75 Cosworth #305 build

[mt94ss]

Just thought that I would chronicle the rebuild of my '75 Vega. It's a Cosworth with about 66 thousand miles on it. It was in a storage yard for a couple decades and that took a toll on the car. The battery was left in so the tray is rusted out along with some of the surrounding metal. The fuel tank is rusted out as is the spare tire well. So little rust is amazing.

Here is a shot of it when I got it home.


I tried to get the engine to turn over but it was stuck. It was rebuilt at least once and had spun the rear main and rod bearings. One of the pistons was stuck in the cylinder and the rings are stuck in the piston.




The head looks really good.


The original paint was very checked and dry but the body is very straight. I have since stripped off almost all of the original paint. The body has minor rust under that paint.

[mt94ss]

Limited-slip 10 bolt with sway bar.


Dash plaque

[mt94ss]

Now some questions for the Cosworth experts.

1. Can you get new door window scrapers? (the basic black ones)


2. How about the window rubber/foam for the rear pop-outs?


3. And the drip rail plastic that fits over these rails?


Also, where the roof panel meets the rear quarter by the 'gills': Is this really how they left it? There was no filler/putty in here. I am thinking that I want to fill it in.


And the rear spoiler mounts.
1. Do they really just mount with four screws through the rear hatch? No mounts/collers/etc. Seems like there should be a sleeve or something in the holes.

[sportriderok]

Cool project. What are your plans for it? Are you going stock or modified?

As for your questions, the window scrapers are no problem, try this link: http://www.weatherstripspecial.com/chev ... rstrip.php. There are other suppliers, so you can price shop on these. But the pop out seals and the plastic trim are super hard to find if not impossible. I'd advise an ad here in the wanted section for the window seals, and check out the factory purist section for solutions to the roof trim. I used wide door edge guard on my Monza and it looks fine to me. My 76 Vega GT quarter looks just like yours, so maybe the guy that was supposed to blend them in was off on both of those days! The sealer on my 76 wagon is so brittle it just falls out, maybe that happened to them both. There was no factory rear spoiler for the Vega, so the attachment would depend on the company who made it and the guy bolting it on. You can't go wrong with this one unless it falls off. (If anyone else knows otherwise, chime in!)

Good luck and keep us posted.

PS - I am no where near a Cosworth expert, just a bigtime Vega geek and dedicated reader of this forum. There's a lot more knowledge here than I'll ever have.

[1100kaw2]

Nice looking little car. Low rust a major plus.
Definately seam seal the quarters. wire wheel, spray some rust treatment up in there the best you can. Prime, then seam seal. Dip your finger in a little laquer thinner to smooth it out nice. Re prime, or just paint right over it.
I found gaps up in the door jam area too. Up in the corner where the "B" pillar goes up to roof/gutter area. Do them .
Basically, anywhere you can keep moister from getting in between layers.
Clyde/cjbiagi. Told me he could get the drip rail trim that seams to look like factory. I just have done it yet. Might check with him.

keep going. be a nice solid piece

[ROB]

Could that seam be welded up instead?

[ROB]

Thought I would bring it back up to see if anyone has an answer to my question, and if there are any new updates.

Rob

[Monza Harry]

There is a link to an eBay auction for the pop out windows rubbers (used) in the eBay & Craigslist section. So that is one down. As for that "rear A" or "C" pillar you could weld it up as it should have been done at the factory (it may be done in an inconspicuous way already) and then the factory used seam sealer over the exposed "Gap", You could easily do something more discrete. Clyde can sometimes get the outer window "felts/scrapers" as well as Weathersrtip Special and there is a post about some drip edge that is available for the top on this board {Original & Purist section(?)} Hope this is somewhat useful Harry

[dadhad1]

Hey 75 Cosworth,

I have a set of used tilt out seals on eBay, link here...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301160858410?ss ... 1555.l2649
They're from my 75 CW.

For the door glass felt wipers, try Steele Rubber here...
http://www.steelerubber.com/search?year ... -hatchback
That link has other items they sell for your Vega too, but I personally used their felt wipers on my car and was happy with them.

I'm pretty sure I have enough chrome drip edge trim to do another car, so PM me if you're interested and I can double check and quote you a price on it.
What I have is from the same roll I did my car with. You can see pics from the photo gallery link at my signature.

Vegas (even CWs) didn't come from the factory with a spoilers, so those holes are from an add on.
Chris Wheaton 'cswrth1' here on the forum makes a really nice rear spoiler out of glass. 714-225-5998. I too have Chris's rear spoiler on my car and was very happy with the overall quality/fit/finish.

Good luck with it.

Mike

[mt94ss]

Hey 75 Cosworth,

I have a set of used tilt out seals on eBay, link here...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301160858410?ss ... 1555.l2649
They're from my 75 CW.

For the door glass felt wipers, try Steele Rubber here...
http://www.steelerubber.com/search?year ... -hatchback
That link has other items they sell for your Vega too, but I personally used their felt wipers on my car and was happy with them.

I'm pretty sure I have enough chrome drip edge trim to do another car, so PM me if you're interested and I can double check and quote you a price on it.
What I have is from the same roll I did my car with. You can see pics from the photo gallery link at my signature.

Vegas (even CWs) didn't come from the factory with a spoilers, so those holes are from an add on.
Chris Wheaton 'cswrth1' here on the forum makes a really nice rear spoiler out of glass. 714-225-5998. I too have Chris's rear spoiler on my car and was very happy with the overall quality/fit/finish.

Good luck with it.

Mike

Perfect! I didn't think of Steele, good tip. The main thing that I am worried about on the door glass scrapers is that the CWs don't have the bulky chrome strip like the regular ones do. It's just a basic trim piece. I guess I can check with Steele. That was my greatest worry about this resto. The 'chrome' clip on stuff is something that I am interested in if you have enough. I will PM you.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Wish I had the $ to fix the 4, but this will probably get a SBC/4 or 5 speed to make it a cool driver.

Just watched the story on the Cosworth site of # 0742. About the same condition that mine was in but his 'ran'. Still a $20k resto. Can't do that. Great job though. It's here: http://www.cosworthvega.com/Restoration ... n_0742.pdf

The spoiler must be an aftermarket one, looks cool so I will fix the mounting and leave it.

Doing the S-10 spindles/disc swap on the front and the 5-lug axles on the rear along with the master cyl, etc. Have some nice wheels that I will powdercoat the same gold color as the stock wheels (but these are 17") so they should spiff it up.

I will post updates here on what I do.

Mike

[dadhad1]

Hey Mike,
I replied to your PM too, but Steele has both felt wiper applications (for door trim and without trim).
My car didn't have the trim, so that's the appl I got.

Mike