Hello. Wanting to write a book.... Help...

[Grumpywildman1973]

I have reached out and had a nice little conversation with Bob the editor over at CarTech publishing. My desire is to write a how to book about the Chevy Vega and the h body platform. Also want to include history of both production as well as other cars like the Baldwin motion and yenko etc. will touch base with race cars through the years. I have some knowledge of the Vega and a love for it. But I certainly do not know everything. Like wise I know almost nothing about the other cars produced in this platform. So I am reaching out to you guys in the community. First I need to hear what you guys really want to see in the book and what you want covered like different swaps or where to get parts etc. then I can compile a detailed table of contents or a summary to them for consideration. If accepted then I will be reaching out to you guys to help me with the how to articles with photos and confirming history etc. will be looking for some photos of different cars thru the years to be shared etc. this I feel would be a great asset to our community. But it will not be possible without your help!! Thank you guys!!

[dindin]

Hi, great idea!! Just this forum is kinda dying due to Facebook..but I'm sure you'll find alot of information here,just not much activity.

Good luck these cars deserve to have a book written about them!!

Al

[Grumpywildman1973]

Yes I will admit that Facebook groups are very quick and easy. But I remember the old days of the forums... Date I say that.... And the plethora of information within them. Just a matter of finding it and gathering it. I will also be perusing the sister site .org. Thank you

[hammerdown7]

Interesting idea. One place to research here is to go through the Project Journals. They cover just about anything that has been tried with an h-body, there are thousands of entries.

Dick

[vegastre]

Hmmm...

No easy task for sure. Face book is fine but within the posts of this forum is the detailed history of the H-Body plat form which is extensive. Problem is you will have to dig and I mean deep dive with an enormous passion for this vehicle to understand just the subtle basics of these cars. My point, I have owned a H-Bopdy(s) for 40 years and I'm not about to at this late date re-write, re-hash these cars to make your job easy when it's all here if you want to dig. Possibly others will but I doubt it because this site/forum is deader than a door nail as my old Pappy use to say.

[Grumpywildman1973]

Lol I completely understand. Yes there will be a plethora of digging probably mostly on h body dot org site where most everything is already archived. Obviously everything could not possibly be covered. But my objective is to get ad much covered in a broad spectrum that pertains to most of the cars and people. I know it will be of no short order to accomplish by any means! But as you said one had to dig deep. Like yourself many of the "old timers" for the lack of a better term are tired of saying the same thing over again. That is why it is getting harder and harder to find the information that people are seeking. The younger generations who were kids when these cars came out have fond memories of them and are now getting our own and building them. Many of us are not familiar with all of the modifications and swaps that could be done. The old magazines are getting lost etc. so it's harder for us to research it and find the information needed. That's why I desire to try to collect what I can and gather it into one place. These little cars are slowly making a come back as they come out of hiding from garages where they have been hiding. Like in my cars case it had been hiding and forgotten by the world for 38 years laying dormant in a garage. The cars are becoming fewer and further.. But they still exist. As original owners are getting older or too old to do any thing with them. Or even worse dying and these cars are coming out of their hiding places.. Its younger generations are finding them and falling in love with their platform.

[stage169]

Sounds cool! Thinking out loud if you had an idea of how you would section out your book maybe people would be willing to suggest or direct you to items they know about? Big job for sure.

As for the production side of it if you are interested I have the majority of GM option reports for the start of the Vega to the end of the Monza and other 2nd gen H's. The only years I'm missing are 78 & 79 for the Buick Skyhawk. If you are not aware of this site I think you will enjoy the amount of information here http://monza.homestead.com/monza.html Bryan has accumulated a ton of information on the 2nd gen H's.

[vegastre]

Like in my cars case it had been hiding and forgotten by the world for 38 years laying dormant in a garage.

I admire your words. Your case is more the exception than the norm. The reality is their are H-Bodies out there but not in garages. These forgotten hulks are sitting as we speak languishing in fields, back yards rusting away beyond repair. Reading up on the history of the car will explain a lot. Most notably, GM for the first time produced these cars with planned obsolescence in the cars DNA. The big joke was that these cars would start rusting out on the dealerships show room floors. The H-Body platform was the most produced platform in GM history at one time but where are they now? You don't see them on the roads today and if you do count yourself lucky. This explains the Interest and you are correct building one of these cars today is like opening King Tut's Tomb.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46255

Very few seriously collect these cars the rest go into collectors hands as a novelty more than anything else. If I was to write a book on the GM H-Body platform it would be based more on the deliciously delightful Hot Rod history of the H-Body starting with the Vega.

[Grumpywildman1973]

Thank you guys so far.. I am working on my table of contents rough draft. Hope to get it posted later today or tomorrow. Then yall will see what kind of direction in heading in. Maybe help me fine tune it or add a little too it... Thanks