New member Need help to ID Car

[AGEVSTAR]

Hi All I have been working on the little container car. It has started to revel some interesting things.
5 lug Don Hardy front rotors
12 bolt Don Hardy rear with Posi
toe boards cut and moved back for larger front tires
gas welded sheet metal X brace inside floor
gas welded subframe connectors
drive tunnel moved up in car
solid left front motor mount
hand made sheet metal front spoiler
Buick Riviera quick ratio power steering box
I don't know the size of the engine but it has crower roller rockers
gas welded inner frame bracing
Front wheel wells opened up metal rear fender flares
This car was professionally built I just need to find out where
Thanks for your input

[Biscayne John]

Bethpage is only about 8 miles from where Baldwin Motion was located. The Chevrolet Dealer in Bethpage was Frog Hollow Chevrolet who went out around 1977-78?
Also to note that Bethpage NY was the home to Grumann Aerospace, a lot of metal fab guys lived in the area at that time

[day2vega]

Any chance you can track down the original owner? Any idea when the car was modified? Year of?
You mentioned that there was a box of parts that came from Motion Performance, any idea what parts where originally
In the box? Or if they where shipped to the owner what year?

Just guessing here, maybe the car was originally purchased in NY...Motion performance may have did the custom work
per customer request, than shipped to the Philippines.. Some of the work on your Vega, sheet metal work in the engine comportment really doesn't mimic Motions work that I have seen before, but the owner may have wanted this type of mods done for some reason.... ??

Now can you tell me how you identified the Hardy rear end? Why I ask is I have been lurking around trying to find an original
Hardy rear end I have came a crossed a couple that the owners says the rear is Hardy but no way of identifying that it is..

[AGEVSTAR]

The original owner moved to an island near GUAM then he was lost track of. Im am still trying through snail.
The box was sent from Motion It was an Accell distributor box had nuts and bolts in it. The car does have a Acccell Dist.
I have to agree with you some of the chassis modifications do not look like Motion some do they look more like a road race modifications. Especially the toe boards "big job" and front wheel wells which are not just cut they also have the inner lip reinstalled
One thing I did not mention I thought the headers were Herbert and Meek but they are stamped JRheaders on some of the primary tubes. JR or Junior Headers was purchased by Hedman they were located for a time in NJ.
The rotors have Don Hardy Race Cars cast in them. The rear axel wheel flanges have DHRC stamped in them. So I guess it is possible that the housing was narrowed come place else but not likely with all the other done.
The original color of the car was light browns and now has flaking red lacquer.
From some of the info I have the car was originally built in 1972 73 then a repaint some years later?
The steering box Full size Buick never seen that and the Motor mounts are ones I have never seen. With left side bushing almost solid and right side a conventional rubber chevy mount.
Large sway bars front 1 1/8" and rear 1".
7 quart oil pan and polished case TH400.
Also exhaust is not built with a exhaust shop tube bender it is pieced together with tube bends.

[AGEVSTAR]

Biscayne John Thank you for the local insight. The craftsmanship and many of feet of gas welding in the car would lead me to believe that some aircraft metal pro had something to do with this. Most every sheet metal seam in the car is gas welded together! RIght now I have the engine running well. The brake system rebuild is almost complete ( I have been driving it around on the e brake ) The front brake calipers are soaking in Navel Jelly going to rebuild today. I purchased some rebuilt ones on ebay but the castings were beat up. The rear backing plates are 1971 impala with large police wheel cylinders. My local Autozone had two dusty box ones in stock. I could not wait for a Vega master cylinder so I installed a 1970 Impala manual brake master. I removed the brake pedal link rod from the chromed Vega master then removed the snap ring from the new impala master made a short spacer for the center of the impala master installed the Vega pedal link and link cap and snap ring and installed in car. The new impala master looks a lot like a later model Monza master but Autozone did not have any masters listed for the Monza.
Thank again

[b_pappy]

Glad you are doing so well with the car.
I thought Arnold (where you bought it from) had some more insight into its origins. My thinking the owner was probably aircraft mechanic in the military. Hoping to see it again when you get it sorted.
Bruce

[day2vega]

Very interesting piece of history, time capsule...Not sure what your plans are for the car, if it was me I would keep it
as close to the original build. Not very often you can find a Vega with a great history and unique one at that.
Anyone can modify and do updates using today's parts but that just makes it just another modified Vega from this era.

Interesting, from what I know(very little)about Hardy rear ends he did use the large Impala drums. Could be an original.

[AGEVSTAR]

I am doing just that Keeping it as found. And keeping all the old parts that came on the car. I cant replace the front rotors so I will eventually remove them save them and put something else on.
My main plans are to drive it make tire smoke.

[T-FATTY]

Love the wheel well mod, looks cool. Cant wait to see better pics of it.