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Downsides to a chevy Vega?

36K views 30 replies 15 participants last post by  pdmracing 
#1 ·
Any negatives to consider when building a 383 Chevy vega for drag racing? I like the look, its pretty light, and theres a few in my area to look at buying pretty cheap.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Can you expand on that, i really have no idea what it takes to make it safe other then the obvious roll cage and other related safety equipment. Is the stock frame going to explode upon launch or what? :confused:

My crx had a front clip barely hangin on that ran low 12's maybe high 11's by my guesstimations. I ran a stock seatbelt in that sucker. how much work could it be? Remember now im building an 1/8 mile car.

This guy told me a stock chasis will be just fine HAHA!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=502592593095381


seriously though i dont know.
 
#4 ·
faster than 11.5 and the tech guys will shred your car. roll bar and all safety equipment.
you gat get nhra/ihra rule book to see requirements.
stock Vega had a 4 cylinder pos engine. uni body design,brakes are fair,front suspension fair,
good luck with the Vega,I kinda like them,sorta,,,
 
#9 ·
There are kits available to mount the engine and trans. Downsides are 4 lug front end, rear end, and the availablity of parts to convert. Monza used to be the answer, try finding a parts car today. Rust, especially around the windshield and quarter panels, is bad.

Plus side, they are light, you don't need to get crazy to have a quick car. A good roll cage will tighten up the sub frame, I like the wagons, they seem to work better for the strip.

There are a few guys here that have Vegas, do a search to see what they came up with. I haven't seen a Vega outside of the strip for quite a long time. This is in Cal and you just don't see them.
 
#10 ·
It has been an age since I have even seen a Vega..and for that matter Pinto's are getting rare specially ones in any kind of shape...H'mmm wonder if those may be collectors based on few surviving examples in good shape??

Sam
 
#13 ·
vega for sale

if u might consider buying one and save a bunch of time and money??? i have a friend that has one for sale.. i think he's asking $12k for it..but i'd need to ask to make sure, if your interested.. it IS race ready and i think its in the 10 sec bracket.. 383 stroker, full caged and inspected. he taged it in maryland and sometimes drives it on the street.. trans brake and line lock. can't think of tranny or rear it has... like i said its ready to go now.. it's in delaware..
bill
 
#14 ·
if u might consider buying one and save a bunch of time and money??? i have a friend that has one for sale.. i think he's asking $12k for it..but i'd need to ask to make sure, if your interested.. it IS race ready and i think its in the 10 sec bracket.. 383 stroker, full caged and inspected. he taged it in maryland and sometimes drives it on the street.. trans brake and line lock. can't think of tranny or rear it has... like i said its ready to go now.. it's in delaware..
bill
Sounds nice but id prefer to build it myself. Plus i only have so much money a month to throw at this.
 
#16 ·
There was a local guy who had a Vega wagon with a 632 big block, a Powerglide, and a Dana 60 rear end. Car was fiberglass, lexan, 4-link with a cage and wheelie-bars. The dude owned a tranny shop. This car was stupid. Never could get it to go straight. Gee, I wonder why.

Vega's rule. You only see them at the tracks now. ( Especially in Texas )
I like the notchback Vega's. They are cool.
Vega's are made for small blocks. I almost traded my 70 Camaro SS for one back in the 80's, but the guy decided he wanted to just sell his Vega instead of trade it for something else. I was bummed. His vega was tubbed and pro-street`d. It was super sweet.

If you get a stock one, you will have to do all the chassis work.
( New rear-end, cage, frame connector links, wheel tubs, sheet metal, 4-link, etc. )
Best to find a roller, and drop your engine and trans in it.
Killer combo is a Ford9", 4-link, 4:56 gears, Powerglide tranny, and a 383 aluminum head roller motor. Add some spray, and say hello to 9-second 1/4 mile times.

You try a massive torquey big-block in it.... you better get used to seeing the retaining wall. ( or the guy in the next lane over! )
:D
 
#18 ·
It all depends on what you want to do with it.

The singular advantage of them- weight. The disadvantages are basically everything else.

One light car that is much easier to work with has been mentioned- the Pinto. I have one and parts availability is actually really good and relatively low priced, and they are also very light.
 
#19 ·
One light car that is much easier to work with has been mentioned- the Pinto.
Pinto? Anything you had to do to a Vega you would have to also do to a Pinto bean. It's not "easier to work with".

How about an AMC Pacer, or a Gremlin? How about a tubbed Chevette?
( I wanna see a tubbed Toyota Yaris hatchback! )

To heck with going small and light... let's do up a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado with a Gene Fulton 707 heavy street motor and a air-shifted Lenco!

:pimp:
 
#20 · (Edited)
I back haft'ed a Monza Town coupe which is the same platform as a Vega.They ALL rot out in the rear wheel well where the trailing arms attach to the body.It is a weak point.Back then I used a Don Hardy kit with a 6 point roll bar.I honestly don't know if don Hardy is around anymore.I spent a ton of time rebuilding the floor boards on that car.The Don Hardy kit jets in and out of the floor boards with the raise going over the rear end being a 2 x 3 square tube and then flipping over on it's side to the 3 x 2 side all the way up to the rear of the A-Frame supports.When you buy a roll bar you get a box of tubes none cut to size and you need to tight seam fish mouth fit some of the tubes.I had the car off the ground like 4' with the rear end out and perfectly level so all the ref points where dead on.The stock rear ends are a trailing arm with a pivot arm to the rear end off the back of the tranny.I am not 100% sure,but the Monzas did come with a 305,so there might be a crossover in engine mounts there you could use.

What became a standard joke in the shop was the articles about sub and tube in a weekend.The one we did we had three months into it working on it on and off.But be advised it is a hell of alot work.Of memory serves me correctly,the curb wt of that car was somewhere in the range of 2800lbs.

When we first got the frame rails in it,you could take a hammer and hit them and they would ring like a bell.As we put in more and more of the roll bar,that got less and less until it was just a thud.It's all about how well those roll bars tie everything together.Once done,I could take a jack in the center of the car under one of the frame rails and easily lift the whole side of the car up.

My advise would be for you to buy a proven roller from racingjunk.com.One fact never changes.You can never build one for the same price as one already done and maybe done better than you could.
 
#23 ·
My 72 GT.




you will need to stitch weld all the unibody seams from the firewall forward to help stiffen up things in the front. A roll cage is a plus if you plan on drag racing it more than just occasionally. You can swap in S10 front suspension/brakes and S10 rear end.
 
#31 ·
I bought my Monza in 2008 & have thousands of passes on it. A cheap and fast upgrade DIY is front spindles, brakes & rear end from S10 , Weld in a cage kit from Jegs. Buy a v8 monza pan or milodon & moroso make H body specifics. Hooker or hedman hedders Trans dap still makes an engine swap kit so you can use big headers.
V8monza.com & H body.org is a good start. The 96 inch wheelbase makes you have to drive it & its a blast. Cheap fun and the fans luv it.
 

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