JB_BA Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Hey guys, my girlfriend is getting into drag racing, and she'd talked her dad into building a dragster. As I was asked to help with the project, I wasn't very pleased with the selction of the host vehicle. It was a 2500 Chevy truck. An '89. I managed to talk my boss (her dad) into buying a motor that I had built a while back for my 240z. I really wanted to get my hands on that motor again, but I was kind of put out by the fact that it would be going in a truck. I told him a few times that in order to make that truck competitive on the drag strip, we we're going to spend more cash on putting the truck on a diet than the actual motor/drivetrain. He took it to heart, and a guy at a hot rod shop in the neighboring town offered him a Vega free of charge...I think he was also intrested in seeing the motor go into something a little more promising. So, I've got a 400 - 450 H.P. Vega on the way. I took a look at the car the other day before he picked it up, and it's fairly sound. It's missing the front grill/head lights, but other than that, the only thing it needs body wise is some frame strength and some paint. I'm going to get to work tearing the car apart and sanding this weekend, and see if I can come up with some frame rails somewhere. I also talked my other boss into buying a running '79 280zx for $400 from a guy right down the road from him...so he's going to give me the cash to restore that too. I've got everything I wanted for Christmas, they buy the parts, and I've got to toys to start work on. If any of you guys have done a similar swap with a Vega, or know someone who has, drop me some info/pics if you get a chance. JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Try this as a starting point... http://www.v8monza.com/faq-v8cv.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 A.G. that's a good site! I couldn't add to much more except in the early 70's when I was growing up (currently now I'm growing out). We had a guy named Bloodsworth in a town named Pauls Valley do a v8 conversion on a vega. That was the end of the muscle cars being the fastest things going in our area. Shut down my 68 Olds 442 real fast!!! He had a 350 tranny and cut up a rear end to put under her (along with much needed suspendtion mods). Bloodsworth died few years later in a head on collision.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Vega: 1. Throw-away motor. 2. Crash inducing rear suspension geometry. 3. Seats designed by the marketing dept. of the American Chiropractic Ass. 4. Sterio at full volume unable to drown out creaking body noise. Yes, I owned one. Extremely week unibody. I had to warn people not to put their fingers in between the window frame and the door jam. The gap was big enough to rest your fingers in. When I would drive up a driveway at an angle the body would flex so badly that it would smash your fingers if you had them in there. I wanted to love the car. The looks were pretty sexy for their time, but the car was a pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 The looks were pretty sexy for their time, but the car was a pile. Yes, but a tubbed, tube frame chassis car would be the bomb! They are cool and fast when converted. Mike D, Juan, and I saw one smack the wall at 1/3 of the way down the quarter at Infineon this last summer--pity. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Vega:1. Throw-away motor. 2. Crash inducing rear suspension geometry. 3. Seats designed by the marketing dept. of the American Chiropractic Ass. 4. Sterio at full volume unable to drown out creaking body noise. Yes' date=' I owned one. Extremely week unibody. I had to warn people not to put their fingers in between the window frame and the door jam. The gap was big enough to rest your fingers in. When I would drive up a driveway at an angle the body would flex so badly that it would smash your fingers if you had them in there. I wanted to love the car. The looks were pretty sexy for their time, but the car was a pile.[/quote'] Um, just because there were some bad ones doesnt mean they were all bad. I have heard so many stories about Vegas, it's like the stories that the small block 400 was a "bad motor". My Dad has a 71 Vega Panel Express that rides better and quieter than any other car I have seen from the era. Yes, there were some design problems, but I think most people just didnt like the Vega because it was a light little 4-cylinder that could piss people off by how well it could keep up. I dont know how many people my Dad has pissed off with that little car when he whoops their ass and then tells them it's the original 4 banger. I would agree though, if you are putting 450HP, you will definitely want subframe connectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdsk8r Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Back in the early eighties, our neighbor from two houses down had two Vegas. A red wagon with a 400 small block/turbo 400 and a hatchback with a full frame, full cage, tubbed and a 454 with a 4speed. The wagon was his wife's car and the hatchback was his daily driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Vega:1. Throw-away motor. 2. Crash inducing rear suspension geometry. 3. Seats designed by the marketing dept. of the American Chiropractic Ass. 4. Sterio at full volume unable to drown out creaking body noise. Yes' date=' I owned one. Extremely week unibody. I had to warn people not to put their fingers in between the window frame and the door jam. The gap was big enough to rest your fingers in. When I would drive up a driveway at an angle the body would flex so badly that it would smash your fingers if you had them in there. I wanted to love the car. The looks were pretty sexy for their time, but the car was a pile.[/quote'] Um, just because there were some bad ones doesnt mean they were all bad. I have heard so many stories about Vegas, it's like the stories that the small block 400 was a "bad motor". My Dad has a 71 Vega Panel Express that rides better and quieter than any other car I have seen from the era. Yes, there were some design problems, but I think most people just didnt like the Vega because it was a light little 4-cylinder that could piss people off by how well it could keep up. I dont know how many people my Dad has pissed off with that little car when he whoops their ass and then tells them it's the original 4 banger. I would agree though, if you are putting 450HP, you will definitely want subframe connectors. You are the first person I have ever heard describe a stock vega as being anything but some slow ass POS econo box. The biggest problem with the Vega, other that it was designed to be nothing more than a cheap grocery getter built for losers who couldn't afford a better car, was the aluminum block. I have had spark plugs last longer than the typical Vega engine. Click and Clack once did a poll on the 5 worst cars ever built. I think the Vega was #3 on the list (behind the Yugo and Volkswagen Microbus). My brother had a Vega for years. When he would tell people he had over 70K miles on the original engine they use to threaten to beat him up. No one believed him. If your Dad's car has never cracked the block dumping a crankcase full of oil onto the driveway, then consider it the exception rather than the rule. I have personally known people in the 70's who had the engine replaced 3 times before the warranty ran out. I guess you could call it a car that was ahead of it's time, because it is only in the last decade or so that GM has learned how to make aluminum blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_BA Posted December 15, 2003 Author Share Posted December 15, 2003 Well since I'm not going to be dragging with the 4 banger, and I've already planned for some serious suspension mods and subframe connectors etc...I think I'm going to have a fun dragster...but anyone who wants to flame my little project may feel free to donate a Z. JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Sorry. Got well off topic. As you can tell I am not a big fan of stock Vega's. But I guess I should have added that they make great dragsters. Nice light shell with a suspension just begging to be cut out and replaced, yet enough people have done them that you won't be hurting for resouces. A tubbed rear end with 15 inch slicks gives them a nice rake that looks killer, especially if the driver is sitting in the back seat while the engine is in the front. When you look back, in the 60's and early 70's there really weren't a lot of super small cars that you could make such a sleeper out of. Personally I think they make a better starting point for an all out drag vehicle than a Z car, especially when you get to the point of needing a solid rear axle. One word of warning. My brother's vega has some serious incidences with front end pieces coming apart. Make sure you look over the ball joints, wheel bearings and tie rod ends. Brakes will be another issue. The cars simply were not built with high performance in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_BA Posted December 16, 2003 Author Share Posted December 16, 2003 Thanks for that info. I'll use this to get started...oh and now I've got another project...a 1964 Impala...a friend wants me to restore it... JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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