A quart of gloss black, a gun, and some reducer—done. Clean and shiny. All of the little pieces of masking tape have the "where it goes to" info for wiring things back up, lose track of those and doomed !
A quart of gloss black, a gun, and some reducer—done. Clean and shiny. All of the little pieces of masking tape have the "where it goes to" info for wiring things back up, lose track of those and doomed !
With the engine bay all sorted out, (WHAT a chore ! So much grease and grime it seemed like it would never come clean) it's time to get the engine ready for installation. Bruce has always wanted a 327 powered Vega Kammback and managed to source a REALLY nice stock '67 Corvette motor and trans. We cleaned and painted the engine, installed the stock cast iron four barrel manifold, Carter carb, twin snorkel air cleaner, correct coil and bracket, and Corvette script valve covers. Picked up a set of headers, but not sure if they'll work out considering the look and feel that Bruce wants for the engine.
The idea behind the engine is that he wants it to be almost completely stock in appearance, a time capsule Corvette 300hp 327, hence all of the Vette detailing. Looking almost like it came right from the factory except for the earlier (MUCH sexier and rare) '65 twin snorkel air cleaner. A minor concession considering that the engine is destined for a Vega, NOT a Vette, but still neat feature that will certainly piss of the purists. Especially now that the price of those air cleaners have hit $700 on eBay ! We've been using a Corvette restoration guide for the engine to be sure of the details, parts and pieces. In keeping with the "look" we're thinking that the headers have to go. A set of Monza V8 exhaust manifolds, when hit with a grinder to remove the barbs and bumps, a sander, and some high heat gray primer, look a great deal like something from the 1967 GM parts book. This will be the direction that we go in even though those headers really do look tough ! !
Good looking engine. Would ram's head exhaust manifolds work? I like their symmetry, and they would be period correct. Speedway has new Corvette-style manifolds for $120. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Corvette-Style-2-1-2-Inch-Ram-Horn-Exhaust-Manifolds-Pair,58966.html
In reply to stuart in mn :
We looked at rams horns as they were the style that came on small block Vettes, but they fouled the steering shaft and lower inner fender well reinforcements/frame uni-body sections. The Monza V8 exhaust manifolds were manufactured to fit perfectly and even have a slight indent in the casting to clear those lower fender well reinforcements. Really couldn't resist them for ease of installation and "Factory" look. It's a tight fit at the firewall, hence the use of the Monza V8 bell housing so the set back of the engine is restricted, couldn't squeeze and extra inch for the rams horns, plus we're using the Trans-Dapt front cross-over style engine mount which allows for zero set back anyway.
Got the frame mounts for the Trans-Dapt engine mount all welded in and paint touched up. The passenger's side mount locates under the idler arm mount easily, even makes use of the two bolts that hold the arm fast to the frame. The driver's side took some measuring, but all set. Once in place my good friend, Todd, welded everything up as strong as can be. In return for the favor I got his newest, long dormant, TR8 started for him while he welded things up. A REALLY fun day over all ! !
Following, cause Wagon!
And just like those frustrating TV car programs on MotorTrend TV, we're doing things two or three times in a row. In this instance NOT completely building a chassis and then busting it down for powder coat, but "test fitting" the 327, sans transmission, to see how the mounts line up and the back of the engine clears the firewall. Sure hope that we get to do this another two or three or four times, 'cause THAT would be just GREAT ! ! !
You can see the Trans-Dapt cross over front mount in place here. We chose that to make for a more precise fit and also to mimic the stock '62 Corvette cross over front engine mount as well. As mentioned, we're trying to go towards a GM "Skunk Works" approach with the car and presenting a faux '62 Vette looking front engine mount helps in that regard. We've been a little bit concerned that the carb and air cleaner might not fit under the hood as we had to fabricate a custom adapter and plate to mount the modern carb to the antique four barrel manifold configuration. Everything fit perfectly, a pleasant surprise for sure ! !
In some of the photos you can see what we did with the stock Monza exhaust manifolds. They come from the factory with all manner of barbs and bosses and fittings to mount the ancillary this and that. They also have a cast in cross bar between the flanges. We chopped and ground and sanded and shaped the manifolds into a smoother, more simple "vintage" configuration and hit them with a high temp exhaust primer to mimic the cast look of what would have come stock on the 327.
The fit is terrific, the manifolds exit just at the point where the bell meets up with the engine and the access from below for the drop pipes is perfect. Couldn't be more pleased with our results !
What might be obvious from the photos is the new work space. Bruce's wife decided that they were going to move in the midst of al of this, so we're now at a considerable disadvantage in the build. Everything is scattered throughout the garage and cellar, nothing is at hand, all of the bolts and fittings and tools are lost along with half of the electrical devices, NICE ! ! ! This also means that Bruce now spends more time painting cellar floors and out buying hideous furniture at thrift shops to fill the house when he SHOULD be working on the car before he loses ALL of the remaining stuff and impetus to finish it up ! He also now lives on the Cape, meaning that the Summer tourist traffic makes working on days other than Tuesday and Wednesday impossible . . . the weekend begins on Thursday and stretches 'til Monday afternoon.
notsafeforwork said:We've been a little bit concerned that the carb and air cleaner might not fit under the hood as we had to fabricate a custom adapter and plate to mount the modern carb to the antique four barrel manifold configuration. Everything fit perfectly, a pleasant surprise for sure ! !
It looks like the car was made for that V8. 
Earlier in the thread you mentioned a Carter carburetor, did you change to something else?
The Trans-Dapt mounts are sort of reminiscent of the old Hurst engine swap mounting kits from the late 50s / early 60s.
I KNOW, we couldn't believe how well the engine fit in the bay. Read up a bit on the history of the Vega development and it turns out that the car was originally designed for the Wankel, hence the wide engine bay. The later Monza "versions" got a 305 V8 along with the Buick-based V6, no doubt because of the generous amount of room in the engine bay. It was a real treat installing the engine for this first go-around.
Bruce wanted to keep the later Carter carburetor as the original Vette came with the earlier version of that carb. Again, he's shooting for something here that's out of the ordinary considering the current availability of plug-and-play "modern" speed equipment.
I believe that the Trans-Dapt mounts were modeled on the now extinct Hurst mounting kits. We weren't aware of this when choosing them, we just went for the "look" for the most part. I'd imagine that, back in the day, there were any number of V8/Vega engine mount kits. Before Bruce decided on the Trans-Dapt cross over mount, we'd picked up a set of stock V8 Monza mounts before hand thinking that we'd run with those.
Compare and Contrast. Even though the 327 is only sitting in place, you can still get the effect . . . 
My V8 Pontiac Astre (Vega clone) was much better balanced than my V8 Pintos. The Pinto puts the majority of the motor in front of the front wheels - excellent for smoke shows.
Seems like the V-8 sits LOW.
Great work!
No hood bulge or cutting, right!?!?
That V8 looks perfect in there.
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