77 Vega project

[clyoatis]

Hi all... New guy here...

I have been wondering around your site here for awhile with the intentions of doing a v8 Vega. I just picked up a 76 Vega that I plan on going through. I am sure I will have many questions along the way. I have read through several of the project threads and what knot and I must say I am very impressed with some of the skills that you guys have. I am an auto tech by trade but I don't do alot with welding and body work so I'm sure I will have to learn alot of things along the way. I hope buy doing this thread it may save me some time and money by getting input from people that have "been there and done that" if you will.

Alittle about the car. It is a 76 and the guy I got it from has a 305 with a 700r4 trans sitting in it. He said it was out a 85 Monte Carlo. I got a box with some parts that he removed. It doesn't look like he got very far with it. first problem I see is the car had power steering and the power steering pump will not bolt up with the way the front engine plates/mounts are installed. So it is very hard to steer. We did drive the car onto the trailor tho. Car has some rust around lower front fenders behind the wheels and some rust on the rear hatch. Someone primered the car several years back it looks like. I am sure there are other things aswell that will pop up along the way. I do not see this being a fast build by any means due to the fact I don't have unlimited funds. I plan on posting pics of the car later today and I will update with pics and stuff as I go along.

Please feel free to comment on ideas that I share of if you have a better way of doing something or if you see that I am doing something all wrong..lol

Cly

[Wizeguyrc]

Welcome. Look forward to seeing your project. Pictures will go a long way as far as getting detailed input from the guys on here. There is a wealth of great information to tap into. I learn something every day on here.
Are you wanting to keep the power steering or are you looking at changing to a manual box?

[clyoatis]

Well I got the car unloaded this morning and at least got it in the garage. It rained all day and I need to move alot of stuff around. The bad news is I got a better look at the car and where the rear mounts to the body seems pretty weak. There is more rust then I could see when i picked the car up. I am now wondering if I need to keep searching for another car to work with and just write this one off. I don't know....

[clyoatis]

New info....

I have been looking for another body to start with. I found one for sale on craigslist and we went and picked it up yesterday. it seems like a solid car to start with. The guy I got it from had bought it about a month or so ago and something in his life changed and he wanted to sell the car. Someone painted it. The interior is pretty much gone, it does not have a hood or rear glass. Needs all new seals and whatknot.

[clyoatis]

Well I got the front end together kinda. I am waiting for some turnsignal and marker lamps that I got from Ebay to show up.


I was wondering about the window trim molding clips for the front and rear windows. There are holes there but there is nothing to fasten the clips to does someone make a screw in retainer for them or could I pop rivot them in? I need to remove the front glass because I have to paint the defroster area of the dash. The back window is already out. I am going to have to remove the rear hatch glass from my parts car for this one. I hope I can ghet it out without breaking it. I attatched a pic of the area I am talking about.

I am thinking of getting the weather strip kit from this place. http://www.weatherstripspecial.com/vega.html It looks like they sell a kit with the run channels, window felts,door and hatch seals. Has anyone used them?

Another question. I don't have all the moldings for the quarter glass. I am going to be painting the windshield trim and the rear trim black. Like they are on my Camaro. Would it be ok just to install the quarter glass without the trim on them?


Cly

[clyoatis]

Well I got my side markers and front turnsignal lamps that I ordered from Ebay. They are in good shape. Still haven't figured anything out with the window molding clips. I did find a bag in the back of the car that had a bunch of the clips in it. Most of them are broken but at least I know what they look like. I am wondering what to do about seatbelts. The retactors in the ones I have are bad and they are the wrong color anyway. I am going to be putting in those molded racing seats with covers on them from Jeg's. I was not planning on putting a rollbar in but may have to just to have something to bolt harnesses too. Any ideas???? I have also been looking around the site to find info on carpet. It seems like ACC is the place to get it. Seems like most of the fitment problems I have read about are in the earlier models so maybe it will be a good fit in a 77.

[cjbiagi]

Email sent..... Here's a full thread on the channels that we has a while back. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31124
By the way, if anyone is interested in glass run channels let me know, I am getting ready to place another order. cjbiagi@yahoo.com

[clyoatis]

Well I got my run channel seals from cjbiagi. I installed them lastnight. They fit well and look good. Thank you... I got a hood that I got from ebay. It is a race wieght fiberglass hood. Man that thing is light. Also alittle flimsy. I still have to figure out where I am going to put the fasteners on the car to hold it on. I am going to remove the column and start taking the dash apart to transfer some gauges around. Has anyone used a aftermarket fuel gauge in place of the factory one? It looks like it will go right into the spot where the factory one is but i am not to sure what wires are what. Also I seen a post from awhile back about flush mounting the front and rear windshield. That is something that I think would work best but I have no idea what rubber trim they used. I asked a glass guy that comes into the dealership where I work and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "I dont know"... lol... So that didn't get me to far.

[clyoatis]

I got the dash out of both cars. Looks like I am going to have to combine to dashes from both cars to get one that is not all busted up. The fuel gauge and speedo work in the blue car so I think I will use those. The aftermarket fuel gauge I have does not match the volt,oil and temp gauges I have anyway. I am going to be picking up the tools to remove the front glass today and hope to get it out in one piece on Friday. I also have to remove the rear hatch back glass from the parts car so I can use it. I tried to mark the all the bulb locations when I removed the dash.