intended to be a long lasting engine like Volvos of the same era.

As much as I scorn the Vega, I still like the styling of the early cars.