That's how Vegas were hauled too other states back in the day... I think the chevy Monza got the same treatment... I could be wrong...
Vegas had batteries with the vent positioned so they wouldn't leak acid during transit. Monza & clones had a large engine bay, as the original plan was for the GM ****el rotary engine. Also, Buick called their version a Skyhawk, thanks for the catch, @31Apickup! Pontiac had a fresh name as well, Sunbird.
Man, I’ll have to deep dig to see if any pictures remain. We had a Pinto Wagon that we stuffed a 289 & Top Loader into. This was Summer of 1980. It was a real hack job, but it worked. lol
My uncle had a black Vega with a black interior. He also had a Gorgi at the time, and the entire interior was covered with the Corgi’s blond hair. Haha! We ended up using the factory aluminum or magnesium? wheels on a Formula 2000 car we built in university.
Went through several motors in mine. At one point I considering an Iron Duke but couldn’t find any decent induction system. Finished off running a crate 350. All in all I would of been better off sticking with a 305
My DD in the late seventies ,early eighties was a red, V6, 4spd, 79 Monza hatch. It was actually a pretty good car for me and I would have kept it, but the Army decided I was needed in Germany for a few years.
Here’s my old 77 Buick Skyhawk, got it in fall of 81 as my community college commuter. It was the early 77 with the odd fire v6 4 speed. I later added headers with dual pipes and four barrel carb and intake. It was a decent car for the time, interior quality was bad.
Remember these little critters https://www.motortrend.com/features...ent-pounding-power-1974-chevrolet-vega/photos
My girlfriend's summertime daily is a '74 Gremlin. They have a really strong following, and you could actually get one with a V8 from the factory, which is cool. Good ones are hard to find, most rotted to death around here or were just ran into the ground, a fair share got turned into drag cars. I feel like, if the Vega had been a short wheelbase Nova with a little hatch like the Gremlin instead of what it was, they'd be way more desirable today. I can't remember the last time I saw a stock Vega or Pinto. Yet clean early Gremlins can bring 25 grand.
The Vegas suffered a couple issues. First, the aluminum blocks had big issues. Many had to be torn down and sleeved. This continued with the Porsche 928 which also used the lining that didn't hold up well for automotive use. Motorcycles use this even today, but it was a mess in the 70s and 80s. This is why many ended up V8 swapped. Doing an engine cost almost what a good donor or engine/trans would. Lots of them blew head gaskets, too. Second, rust. They rusted quicker and in crippling ways (cowl) compared to Novas. I was around then, and we would see rusty bodies in So Cal. after a couple years. I imagine much worse in the east and snow country.
Lots of guys went scrounging in junk yards for Monza V-8 motor mounts that bolted on the Vega ch***is....
My Vega had a Hardy V8 Kit in it when I got it. I didn't like how the engine was so far forward, so I move the engine back until number 1 cylinder plug was even with the left side spindle. That was how my 67 Camaro appeared to be located. I think it enhanced the weight balance quite a bit.
The Vega had cylinder head gasket issues, with a lot of failures and subsequent overheating, which in turn destroyed the block. The basic design / construction is similar to millions of chainsaw engines and many more production cars in the 56 years since GM pioneered it in high volume cars.
Yep, the iron head/aluminum block was not common and head gasket tech has changed a lot since then. Much more common for iron blocks and aluminum heads. I also mentioned the successful later use of the spray liner. I didn't trace down root cause on the Vegas, if it was overheating, the oils of the day, neglect due to being cheap or other factors. I know the cooling systems were pretty small, the engine run lean and with limited timing and they leaked oil often. Modern Porsches have cylinder scoring issues due to close cat proximity and I doubt even an iron liner would help there so I don't blame the tech in that case.
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