Jon Elson wrote:

Tim Wescott wrote:

wrote:

I hate to admit this, but when I was poor, young and dumb in the
mid-70's I owned two of the cars in this book - 1974 Mustang II and
1973 Chevy Vega.

The only thing good about the Vega is it had a heated rear window, so
your hands didn't get cold when you had to push it!

Now own a 2005 Honda Accord coupe.

Ed Ferguson

Hey! I resemble that remark!

I waited for years for the engine in my Vega to crap out so I could
swap in something bigger -- finally something electrical died; I
called it good enough. Now if I could just finish the job...

Why, you may ask, am I shoving a V6 into a Vega? Because even though
it is a living, rusting example of what happens when consumers ask for
"inexpensive" and get "cheap", the styling just can't be beat.


V-6? Hell, the Vega was DESIGNED to accept a small-block V-8!
Ever wonder why the engine compartment looked like the engine
room on a BOAT? To keep the weight balance within reason, an
aluminum V-8 might be a good option.

I know. The easiest route would have been to find a V8 kit and change
to an automatic.

I had a discussion about this with my dad, who's forgotten more about
high performance cars than I'll ever learn. He felt that unless I
wanted to rip out the rear suspension and do extensive modifications I
shouldn't exceed 200 horsepower. _I_ felt that 200 honest horsepower
would be plenty for a street driver, and reachable with a 3.4L V-6.

Since I want to go around corners weight is a concern, and since I want
to pay for this in my lifetime an aluminum block is probably not in the
cards. But I'm putting a 5-speed behind the V-6, which should be
equivalent to an automatic and at least 25 more horsepower (automatic
transmissions are for weenies).

Styling? Vegas HAD styling? Hmmm, maybe in 1976 they looked OK,
if I saw a Vega on the road today, I think I'd laugh.

Jon

To each their own. It's a '71, which I find quite Camero-like.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

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