Thread: 73 chevy vega

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is this a good car? Im thinking about possibly buying one, are they good for dragging?

It's a light car with good weight distribution, if you take it to the track.
The engine bay will hold most small block chevy's (I remember having to gently persuade the firewall to get room for the distributor).
Plenty of companies still make parts that fit.

If it's what you want...

Are you kidding? That was one of the most raced cars on the strip. Everybody made engine swap kits and fiberglass stuff for Vegas. You could even put a big-block in without much problem. Used to see plenty on the street. Lots of funny cars used that body-style. Go for it! True retro!

If you want to drive it on the street. A 327 makes a good street motor. You dont need much torque(just my opinion) Last year I sold a 77 vega hb.Iwas told it was a 20 year old Jegs chassis built through the original floorboard. It had a good narrowed up12 bolt ,glide with a good converter and a stock bore 350. In 7 years adjusted the valves twice, had to guess at it then because i didn't know what cam was in it.and never botherer to find out The slicks were about as old as the car,and the rear shocks were shot. Iwould run 10:70s--- 10:80s about 122mphSometimes when I didn"t have racing fuel I would use 93 octane amoco with a can of octane boost. Didn't make much difference. At Super Chevy we ran 1/8 mile a 6:80--6:83--6:81 back to back. 102mph. That wasn;t me,I'm not that good. No electronics either! My Friends wanted me to put my good motor in it,But to me that was a$6000 car. You add A $6000 motor ,And ,It's still a $6000 car and you just gave away a $6000 motor if you sell it.I think the car had a lot left if I had taken more interest.

'73 Vega brings back memories for me. If you need motivation to put in a V8 and forget all the hype about a hot 4 cyl here is what the stock was like. I bought one new, a nice two door wagon. I also paid over $100 extra for the "Rally Pack" which turned out to be a decal on the speedometer which showed Km/hour next to the mph values! At 17,000 miles it was burning 1 qt./1000 miles and smoking considerably! Of course the aluminum block did not have steel sleeves! The "theory" was that the block alloy had about 17% silicon oxide in the aluminum and THEN nitric acid was used to etch the inner walls of the cylinders leaving a honeycomb of silicon oxide so that "the pistons will slide on glass". Yeah, but that honeycomb held oil which burned on the way down on the power stroke! So, don't even think twice about yanking out the original 4 cyl and buying whatever kit you can find to install a V8, although the other chassis mods. may require professional help, even a stock 327 or 350 should result in amazing performance on the street. However, another problem was that they seemed to rust away while you watched, so check the body for extensive rust and if you build one give it another undercoat treatment.

Don Shillady
Retired SCientist/teen rodder

what ever happened to those rare factory 302 vegas? I think they made a few in 70....I have only seen one and was years ago...

My parents had one way back a red 70 with black ralley stripes... I would love to have that car today....Go for it....

Dr_bowtie,

The Vega did not come out until 71, and Chevy never produced a 302 after 69 so you my be confused. There were a number of dealers that produced V8 Vegas. I had a 72 Vega Wagon and put a 283 in it while I was stationed in Germany with the Air Force. Had to uese whatever engine I could find. With a 283 and stock powerglide it ran mid to high 14s. I had to rely on mail order mounts from Motion performance and whatever I could scrounge. Mine had a Mercedes radiator and tail pipes from a mercedes diesel truck.

terbo racer, they are a great little go fast car when converted to a V-8. They did have a problem with rust, check carefully around the tops of the front fenders and the cowl.

Have fun with it.

Pat