A little spare time to think. Remembering my Chevy Vega..
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From: CEG on 30 Sep 2009 13:09 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. I've seen it a hundred > times. I feel I should > put in a good word for the little car. > > 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!!!! Maybe the car was serviced when my sister had it, > but I know > it wasn't during the time I had it (young and car stupid I guess). > When > I traded it in for my dream car at the time (the dreamy '75 Toyota > Celica GT), > it had about 42k miles on it and still performed like a trooper. > Maybe it > was a rare gem off the assembly line I don't know, but I had three > friends > who also had Vegas and I don't remember any of them being lemons; one > did have notoriously squeally brakes though IIRC. I never had a Vega, but I've owned several Corvair which is also on that list. I drove one everyday for 6 years until 2003 when I sold it. A very good car.
From: Otis on 30 Sep 2009 20:31 On Sep 30, 8:15 pm, Tegger <inva...(a)invalid.inv> wrote: > "hls" <h...(a)nospam.nix> wrote innews:N_adnfqOvN5yAF7XnZ2dnUVZ_oqdnZ2d(a)giganews.com: > > > > > "Otis" <rev_otis_mcn...(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message > >news:1f20ce7d-cd39-4208-920c-08032814acbb(a)37g2000yqm.googlegroups.com.. > > . > >> 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. I've seen it > >> a hundred times. I feel I should put in a good word for the little > >> car. > > > That is, I believe, the car with the silicon/aluminum alloy > > engine...That thing went out for most people very quickly. > > Anybody ever read the Wiki page on the Vega? It's a pretty good read. > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Vega> > > Maybe I'm weird, but I always thought the Vega was a good-looking car. But > then I liked the Plymouth Duster as well. My Vega was a sporty bright color, but a plain Jane set of wheels. One of my friends had a GT which was very cool; a sturdy-looking and very sporty ride. Another had one of the "Millionth Vegas." I turned a little green with envy when he got that orange babe. from http://h-body.org/library/vegabob/vega-history-complete.html "In May 1973, the Millionth Vega was produced; a bright orange GT hatchback coupe, with white sport stripes, "Millionth Vega" door handle inserts, and power steering. interior featured neutral custom vinyl, including exclusive vinyl door panels, and orange accent color carpeting. "-A limited edition "Millionth Vega" option-ZM5 was offered..one per dealer." Another buddy of mine got one of the "Spirit of America" models. It was flashier than mine, but couldn't hold a candle to the GT models. This one ended up sitting in the carport of his parents' house till just recently!
From: Kruse on 30 Sep 2009 21:46 On Sep 30, 8:29 pm, dsi1 <d...(a)humuhumunukunukuapuapa.org> wrote: > Too bad the car had a well deserved reputation as an oil burner - and I > don't mean diesel. As I recall, the valve stem seals were no good. > > OTOH, an all-alloy engine block is a pretty exotic feature even today That car had more problems than just valve stem seals. The aftermarket "cure" for this car was to re-sleeve it. After that, the engine was actually pretty good from an economic point of view. If they had stuck with the 4 cylinder motor that had been used in the Chevy II, history would have said that the Vega would have been an excellent econo box.
From: Gordon McGrew on 30 Sep 2009 22:15 On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:46:39 -0700 (PDT), Kruse <kruse(a)kansas.net> wrote: >On Sep 30, 8:29�pm, dsi1 <d...(a)humuhumunukunukuapuapa.org> wrote: > >> Too bad the car had a well deserved reputation as an oil burner - and I >> don't mean diesel. As I recall, the valve stem seals were no good. >> >> OTOH, an all-alloy engine block is a pretty exotic feature even today > > >That car had more problems than just valve stem seals. The aftermarket >"cure" for this car was to re-sleeve it. >After that, the engine was actually pretty good from an economic point >of view. >If they had stuck with the 4 cylinder motor that had been used in the >Chevy II, history would have said that >the Vega would have been an excellent econo box. They also had a reputation for rusting out on the way home from the dealer. Besides that, they were a typical GM car of the 1970s, which is to say not very good and really awful by today's standards.
From: dsi1 on 30 Sep 2009 22:21 Kruse wrote: > On Sep 30, 8:29 pm, dsi1 <d...(a)humuhumunukunukuapuapa.org> wrote: > >> Too bad the car had a well deserved reputation as an oil burner - and I >> don't mean diesel. As I recall, the valve stem seals were no good. >> >> OTOH, an all-alloy engine block is a pretty exotic feature even today > > > That car had more problems than just valve stem seals. The aftermarket > "cure" for this car was to re-sleeve it. > After that, the engine was actually pretty good from an economic point > of view. > If they had stuck with the 4 cylinder motor that had been used in the > Chevy II, history would have said that > the Vega would have been an excellent econo box. I assume that you'd need special cutters to rebore the cylinder walls and perhaps a lot of shops didn't understand the wall finishing process. Oh well, my guess is that the time for sleeveless alloy blocks in cars has come and gone. It's likely that soon we won't be using pistons and cylinders.
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