1977 Vega Kammback

[CaptainPainn]

Let me start off by saying that i am the third member of this site with the same car, though it is under me that the car will be near completed. First was my dad, Spare Parts, many years ago who was building the car for my grandpa. After the car was driving it sat at my uncles for several years in which that time a relative tore stuff apart and hacked wires all to hell for reasons no body knows why. End of last summer my grandpa told my cousin, 77 Vega Kammback, that if he got the car driving he could have it. I live in lower Michigan and my cousin recently moved to Florida and was unable to take the car with him. Over the next few months i will be working on the car. This summer my cousin will take a plane up here and will help finish the car. We will drive down to Florida together in the Vega and i will fly back at the end of summer. This car is being built with a low budget, under $500, so i will be doing things a little different to save money. I am building a 1980 Scottsdale over at Squarebody.com. Here is the link if you want to follow my progress with that. http://www.squarebody.com/forums/showth ... le-project I think you need an account to view pictures. I am a novice at 17 and advice is welcome. My dad put a V6 Vortec, and dash from a 1995 S-10 in the car. I got a 305 and th350 for the car. Bought a wiring harness from a 1972 chevy truck i am going to try to make work and a replacement Vega GT dash for $50. Car has a 5 lug rear axle. Heres some pics of the car from last summer, though the first pic is my dads work from over 7 years ago.

[CaptainPainn]

Cant figure out how to do pictures. Do i have to resize them to fit or use a different site like photobucket to view them?

[CaptainPainn]

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[CaptainPainn]

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[CaptainPainn]

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[CaptainPainn]

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[CaptainPainn]

So now that we got all the pictures out of the way, lets get down to business. The first objective i have is to do the dash. Preferably i can find a dash pad to help with the process, but if not then ill fabricate one out of sheet metal. Most of the exterior lights are hooked up and working so i primarily need to tidy everything up and get put back together. Once the dash is done ill get back to to the motor mounts and tranny mounts. Get her runnin, make a driveshaft, go for a ride, patch up the firewall, im sure you know the drill. Id like to make the front 5 lug, but i aint sure if i will have time for that. Does anyone make spacers to go between the springs to give more ground clearance?

[geartwister39]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACDELCO-PROFESS ... 10&vxp=mtr

[geartwister39]

also try this perhaps ? hope this helps . welcome to the board and good luck on your project.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVROLET-Trail ... dc&vxp=mtr

[CaptainPainn]

If anyone has pictures of the dash without the pad, and then without the insert, id appreciate you sharing them. Im not sure how everything bolts up and itd save me a lot of time knowing what it looks like before hand.

[sportriderok]

This is my 76 wagon. Hope this helps!

[CaptainPainn]

Yea that does help thanks. How does this bolt in? Im missing some dash metal and without the dash pad i dont know how to position it correctly.

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[sportriderok]

If you remove the bezel, you'll see 4 or five holes along the top of the plastic dash body that line up with the holes in the metal dash panel. I'm using some aluminum reinforcing strips along the bottom of mine since the plastic dash is brittle and I've already added resin to all the cracks. There are larger bolts on each end, the drivers side mounts to a metal bracket that is waiting to rip the flesh off your leg as you get in and out without the dash installed, and the passenger side mounts to the metal dash structure. There is also one bolt in the metal loop that goes around the column, the bolt that I always forget about when pulling the dash out. For as large and heavy as the dash is, there's not a lot that holds it in, and I think that's why they rattle and squeak so much. I added some bolts and felt tape when I re-assembled my Monza and it's MUCH better now.

[sportriderok]

I just got a better look at your dash photo, and it looks like your mounting flange along the top of the dash has been bent down to almost vertical. It should be horizontal, and that should mate up to the top of your dash. The lack of a pad shouldn't affect installing this panel, the pad is the last thing on.

[CaptainPainn]

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Can you measure the distance here? As you can see, mine has been cut.

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