1973 Vega Kammback V8 conversion.

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

Ooooopppssss . . . I mean to say between nine and twelve !

Thanks for the resistor wire tip. Not sure of the Vega has one in the loom or not. The car originally had the Dura-Built four cylinder along with an Excel coil with a ballast resistor installed. I just thought that if there was a ballast resistor with the Accel coil that the car didn't have a ballast wire. 

So . . . Vega project in moved to the back of the garage., too bad. We replaced the old Edelbrock with a new Holley Brawler and the backfire from the carb AND the exhaust at idle is still there. Revving it up makes things much worse. There's now a rumble up front, maybe the water pump impeller although the pulley is tight so the bearing is fine, maybe something with the timing chain, maybe something worse like with the harmonic dampener or crank bearings. Having trouble getting it in correct time, might well be the Pertronix. We thought that we were going with the best and recently found out that it's almost the worst. Again. might be the timing chain has slipped a link.

For now, it's at the back of the garage, out of sight hopefully out of mind, I'd like to concentrate on possibly repairing the wiring in the Mustang over the Fall and Winter.

When we start in on the Vega once again, plans are to strip it down to the long block, pull the water pump. drop the pan and pull the timing cover and chain/gears, and replace those a Pete Jackson style gear drive. New short Vette water pump, install a simple Rock Auto repro points-style distributor, check lifters and push rods, and solve the carb fuel leaks at the inlet fittings (tried one of those Mr Gasket chromed dual feed thingies and it's CRAP !  !) Worst comes to worst and we STILL can't get it solved, the small shop not far from here is willing to tackle the job long term. Bring it over in the Spring and leave it there in the yard. It'll be worked on and possibly fixed whenever.

Not the best of news, but it's a very frustrating situation and we need a break from it . . . maybe the Mustang will be more cooperative.

In reply to MuSTANK :

are we sure the valves are correctly adjusted?  

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Yup ! Did them over and over again. Set them loose, no difference, set them tight, no difference, set them just right, no difference. New valves, new springs, new lifters, new push rods, new stock ratio rockers, new head work/surfacing/valve seats/etc. If it's something in the valve train, we're DOOMED ! ! ! Better off starting over with a boring old 350 than having the heads done over again in the 327.

Took a mini-break from working on the Vega and my Mustang to remove the automatic trans from Whitey's Nova. Trans fell on my hand and chopped the end of my little finger off. Crushed the remaining bones in the process. Partial amputation or rod and pins, not sure until the surgeon gets in there and decides on Monday.

Gonna be a while before I get back to helping out with the build I'm afraid . . . 

OMG! That's a serious injury! Hand injuries really frighten me, a good portion of my livelihood is doing surgery, so my empathy just went into overdrive. I hope you have minimal pain, and a good recovery without complications.

Let's all remember that what we do with our cars has inherent risks. Please be careful, everyone.

Oh, swears. I wasn't ready to see that. Talk about a bad day. When it's all healed up you'll be glad it was only a pinky, but until then, here's hoping it doesn't hurt any worse than it has to.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I have a very high pain threshold, no pain so far what-so-ever. In the ER while waiting for the surgeon to come and take a look,, during attempted manipulation of the finger bones, the stitches, now back at home waiting for surgery come Monday. No pain at all, no pills at all. Always been like this . . . 

"Let's all remember that what we do with our cars has inherent risks."

I remember that an author once wrote, "The best of them always draw blood."

DAMN ! Warn a guy. 

That was hard to see......

Take a look at my screen name.  I got my "Nub" title about 18 months ago.

I hope you heal up real quickly

Just a year and a half ago? That's healing up nicely, good for you ! ! !

I might be joining you soon, or may have a lot of metal in my hand, up to the surgeon, I told her to do whatever she thinks is best, don't bother waking me to let me know . . . if I lose a part of the finger, I plan on buying a nice antique silver thimble and having a small hook soldiered onto it, fit it to the stub of the finger. I've always considered myself as the Pan, might soon be the Hook.

Oh snap, wasn't ready for that pic. I hope you have a trouble-free recovery.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you ! If all goes well, I'll post. If not, I'll pout . . . 

How'd your consultation with the surgeon go?

Consultation went very well, she rushed me into the hospital and placed a stainless rod in my finger, stitched it up and waiting to see if the bone will grow around it and connect up with the end of the finger where it was chopped off. Give it another three weeks to see . . . 

Good luck!  Is the goal to have the rod immobilize the last joint in the finger?

I had part of my ring finger amputated about 18 months ago.  Initial pain was fairly minor, and I thought I was just going to get stitches in the ER.  Most of the time, it doesn't bother me, but the surgery left me with some nerve damage that is frustrating and occasionally painful.  Life goes on.

I think that the surgeon did a pretty good job of it. No pain at all, nice straight finger that no longer bends, but looks really good considering what it was like just a few days ago. Not wearing any bandage and seems to be healing really quickly.

The Vega might've been a pain in the ass but at least it didn't try to maim you.  Heal up.

In reply to MuSTANK :

Agreed, that looks like you got a good surgeon.  Sending you prayers that it heals up according to plan 

In reply to bigeyedfish :

I think that it's the severed nerves that's preventing the pain. I mean no pain what-so-ever from the initial injury to right now. None ! No pain killers, no OTC medication, no nothing.

Thank you all for the comments and concern ! REALLY ! ! ! ! 

Going back to work on the Vega later today or tomorrow morning, have to sort out how to mount the early Corvette steering wheel to the Vega shaft and get it in a position so that Bruce can turn the wheel AND reach the pedals comfortably. Sort of a "Goldilocks" situation . . . 

I have a whole bunch of adapters, collars, mounts, and spacers to do the job, just gonna be a trial and error afternoon. If it comes out as hoped, I'll post some photos. Been a while since I posted any "car" related photos or updates, hasn't it?

With my finger looking MUCH better, I went back to work on the Vega.  My long suffering wife was NOT pleased that I was back (so soon) working on a car by ANY means !  Bruce took care of the semaphores on the '55 Beetle, as it's going up on Bring A Trailer in a few days, while I sorted out the Corvette steering wheel installation. Both tasks were successes !

Now that the engine is running sweet, it's really time to begin the interior in earnest. Got the refurbished/re-stained dash back in, new diode in the tach for the V8 conversion, new steering column, blinker and key switch in place. Installed the restored gauges, and the early Corvette steering wheel all set. 

Not a TON of progress yet, but it's starting to look as we'd hoped. Kind of surprised . . .

I have follow-up surgery on the finger ahead of me, Bruce is having his knee replaced (once AGAIN) and we'll both be down with some PT for sure, but the interior should progress through the early Winter. Looking forward to seeing how the new carpets set things off next !

In reply to MuSTANK :

Love the Corvette horn button. I really appreciate the subtle nature of so many things you've done on this car.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you for noticing ! We also picked up a set of Corvette window cranks and inner door handles as well. Just a handful of little touches here and there to help support the "fiction" behind the 327 engine installation.

I kinda like that the horn button, while definitely early Corvette, is just a pair of crossed flags rather than any Corvette lettering/script.

Oh, before bringing this thread entirely into the arena of the interior and, later. the body modifications, I wanted to mention how the problems with the engine were resolved. 

After installing the 327/Saginaw combination and getting everything sort of mostly sorted out, we ended up with a dire problem with the engine. It was a rebuilt/over bored Corvette 327/300 hp engine that we bought right out of the C2 Vette. The heads were done badly, so we had them re-built top to bottom. New valves, seats, springs, and had them planed down to increase compression. New lifters installed, new push rods, everything adjusted correctly, new Pertronix distributor, plugs wires, coil,  and new Holley Brawler 600 carburetor as well. 

Engine ran terribly with the previous used Edelbrock carb and refused to start at all with the new Holley. After over a month of fussing to no good end, we gave in and brought the car to a professional. He diagnosed the problem in under an hour and fixed in in less than a day's time.

Turns out that the floats were adjusted improperly from the factory and yours truly committed the cardinal sin of connecting the rear carb vacuum outlet directly to the crankcase breather opening at the back of the block; the small aluminum cone commonly called the "dixie cup" which sits on top of the opening which leads to the lifter galley.  In doing so, I created a massive vacuum leak that prevented the carb from working at all. 

The large vacuum port at the rear base of the Brawler is meant to be connected to the brake booster and fitted with a one way check valve, NOT plumbed into an open hole ! The shop plugged the vacuum port and DONE ! ! ! The car now performs better than any 409 SS or GTO that I've ever owned. Like a damned Super Car ! ! It'll now light up the tires while already rolling at thirty five MPH in second gear, seriously lights them up again at the second third shift, and really has no need at all for the third fourth shift unless you're already up on the highway and at speed.