I think the Vega and Pinto wagons of that era were pretty slick looking little rides. Both could have a small block shoehorned in without too much effort and parts were all over the place. Surprising that as many of those that were made there aren't that many still around.
No kidding. If it hasn't had a tube frame or frame connectors intalled it's liable to be twisted. It might look ok but when you drive it it will dog track on you.
Well, way back them, a guy I knew stuffed a SB in his Vega. The first night out a lady turned left in front of him, and that was all. I bet most of the SB Vegas' deaths were much more dramatic.
You hit the nail on the head with that one. The short wheel base with all of the weight in the front made it hard to keep pointed forward. My brother built a chevy 2 with a high compression (12.5to1) 327 back in the day. It was damn fast if you could ever get the engine started, but would go sideways in a heartbeat. It was "rolled". Fortunately no serious injuries. We learned a valuable lesson about short wheelbases.
Safety concerns is the main reason I'm hesitating about going after a v8 Vega. I saw one at the Car Craft Summer Nationals last weekend, it had big Mickey Thompsons on the back, the damn thing looked like a tiny steam roller, seems like it would really want to wander at highway speeds....
Terry
Yeah, really. But why hunt for a Vega to put a V8 in when you can find S-10s by the dozen for $200 each? We dropped the engine I built for my car into an S-10 to break it in, at the track. Did a 1/8 mile burnout. Smoked the tires clean thru the lights. I got it on video. Do they make an extended cab S-10? One of the fastest low buck jobs I saw at the track was an S-10 Blazer. It actually had some weight over the back wheels.
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