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6D9 wrote:looks amazing..great build

Thanks! I appreciate the compliment. Your dads Vega is pretty sweet little car too

Thanks! What headers are those?? Hooker 1 5/8 or 1 3/4?? How was the fit?? Do they hang down a bunch? My dad has the 1.5" Sanderson on it now but I would love to put a good full length header on it. Thanks Ron

6D9 wrote:Thanks! What headers are those?? Hooker 1 5/8 or 1 3/4?? How was the fit?? Do they hang down a bunch? My dad has the 1.5" Sanderson on it now but I would love to put a good full length header on it. Thanks Ron

Hooker 1 3/4. They were a tight fit for sure and require re routing of the front brake lines for cylinder 7 and 8 primaries go through the fender well. Little tight on the steering shaft, it would help if my motor was a little lower. The stater was tough too, had to drop in from the top then crawl underneath and bolt in. I recommend putting all wiring on the starter then bolting in not much room lol. Overall I'm pleased with the fit considering the size of the headers and how little room there is. I'll take some pictures and post of the problem areas.

KZVEGA wrote:

6D9 wrote:Thanks! What headers are those?? Hooker 1 5/8 or 1 3/4?? How was the fit?? Do they hang down a bunch? My dad has the 1.5" Sanderson on it now but I would love to put a good full length header on it. Thanks Ron

Hooker 1 3/4. They were a tight fit for sure and require re routing of the front brake lines for cylinder 7 and 8 primaries go through the fender well. Little tight on the steering shaft, it would help if my motor was a little lower. The stater was tough too, had to drop in from the top then crawl underneath and bolt in. I recommend putting all wiring on the starter then bolting in not much room lol. Overall I'm pleased with the fit considering the size of the headers and how little room there is. I'll take some pictures and post of the problem areas.

Thanks that would be great with some pics from a few different angles. Good info.

Steering shaft clearance. It's really close, slight ding on 3 & 5 primary (barely noticeable) and some forceful re-positioning of 1 primary towards the fender well and all good.





Starter clearance. Tight fit, dropped in from the top then crawled underneath to bolt it in. The headers run directly underneath so it's impossible to get in any other way. The ignition wire is an absolute pain to bolt in, too close too the frame. I would recommend the two prong style wire end rather than a ring terminal like mine, would make it a lot easier not having to remove the bolt completely.



You can barely see the starter in the picture it's located where the yellow sticker is.



And just a few random pictures from underneath





6D9, from what i have read, your dads car has a centerlink that gas been dropped. With that I assume it was touching the oil pan which would make the moto lower. This would resolve the issue with the steering shaft depending on how much lower it is. When I started building the car I intended to use Don Hardy mounts, when I switched to a motor plate I left those in while mounting the plate and brackets leaving for it in the same location for centerlink clearance then removed them. So anything that has Don Hardy mounts will have the same issue.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Great info again. Thank you very much for the pics! I will show them to my pop so he can take a look at the fit/finish.

Took the car to my cousins shop. Wrapped up the exhaust and installed the anti-rollbar.

Look n good, Like that rear sway bar

Nice work !
I dont think Don Hardy had mufflers in mind when they designed their trans crossmember, its ok for open headers but not so good for dual exhaust.

Smiley wrote:Nice work !
I dont think Don Hardy had mufflers in mind when they designed their trans crossmember, its ok for open headers but not so good for dual exhaust.

I believe he had Side Pipes in mind they were the "In Thing" during the early and late '70's. I remember many side piped Vega's and a couple of Monza's too, back in the day! Harry

1100kaw2 wrote:Look n good, Like that rear sway bar

Thanks! Should prevent any chance of body roll

Smiley wrote:Nice work !
I dont think Don Hardy had mufflers in mind when they designed their trans crossmember, its ok for open headers but not so good for dual exhaust.

Thanks Smiley! No ,definitely don't think they did either.

Monza Harry wrote:

Smiley wrote:Nice work !
I dont think Don Hardy had mufflers in mind when they designed their trans crossmember, its ok for open headers but not so good for dual exhaust.

I believe he had Side Pipes in mind they were the "In Thing" during the early and late '70's. I remember many side piped Vega's and a couple of Monza's too, back in the day! Harry

That doesn't surprise me. I have a picture of a Corvette my Mom had back then...had side pipes on it too!

Been a while since I posted an update. Switched over from an HEI to a MSD 6A. Got all the brakes figured out, and finished up all the plumbing. Swapped the old 850 Holley for a 750 street HP. Installed and wired all the gauges including a wideband and got a 4" cowl from glasstech. All that's left to do is a little bit of body work, paint, glass, interior, trim, lights and alignment. Once it's painted it should go together quickly.

Not many people would have looked at that ol Vega and saw anything worth building, nice save.

WOW!!!...just WOW!!!
Nice work!
Is that overkill K member?

Where abouts are you (Chicago)?
I live in Lombard, but work on the North side of Chicago.

Killer little car. Nice work, sir.