350 Vega project

[Beagle]

nobody will see that coming... I don't trust old cars to be stock, but that's pretty sleepy. I like it!

[blackZ]

I had to switch to a short water pump so now I'm having pulley issues.

[pintoboy77]

I bought a set of under drive pulleys to correct my pulley problems on my Pinto.

[blackZ]

[blackZ]

I know it's been a while since I updated this, but I think I have my pulley issues taken care of, all I need is an alternator bracket now. I also fixed the oil pan to steering issues. I only had to take the engine out twice. I had to cut and weld a few sections of the cross member to get the starter in too.
I'm pretty much down to upgrading the fuel line, plumbing in the nitrous system, and then phase one should be pretty close.
I've been thinking about a rear end, a little cowl hood and some paint now.

[blackZ]

do it. do it now. DO IT...
this is going to be an awesome project for you.
heed the advice above about nose heavy weight-
dunno if you can tell by this engine bay shot, but
the #5 & #6 sparkplugs end up at the centerline of
the front wheels.... makes for a super squirrely car.
the engine bay brace really helped, and weld in
subframe connectors are an absolute MUST.
the car still does a donut if you even look at the
loud pedal though....

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we stripped a real cosworth vega ( it was so rusted
even boyd coddington himself couldnt have saved it.)
and put in the 7.5 posi 3.73 rear--not the greatest but
"should" live as long as it runs street tires and never
gets traction....

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forget which bolt--either center or top driver side- at engine
to trans connection wont go in. they even left them out of
the factory 307 monzas... and the only way i could get the motor
in was drop it in from top and then bolt up trans from bottom.
trying to do together hit oilpan ( you do have correct oilpan?
its another MUST, cant clear centerlink otherwise...) on
crossmember, and valvecovers on firewall, and trans on tunnel,
and.... yep its a tight one.

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a 245/60 on a 15x7 fits great with STOCK length housing
and stock wheeltubs.

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we still have this car in the garage, any questions
i can go take a look... good luck, its a gnarly swap
but the end results are killer. this "stinky pinky" astre
has a 10-1, 327 with a 280/.495/106 isky, 2.05
fuelie vette camelback heads, a 2400/2600 stall, 3.73
rear gear, etc.. maybe 400hp. weighs 2380 with the V8 in it....
its SUPER squirrely and a total blast, scary fast too.

moving the rear upper control arm up 1-5/8 at the rear mount
eliminated the wheelhop completely (works like a stophop bar,
or southside machine bars-- spreading rear pickup points
farther apart changes instant center.....).

cooling is always an issue, even 4 core radiator and this
guy gets a bit hot under the collar in traffic. maybe an aluminum
radiator might help....

oh, and hang the driver side header on the steering shaft before
you swing the new motor in if possible. passenger side went down
from top after motor was in, but i used "sanderson" shortys....

If you still have some of those parts I might be interested in the windshield.

[blackZ]

One more thing I was thinking about.
I don't think the rear end is going to last very long so I was looking at getting another one soon and getting it ready. A 9" seems to be the way to go and I would like something between a 3.73 and 3.90 ratio. A couple of things that I think will be a challenge is I would like to use the origional wheels. That is going to be a problem finding brakes (disk or drum) that will fit, and I would need to somehow drill the wheels to a five stud pattern. I figure I could cover that up with the hub caps and no one would be able to tell the difference. It would be nice to replace the coils and shocks with a coil over too. Then a set of frame connectors or what ever you would call them since there is really not a frame and the car flexes like a wet noodle just jacking it up right now.
Although there isn't that much of a selection that I've found, I have seen a few 13" drag radials out there that would be perfect.

Opening day at the local track is May 14th and I know it seems a long way off but with my schedule its still going to be a thrash to get it ready, but I would really like to see what it could do.

[silver_bullet]

If you should be able to come up with a 76 or 77 Vega rear end (7.5"), there is a lot more aftermarket support...

[Dan Barlow]

Sticking with the stock wheels seems narrow minded . ( pun intended ) My 79 monza came with the vega rally wheel and it took 3 guys and a tire machine to put 255 -50s on it . I think I would put aftermarket chevy rallys on it ( you can get them in almost any bolt pattern ) and can put the flat center caps on and it would get you about the same look . Plus you could get the width you need .

[Dan Barlow]

Something like this . I just googled chevy rally center caps .

[blackZ]

I've been thinking about wheels, I like the stock ones but I also have a set of centerlines. I should look for some different though.

[fatguyzinc]

If you still have some of those parts I might be interested in the windshield.

sent you a P.M.

[blackZ]

I have a question if anyone knows. Why are windshields listed separately for the hatch back and wagon? The only thing I can see is the roof line might slope a little more on the hatch back, but the glass still looks the same to me.

[Dan Barlow]

Pretty sure they all shared the same side doors . If do , I can't see how the front winder could be different.

[DanStokes]

I never had a wagon so I can't say but here's a thought - did one have the windshield antenna and the other have a regular antenna? Seems like my coupes had a windshield antenna though it WAS a long time ago.

Dan