'73 Wagon for Dwight (bugdewde)

[bugdewde]

Here's a shot of the Driver's side rear with one coil cut off and the 205/50-16s. They do rub the inner fender wells, so a spacer will have to be made to get them out just a tad.

[BadBowtie]

Any updates?

I dig everything about this project! The early wagon, the 215 v8, the wicked brake conversion, the stance.
Gonna be one cool ride.

[bugdewde]

The hood isn't for the Vega.... it's my buddy's '69 GTX six pack hood..... just resting there to keep it from getting scuffed in his shop.

Still no engine/trans mounted.... little high in the front with Dick's cut Cosworth springs up front. He said he ran 225s up there on his Cos... but with the Camaro rotors sitting over the S-10 hub... they wheels stick out just a bit too much for 225s, probably. Would like to get as wide as I can and sit it down as far as I can.
The (I presume, stock) rear springs have 1 coil cut off.... no gas tank or battery mounted back there yet. May try and get it squatted a bit more once everything is mounted and filled with fuel.

Updates? Not really. The late 60s 'Vette master cylinder doesn't fit the H-body brake actuating rod very well. I'm afraid I'll have to get my buddy to mod it a little to stay in the MC.

The 'Vette proportioning valve is a nightmare..... it has multiple ports on it that I have no Idea what they're for. Guess I should just do the adjustable prop valve and be done with it. Routing the lines from the MC to the PV, then to the existing car's hard lines looks to be quite difficult as nothing really matches up. Then there's the issue of adapting the car's existing hard lines to the late model calipers with flex hose...... ??????? No idea, yet.

Got the 215 engine block mounted after cutting the frame/engine plates off my parts car.... previous owner had a SBC in it so the plates were removed. Parts car was 60 miles away at my house, so that took a few weeks to just mount the bare block. He works every other weekend and he's been successfully racing his '71 Duster with the Pro-Touring guys this summer.... so Vega work days are few and far inbetween.

Mounted the special D&D Fab bellhousing but couldn't get the T-5 trans up there .... kept falling off the floor jack as it was raised... I was alone and couldn't lift it manually.... not too many years ago, I could(and did) man-handle 70-80 lb T-50 trans in my old '72 all day long..... I think these T-5s are more like 250 lbs.... hahahaha. So I gave up and didn't get any idea about the location of the shifter hole, crossmember location or driveshaft/torque arm length...... a bust.

Panhard bar mounting will soon follow.... but the rear diff isn't completely set up yet, or the rear poly bushings aren't installed either. Just in as a roller for tire/wheel fitment.

[73astregt]

better start eatin your wheaties dwight, those t5 trans only weigh around 75 to 80 lbs dry!

[gerbsinmd]

Dwight, when I was installing the TH350 trans in my car solo I had the same problem with the trans falling off the jack. I found that if I put the torque arm on with only 1 bolt on the mount that attached to the trans so that it could pivot on that, that the trans installation actually went pretty easy. - Just a thought.

Darrel

[bugdewde]

No work on the car lately..... hit a few stumbling blocks here and there.
In order to mock up the transmission crossmember, we installed a bare 215 block, the D&D Fabrication special bellhousing then the trans.

While installing the block, the engine mount broke (old one from the old '72 Hatchback). Having to order another one, it took several weeks before I could get back down to the car and work on it.
We found out why the engine mount broke. The frame has spread out about an inch or so on the passenger side.

We dug out the missing passenger side leg of the "K" frame from the back of the car, and sure enough, it had a big dent/bow in it. Looks like the car dropped off into a ditch or something and pushed the passenger side frame out some.

Temporarily mounted the block without torqueing down the mount bolts for fear of breaking the new mounts. Now it's gotta go to a frame shop

That's a whopping 3.5" bore right there, boys. The crank has a 2.8" stroke...... 215 screaming cubes!

Block installed.jpg

[bugdewde]

Rather than buy a set of spacers for the rear wheels to get them off the inner fender well, I simply bought another set of IROC front wheels for the rear (had tires already on them) that have a little further out offset than the rears to clear balljoints. So now I have two sets of fronts on the car.

The tires on the rear wheels were 225/55-16. Look huge compared to the little 205/40-16s on the front.

REAR 225 55 on front rims.jpg

Not sure of tire size I'll run at this point..... just trying to get all the stuff mounted and operational right now. I'll just put something under there that fits at some point.

[waybad]

how is this build coming????

[bugdewde]

Stalled.... no progress..... as pictured.

After finding the front frame rail was bent, I haven't wanted to put more $ into it. I wanted to stay within a $3k budget for the total build (including the car). I'm now a few hundred overbudget.
Practically all the "bolt-on" stuff has been done...... just awaiting some fab work (which I can't do).

Other than the frame straightening, the last remaining major obstacles are:
-Figure out the old Corvette manual 4-wheel disc master cylinder to Vega brake push/actuator arm attachment.
-Plumbing the Corvette master to the Vega hard brake lines and those lines to late Camaro brakes/hoses.
-T-5 crossmember fab (driveline angle)
-Driveshaft shortening
-Torque arm shortening
-3-link rear set up (shortened torque arm to T-5 trans and attach panhard bar mount to body)
-Battery area repair and relocate battery to spare tire well.

While these items may not appear too difficult, I find I don't want to spend any more time on it. Guess I'll have to wait for the boredom of winter to motivate me.

The car was stored at my buddy's place 60 miles from me. He bought a new place but he had to empty out his shop to try and sell his place (not yet sold).
Now, the car sits behind my house in the dog's fenced in area

45.jpg

[waybad]

I know bout the budget thing,, I'm way over mine ,,,,,sometimes it's good to step back and relax,, get a new outlook
and go back at it.. the older I get the harder it is to get going again,,keep at it

[Monza Harry]

Dwight Don't despair, there is still things you can do for cheap/free. I wouldn't worry about a little bent sheet metal where you can't see it, you can just read up and commence a bending. You may also find a body "guy" who may be willing to help out for a favour (to be determined later that could hurt) or cheap, there are a few "benches" in town here that guy's are doing side jobs on, if they are here they are everywhere (+/-). As for fab work there was a time that I (and every fab person here and elsewhere) couldn't do either, you have to start somewhere, trust me when you start, if you are doing something wrong or don't know something, there is a person just dying to tell you they know something you don't, just remember that was your plan right along don't let them P.O. you just learn and move on to the next challenge! You can do it, (don't make me quote Adam Sandler, Waterboy, Sorry couldn't hold myself back) I figured it out and still learning as we go 39 yrs. later (since my first bicycle repair). The equipment is cheaper now then ever, you can get a T.I.G. welder from Harbor Fake for $200 bucks on sale! Harry P.S. as for budget forget about it I stopped counting years ago and I don't want to know!

[zeke]

Cool wagon project! I like your brake setup made with factory parts. You will find a way to get back at it.

[vegastre]

Beentheredonethat,
When I set a budget on a car I count on it going over budget by 50%. Its just the way it works. Feeling overwhelmed or totally loosing interest is another deal altogether. I lost interest on my H-Body cars and didn't turn a wrench on them for ten years. Now I can't wait to work on them and likewise spend money like water. Just have heart because in the final analogy its all perspective.

[hoffbug]

Dwight.

What did you use for exhaust manifolds.. I have a set of Buick 300 manifolds and in preliminary mockup they look tight to the steering shaft. Do you have a picture of the drivers side engine compartment?

[dualtech62]

Hang in there! Your doing some cool things to that car and I really want to see it progress! I have been at mine for a few years now and I decided it was better to look for decently priced, good quality parts rather than worry about a budget. Mainly because I couldn't keep to a budget due to how many times I had to re-do things to fix my "miscalculations" . Keep up the good work!