1975 Vega GT

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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Sat Dec 04, 2010 1:51 am

Test fitting the motor and transmission, going to have to build a crossmember. My parents surprised me with an early Christmas presents, aluminum water pump/pulleys i've been eying for a few months and i need them to continue building. However after test fitting my rad i see that my Taurus fan will not fit between the rad/pulleys so i need to get some 10"-13" dual pusher fans (Taurus too big to fit in front) and make my radiator brackets. I'm having some problem with the Don Hardy Headers, my #1 tube on the drivers side refuses to clear the steering column/doesnt reach the cylinder head and its starting to get on my nerves. If anyone knows a fix id be happy to listen. :bang:
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1975 Vega GT sbc, Microsquirt w/Edelbrock MPFI, M21 4-speed and Ford 9"
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1975 Chevrolet Vega GT


Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby chevy art » Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:28 am

hey bad bowtie alot ,of guys move the steering shaft over to inner fender well. you have to do it with the big blocks. pretty simple to do and helps steering. go to my post gen discussions sun oct 17 titled installing big block in 73 vega. there are pics of the install. speedphreake did it in his 73 vega with small block. see his project journals... also contact ishiftem (dan) he knows about this and has one of the bearings(you need 3 different ones) and he has a shaft with it. he can tell you all about it. a real nice guy and extremely knowledgable . i think thats what you will need to do do get the clearance. good luck art
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby speedphreake » Sat Dec 04, 2010 8:57 pm

I'm running hooker 2129's so I don't know how they compare to your headers.

As far as the radiator/fan fit, take a look at mine or Josh's journal about moving the radiator forward. That would solve ALOT of fitment and cooling issues.
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby Roccosvega » Sat Dec 04, 2010 10:10 pm

Wow Bad...Your movin right along. Keep posting your progress. Nice work :th:


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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby NixVegaGT » Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:47 am

Dude, that battery tray is CLASSIC!! LOL
- Nic '73 Vega GT "DogBoxx" Batwing LS1
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:19 pm

Been really busy with exams and now that they are over I have Christmas to contend with. I've managed to get my transmission crossmember modified for my Muncie and wont be able to bolt it down until I get the motor centered properly/headers fitting (im about 2" to the passenger side). I've re-fired up work on a dash to house a 5" tach 5" speedo and 2 5/8" accessories and should be getting that built in the new year (either myself or a friend). Aside from little things here and there that's about it for now.
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby chevy art » Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:58 pm

hey bad bowtie i really like the crossmember you made. was that a stock crossmember you used and cut it in half(or something like that ) and welded it back together at bottom with the steel plate. you mentioned the engine is offset about 2 inches to the passenger side. that sounds like alot. using the hooker front mount it moves the engine aprox 1 1/2 inches to the pass side. this is the only place it can end up with this mount because the one frame mount bolts to the idler arm holes, and the rest of the parts follow this starting point. what kind of mounts did you use. dont remember if you mentioned that or not. keep up the good work art
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby sportster96blk » Tue Dec 21, 2010 10:56 pm

hey what happened with the header :?: got more pics of your solution? Ive just got a set of the don hardy headers myself and want to know what I'm up against..... thanks George
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:09 am

chevy art wrote:hey bad bowtie i really like the crossmember you made. was that a stock crossmember you used and cut it in half(or something like that ) and welded it back together at bottom with the steel plate. you mentioned the engine is offset about 2 inches to the passenger side. that sounds like a lot. using the hooker front mount it moves the engine aprox 1 1/2 inches to the pass side. this is the only place it can end up with this mount because the one frame mount bolts to the idler arm holes, and the rest of the parts follow this starting point. what kind of mounts did you use. dont remember if you mentioned that or not. keep up the good work art


Its a stock 4 cyl crossmember just cut up exactly as you described, first cut one half off (to retain shape), welded a new plate (a bit thick and extended outward) and finally cut the rest off.
Im using monza v8 mounts, and I think I need to remove a ridge on the bellhousing (10.5" nova bellhousing) or dent the firewall some more to get it over. Im pretty sure this will get me over that inch or so i need for the headers.

sportster96blk wrote:hey what happened with the header :?: got more pics of your solution? Ive just got a set of the don hardy headers myself and want to know what I'm up against..... thanks George


Don Hardy Headers are supposed to be hassle free and they are for the most part for me, my problem is I'm setting up a v8 in a 4 cylinder vega for the first time/my first project ever... not to mention my lack of time. Worst case scenario I'm going to simply add on a section a 2 5/8" tubing to the #1 header tube. (I have not attempted a solution yet.
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:31 pm

I need some help, I have an older set of Don Hardy Headers (brand new out of box, which I VTF ceramic coated before test fitting :bang: and I'm having problems with my #1 Cylinder tube.
Here are my specifications:
-75 vega GT
-Factory V8 monza motor mounts/frame plates
-sbc 350
-regular heads (similar to 882's)
-Don hardy headers

No matter where I position the motor (front/back & left/right) I cannot get this header to fit to the head or around the steering column.

Here is a picture of what my setup looks like:
P1030290.JPG


Here is a picture of a previous setup with Don hardy headers (found on the forum somewhere):
file-2.jpg


From what I can see the tube shape is completely different, mine is shorter going into the head/angled and the part of the tube that around the steering column is also different. I'm going to post this on the General Forum and email Don Hardy himself. If anyone could possibly take some pictures of the #1 tubes or measure i would gladly post my results because this is what is holding me back and I was counting on this being a simple install but it doesnt seem that luck is on my side :bang: .

Thanks
James
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby chevy art » Sat Dec 25, 2010 11:56 pm

hey bad bowtie. if denting the tranny tunnel and moving the rear of the tranny over towards the passenger side(this is the way you would have to move it to move the front of the engine to driver side( to get the engine closer to header). this would mean that your nice crossmember will not bolt up to your tranny mount, anymore. and would have meant that the motor was really in crooked(not running parallel to your pinion shaft in the rear axle.. really dont know if this could have been the case, but if it was, you maybe should get a center line for the car and before anymore fabricating or welding, you should get everything straight and parallel. i am only saying all this because you mentioned denting the firewall to straighten the drivetrain out. let us know whats happening . good luck art
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:29 am

chevy art wrote:hey bad bowtie. if denting the tranny tunnel and moving the rear of the tranny over towards the passenger side(this is the way you would have to move it to move the front of the engine to driver side( to get the engine closer to header). this would mean that your nice crossmember will not bolt up to your tranny mount, anymore. and would have meant that the motor was really in crooked(not running parallel to your pinion shaft in the rear axle.. really dont know if this could have been the case, but if it was, you maybe should get a center line for the car and before anymore fabricating or welding, you should get everything straight and parallel. i am only saying all this because you mentioned denting the firewall to straighten the drivetrain out. let us know whats happening . good luck art


I forgot to mention I got the motor as close to the drivers side as the frame plates would allow me
P1030193.JPG

As you can see the drivers side cant go over anymore because the holes are not slotted (but i got the motor at around 1.25"-1.5" to the passenger side at best, which seems reasonable).
I also tried moving the transmission over towards the passenger side with no success of the header fitting. As far as the transmission crossmember I have not drilled the mounting holes so its not a big deal if I need to relocate.

I appreciate the help

James

**edit**
I just noticed on my post in the General forum you said i should be withing a 1/2" offset to one side, i have no idea why my factory stuff is not lining up, i tried moving them but i could only move them forward and backward (with respect to the car). When my motor is in place the bolts on the drivers side are lined up and on the passenger side the most i can move them over is right in the middle, to me this system doesn't seem able to move an engine around.
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby chevy art » Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:33 pm

hey bowtie. still like that tranny crossmember. what kind of tranny mount are you usimg to mount tranny to crossmember. i dont see any bolts from mount to crossmember. just curious art
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby BadBowtie » Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:51 pm

chevy art wrote:hey bowtie. still like that tranny crossmember. what kind of tranny mount are you usimg to mount tranny to crossmember. i dont see any bolts from mount to crossmember. just curious art


Thats because there isnt any bolt holes yet, I'm waiting to get the engine centered properly before i start drilling into it. The mount on the tranny is off a camaro (70-75 from what my research says). The wide part bolts to the transmission and the narrow part with mount to the crossmember, It looks like this :
719022-150x150.jpg
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Re: 1975 Vega GT

Postby chevy art » Sun Dec 26, 2010 7:53 pm

bowtie now i get it. smart move not to drill yet. you are a thinking man. just make sure that engine is parallel to center line. i am using the poly uretheane tranny mount. suppose to be strongest i have about 540 hp in my sbc engine for the vega. still like that rear crossmember. i think i will change mine. i spent alot of time alteringand fittilg exact(2 positions of drilling) to my TD crossmember and its good, but yours if BETTER. good show . art
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