Another LS1 Vega Wagon

[Zanie]

Another? Wait, is there another LS powered Vega wagon on this site?.
Anyway, I never got around to a build thread for my Chevelle, so I’m trying to get in front of things here.
My buddy Tim and I are putting this Vega wagon together to autocross, road race, drag race, whatever. Just a fun little car, with a roof…..a long roof
We looked at a bunch of rusty hulks all last summer and even received a nasty threat when we low balled some jerk with a really rusty POS vega wagon. Fortunately in December we found this 73 wagon in Milwaukee on Craigslist. It’s a rust-free Arizona titled wagon. Some previous owner primerd it with red oxide primer, because the paint was faded….but its super rust free. I was burned once several years ago & I swore to never buy another car in prime; so I went over this thing with a fine tooth comb…and a magnet.
Its very much nearly rust free: THE battery TRAY IS STILL GOOD! Shocking!! A Vega with the original battery tray!!!!!! Those rusted away in the first year!
Sure It looks like crap, but I’m telling you it’s a cream puff under that ugly azz primer. I thumped the thing 100 times with a magnet before we made an offer on the car.
The line on the door looks like it disappears, but it's just the photo (photos are previous owners pics)


Door jambs are still in the original red paint.




check the bottom of the quarter panel and spare tire well!



The Vega currently has a turbo 3.8 with a NASTY rod knock, but it’ll move under its own power. Engine and t350 trans will be coming out and looking for a new home soon.



We were planning on following the trail that Jeff Schwartz blazed and were looking for aluminum 5.3. Fortunately, we stumbled across another Craigslist score: A complete LS1 engine and 4L60 with the computers, ps pump, A/C and all the wires sensors etc, out of a 1998 Camaro The plan is to reseal it, lose the EGR etc, and swap the cam. Need to find some trailblazer manifolds. Not planning to run the A/C, at this point.




Next up: we need to find a wrecked 98 and newer blazer for the spindles, rear end, rear sway bar etc. (98 & newer v6 stick blazers had 8.5 rear ends as apposed to the 7.5s in all other s10s. not to be greedy but the ZQ8 package would give better (4 wheel disc) brakes and sway bars. Fingers crossed, but still searching for bits and pieces or a whole truck

Anyway……still gathering parts. I will update when we get more stuff or start to tear into it.

[craigs73]

SWEET!!!! love vegas....

[HELLCAMINO]

That is awesome! I came across a 72 sedan about a year ago with the factory lime green paint. Needed fully redone, wish I had the room and time for it.

[Rick Dorion]

I remember a long time ago speaking with a sales person from Baldwin-Motion. He said they preferred to modify the vega wagons because they were more stable at high speeds. Nice purchase.

[BulldawgMusclecars]

Nice project! That brings back memories...I remember riding in one of those in my car pool to school in the mid 70's! It was even the same color.

Ever see a Pontiac Astre? I was junkyarding last weekend, and saw two...a coupe, and a wagon that someone had turned into a truck!

[claytonisbob]

Damn, that is a clean Vega. I'm used to them being so rusted the doors are falling off.

[ent72olds]

Awesome find...been looking for one of these vegas for a while. Did find an all original "grandma owned" '71, but when I inquired, I was told by someone selling it for her they need $3500....that was 2 yrs ago. The car is still there! Have fun and I'll be watching....

http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/...r-project.html

[Chevrolaine]

Sweet! And there is no such thing as an ugly Vega!

[Protour_Pinto]

Gotta love the preservation property's of the South West. When I lived in Michigan most projects took twice as long and quite a few trips to Sherman and Associates just for the rust repair. Now in California I take it for granted that I can pick up cars and they will be rust free.

You have a great little to start with. Should be a fun build!

[TonyHuntimer]

Great find! I love Vegas! LS is the best choice for most cars...especially a badass Vega Wagon.

Have fun!

Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

[Motown 454]

I'm with Tony Going to be a sweet ride. Awesome car to start with.

[Zanie]

Not much of an update..as we haven’t done any actual work yet, but we are collecting parts.
We picked up this 2002 stick shift blazer with a front end hit. The stick shift 98 -05 blazers came with 8.5 inch (ring gear) 10 bolt rear end that is 54.5 inches wide (same as the vega). And this one has rear disc brakes to boot! We are also going to use the dual piston disc brake front spindles. We probaly wont' try to adapt the anti-lock to the Vega!

Don’t know what else we might use, but hope find another home for the blazer's 4.3 vortec, get this thing stripped and start working on the actual Vega soon!

[Shiro666]

Wow.

I always thought is a Vega was only kind of rusty, it was still on the assembly line.

Great score and project!

[WILWAXU]

Cool project!

[ChevelleNV]

looks just like my old vega I had when I was a kid...subscribing to this one.

[Kenova]

And this one has rear disc brakes to boot!

It is possible that the rear calipers may hit the brace on the inside of the wheel well.
Some have had interference problems there while others haven't. One solution is to cut out the brace and replace it with a flat piece of plate and some have re-clocked the calipers.

Ken

[belair54]

Vegas are too cool. I drove dads 4 speed '77 in High School, then bought one and drove it for a couple of years in college. Dad was a "treerow" scavenger and would buy them up and keep them in the backyard for parts, at one time we had a total of 9 around. We even ended up with one that had special badging as the "one millionth vega", dad scrapped it out too though but did keep some cool alloys and the badged door handles for conversation. Always wanted to do a smallblock vega, but never happened. Good luck on the build, I will be showing this to dad for a good laugh!

[78CobraII]

I remember my brother hitting the gas in his 350-powered early Vega GT, and the body twisting so much that there was daylight showing in places around the hatch! It actually faired better than his later Vegas which were rusted all the way up into their "A" pillars...

Looking forward to this project, but you should plan on some additional support to counter the V8 torque!

[waybad]

anything done to this cream puff??

[Zanie]

updates way overdue.
engine out


Removed the seats and took off the seat covers...yikes



removed the nose power washed the bottom


put it back on the lift. kinda rust free.


Realized I wanted a T56 so the interior came out.





Then the trans tunnel came out




I don't like vehicles that are impossible to repair, and or that strand you....so I wanted the trans tunnel big enough to get the trans out in a reasonable amount of time. ..so its pretty big. My buddy is a sheet metal guy so we made the trans tunnel on his brake.







checking clearance for bellhousing bolts


dang that trans is big