1973 Vega project Black and Blue

[avewhtboy]

So I have the axle installed seems to fit fine I am a worse camera man than I am a mechanic but i snapped a couple pictures

I am having trouble with the banjo bolts leaking but once I get that solved I should be able to test drive it.

[avewhtboy]

So I got the brake line situation sorted out, bled the brakes and went around the block, all seems well so far, even the Posi worked, at least in the rain....

So this is an awd axle from a 1999 Oldsmobile Bravada. I did not narrow or lengthen it just used different offset wheels to make it work. The rear wheels are
18x8.5 with 6 3/8 backspacing if I remember correctly and a 265/35/18 tire. Any more or less back spacing and I do not think this would work.

I also installed Ridetech Coil over shocks in the rear. To be honest, for now I just bolted the shocks to existing upper shock mount rather than making a
new one. The reason behind this was, A) Easier of course B) the Upper mount is already made of several layers so it appears to be relatively strong already and
C) I am only running 250lb springs in the rear and the car is pretty light in the rear already so I am thinking I may be ok. If not I will go back and add either a cross
bar or bring some tubes down from the rollbar on the inside of the car to add some extra support.

[avewhtboy]

Here are a few pics of the underside.

[avewhtboy]

http://vid304.photobucket.com/albums/nn ... hsc20e.mp4

Short video rowing through the gears with the new side pipes.

[TOM71VEGA]

Sounds nice, like the 2 inch cowl hood.

[6D9]

Killer ride. I would like to do the coilovers in the front n rear on my dads car too.

[avewhtboy]

Sounds nice, like the 2 inch cowl hood.

Thanks I am pretty happy with the sound, not so much with the hood. I think it may be a 4 inch cowl hood I have a hard time seeing around it.

Also, it has worn out dzus fasteners. I would like to replace it with an L88 hood

[avewhtboy]

Killer ride. I would like to do the coilovers in the front n rear on my dads car too.

Thanks, I am real happy with the way it rides now. The steering has some play in it that needs to be addressed but all in all it
drives pretty well now, a little on the stiff side with 450lb springs in the front and 250lb in the rear but I don't have to worry
about bottoming out the suspension.

I hope to get the S10 Blazer front and rear sway bars fitted as well.

[avewhtboy]

I thought the rear of the car was sitting too low ever since I put the coil overs on it. Few twists of the collar raised it about 1 1/2 inches. I think this
levels it out with the front.

My front tires don't sit centered in the wheel well. They need to move forward about 1/2 inch, short of $1000 of adjustable upper control arms what else
can I do? I was going to put it on a frame rack and pull them forward. I did that on an S10 once and it made a world of difference with tire scrubbing the
inner fender wells.

I am also having problems with vapor lock when the engine idles for any period when hot. It's actually boiling in the carburetor so I am not sure what to do
to correct that. I am thinking about going with and electric pump and a bypass regulator?


Here's pictures of the new ride height. I was out testing a carb change which was not the problem, but I had it and it has a pressure gauge on it so it was
helpful in diagnosing the problem with the vapor lock, so the hood is off while I was running around.

[Monza Harry]

I feel that you should add some insulation to the fuel line, as the colder it is going in the longer you'll have before it boils. You could also ad a heat shield under the carb to protect the carb from radiant engine heat [just a big flat piece of aluminum, maybe a foot square, notched/slotted as required] that will help with carb temps and fuel boiling and a "Cold Air kit" of your own design wouldn't hurt either. Harry

[avewhtboy]

I feel that you should add some insulation to the fuel line, as the colder it is going in the longer you'll have before it boils. You could also ad a heat shield under the carb to protect the carb from radiant engine heat [just a big flat piece of aluminum, maybe a foot square, notched/slotted as required] that will help with carb temps and fuel boiling and a "Cold Air kit" of your own design wouldn't hurt either. Harry

Hey Monzaharry those are good ideas, I did add some insulation around the fuel line and that helped but I can see that it starts boiling in the carb so I am thinking I will try one of these, along the lines you are talking about.

http://www.summitracing.com/ga/parts/edl-8724/overview/

[chevyart]

hey avboy about 15 years ago i bought two beautiful 55 Studebakers. with v-8 engines. they were monster size stock v-8, had only 2 barrell carbs and were all steel. one had the stock fuel pump and one had an electric fuel pump. couldnt drive the one with the stock pump in hot weather. would vapor lock real quick. could drive the one with electric pump anywhere, under an temp conditions. i would go for the electric pump. some of the pumps return from the front regulator, and others return right from the pump(easy return line run back) to tank. let us know how you make out. PS: make sure you run the pump off of a relay art

[avewhtboy]

hey avboy about 15 years ago i bought two beautiful 55 Studebakers. with v-8 engines. they were monster size stock v-8, had only 2 barrell carbs and were all steel. one had the stock fuel pump and one had an electric fuel pump. couldnt drive the one with the stock pump in hot weather. would vapor lock real quick. could drive the one with electric pump anywhere, under an temp conditions. i would go for the electric pump. some of the pumps return from the front regulator, and others return right from the pump(easy return line run back) to tank. let us know how you make out. PS: make sure you run the pump off of a relay art

Hey Art, thanks for the information. I am really wanting to put fuel injection on this but in the mean time I think if I run a fuel pressure regulator with a return it will help a lot. If I have to put an
electric pump in that may make me go fuel injected earlier.

I was looking at a factory TPI unit those can be had for pretty decent price.

[6D9]

What was the part # for the front coilover set up in the front? Direct bolt in with no issues?

[avewhtboy]

What was the part # for the front coilover set up in the front? Direct bolt in with no issues?

The springs on this QA1 shock package are what I ordered, I already had the coil over shocks from Ridetech. They are 10 inch long front and rear.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/qa1-g ... /overview/

Ridetech does not offer springs like QA1 has. You would have to cut out the upper spring mount to use regular 2.5 inch spring. If you don't want
to cut the front end up you need the 2.5-3.5 inch spring, 10 inches long. I don't have the exact part number, but I put 450 lb springs in the front
and doubt you want to stiffen it up that much so 350 lb spring would probably be better. The shocks need a "Stud mount" for the top if you are keeping
it stock configuration.

It fit fine, was a bear to get the control arms back in with a 450lb spring that was really the only challenge to getting it together.

For the rear I used the ride tech 2.5 inch 250 lb spring mounted to the stock upper mounts and welded now lower mounts on the axle.



http://www.summitracing.com/parts/qa1-10htsp450

http://www.ridetech.com/store/coilover- ... table.html