peterpans 72 vega

[NixVegaGT]

I patterned mine after Ray's. It worked out great. I took a different approach and sealed up the new frame rails by forming the pinch weld from the rockers to the new frame rail and welding the length. Then I cut a couple pieces of sheet to fit the floor under the front seats and welded that in. It was a lot of extra work but it really turned out. Being from MN I'm hyper paranoid about rust so I'm taking extra steps the whole way to avoid any posibility of it starting somewhere.

I also wanted to try the chassis foam stiffening trick and wanted a number of closed spaces to do that in... I'm also planning on flushing out the back foot wells with the new frame rails so I'll have more room for exhaust...

Here's a link to my Ray inspired frame rails:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2357894/6

I still need to add some later pix where everything is cleaned up. It looks pretty dirty in the build pix. In the end it was fun and I learned how to weld. Thanks Ray.

[peterpan]

nics frame rails look awsome definitly worth looking at if you are thinking about going this way

after all winter sand basting and welding my under body and under hood are in primer just finished spraying it

now i'm waiting for primer to dry so i can sand the dust off the engine bay before painting it gloss black

that damm sand got everywhere just when i thought i got it all the paint gun found more

i was going to paint it all body color but that would of locked me to that color this way if i don't like the color or find a new color i can change it

pics soon

[peterpan]

these are some pics of it in primer its painted black now but no pics of that yet

[peterpan]

more pics

[peterpan]

started bolting the front suspension in today but not sure how i'm going to compess the springs yet

[mldeolde]

love your paint work!!!!!!!!!!!!! WANNA COME TO cALIFORNIA AND DO A MONZA??????

[peterpan]

no but if you brought it here i would gladly help you do it

[peterpan]

i am starting to get excited again it all most feels like it did in the begining

my cars story sorry for the spelling and bad grammer

it all started when i seen a early vega here in town i loved the way it looked but i wasn't hooked yet
what cemented a vega in my mind was a baldwin motion super vega die cast car that i stumbled across in a hobby shop in salt lake city i bought it for 40 bucks and it was cemented in my mind i had to have one
i went to the local junk yard to get a wheel for my work car and asked if he had any early vegas just for shits and giggles but i'll be damned he said he had a few early 71 to 73s and a hand full of 74 to 77s and some astre wagons and monzas he took me around to see them i liked the blue one i said and asked how much 500 bucks he said i went home to think about it 3 days later i went back with 300 bucks and my tow truck made a 300 dollar offer and towed it home

started looking on the web and found v8monza with alot of good people and info then this site if it wasn't for them my vega would of been abandonded a long time ago thanks to every one who has helped with advice,info,parts and freindship

that was so much fun then i got a little burned out sand blasting the under body and engine bay i started hating to work on my car
but now i'm starting to put it back together with either brand new or cleaned and painted parts its so nice to see progress again

i spent about an hour sitting on a bucket looking at it the best hour i have had with it sence last summer

[peterpan]

bought more new parts inner and outer tie rod ends tie rod sleeves idler arm and center link checker had some of them in stock but they had to order most of them i'll see if they show up or not

[peterpan]

finnally back on all 4 tires

just finihed putting the rear end in

i just couldn't help myself i had to push it out side so i could stand back and look at it

[bugdewde]

Looking very Baldwin Motion like......... I can see you getting excited again. Your work is awe inspiring. I can't wait to see it completed..... Keep up the great work.

[zeke]

Good work, can't wait to see er done! Love the 5 spokes.

[vegafrog]

Yep it won't be long now! You'll start picking up steam on it!

[mldeolde]

YEA AND JUST IN TIME FOR THE SPRING THAW TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peterpan]

its fun to work on it again instead of just pluging away at the crappy stuff that has to be done blasting sucked
i should have alot more done to it on my next days off

it feels good to show progress on it even though the doors and fenders are just sitting on it not bolted up its a roller again