In defense of the Chevrolet Vega

On 12/27/2010 09:52 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On 12/27/2010 1:10 PM, wrote:
>>
>>
>> VW put in valve seals made of a type of rubber that would wear quickly
>> and make the engine burn a quart every 200 miles. This was fixed free
>> under an EPA recall that also included a valve adjustment and, at
>> least for fuel injected Rabbits, elimination of the EGR system. So
>> the car ended up with no emission control equipment except for a spark
>> vacuum advance delay.
>
> I had one of those rabbits. It was a good car except for that valve stem
> seals. Very easy to service and it didn't drip oil or grind gears when
> shifting into second or break timing belts like every single one of my
> Fiats did.
>
> The recommended repair procedure for fixing a bad catalytic converter
> was to take the housing off and stick a broom handle onto the honeycomb
> ceramic element and whacking it with a hammer, then dumping out the
> shattered fragments and reinstalling the housing. Now that's my kind of
> car fixin'!

Probably still passed emissions afterwards, too. Had a Scirocco whose
cat self-destructed (on a long road trip, I heard the exhaust get
quieter, then all of a sudden glowing chunks flew out the tailpipe and
it returned to its normal tone) and it still passed the sniffer test for
years afterwards. Those vee-dub I-4s were apparently pretty clean
running engines, even without a lot of tacked on crap.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Vic Smith wrote:
>
> VW sold a lot of Rabbits that started burning oil right away.
> >
> >VW put in valve seals made of a type of rubber that would wear quickly
> >and make the engine burn a quart every 200 miles. This was fixed free
> >under an EPA recall that also included a valve adjustment and, at
> >least for fuel injected Rabbits, elimination of the EGR system. So
> >the car ended up with no emission control equipment except for a spark
> >vacuum advance delay.
>
> Wasn't "free" for many owners. There was no recall until a big stink
> was raised. Too late for many.
> A workmate bought a new '76 and was always bitching about it.
> Excellent gas mileage though.

The recall was supposed to be free, and the notice I received, which
didn't exactly encourage owners to get the work done, mentioned
reimbursement for repairs already done, up to $150.

With recalls on other brands of vehicles I've owned, I learned the
dealer that sold the car isn't necessarily the best dealer for
handling recalls or even warranty work. That included a Chrysler
dealer that made me pay for a safety recall regarding a really bad
stalling problem. The next car I bought was the Rabbit, which never
stalled on me. I haven't bought a Chrysler since.

"Roger Blake" > wrote in message
...
> On 2010-12-27, hls > wrote:
>> Someone said earlier that the ****teaux 4 cylinder engines used by some
>> lines of GM in the early 80's were made by AMC and every one of these
>> that I know of cracked the block.
>
> Actually it's the other way around, AMC purchased GM 4-cylinder engines
> in the early 1980s to install in Spirit and Eagle models. A friend of
> mine had an Eagle Kammback (basically a 4WD Gremlin) with one of those.
> AMC finally came out with their own 4-cylinder mill around 1984.
>
> --
> Roger Blake

The particular car I had problems with was an 84 Fiero, bought new.
I had hoped the "Iron Duke" would be a strong and economical
engine.. It wasnt. Block cracked early on, and GM denied any
responsibility. When I went to the junkyard to find a rebuildable block,
took me 4-5 tries.. They were all cracked at the same place.

I think it might have been Aarcuda that mentioned that these blocks
were bought from AMC by GM, but I could easily be wrong.

In article >,
"hls" > wrote:

> "Roger Blake" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On 2010-12-27, hls > wrote:
> >> Someone said earlier that the ****teaux 4 cylinder engines used by some
> >> lines of GM in the early 80's were made by AMC and every one of these
> >> that I know of cracked the block.
> >
> > Actually it's the other way around, AMC purchased GM 4-cylinder engines
> > in the early 1980s to install in Spirit and Eagle models. A friend of
> > mine had an Eagle Kammback (basically a 4WD Gremlin) with one of those.
> > AMC finally came out with their own 4-cylinder mill around 1984.
> >
> > --
> > Roger Blake
>
> The particular car I had problems with was an 84 Fiero, bought new.
> I had hoped the "Iron Duke" would be a strong and economical
> engine.. It wasnt. Block cracked early on, and GM denied any
> responsibility. When I went to the junkyard to find a rebuildable block,
> took me 4-5 tries.. They were all cracked at the same place.
>
> I think it might have been Aarcuda that mentioned that these blocks
> were bought from AMC by GM, but I could easily be wrong.

I probably have mentioned the particulars of the iron duke block
cracking problem. The foundry that supplied them to GM (and held
responsibility for the bad pour) at the time was John Deere.

"aarcuda69062" > wrote in message

> I probably have mentioned the particulars of the iron duke block
> cracking problem. The foundry that supplied them to GM (and held
> responsibility for the bad pour) at the time was John Deere.

Actually, I just went back and searched for your old post, and you
indeed said John Deere, not AMC.. My bad...

Ashton Crusher > wrote:
>On 27 Dec 2010 14:11:58 -0500, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>>
>>The mid-seventies really was the darkest era in American car design,
>>and you can't blame any particular manufacturer because they all had
>>serious design and quality control issues.
>>
>>My college roommate had a brand new Dodge Omni catch fire on his test
>>drive. You don't see that happening today.
>
>My roommate had a 76 Capri (import from ???) and it caught fire and
>burned up while he was driving it. It's risky making too much of
>single anecdotes.

I'd call that an honorary American car anyway, if only because Americans
were selling it.

If it makes you feel better, I can say "the mid-seventies really was the
darkest era in car design" and be a bit more general about it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I didn't know John Deere ever made engine blocks for some cars.
cuhulin

On 12/27/2010 6:18 PM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>
> My roommate had a 76 Capri (import from ???) and it caught fire and
> burned up while he was driving it. It's risky making too much of
> single anecdotes.

The Capri was a sexy German import. I had one for a short time and I
enjoyed driving it and it never once caught fire on me. The interior was
made of some poor quality materials and self-destructed as did other
various parts on the car. The drive train was pretty robust though.

The air-cooled VW engines used to catch fire in numbers that a Capri or
Omni or Pinto could only hope to attain. As an added bonus, the block
would ignite and melt, dripping white-hot metal. That was certainly cool.

On Dec 27, 4:30*am, Vic Smith > wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:25:54 -0800 (PST), Bjorn >
> wrote:
>
>
> I owned two of those Vega 4 cyl. engines, one in a Vega, and one in a Monza. They were very dependable, trouble was, they used more oil than gas, and not enough power to get out of their own way. Then I installed V-8's in them,,,YAHOO
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >On 26 Dec, 23:32, "hls" > wrote:
> >> "Dave U. Random" > wrote in messagenews:7c72e1de1c91730597965e562bbb8aaa@anony mitaet-im-inter.net...
>
> >> > (Car Lust) - During Viva Las Vega week, my fellow contributors
> >> > acted as the prosecution in the case against the Chevrolet Vega--
> >> > the car that should have been GM's small-car savior but that
> >> > instead has become one of the automotive world's most notorious
> >> > synonyms for failure.
>
> >> The Vegas I knew of had the silicon/aluminum engine which was
> >> a disaster in every case that I ever heard of.
>
> >> Other posters have mentioned other engines.. I *never saw them.
>
> >> This was, IMO, a piece of cheap junk, engineered (?) to sell cheaply
> >> to junk chumps. *A true POS.
>
> >> GM earned its bankruptcy.. It wasn't a gift.
>
> >Maybe it is fair to say that GM management was/is gifted?
>
> There was plenty of junk around in the 70's.
> Not just GM junk.
> The Vega was just worst than most others.
> I got through the 70's with only one serious car problem.
> With a '64 Bug, a '67 Skylark, a '66 F-150 and a '74 Dart.
> A '71 Nova with a 307 burnt a valve - I really pushed *that one - and
> I junked it. *Consider it the Worst Car I Ever Had.
> Every other car had no engine or trans problems, they just rusted
> away.
> VW sold a lot of Rabbits that started burning oil right away.
> The Jap cars were quickly dissolved by rust and you had to scrape the
> ice from inside of windshields while driving up north.
> Never heard anything good about them either.
> AMC was ALL junk and probably blew more head gaskets than Vegas.
> I don't know about Fords, except my dad was happy with his LTD.
>
> You couldn't go far wrong with a GM 350 or Chevy or Chrysler
> straight 6.
> Those were probably the best.
> Some might add the Chrysler 318, but I've never been a Chrysler fan..
> Most EVERYTHING else was JUNK.
> ALL OF THEM.
> Those pioneers who bought small for fuel economy ended up paying more
> in the long haul. *
> But they were necessary sacrifices to advance technology.
> I honor their sacrifice. *Suckers. *Nah. just kidding.
>
> Only other '70's cars I had besides the Dart and Nova was a '76
> Caprice and a '78 Chevy Beauville van I bought after 1980.
> Both with 350's, and both did just fine except for rust.
>
> The '70s was a terrible decade for all cars.
> GM continued that trend in the 80's with the Citation and its
> brethren.
> But just like the Vega, anybody with any sense didn't buy them.
> The Citation and it's ilk were a boon to Jap auto manufacturers.
> That's when they began to really began to eat the market.
> First decent 4-cyl GM had was the 2.0, and first decent V-6 was the
> 2.8.
> I bought both only after they were proven.
> Now I'm looking at the Ecotec to be in my next ride if I go with a
> Malibu.
> It'll be my first without push rods.
> But if I decide on an Impala, it'll be a 3.5 with push rods.
>
> --Vic
>
> I'm crossposting this to rec.auto.tech - might get other ideas, since
> they are much more sophisticated in matters automotive..

On 12/27/2010 7:20 PM, Nate Nagel wrote:
> On 12/27/2010 09:52 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 12/27/2010 1:10 PM, wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> VW put in valve seals made of a type of rubber that would wear quickly
>>> and make the engine burn a quart every 200 miles. This was fixed free
>>> under an EPA recall that also included a valve adjustment and, at
>>> least for fuel injected Rabbits, elimination of the EGR system. So
>>> the car ended up with no emission control equipment except for a spark
>>> vacuum advance delay.
>>
>> I had one of those rabbits. It was a good car except for that valve stem
>> seals. Very easy to service and it didn't drip oil or grind gears when
>> shifting into second or break timing belts like every single one of my
>> Fiats did.
>>
>> The recommended repair procedure for fixing a bad catalytic converter
>> was to take the housing off and stick a broom handle onto the honeycomb
>> ceramic element and whacking it with a hammer, then dumping out the
>> shattered fragments and reinstalling the housing. Now that's my kind of
>> car fixin'!
>
> Probably still passed emissions afterwards, too. Had a Scirocco whose
> cat self-destructed (on a long road trip, I heard the exhaust get
> quieter, then all of a sudden glowing chunks flew out the tailpipe and
> it returned to its normal tone) and it still passed the sniffer test for
> years afterwards. Those vee-dub I-4s were apparently pretty clean
> running engines, even without a lot of tacked on crap.
>

The first generation Scirocco was my favorite car. It had the usual
problems but nothing I couldn't fix or tolerate. The 4 speed was pretty
much a perfect match for how I drove. It felt as nimble as all those
Fiat sports I've owned but without any of the standard little problems.
You might say it was a refreshing change of problems. I didn't have the
glowing chunk option like you did but my guess is that most of the cars
over a few years old had the cats gutted already.

> nate
>