Stock Vega Pic. needed

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Postby res0o7eb » Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:26 am

That's weird-looking. The tubes are actually in the exhaust ports of the head.
I thought most smog systems put them in the exhaust manifolds.
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That is it

Postby E.Groscup » Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:47 am

Yes, that is the piece I am missing. Since the tubes go into the head, I will need one also. Someone must have changed mine as it does not have the ports. Anybody want to deal? Thank you all for your great response. Erik
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Postby cos2482 » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:14 am

Erik,
Your best bet is to find a NOS 77 head. For some reason, maybe thinner walled casting, I don't know, these 77 heads seemed to suffer from internal hairline cracks.
I pulled five 77 heads from a junkyard in the mid 80's, had them all magnafluxed, all were cracked in the same place internally. I ended up purchasing a new 77 head from GM.
I have never had an internal head crack in a 71-76.
Jim
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Postby E.Groscup » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:58 pm

Well, now we probably know why my car ended up with an earlier head. I really need to get this thing smogged, so let's start with the pulse air valve. If you have an extra, please let me know. It has to be on the car to pass the visual inspection. The real annoying part of this is that the car does pass the tailpipe test without it. Erik
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Postby cammerjeff » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:11 am

The problem seemed to afect the 77-78 Iron dukes also. My 77 Iron Duke used the same "pulse" system, and came from CA with a cracked head. I couldn't find a CA emissions head here in MI, but I did find a rebuilt NON-emissions head for $135.00. I would call around for a rebuilt head also.
As for other cars that used the same system, 77 2.3's were only in Vega's/Monza's & Astre Coupe's (optional on HB's & Wagons) and maybe Starfires, I don't know the Olds H-bodies very well.
Simalure systems on the 1.6 Chevette engines, and 2.5 Iron Duke's. Unfortunatly I think you will have to buy a complete head from a yard, I don't think you will be able to remove the tubes from the head without HEAT!!!!!! That is if you can find a caror truck (don't forget that early S-10's came with iron dukes as well) with it. Good luck with your search.
Jeff R

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77 Astre Formula, some day soon powered by a 215 Buick V-8
1973 4-speed Lemans Safari STOCK!!!!! 1978 Catalina Safari
2006 Mallet Solstice, 6.0 LS2, 6-speed manual
2009 Solstice Coupe, 2.4, 5-speed Manual
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Postby spyder_xlch » Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:22 am

I would think you could run the tubes into the exhaust manifold. May help to save cracking a head too.
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Postby E.Groscup » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:56 pm

Good thought Spyder. What may need to happen is for me to braze some fittings on the head without drilling it, hide them under a nice coat of paint and bolting that mess on. All it has to do is look unmolested. The fact that it is missing is the only thing holding me back. I have already tried a "pre test", and it is running clean enough to pass. Anybody have a spare one? Let's deal. My local wrecking yard has only seen one Vega in the last 10 years and it was the remains of a circle track racer. Chevette? rare as the Vega. Few wrecking yards around here like to hold on to the older stuff. Erik
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Postby cos2482 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:43 pm

Erik,
If you do find a good 77 head and pulse-air tubes, make sure you also get the steel Y-tube that connects the pulse-air system and the valve cover vent to the air cleaner.
All these parts are near extinct. Good luck!
Jim
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Postby cos2482 » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:38 am

Erik,
I would try another emissions inspector. I can’t believe that a visual inspection defaults passing actual emission results on any 31 year old car, but I don’t know your states emission rules.
If you are truly interested about getting your 77 historically correct, emission wise, do a search at http://www.car-part.com/
Select year=1977
Select Make Model= Chevy Vega
Select Part= Cylinder Head ( Engine)
Hit Search,
You know the 3 major parts that you are looking for. (Head, pulse air-tubes and the air cleaner y-tube) Prices are fairly cheap for the rarity, e-mail contacts and-or phone numbers are accessible there. I would say that the chances of getting a cracked head might be high, I could be wrong. Chances may be better if the car died of collision rather than engine failure. Its there to go, if you are serious.
Just be sure to affirm that the 77 Vega you part from, actually still has the 77 head.
Car-Parts as a parts source has been good to me so far.
Jim
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Postby E.Groscup » Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:29 am

Jim, thanks for the lead. Ca. smog can be really strict. All of the original equipment has to be present. You can replace worn out components ie catalytic converter, but an aftermarket air filter housing will fail. One used to be able to get a varience for an engine change, if you put an earlier engine in, it had to meet the earlier specs. No more. Ca. wants to take all of the fun out of owning and enjoying our cars. Erik
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Postby hammerdown7 » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:35 am

CA had a thirty year roll on emissions, meaning that once your car model was at least 30 years old it didn't need to pass anymore. The law was changed in 2006 stopping the roll forward. Now any car made in 1976 and up has to pass and they are especially tight on visual inspections, it doesn't matter if you have made changes to make the car emission free, if it doesn't look like the factory made it you don't pass.
Dick
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Postby cos2482 » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:13 pm

Erik,

The first set of engine pics that I posted where of my 77 hatchback. I ordered that car from Chevrolet with all my favorite options and colors at the end of 76. I have owned that car since new, 31 years now. To date, I have only replaced the timing belt, hoses, plugs and wires. At only 59k original miles, it still runs like new.

The second set of engine pics are of my 77 Estate. I took that motor out for a refresh. That has the new head that I bought from GM in the eighties. When I first bought that car as used, I had replaced the head gasket twice trying to track down a slow oil/coolant mix. Little did I know at that time that it was the cracked head. I eventually learned the hard way how common that problem was.

Of all the Vegas that I have owned, the 76 Dura-Built motors were the best. I twice ran those motors to around 150K with little more than routine maintenance, timing belts and valve seals. Rust was what took those cars off the road.

Since our New York emission laws seem to follow Ca. eventually, I have to thank you for bringing the rarity, and the need to retain these parts to my attention.

As Hammerdown7 once said on this board, “It’s the curves, not the head snapping acceleration” that keeps me running the Vega engines. I quite understand.
Good luck.

Jim
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Postby spyder_xlch » Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:57 pm

Where I live in PA we only have visual. Larger counties have tail pipe as well. I just transfered a Monza that's already titled as classic. I hope the DMV leaves it as classic when it comes back to me because classics are exempt from emissions.
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Postby res0o7eb » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:52 pm

cos2482 wrote:As Hammerdown7 once said on this board, “It’s the curves, not the head snapping acceleration” that keeps me running the Vega engines. I quite understand.
Good luck.

Jim
I couldn't agree more. I hope to experience the corner-carving ability of my 77 Pontiac Sunbird with a modestly-built 151 cu. in. L-4 Iron Duke in it soon. And in the future, swap it with a Pontiac Super Duty L-4.
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Postby E.Groscup » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:02 pm

Good news, I have everything that was missing. I sent out 12 queries to wrecking yards in cars-parts.com. One gave me an automated reply to call during the week, the other was the question "what is a pulse air valve?" As a hail mary I put two wanted ads on the San Diego county craigslist. The next morning I had a response for pretty much a whole 77 motor with a low mile rebuilt head. 15 minutes from my house, really cheap and a nice guy to boot. He has a very low mile early Vega wagon. I am going to send him a link to the org. Thank you all for your replies. It looks like I am intended to drive a Vega for a while. Anybody have a rear spoiler for a wagon? Erik
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