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Cool Small Block Vega Pickup.
Ricci.Wright
Member Posts: 5,128 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
I bought a new Vega when they came out. I was working at the Chevy dealer and got a small discount. It proved to be a not very good option for 2 adults and a baby, so I traded it in. I think I only had it for about a year and a half.
The Vegas had a big problem with the rods breaking and cutting the aluminum block in half. We had one in and when the mechanic took the head off it fell in 2 pieces.
Joe
Having had just two Vegas they had so many problems. My brother was the Vega mechanic and he made a living working on them for about 6-8 years until all the Vegas rusted shut.
That above is nice looking ride though.😊
Liking the crossed flags with 327
Talk about a silk purse out of a pigs ear, that's kinda cool. I doubt if here in Michigan you could find a Vega good enough to do those mods. Our salty roads usually ate them up in just a few short years. Bob
Neat.
I had a Army buddy who had a Cogsworth Vega, it got stolen never saw it again. Cool car.
Most have been turned into Drag cars or scrapped. I always like the 2 door wagons.
Cool way of transporting them. The vert-a-pack rail system.
Solution for a Vega:
Install Camaro or Nova front end and differential, remove POS engine and install small block. Wow!
I worked with a guy that put a built big block in a Vega.He was in Columbia SC and got on it pretty hard from a stop light.It sheared the rear lugs and the wheel and drag slick passed him at full speed, knocking down a gas station restroom door and smashing the stall separator. Luckily the restroom was not occupied at the time and no one was hurt.
When your fabrication skills exceed your budget.
Helped some friends cram a 396 in one years ago . Small block swaps were popular with the younger airmen at the local air force base .
yeah Vega's were cool, but man did they use the oil.
neat project and I sure time and effort along with $$ to get it that way
back in my younger days a friends dad had a vega wagon but it was really a full tube drag car ran on the street when the pro street was catching on and around us were rarely seen except in magazines or the drag strip I really liked it . I think he sold it not long after buying it . and couple more friends had small block vegas some fast fun cars . later on in life I put together a small block chevy vega but like a lot of things it had to be sold to move on to another project I always had a soft spot for them . now finding a nice one is rare as hens teeth as they seemed to either made into race cars or just rusted into the ground . also the sister car the monza that came with a 305 from the factory .
I remember a company use to advertise in all the car magazines ( maybe motion performance ? ) they would build you one or sell all the parts for you to do it from a small block to a big block chevy . I remember drooling over a big block version in the early 1970"s but me making about 2.50 a hour it was all just dreaming .
another vega story my younger brother's 1st car . I had my mom and dad go in half ( like 75.00 ) and I kicked in the other 75.00 bought a used vega from a co worker . my brother ( RIP ) found a box of rustolum paint maybe 6 to 10 partial cans at a garage sale for 5.00 we mixed it all together, looked like petty blue for all you old race fans, bought a can or thinner a few rolls of tape and for about 30.00 total I painted the car . honest it was 100% improvement and 10 feet away looked great .. he ran the crap out of it as most young fellows do . oh I miss the simpler days of life 😁
its ford counterpart I put a v-6 4 speed set up out of a late 70"s mustang II into a pinto wagon for a buddy , nothing great to call home about but he loved it
The vertipak way of shipping made the engineers develop the sealed battery. The first trials leaked battery acid all over the front of the car. Big OOOPPs.
Joe
My Sisters boyfriend back in the day went to Alaska to work the pipeline. When he came back home he bought not one but two identical Cosworth Vegas. I believe he eventually supplied one with a 350 small block.