JThw8 wrote:
Hell he's been banging around in a Hyundai Accent for years so safety is not his primary concern ;)
That accent is about 14000% more safety conscious than any chevette ever built. I come from a family of chevettes (3 gas, one diesel) ranging fomr 1980 until the last of the breed 1987. Footwell space for a larger person doesn't exist. Autotragic + A/C + P/S at a stoplight is bad, turn the steering wheel and the car dies. No lie.
Strut towers rusting through, springs breaking into small pieces, crappy brakes, no power, horrid fuel economy (unless it was the diesel), crappy computer carbs that were neither smart nor dumb...... The ONLY good that I can remember of any chevette was a friend that installed his dad's totaled S10 drivetrain into it. 2.8LV6 and a 4-spd. No hood. One wheel pealin machine.
From what i have seen, Id have to agree with the people that say 80s carbs are terrible. I know EFI is scary to some people, but intentionally buying a daily driver that is never going to run even close to right is silly.
JThw8
SuperDork
6/29/10 8:27 p.m.
Right now I've got him going to look at a VW this saturday (at least I know how to fix them for him) and Im going to check out a 94 protoge tomorrow night that I can hopefully talk him into.
Its not helping that all the granddaughters think gramps having a Bug would be cool so its encouraging him.
There was a Weber carb adapter for the 1.6L Chevette motor, and a set-up for dual side-drafts. Seems to me there was a 1.8L or 2L version as well, maybe in the later little LeMans that would bolt in? Four of the 6 bolts on the Chevette are the same as the Opel 1.9L CIH motor, if you were thinking swaps as well.
in most cases here at GRM forums, there are great examples of people taking lousy cars and turning them into something great. I think this might be one of the exceptions....a car that sucks to start with, but with enough work, parts, and swaps it might turn into....well, it would still suck. 
irish44j wrote:
in most cases here at GRM forums, there are great examples of people taking lousy cars and turning them into something great. I think this might be one of the exceptions....a car that sucks to start with, but with enough work, parts, and swaps it might turn into....well, it would still suck.
Sucks?
Won more than a few British Rallies...
Bobzilla wrote:
Strut towers rusting through, springs breaking into small pieces, crappy brakes, no power, horrid fuel economy (unless it was the diesel), crappy computer carbs that were neither smart nor dumb...... The ONLY good that I can remember of any chevette was a friend that installed his dad's totaled S10 drivetrain into it. 2.8LV6 and a 4-spd. No hood. One wheel pealin machine.
My 87 had none of these problems. In fact, it never had a single problem over the 4 years I had it, and got 35+ mpg while I drove the nads off it.
In reply to ScottRA21:
A works prepared rally car that doesn't even have to idle smoothly to be acceptable really isn't the same thing now is it. Gerry Marshal didn't commute in that and he didn't have to work on it when it was 25+ years old either.
