Dwight's '72 Kammback GT - 215 c.i. V8

[bugdewde]

Pic from ad.

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215 Driver side.jpg

Guy I bought the car from bought it at an estate sale. Builder had died. Seller only had this "show board" to give info about the car from the builder/owner that had died.

Show Board.jpeg

-The 4-speed was swapped out for an automatic somewhere down the line.
-The rear didn't feel like a 2.56 on the interstate.
-The Corvair muffler was swapped out with a glass pack by the guy I bought it from... said it didn't sound right and he felt the car didn't run good enough.
When I told him the engine made about 150-190 HP, max, he was shocked. Thought a V8 should make more power.

As most of you know, I've bought several cars many, many miles away from me. ('72 Hatchback w/ 215 in Missouri, '79 Trans Am in KY/OH, '60 Bug in Indy, '79 Trans Am in California, GTO in SC, '73 Hatchack in Atlanta, etc, etc) ...
Internet allows for pics and info to be transferred pretty easily... but it's just not like putting your set of eyes and hands on it yourself. Luckily, I've only had one bad experience ('73 Wagon Autocrosser project from SC) out of all of them.

Car was 800 miles away, north of Oklahoma City/Shawnee. I had 7 days off, so I rented a car and drove 12 hours to check it out after seeing all the pics he'd sent. A few of you guys posted on my thread about "Opinions on Rust" and that helped me make up my mind to drive out and check it out. Thanks for the info.

After thoroughly checking out the underside (he had it on a lift) for problematic Vega rust areas, we went on a test drive....... well, not exactly. Wouldn't start.
Carb was squirting plenty of fuel. Spark was there, but weak. Swapped out coils (there were 3 in the back of the car). Still no good spark. There was a single yellow wire that went to the coil that had broken strands and only 1/2 the strands were making contact. Cut terminal off and wrapped around post and scraped the points (all new cap/rotor/points). Then it fired right up.
Obviously, I was leery of buying at this point...... especially since I'd have to drive it back 800+ miles.
Test drove for about 30 minutes. All was good. Brought it home. With only a couple hiccups.

Home in the yard:

Home Rich Exhaust.jpeg

[bugdewde]

Hiccups:

-Car only got 15.5 mpg on average. Had to stop for fuel every 150 miles. Strange, my last 215-powered Vega had the same 2.56 rear gear but had a 0.80 OD 5th gear. It got 25 easily. Why does this one only get 15?
Literally, less than 1 mile from my house (800 miles), I flipped a switch on the dash which I thought might control a compressor looking thingy in the back for the Maserati air horn....... and the car felt like it shifted gears again. I think the trans has a lock up converter..... or even an OD controlled by the rocker switch on the dash. Neither one of us knew what the switch controlled.

Interior Passenger side.jpeg

Sure could have used that on the 800 mile return trip!!!!

-Aside from not using the converter lock-up, the carb seems to be rich. I noticed smoke behind the car when the 4-barrel was actuated on the interstate. Once I got home, I checked exhaust. Notice the black exhaust all over the rear quarter panel.

Rust Rear Quarter Rich Exhaust.jpeg

-No heat.... it was 30 degrees when I left. Used Hot Hands toe warmers to keep feet toasty and fleece gloves to stay warm all the way home (2-days)

HVAC firewall.jpeg

Took a few minutes to learn the "unlabeled" fuel pump switch (left of steering wheel by wiper switch). Down for prime/start (constant on) and up for running (power with oil pressure). Forgot to switch to prime/start after a couple fuel stops.....

[bugdewde]

RUST:

Backside of the rear quarter panel. No inner/under rust... appears to be limited to the outer quarter corner.

Rust Backside NO RUST.jpeg

Other than the rust on the quarter, and this inner fender, the car is really solid. No other rust found anywhere.

Rust Inner Fender.jpeg

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Since the "show board" shows the 215 conversion was done in '74, I'm assuming the battery was relocated then. NO RUST IN BATTERY AREA!!!!
Area houses the coolant overflow tank and the oil filter relocation.... since the original 215 oil filter would interfere with the K-member.

Battery tray ORIGINAL.jpeg

Here's the new battery location... under the passenger seat .... which is removed but came with the car.

Battery Storage.jpeg

[bugdewde]

Custom panel over the battery where the back seat would be. Neat wood trim to keep things in place.

No Back Seat Wood trim.jpeg

Grille Rear Seat.jpeg

Came with a spare grille and the original rear seat bottom/back.

As I mentioned earlier. No heat. The builder was installing A/C at some point before he died. The seller didn't get any of the A/C components other than what was on the car.... the underdash HVAC box, switch panel on dash and two dash mounted vents and one underdash vent.

HVAC Box.jpeg

I'll definitely be figuring out the heater core hook up soon. Eventually, IF I can find the parts, I'll finish the A/C install.

The heater box area underhood has been "smoothed". Has a panel pop riveted in ... not sure if that was due to the aftermarked HVAC

firewall.jpeg

HVAC firewall.jpeg

[bugdewde]

The return trip home.

The right front fender has several dents in it. Can not find any bondo ANYWHERE on car.
There has been a repaint .... color seems to be gray/silver... but has a GREEN tint to it.

Might be able to see dents.... but color doesn't come through in pics.

Fender dents.jpeg

Dairy Queen.jpeg

Here's the dash underway.... gotta find a matching tach!

80 mph.jpeg

I tried to keep rpms limited to 3000.
Seem the speedo if off by about 10% fast. GPs said 3000 rpm was 73 mph.... speedo shows 80.
Gonna go to an online calculator to figure out the rear ratio.... "show board" says 2.56. It does have the LSD tag.

That's all the pics I have right now.
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Exhaust:
It has two small diameter down pipes (1.5"- 2.25"???) going to a "Y" and then 2.5" pipe to a large diameter/short glass pack in the stock location.
It's kinda loud at cruising speed.

Muffler Pass Lower Quarter.JPG

Video of me cruising down the interstate... at 3000 rpm... goosing it a couple times
https://youtu.be/adHk-tHldUI

Here's me merging onto the interstate. It shifts at about 3000 rpm upon acceleration, regardless of throttle. I notice the kickdown cable isn't attached at the carb. I know nothing about automatics. Governor/Modulator controls shift points, right? ???
https://youtu.be/0EgUDF6GCRU

Yes, that's wide open throttle up to about 70 mph.

Hokie B&M shifter will allow higher rpms if shifted manually..... but that crappy shifter has got to go.
No kickdown hooked up?

Kickdown cable.jpeg

[bugdewde]

Oh..... there was another HICCUP.

Oil Consumption:
Seems every fuel stop (150 miles), it would lose 1 to 2 quarts of oil. I couldn't see any major visible leaks, so I was thinking it must have burned it.
I was thinking the "rich" carb was thinning out the oil too much and allowing it to burn. Pic of exhaust on rear quarter might also be due to the oil.

Might not be a true 390 cfm Holley, as indicated on the "show board". I know my Edelbrock carb is de-tuned for a 215. I'll swap that onto this engine after I change the oil.

[77nighthawk]

Congrats on the acquisition. Which tranny does it have? Brad

[avewhtboy]

Well sounds like a heck of an adventure getting this one back to the house.

Brave man driving that thing back 800 miles in the cold of winter.

Looks good though, maybe the rust has creeped a bit on the bottom of the corners but not too bad really.

Interesting find for sure.

[bugdewde]

TRANSMISSION:
Appears to be a TH350C. Since a stock torque arm is attached to the trans, I'd assume it's a TH350. It has a lock up converter wired to a lighted dash rocker switch when engaged.
https://youtu.be/wMqHUoCk9V8

I found that the lock up disengages when the brakes are applied. Notice the rocker switch light turns off when I tap the brakes and the rpms increase.
https://youtu.be/pnEwQuJmv30

[67shovel]

I like it! The previous guy did alot of trick mods.

[bugdewde]

Thanks for the info on the Corvair mufflers, Roger..... That must be the reason he removed them.
I love your Wagon.... good luck with the Pro-Street one.

While I was toying with the transmission switch, I decided to see if the advertised Limited Slip Differential worked.
Pulled over on a gravel pulloff and goosed it.

LSD Works.jpeg

So I got to thinking just how strong were the clutches? Sadly, it won't break them loose on dry pavement....... So I decided to put one tire on gravel and one on pavement to see what would happen..... I was hoping for nothing to happen, meaning the LSD was strong enough to keep the wheel in the gravel from spinning.
Guess the ol' 215 had other plans..... BOTH tires spun.

LSD works1.jpeg

[bugdewde]

AS stated earlier, the speedo is about 10% fast. GPS said I was at 73 mph at 3000 rpm. Speedo shows 80.


Playing with the Engine RPM calculator, I've punched in the 205/60-13 diameter as 22.7"
The indicated 73 mph on the GPS at 3000 rpm.
2.56 rear gear calculates the rpm at 2840.
2.71 rear gear calculates the rpm at 3007.

That's pretty close to the indicated 3000 I was showing on the tach. So it looks like the R&P is probably a 2.56.... unless there is a 2.71 for H-bodies... guess I have to pull the diff cover when the weather breaks.

Using the same info, but adding the 0.80 overdrive ratio for the T-50 Trans from the other 215 Hatchback I have lying in the basement:
Result: 2213

As much as I like manuals, I'm gonna have to swap that T-50 in.

[77nighthawk]

Hey Dwight, hooking the detent cable up should solve the rpm not going over 3000. If you don't want to use a dash-mounted switch to control your lockup convertor, the 84 Grand Prix I built years ago, had a factory vacuum switch on the firewall, that controlled the convertor. When the vacuum signal got high enough, at cruising speed, about 45mph, the switch would activate the lockup. Brad

[bugdewde]

Thinking I'll keep the dash mounted switch until I swap in a 5-speed.........

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I swapped out the Holley carb, which was running pretty rich, as seen in the rear quarter pic..... with my old Edelbrock 500 cfm carb that was de-tuned specifically for the 215 by D&D Fabrications.
That carb made my last 215-powered Vega run excellent.
FAIL!!!!

Guess I should have done some maintenance to it before installing. I flipped the dash mounted fuel pump switch to prime the carb until fuel pressure was registered. Gave it a couple squirts by hand to ensure fuel was squirting down the carb.... check.
Cranked and cranked and cranked.... nothing.
Then, all of a sudden, the starter motor quit..... suddenly and immediately. ?????
I got out and did a visual....... fuel pouring all over the carb and down into the venturis'.
Killed the fuel pump..... yep.... filled the combustion chambers with fuel.....hydro-locked!
Pulled the plugs and cleared the cylinders with the starter.
Put the Holley back on until I can clean out the Edelbrock.

[bugdewde]

Having failed in my mechanical adventure........ I propped up the panel over where the rear seat was. I remembered there being some books and such stowed under there on the driver's side.


WHOA! A little bit of mice damage to some papers, but what a find!

Documents Overview small.jpg

Warranty Plate small.jpg

Window Sticker small.jpg

$2328.00 Vega Wagon
$91.00 Destination
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$2419.00 Subtotal

Options:
37.05 Soft-Ray Tinted Glass
54.00 Electro-Clear Rear Window Def
359.80 4-Season Air Conditioning
40.75 Positraction Axle
52.95 4-Speed Transmission
94.20 Custom Interior
321.70 Vega GT Equipment
Black Cloth Interior
14-14 Silver
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$960.45 Dealer Installed Options and Accessories Subtotal

$3379.45 Total