Re: In defense of the Chevrolet Vega

The recall was supposed to be free, and the notice I received, which didn't exactly encourage owners to get the work done, mentioned reimbursement for repairs already done, up to $150.

With recalls on other brands of vehicles I've owned, I learned the dealer that sold the car isn't necessarily the best dealer for handling recalls or even warranty work. That included a Chrysler dealer that made me pay for a safety recall regarding a really bad stalling problem. The next car I bought was the Rabbit, which never stalled on me. I haven't bought a Chrysler since.

The particular car I had problems with was an 84 Fiero, bought new. I had hoped the "Iron Duke" would be a strong and economical engine.. It wasnt. Block cracked early on, and GM denied any responsibility. When I went to the junkyard to find a rebuildable block, took me 4-5 tries.. They were all cracked at the same place.

I think it might have been Aarcuda that mentioned that these blocks were bought from AMC by GM, but I could easily be wrong.

I probably have mentioned the particulars of the iron duke block cracking problem. The foundry that supplied them to GM (and held responsibility for the bad pour) at the time was John Deere.

Actually, I just went back and searched for your old post, and you indeed said John Deere, not AMC.. My bad...

I'd call that an honorary American car anyway, if only because Americans were selling it.

If it makes you feel better, I can say "the mid-seventies really was the darkest era in car design" and be a bit more general about it.

--scott

I didn't know John Deere ever made engine blocks for some cars. cuhulin

The Capri was a sexy German import. I had one for a short time and I enjoyed driving it and it never once caught fire on me. The interior was made of some poor quality materials and self-destructed as did other various parts on the car. The drive train was pretty robust though.

The air-cooled VW engines used to catch fire in numbers that a Capri or Omni or Pinto could only hope to attain. As an added bonus, the block would ignite and melt, dripping white-hot metal. That was certainly cool.

za. They were very dependable, trouble was, they used more oil than gas, an d not enough power to get out of their own way. Then I installed V-8's in t hem,,,YAHOO

The first generation Scirocco was my favorite car. It had the usual problems but nothing I couldn't fix or tolerate. The 4 speed was pretty much a perfect match for how I drove. It felt as nimble as all those Fiat sports I've owned but without any of the standard little problems. You might say it was a refreshing change of problems. I didn't have the glowing chunk option like you did but my guess is that most of the cars over a few years old had the cats gutted already.

Went on an around the country trip in the mid 80's. We had a Pontiac Grand Prix with the 301 and a family friend who went had a VW Dasher Wagon (80 or 81) with the diesel and stick. The VW was great on fuel but VERY short on power... Both of us were pulling pop-up campers and when we got into the mid-west we swapped them because the VW just couldn't handle the hills. The camper we had was about 500 pounds lighter plus we stuffed everything we could in the GP. Even had two extra kids.

The Poncho was great until we hit the gasohol out west. Then it was, drive 50 miles, change the fuel filter, drive 50 miles, change the fuel filter again... Once all the crud and crap was out of the tank and lines it actually ran better.

I have seen some comments that these blocks were actually cast in Africa. I suppose it is possible that John Deere might have cast them there. Do you know?

Sounds like an ill-fated journey to me but it looks like you made it OK. I don't know too much about all the other water cooled VW cars at the time. My understanding is that they were based on Audi cars and therefore, scary to me.

I did have to drive home from Lake Tahoe to CA one night with a clogged fuel filter. We had just gotten married and I could only go about 35 MPH on the freeway. It's a miracle that my wife and I are still alive. The good part is that the Mazda RX-2 had a nifty little access door in the trunk for the filter replacement.

Some of the pig iron comes from Brazil.

On the web, Pig Iron for America comes from Brazil

Child slave labor, unless they have stopped that.

My foggy memory of the 'where' is Iowa, although I could be mistaken. I remember the TSB well, it specifically mentioned John Deere as the supplier of the blocks, probably didn't mention where the foundry was but it very well could have been mentioned during class at the training center.

Beginning in the early 1960's and continuing past it's collapse in

Oh it was a blast at the time.

The changing of the fuel filter routine got to be a PIA though. After we hit a larger town I spliced in a larger can style filter. The factory filter was the small brass job in the carb inlet. The large filter was clear plastic and it would get plugged solid in about 300 miles. So every fill-up also got a filter change.

Ron had a problem in one place because the only diesel pump in the area had an ag style nozzle on it that was about the size of the fuel cap on the VW!!! Took a short hunk of radiator hose and some careful nozzle use to get through that one. He still had that same car for a bunch of years after the trip. I think it finally rotted into a heap but the engine still ran fine.

The Pontiac lasted for a long while. Ended up needing a new rear frame clip due to the common rot on the rear section of the frame. Also made up new door bottoms, and rockers as well as a new paint job. Then Mom decided to sell it and buy a smaller car. Seem to recall the next one was a Buick of some type but I was out of the house before that.

I seem to recall that the bad blocks came from a JD foundry in Africa and was due to the thickness of the web around the lifter gallery.

I had a bunch in various vehicles and a couple boats. When they were put together well they held up OK. At least until that POS cam gear failed....

My Rabbit had an unusual fuel filter. It was a cheap plastic inline type in a clear housing. For some reason, you just pushed the ends onto the ends of the fuel hoses. No clamps needed. It was the darnedest thing I ever seen. I remember going to a parts place and asked for a Rabbit fuel filter and the parts guy reached under the counter and pulled one out. That was weird. The parts guy already knew the price - it was less than $2. :-)

When the filter on my Ford's windshield washer fluid went bad, I just stuck a VW fuel filter in the line. It worked fine.

Sounds like you kept that Pontiac till the bitter end. :-) I don't think I ever owned a Pontiac. I did have a Chevy and was quite happy with it. The parts were ridiculously cheap. Thanks GM!

When I found a sound block in the junkyard, gave it a slight bore, and rebuilt it with good parts, it lasted quite a while. Gave the car to my son, and it suffered some pretty rough treatment under his care but AFAIK this one did not crack. Why"? I assumed that if I found an aged one in the boneyard that had not cracked, I might have gotten an accidentally good casting...and, of course, I was very careful with torqueing when I rebuilt it.

Pontiac performance parts catalog showed an Iron Duke block that was especially cast for HP projects (they indicated, anyway). I never saw one, and dont know if they were any better than the stockers.