Vegaman's V8 Vega build

[Vegaman]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

So as I said before the old rad would barely work and the car ran very hot. So much so that on a trip out to a cruise I had my youngest son with me and he almost passed out from the heat inside the car. Had to pull over and let him cool down for a while.

So the first thing to do last winter was install a new rad. I had talked to a lot of other Vega owners ( http://forums.h-body.org/index.php?s...44e92b8a6c84ad) and tried finding out what they were using. In the end I wound up going with a generic Griffin rad that I had to have the inlet modified on. It was a tight fit but with some cutting and grinding I got it in ;)

[Vegaman]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

The car runs much cooler now and only once has climbed above 190? this summer when I got stuck in traffic. I turned on the electric fan and the temp started dropping almost right away so I'm very happy with it. I'll probably put on a smaller fan later and then a fan shroud, more for safety than anything else, but my temp. problem seems to be over now. ;D Hopefully I can run the car with a hood on it now and not have to worry about how hot it's getting.

So my immediate plans now are to take it off the road again after summer and take it apart again to get ready for paint. I'm getting a great deal on a paint job through my brothers work so I'm going to take advantage of that. I'll soon be ordering a glass hood for it as well and then shipping that off as well as the rest of the car. Most people I talk to really like the primer and want me to leave it like that. But I only painted it that way out of necessity and never intended to leave it that way. I think it looks good like that too but I'm already tired of it and want a real paint job. Besides, I think the only reason it looks decent with that paint is because it contrasts nicely with all the chrome. Put a black hood on it and it suddenly doesn't look so good, imho.

I also need to install a new shifter. Mines very sloppy and too easily comes out of gear, it's an accident waiting to happen. I've narrowed my choices down to three

star shifter



v-matic



and z- matic



anyone have any thoughts/experience with any of these? this is for a street car only, I may take it to the track and see what it will do but it's mostly just a cruiser to have some fun with.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. It's been fun and also a pain in the ass. For about a one year period the car fought me on every little thing, really took the fun out of it for a while but once I started getting close I knew I had to finish it and I'm glad I got it running again. It's a blast to drive and people really seem to dig it too which is nice.

Let me know what you think of it and tips and suggestions are always welcome ;) :D

[Huskinhano]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Nice project! Back in the late 70's I had a chance to buy a 71 Vega with a 283, 'glide with a straight and rust free body that ran well for $650. My brother's neighbor was selling it for a friend. I was going to buy it but had no place to keep it. About a week after he sold it, my 70 bug caught fire.

Must go like hell! ;D

[KeithTurk]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Man this thing is GREAT..... I remember those first pictures and didn't think much about it.... but WOW it's turned out really nice....

Excellent detail work... Nice stuffis there....

[DanStokes]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

On the shifter - not familiar with the ones you showed but I'd say stay away from the B&M - it's a pain to use and you have to pull up the release handle in D to get to R & P, but it WILL let you shift to N from the forward gears. Seems dumb to me. I fight with the one in the Buzz Bomb all the time - but it WAS free!

Dan

[min301]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

On the shifter - not familiar with the ones you showed but I'd say stay away from the B&M - it's a pain to use and you have to pull up the release handle in D to get to R & P, but it WILL let you shift to N from the forward gears. Seems dumb to me. I fight with the one in the Buzz Bomb all the time - but it WAS free!

Dan

That little Vega is gonna be badass!

BTW, I'd go with the Hurst Pro-Matic 2 shifter.
It's NHRA legal, sturdy, and reliable, plus it works well.

[Blazerteam]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

I like it,and i dont like Vegas ;).I like their looks..but i hate that engine compartment.Too small..especially for starter removal and oil fliter change..uhhh..but yours turned out real good..it didnt have too much rust,it seems?

[kyhunter89]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

nice car... get some video of it getting abused

[terry russell]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

damn cool ride. You do good work!
terry

[Vegaman]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

thanks guys, appreciate the comments. I hope to have some video soon, possibly this weekend. The car fries the tires at will and gets very snaky so I need to pay attention to what I'm doing. Not exactly track friendly but fun on the street, lol.

I should have mentioned at the onset that this was a bucks down build right from the get go. I've had some nice cars before but once I got married and the kids came along money and time disappeared. 20+ years later and the stars just aligned right and I pretty much fell into this Vega. I've been a Mopar guy all my life but those cars are pretty much out of reach for me now and this is my first Chevy. I'm not what you would call a hardcore Mopar guy as I've always dug cars from all different makes so building a Chev wasn't that big a deal to me.
I'm somewhat lucky as I've gotten a lot of freebie's on this and some terrific deals along the way. If I had to guess I'd say I probably have no more than $5000.00 in this thing including the price of the car. Spread over about 5 yrs. that's not really to bad ;)

I'll see what I can do about some vids ;) until then, here's one my brother in-law put together for me when I took him and my father-in-law out for a quick trip around the block

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xah3e5_v8-vega-highway-star_auto

[HoosierGTA]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Super cool. Makes me really miss my Monza Spider W the 305,4sd,and limited slip all from the factory. Put on a junkyard steal manifold and Q-Jet would have looked factory if those Hooker headers didn't give me away.Great memories. To bad dad totaled it :'(

[Bamfster]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Nice vid! Every time I look at this thread I want a V8 Vega

[CaminoKid]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

On the shifter - not familiar with the ones you showed but I'd say stay away from the B&M - it's a pain to use and you have to pull up the release handle in D to get to R & P, but it WILL let you shift to N from the forward gears. Seems dumb to me. I fight with the one in the Buzz Bomb all the time - but it WAS free!

Dan

Actually Dan,that's the nice part of the shifter is it allows you to have a built in safety from going into reverse unwanted.
I have the Hammer in my El comino and it has been flawless in its every day activities.
Also the ratcheting aspect of first thru overtdrive on mine,as I have the 700 r4 behind the bbc,has been really good for some short street launches as well.
Great project you have here Vegaman,keep up the great work and keep us informed.Thanks

[milner351]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Nice work. My cousin had a vega that was all original - he drove it cross country - I remember he came to stay with us for a few days on his way out West from NJ - that was a neat car. I remember he had a lot of water in gallon jugs in the back - the car was yellow with a black interior - he said the water was for him - and for the car when it overheated!

Great car - it's going to look great with that paint!

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Vegaman's V8 Vega build

Great video. Thanks for sharing it.