A little spare time to think. Remembering my Chevy Vega..
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From: Neo on 6 Oct 2009 03:42 On Sep 30, 12:46 pm, Otis <rev_otis_mcn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Over the years, the inevitable subject of worst cars ever comes up, > and the Vega is always at or near the top of the list.... > My sister got a new Vega in early 1973 (a stripped-down one at that, > about as basic as was available). I then inherited it in late '74 and > drove it merrily for another full year. That little car was never > ONE ounce of trouble. It cruised at 75 mph like > a charm, never burped or coughed, and I actually don't know that the > oil was ever changed!!!! I drove a 1974 Vega GT (2 dr hatchback coupe) for serveral years. My mother purchased it new and after 7 years gave it to me - I drove and cared for it for the next 5 years. I only did minor updates to the car. I replaced the stock AM radio to a AM/FM/stereo cassette radio and add stereo rear speakers. Being a poor student at the time I tried to do most of the maintance myself. I changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, points and condensor, rotate the tires, replace tail lights, replace the headlights, cleaned the carborator, etc. During the lifetime of the car, beyond replacing the tires and battery, I also had to replace the had the shock absorbers, exhast systems ,the alternator, the radiator and its hoses. Near the end of its life I was going to the car junkyard to find replacement parts to fix it (broken tail lamp lense). I remember a local auto mechanic, refusing to repair it - saying that I should get a replacement car and to put the Vega out of its misery. The aluminum cylinder heads and iron/steel engine block expanded at different rates so it had a tendency to burn oil. Unlike the Toyota Corolla or the Honda Civic, the Chevy Vega was very heavy and it had weak engine. The sluggish automatic further handicapped acceleration when using the stock 4 cylinder. The car intially got about 24 mpg but as it grew older it got about 21 mpg.(combined highway and city driving). The interior did not age well. Near the end of the car's life, The back of the driver's seat became warped. The Chevy Vega was the first car that GM used an all automated robotic assembly line; unfortunately, the robotic spot welding was rough and as the car got older and the paint job started to fail one could see where Chevy had used body puddy to cover up flawed welding. The Vega started to rust from the inside out behind the front wheel wells fenders and along the flawed welding points about the 7th year despite all the efforts to keep it clean and dry.
From: Otis on 6 Oct 2009 10:17 On Oct 6, 3:42 am, Neo <residualselfimage1...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Sep 30, 12:46 pm, Otis <rev_otis_mcn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > Over the years, the inevitable subject of worst cars ever comes up, > > and the Vega is always at or near the top of the list.... > > My sister got a new Vega in early 1973 (a stripped-down one at that, > > about as basic as was available). I then inherited it in late '74 and > > drove it merrily for another full year. That little car was never > > ONE ounce of trouble. It cruised at 75 mph like > > a charm, never burped or coughed, and I actually don't know that the > > oil was ever changed!!!! > > I drove a 1974 Vega GT (2 dr hatchback coupe) for serveral years. > My mother purchased it new and after 7 years gave it to me - > I drove and cared for it for the next 5 years. > > I only did minor updates to the car. I replaced the stock > AM radio to a AM/FM/stereo cassette radio and add > stereo rear speakers. > > Being a poor student at the time I tried to do most > of the maintance myself. I changed the oil, oil filter, > air filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, points and > condensor, rotate the tires, replace tail lights, replace > the headlights, cleaned the carborator, etc. During > the lifetime of the car, beyond replacing the tires > and battery, I also had to replace the had the shock > absorbers, exhast systems ,the alternator, > the radiator and its hoses. Near the end of its > life I was going to the car junkyard to find > replacement parts to fix it (broken tail lamp > lense). I remember a local auto mechanic, > refusing to repair it - saying that I should get a > replacement car and to put the Vega out of > its misery. But sounds like you got your money's worth! I've got a '90 Mazda--no working heater or AC and it was "totaled" 3½ years ago when a woman ran a stop sign and slammed into its rear door....repair cost exceeded market value, hence totaled. It still drives great, and believe it or not, I still wash and WAX it, just wax over that nice body damage! The car looks about two years old under the hood. The machine has character.:)
From: Vic Smith on 7 Oct 2009 13:32 On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:33:36 -0500, "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> wrote: > As I was putting it into reverse one morning, the shift lever >simply snapped off at the base. This was apparently also a common problem. >Even though my car was an American spec Mercury, the local German Ford >dealer had a shelf full of shifters when I went in to get a new one. > Brother had one. '74 I think, bought used. Paid what I thought was way too much for a cable/housing when his froze up. Just the cable - he did the work. Shifter I think. I was right. The new one froze up before a year was out. Reminds me in a way of a friend who had a Merkur. Expensive maintenance compared to common domestic cars. At least that's my recollection. Been a long time. --Vic
From: Mike Hunter on 7 Oct 2009 15:22 That sound almost as bad as my '57 Toyopet LOL "Vic Smith" <thismailautodeleted(a)comcast.net> wrote in message news:fmjpc5h1d0559oges2mfl03vhp1q3c4j0e(a)4ax.com... > On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:33:36 -0500, "E. Meyer" <epmeyer50(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> As I was putting it into reverse one morning, the shift lever >>simply snapped off at the base. This was apparently also a common >>problem. >>Even though my car was an American spec Mercury, the local German Ford >>dealer had a shelf full of shifters when I went in to get a new one. >> > Brother had one. '74 I think, bought used. Paid what I thought was > way too much for a cable/housing when his froze up. > Just the cable - he did the work. Shifter I think. > I was right. The new one froze up before a year was out. > Reminds me in a way of a friend who had a Merkur. > Expensive maintenance compared to common domestic cars. > At least that's my recollection. Been a long time. > > --Vic >
From: dsi1 on 10 Oct 2009 01:27 Ashton Crusher wrote: > My roommate back then wanted a Capri and he put in an order for one. > Which at the time meant telling the dealer what you wanted and when > teh boat got here they would try and find one that matched your > choices. After a few months his came in and he loved it. When it was > about six months old he was driving it somewhere with his small kid > with him (weekend visit, he was divorced) and while stopped at a > stoplight he could see a faint glow from inside the center AC vent. He > looked in and it was on fire. Most likely the fan resistor pack. He > and the kid got out of the car and within minutes the whole car was > engulfed in flames. The insurance payout was not enough to buy a > replacement new one so he got screwed. I take it he's not much of Capri enthusiast, then.
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