How they shipped Chevrolet Vegas
- Thread starter Rick in PA
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Originally Posted By: demarpaint
That's pretty cool. I guess they didn't have a problem with fluids spilling out.
The car was specifically engineered so that no fluids would leak out when shipped this way. This includes the battery. I'm pretty sure that the sealed "maintenance free" Delco batteries made their debut in this car.
That's pretty cool. I guess they didn't have a problem with fluids spilling out.
The car was specifically engineered so that no fluids would leak out when shipped this way. This includes the battery. I'm pretty sure that the sealed "maintenance free" Delco batteries made their debut in this car.
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Pretty sure they had no problem leaking fluids once put to use.
You'll find shipping concessions on other cars if you look hard enough. Flip in mirrors are pretty obvious, and the "emergency tow hook" is how they tied them down.
Mazda scrapped a bunch of brand new cars that listed eighty degrees in a shipwreck. They didn't want to tarnish their name.
Mazda scrapped a bunch of brand new cars that listed eighty degrees in a shipwreck. They didn't want to tarnish their name.
My '73 GT was the first year they used a Saginaw 4-speed instead of the Opel unit. I believe it was so they could claim it was 100% made in the USA, presumably a poke at the Pinto which I think used a German Ford powertrain.
It also had a high-temp thermostat, perhaps 210 F or so for emissions but I swapped it for something more conventional which improved performance.
It also had a high-temp thermostat, perhaps 210 F or so for emissions but I swapped it for something more conventional which improved performance.
Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, I so wished that the Vega was a better car. Cast iron head on an aluminum block.
Oh, your engine warped. Wanna buy another Chevy?
That's why all these creeps can go out of business and die as far as I'm concerned. Kira
GM, more so than any other carmaker has produced plenty of models that were unnecessarily utter junk. From the Vega, to the Chevette, to the Citation and on and on and on. Many, with critical flaws. It's no wonder they went bankrupt.
Hello, I so wished that the Vega was a better car. Cast iron head on an aluminum block.
Oh, your engine warped. Wanna buy another Chevy?
That's why all these creeps can go out of business and die as far as I'm concerned. Kira
GM, more so than any other carmaker has produced plenty of models that were unnecessarily utter junk. From the Vega, to the Chevette, to the Citation and on and on and on. Many, with critical flaws. It's no wonder they went bankrupt.
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Originally Posted By: ms21043
I had a few of those. One of them had a 350 in it, pretty useless on the street, all it did was spin tires. One I dropped a Buick 231 V6 into, gas mileage was the same as the original engine. GM should have put a V6 in these things.
The engine that they SHOULD have put into the Chevette was the old 2.5L, 153 ci, 4 cylinder engine that they had used in the Chevy II/Nova cars from the sixties. A couple of years ago, I sold my 69 Nova that had this engine in it. It was still original and this engine had enough power that it could have easily moved the Vega. This engine would have been a good match for the Vega and then the only thing that would have sidelined the Vega would have been rust. But no, GM had to show the world how "advanced" they were at engine building by putting an overhead cam engine into the Vega. The only modification that I had done to my engine was to install an HEI distributor. AFAIK, the buyer is still driving that car.
On a side note, my cousin had a Vega in the 70s. She got a new engine out of it simply because GM was trying to save face with the Vega and extended the warranty on the Vega engine to (I believe) a whopping 50K miles.
I had a few of those. One of them had a 350 in it, pretty useless on the street, all it did was spin tires. One I dropped a Buick 231 V6 into, gas mileage was the same as the original engine. GM should have put a V6 in these things.
The engine that they SHOULD have put into the Chevette was the old 2.5L, 153 ci, 4 cylinder engine that they had used in the Chevy II/Nova cars from the sixties. A couple of years ago, I sold my 69 Nova that had this engine in it. It was still original and this engine had enough power that it could have easily moved the Vega. This engine would have been a good match for the Vega and then the only thing that would have sidelined the Vega would have been rust. But no, GM had to show the world how "advanced" they were at engine building by putting an overhead cam engine into the Vega. The only modification that I had done to my engine was to install an HEI distributor. AFAIK, the buyer is still driving that car.
On a side note, my cousin had a Vega in the 70s. She got a new engine out of it simply because GM was trying to save face with the Vega and extended the warranty on the Vega engine to (I believe) a whopping 50K miles.
Originally Posted By: ms21043
I had a few of those. One of them had a 350 in it, pretty useless on the street, all it did was spin tires. One I dropped a Buick 231 V6 into, gas mileage was the same as the original engine. GM should have put a V6 in these things.
GM did offer the 231 V/6 in them, kind of.
The Chevy Vega and Pontiac Astre were both H-Body cars, but so were the Chevy Monzas, Buick Skyhawks, Oldsmobile Starfires, and Pontiac Sunbirds, all of which were available with the 231 V/6 (standard equipment on the Buick). These "other" H-Body cars were pretty much all Vega under the skin, even sharing the exact same wheel base, track width, and suspension.
GM came out with all of these other H-Body models in 1974/1975 to try and recoup the huge engineering, development, and tooling costs that they had invested in the Vega. By the time that all of these other models were introduced, they couldn't give Vegas away because of their bad reputation. All of these cars (except the Buick) came standard with the "revised" 2.3L 4cyl Vega engine, but by 1977 the 2.3L was replaced by the 2.5L 4cyl "Iron Duke".
I had a few of those. One of them had a 350 in it, pretty useless on the street, all it did was spin tires. One I dropped a Buick 231 V6 into, gas mileage was the same as the original engine. GM should have put a V6 in these things.
GM did offer the 231 V/6 in them, kind of.
The Chevy Vega and Pontiac Astre were both H-Body cars, but so were the Chevy Monzas, Buick Skyhawks, Oldsmobile Starfires, and Pontiac Sunbirds, all of which were available with the 231 V/6 (standard equipment on the Buick). These "other" H-Body cars were pretty much all Vega under the skin, even sharing the exact same wheel base, track width, and suspension.
GM came out with all of these other H-Body models in 1974/1975 to try and recoup the huge engineering, development, and tooling costs that they had invested in the Vega. By the time that all of these other models were introduced, they couldn't give Vegas away because of their bad reputation. All of these cars (except the Buick) came standard with the "revised" 2.3L 4cyl Vega engine, but by 1977 the 2.3L was replaced by the 2.5L 4cyl "Iron Duke".
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This version of the Vega was ahead of its time.. Modified in this video, but sounds really good doing 147 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mul_2zO-Myw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mul_2zO-Myw
Originally Posted By: ms21043
This version of the Vega was ahead of its time.. Modified in this video, but sounds really good doing 147 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mul_2zO-Myw
I remember seeing a Cosworth Vega in the dealer showroom and reading about them. If I remember correctly, it was black with gold accents. They struck me as kind of a successor to the Corvair Spyder, a small technically advanced Chevy.
This version of the Vega was ahead of its time.. Modified in this video, but sounds really good doing 147 mph.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mul_2zO-Myw
I remember seeing a Cosworth Vega in the dealer showroom and reading about them. If I remember correctly, it was black with gold accents. They struck me as kind of a successor to the Corvair Spyder, a small technically advanced Chevy.
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
You'll find shipping concessions on other cars if you look hard enough. Flip in mirrors are pretty obvious, and the "emergency tow hook" is how they tied them down.
Mazda scrapped a bunch of brand new cars that listed eighty degrees in a shipwreck. They didn't want to tarnish their name.
I always notice the hook under the rear bumper of Honda Civics.
You'll find shipping concessions on other cars if you look hard enough. Flip in mirrors are pretty obvious, and the "emergency tow hook" is how they tied them down.
Mazda scrapped a bunch of brand new cars that listed eighty degrees in a shipwreck. They didn't want to tarnish their name.
I always notice the hook under the rear bumper of Honda Civics.
Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
Wow. This takes me back. That olive green Vega in the foreground could have been my dad's. He bought one new in '73 to use for his daily commute. Then my older brother and I used it at various times when we went to college. In our family we had probably 9 Vega's. It was a better car than that four-man hibachi called the Pinto. But the Pinto had a better engine, I'll grant that.
I had a blue '75 with a 4-speed as my college beater. Bought it for $800, then dad and I rebuilt the engine with iron sleeves. I drove it for 5 years, then I sold it to a friend for $200.
Dad, my brother, and I put a Buick V6 in a light-blue '72, then he gave it to my oldest brother before I could get my license. That was wise on his part.
My brother and I built a V8 Vega with a 327 and Turbo 400 trans out of a '68 station wagon. We kept the original rear end in it, then my brother crushed the spider gears doing neutral drops with it. Then we put in a narrowed 10-bolt. I got arrested for drag racing in it. My brother still has it.
I have owned two Cosworth Vega's; a black '75 4-speed, and a firethorne '76 5-speed. I still have the '75.
We had a dark green '71 3-speed for a while that we put snow tires on all 4 corners and used as kind of a rally car on the dirt roads around town. I don't even remember how we disposed of that one.
My aunt had a green '74 outfitted with all the luxury items. She was a devotee of large American cars, but after the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, everybody was buying small cars. So she bought one and drove it for a couple of years, then went back to big cars.
I bought a '77 Vega as a beater car after grauduating college and moving to New Jersey. After it was used up in the North Jersey road wars, I sold it to a junk yard, and actually pulled parts from it years later to keep the '78 Buick Skyhawk V6 that I bought as a replacement beater running.
Now that I have confessed my history of Vega abuse, do you suppose I will get banned from BITOG?
Wow. This takes me back. That olive green Vega in the foreground could have been my dad's. He bought one new in '73 to use for his daily commute. Then my older brother and I used it at various times when we went to college. In our family we had probably 9 Vega's. It was a better car than that four-man hibachi called the Pinto. But the Pinto had a better engine, I'll grant that.
I had a blue '75 with a 4-speed as my college beater. Bought it for $800, then dad and I rebuilt the engine with iron sleeves. I drove it for 5 years, then I sold it to a friend for $200.
Dad, my brother, and I put a Buick V6 in a light-blue '72, then he gave it to my oldest brother before I could get my license. That was wise on his part.
My brother and I built a V8 Vega with a 327 and Turbo 400 trans out of a '68 station wagon. We kept the original rear end in it, then my brother crushed the spider gears doing neutral drops with it. Then we put in a narrowed 10-bolt. I got arrested for drag racing in it. My brother still has it.
I have owned two Cosworth Vega's; a black '75 4-speed, and a firethorne '76 5-speed. I still have the '75.
We had a dark green '71 3-speed for a while that we put snow tires on all 4 corners and used as kind of a rally car on the dirt roads around town. I don't even remember how we disposed of that one.
My aunt had a green '74 outfitted with all the luxury items. She was a devotee of large American cars, but after the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, everybody was buying small cars. So she bought one and drove it for a couple of years, then went back to big cars.
I bought a '77 Vega as a beater car after grauduating college and moving to New Jersey. After it was used up in the North Jersey road wars, I sold it to a junk yard, and actually pulled parts from it years later to keep the '78 Buick Skyhawk V6 that I bought as a replacement beater running.
Now that I have confessed my history of Vega abuse, do you suppose I will get banned from BITOG?
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The old cast iron four was considered too heavy for the car and was much heavier than the Vega engine in its orginal form.
By the time Chevy beefed the Vega engine up to the point that it would offer decent durability, it wasn't all that much lighter than the old iron block pushrod four.
The engines that Chevy should have used existed in GM's Euro parts bins.
Vauxhall had an excellent 2.3 liter four while Opel had a fine 1.9 liter four.
Either or both would have been a much better choice for the Vega than either the original alloy block four or the old cast iron one.
Ford was always a lot more clever in using its Euro parts bins than GM was.
The Pinto initially came with either the Brit 1600 or the German two liter.
Much later, when needing a couple of V-6s, Ford used the Brit Ford V-6 design to build the three liter Vulcan for countless Aerostars and Tauruses and the German V-6 for the engines of many Aerostars and Explorers.
GM never had a sucessful Euro import.
Ford had both the original Capri and the Fiesta.
OTOH, when Ford won Jaguar, GM was probably the real winner, since Ford squandered untold sums of money on the marque only to dump it at a distressed price to some Indian tractor maker.
Judging by its current range, Jaguar hasn't suffered in the hands of Tata, though.
By the time Chevy beefed the Vega engine up to the point that it would offer decent durability, it wasn't all that much lighter than the old iron block pushrod four.
The engines that Chevy should have used existed in GM's Euro parts bins.
Vauxhall had an excellent 2.3 liter four while Opel had a fine 1.9 liter four.
Either or both would have been a much better choice for the Vega than either the original alloy block four or the old cast iron one.
Ford was always a lot more clever in using its Euro parts bins than GM was.
The Pinto initially came with either the Brit 1600 or the German two liter.
Much later, when needing a couple of V-6s, Ford used the Brit Ford V-6 design to build the three liter Vulcan for countless Aerostars and Tauruses and the German V-6 for the engines of many Aerostars and Explorers.
GM never had a sucessful Euro import.
Ford had both the original Capri and the Fiesta.
OTOH, when Ford won Jaguar, GM was probably the real winner, since Ford squandered untold sums of money on the marque only to dump it at a distressed price to some Indian tractor maker.
Judging by its current range, Jaguar hasn't suffered in the hands of Tata, though.
Corporate politics had something to do with the Vega engine. Chevrolet had a nice OHC iron block, aluminum head engine for the car, and Engineering Staff designed the aluminum block, iron head engine that was selected for production. Low manufacturing costs are probably what swayed the decision. The die-cast aluminum linerless block had been a dream for a long time at GM.
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