Ironwill's V8 Vega

[Wizeguyrc]

Hone-O-Drive was the official name. It's a seperate over drive unit that connects to the rear of the transmission with a yoke and u-joint. For instance you can run 4.88 gears and when you pull the unit into "high" it will take the ratio down to approx. 3.55. They were designed with RV's, etc. in mind, but Motion Performance put them into alot of their cars so they could run deep gears for racing.

[ironwillsv8vega]

Excellant concept, I would think. Should give the best of both worlds. If Motion used them, and they were used for RV's, they should be plenty rugged for that big motor.......I like it!!

[ironwillsv8vega]

Random photo of racing seat removed. I'll hold onto it....just in case.

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Engine home, and removed clutch, fan, power steering pump etc. to get it ready for degrease and paint.

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Up on the stand, ready for cleaning.

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[NixVegaGT]

OK, dude. That Hone-O-Drive is fuckin' cool. I had a car with a quick change gear in it way back. SUPER dorky but really fun to drive Dodge Colt GTS turbo. Had a lever with a gear reducer in it. LOL! Same idea though.

[ironwillsv8vega]

OK, dude. That Hone-O-Drive is fuckin' cool. I had a car with a quick change gear in it way back. SUPER dorky but really fun to drive Dodge Colt GTS turbo. Had a lever with a gear reducer in it. LOL! Same idea though.

For sure. I have never heard of it, until Wizeguyrc mentioned it. Sounds like a novel idea. Low gear for draggin', High gear for cruisin'....sweet!!!

[ironwillsv8vega]

Not a lot of progress due to time spent digging sauna tube holes....ugh!!! Adding a closed in carport to my garage to store the Bug, Eclipse, and bike in. Give me more working room in the garage itself.....YES!!!! Pulled the carb and intake off the motor. Did some degreasing, and painted some red on it.

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Picked up an Edelbrock Performer manifold off ebay awhile ago, so painted that to match the engine. Aamazed me how much lighter it is than the stock manifold. About 12 lbs. compared to 40--ish.

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The dude I bought the Vega from through in some M/T valve covers, so got them cleaned up. I will spray them when I get figure out what I need for holes, as far as adding oil, and PCV valve.

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Here's the engine with everything just sitting in place. I have gaskets, but ordered new manifold bolts for local parts place. Trying to do as much business local as I can, though all these items are available in multiple places online.

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[Rickracer]

OK, dude. That Hone-O-Drive is fuckin' cool. I had a car with a quick change gear in it way back. SUPER dorky but really fun to drive Dodge Colt GTS turbo. Had a lever with a gear reducer in it. LOL! Same idea though.

One of my old girlfriends had a Colt wagon hatchback thing with that lever in it, if you were quick shifting, you could make it sound like a 8 speed transmission. 1st low, 1st regular, 2nd low, 2nd regular, etc. You can imagine the wondering looks from people accelerating with you when you just keep shifting like that,

[ironwillsv8vega]

Finally got some rainy/snowy weather and a good excuse to get into the garage. Switched the oil pan and pump out. Had a plate to mount with the oil pump, I'm guessing it must be a deflector of some sort. Not really sure.

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Pistons have the number 8567 stamped on them, which research shows is a common replacement piston for SBC. I guess they are nothing special, but give further indication the engine was rebuilt at some point.

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[ironwillsv8vega]

Pan on with new gaskets.

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Harmonic balancer attached. I've never put one of these on before, didn't go on super easy,a dn it wasn't easy to tell when it was bottomed out. Made me a little nervous to rap on it too hard, and end up causing the crank to be tight in one direction. Everything spun fine afterward!!

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[ironwillsv8vega]

Christmas in July. Picked up a K-member and braces from Don (MegaVega) as mine were missing. Thanks Don!! He even included the bolts...

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[ironwillsv8vega]

Picked up some header paint, and baked them in an oven we have at work. Time will tell how it worked. Prior to curing the header paint wants to get on everything. Heres the oven prior to pulling all the shelves. 400 degrees for 2-3 hours.

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Heres the finished product, minus the small pieces, which I did at home in the wood stove...go figure. Nothing super scientific here, but thought I would log it.

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[ironwillsv8vega]

There is very little rust on this car thankfully. The biggest amount was in the battery tray location, so cut it out and welded in some new metal. Also, did a little touch up painting of the engine bay, with installed K-member and braces.

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[ironwillsv8vega]

I was not sure what the starter support bracket was supposed to look like, but made this one. Hopefully it does the job!!

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Pulled the cover on the tranny. The previous onwer said there was a shift kit, so looked around and sure enough. Under the valve body I found a plate that said TransGo and a town in CA. stamped on it. Cleaned everything out real good, installed a new filter and pan gasket. I'm going to run it as is with new fluid, and see how much life there is left in it. Took a pic of the Trans plate, but can't really make it out.

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Heres the engine/tranny joined back together getting ready for install into the car. Torque converter stall is unknown!!

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[Rickracer]

If you like a nice firm shift, put Type F fluid back in it, it also stands up to heat better than Dex. I run Type F in all my GM trannies,

[ironwillsv8vega]

If you like a nice firm shift, put Type F fluid back in it, it also stands up to heat better than Dex. I run Type F in all my GM trannies,

I'll try it. Thanks for the tip. I like the firm shift, not the sliiiiiiidng into the next gear.