1976 Chevrolet.... Vega

[shortchevy]

Not as nice or high end as some of the projects on here but this is what I got and I couldn't be happier.

Stats
1976 Chevrolet Vega Wagon
Originally a 4cyl 3speed car

My plans for the car should be obvious... 350 and a 4 speed. I am going to repaint the car the original 70's light blue and make a sleeper out of it. I plan on driving this car as an alternative to my c2500 as soon as I get it together. It will get parked in the "general parking" lot at car shows and because its a wagon Im sure Ill haul a fair amount of stuff in it. definitely not a trailer queen or trophy chaser.

So far I have picked up the correct saginaw 4 speed (with torque arm mounting location), correct bellhousing for cable clutch, and a 1975 2 bolt 350. I got a swap kit with the car that included radiator, v8 monza springs, motor mounts, and headers. I have redone the interior with new carpet, a new headliner and fresh paint on the dash and door tops. I re-upholstered the seats, first time ever taking a wack at sewing and I think they turned out pretty good. (pix coming) I currently have the motor apart I will be replacing the 12cc stock dished pistons for some 6cc flat tops and I picked up some vortec heads to bring me close to 9.5 to 1 comp.

Now that the winter is coming in progress has slowed. I have a little more sewing to do which is nice because I can do it in the warm house. The motor needs to be brought to the machine shop to have cam bearings replaced and have the new pistons installed. Once I collect all the parts I will bring it to my dads and use his heated garage to check clearances, assemble, and run a break-in session or 2.

here is a quick picture I took the other day. I plan on adding more as I go

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[grampadirt]

Good Luck with your build.Back in the day dropping a small block in a Vega was a common mod.

Not sure if it's so common these days,dunno

 

[1low95GMC]

Sweet build

 

[Darkrider]

I can def dig it! Good luck on your project.

 

[twomanymontes]

Great project! We have one cruising around here. Nice little hot rod.

http://www.rodandpiston.com/pictures.asp?id=show/wheelworld03 Scroll down a bit. Maybe it will give you some ideas?

 

[96Z71ECSB]

Awesome project!
My first car at 15-16 years old was a '71 GT Vega wagon. It had a 350HP 327 with a TH350 auto. Nasty little car. I became the "burnout king" of my high school with that car.
My dad paid for half and I paid for the other half. We got it by my mom by saying it was a 4cyl, auto.
I kept it for a year before I traded it for a '70 Mach 1 Mustang.
My mom actually liked the Mach 1 better despite it having a built 351C and a 4 speed.

 

[shortchevy]

thanks for the kind responses. I didnt get as much done this weekend as I would have liked. I had in-law duty yesterday and today we got out first real snow of the season so I had to do a bunch of little things around the house and knock out some items on the honey-do list. I did get a setback when I found out no one around here rents a cam bearing tool. I will have to bring it to a machine shop for that for sure now. but while I have it at the machine shop I will have them check the bores before I buy pistons. the bores are stock and have no ridge and dont look like they need bored but I dont know if they have wore out of round.

 

[shortchevy]

It was above freezing yesterday for the first time in a month so I got to work in the garage! I put the passenger seat in and did a little touch up work on the crank. The motor is at the machine shop getting cam bearings and getting punched .030 over... I decided to just go ahead and have it bored out. I ordered up my pistons so they should be here soon. here is some pictures of how it sits now.


This is a bad picture but you get the idea. I made the seat covers, I am NOT a fabric/upholstery guy at all but they came out good enough for me to sit my rear on. Im prolly going to put different newer seats in eventually so these are just to get me on the road.

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Heres a dash picture. I repainted the lower dash, put in new carpet on top of new floor pans and threw a Camaro wheel in. I would like to put the stock wheel back in but its all sticky so I dont know what to do there....

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Here is where all the action is, or isnt. I got the car with no motor/trans so I went through and labeled all the wiring and I flipped the heater core so I have clearance for the ole small block.

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this is the hood. I got bored one day this summer before I got the motor and decide that i dont need a motor, I just need some "go fast" stripes... took about 10 min with some tape and a spray bomb. Ill prolly leave it like this for the year, I dont want it sitting in a paint shop when I could be driving it.

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[shortchevy]

mid winter update-
I got the radiator mounted, its a stock v8 Monza piece with a modified upper hose inlet, I fabbed up some brackets out of stainless to reposition the factory lower mounts since the new rad is taller. I also took out the factory k-frame in the front and I am in the process of modifying it for rad clearance.

I got the motor back from the machine shop, got the new pistons, had them installed on the factory rods, and assembled the bottom end. It was pretty uneventful, the mains were a hair on the tight side but the machine shop assured me that is was perfectly acceptable for a street motor.

Im gonna be away from the house for a couple days on a much needed warm weather get away so I plan on ordering the cam, oil pan, and timing cover when I get back. I took pictures but accidentally deleted them so you will have to imagine what a sbc looks like

 

[shortchevy]

Progress has been made! and pictures to prove it!

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Look what I brought home today!

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The above picture my rebuilt sbc, notice the modified oil pan. I am really happy on how the motor came out so far. I still have to buy an intake and a fuel pump before I can hear it run but that should be in the next couple weeks.

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And it is IN! This was an exciting day, I did have to modify the motor mounts slightly to get the engine position correct but I am very happy with the location. the intake in the picture is just for mock-up. just an ugly old elde I had laying around. I would clean it and use it but it is the traditional bolt pattern and will not work on vortec heads.

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As stated above I purchased a set of swap headers when I bought the car so they should drop right in.... nope. apparently the headers are for the older "front mount" swap mounts and I am using the "newer" side mount swap mounts. Basically my motor mounts are where my headers wanted to go. So i decided to just cut the 2 pipes that had interference problems... and that led to cutting the headers into 50+ pieces and hand fabbing a custom set, they are all tacked together and just need finish welded, painted, wrapped, and painted again so just another 8+hours of work.

Well thats all I have for now. Upcoming projects include finishing the headers, finishing the motor, breaking in the cam, shorting the shift-linkages, cutting down the driveshaft, wiring the motor, pulleys, electric fans, finish the drivers seat, and doing a 13" tire burnout.